Don Meredith Memorial

Don Meredith is most remembered for his impact on the game of football, both as a player and as a broadcaster.  Meredith played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys from 1960-1968.  After the NFL, he became part of the original broadcasters for Monday Night Football, along with Howard Cosell and Keith Jackson, who was later replaced by Frank Gifford.  During his broadcasting years, Meredith was known for his humor and wit along just having fun doing his job.  Fred Gaulli, producer of Monday Night Football for many years, says "Don played that perfect foil to Cosell," Gaudelli said. "He was the first guy to bring irreverence to the booth. He didn't demean the broadcast, but he didn't make it church, he didn't take the game as gospel. He brought a fun aspect to the thing. Frank Gifford kind of did it a serious way, and Don let it be known that it didn't have to be one prototype"(Pucine, 2010, para. 6).  Meredith was able to take a new approach to broadcasting by showing that it doesn’t have to be a grueling job, but it can be fun and there is no right or wrong way to do it.  Everyone can put their own personality into broadcasting and sport communication professions.  Sport communication is about putting your own twist to ideas and styles.  This is what Meredith did when he broadcasted games. 

    

Meredith was part of the Monday Night Football crew for 12 seasons.  He helped make Monday Night Football what it is today.  He helped it grow and become a special event for football fans and the NFL.  Former Cowboys executive Gil Brandt said, "Monday Night Football was extremely beneficial to him and pro football because I think Monday Night Football with the three of those people really opened up new avenues to a TV viewer to pro football"(Watkins, 2010, para. 5).  This statement emphasizes the importance that Meredith not only had on broadcasting, but the entire NFL as an entity.  He helped the idea of broadcasting grow along with the NFL.  His impact, along with Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford, was beyond what they could have imagined when they first started.  Meredith was able to impact not only football fans but an entire sport.  We will always be thankful for what Meredith did for the sport of football, the NFL and the profession of broadcasting.  It is only fitting to end this memorial in the words of Don Meredith himself: “Turn out the lights, the party's over."       

References:

Watkins, C. (2010). Cowboys remember Don Meredith fondly. Retrieved September 2, 2011 from ESPNDallas.com. 
Pucine, D. (2010). Don Meredith, who infused ‘Monday Night Football’ with humor for 12 seasons, dies at 72. Retrieved September 2, 2011 from Los Angeles Times at http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-don-meredith-20101207,0,4648552.story