Howard Cosell, for those of us old enough to remember, was a name synonymous with sports broadcasting. He covered a variety of sports, most notably boxing and football.
He is best remembered for his audacious commentary on television’s Monday Night Football from 1970 to 1983, a role that simultaneously crowned him as the nation’s most loved and most hated sports broadcaster.
His catchphrase – “I’m just telling it like it is” – defined every aspect of his work.
Known for his distinct voice and cadence, combined with his unwavering opinions, Cosell was an influential figure in sports broadcasting, often engaging in controversial commentary that made him both a celebrated and a polarizing figure in American media.
Cosell said of himself, “I’ve been called arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. And, of course, I am.”
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Howard Cosell’s Thoughts On The NFL Draft
What you see is what you get with the late Howard Cosell. And it made for compelling television. Such was the case with his commentary on the 1969 NFL Draft.
A video resurfaced on the X social media platform in which Cosell offers his thoughts on the proceedings to fellow sportscaster Jack Whitaker and NFL Films founder Ed Sabol.
And boy is it a doozy. He pulls absolutely zero punches.
Sabol prompts Cosell for his “observations of the draft this morning.”
And Cosell was off and running.
On January 28, 1969, NFL Films covered an #NFLDraft for the first time — the 1969 AFL-NFL Draft from the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York.
— Kevin Gallagher (@KevG163) April 25, 2024
Howard Cosell shares his thoughts on the draft with Jack Whitaker, and #NFL Films founder Ed Sabol. 🚬 pic.twitter.com/LbU3V9XtLS
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Cosell Nails It
“I find it a rather tedious bore, Ed,” Cosell begins, prompting Whitaker to immediately turn and laugh. “Hard to describe one’s reaction to men spending the utter limit of 15 minutes on draft selections when they have had an entire year, multi-thousands of dollars as you know expended on scouting, computerized systems.”
“And yet if somebody takes a player before somebody else, there has to be a sudden and complete revision apparently in someone’s thinking.”
“It’s utterly absurd and a manifestation of inefficiency inconsistent with the kind of efficiency that you have brought to professional football with your own operation, NFL Films.”
In a thoroughly hilarious moment, Sabol turns to Whitaker to ask if he concurs with Howard Cosell’s thoughts on the NFL Draft.
To which he clears his throat and simply replies, “Yes.”
The group breaks out in laughter.
He Nailed It
What makes this resurfaced video thoroughly compelling viewing is the fact that Howard Cosell nails the absurdity of the NFL Draft process with his commentary.
But simultaneously it shows just how far the event has come. The beginning of the clip shows how each team has about two representatives working phones at a small card table, cramped in a small room practically on top of each other.
The 1969 NFL Draft, meanwhile, was significant for several reasons.
It was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players.
Oh, and a running back from Southern California was selected as the first overall pick by the Buffalo Bills. His name was O.J. Simpson.
The 1969 draft also saw the selection of future Hall of Famers such as Joe Greene, Roger Wehrli, Ted Hendricks, Charlie Joiner, and Ken Riley.
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