I think it’s worth noting that in 1980, what we called the counterculture had only been around for about 15 years. So breaking into a Monday Night Football game with the news of the murder of John Lennon was actually a debatable decision. Hear Howard Cosell lose the off-air debate to “Dandy Don” Meredith, and then go live with his hypocritical “Remember, this is just a football game”
Coincidentally, Cosell had interviewed John on an MNF broadcast in 1974.
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Wow. I never heard Cosell’s resistance to this announcement. Given that, perhaps especially, I think his brief remarks gave the sad news justice. A true professional.