By Chuck Scholtz, Freelance NFL Researcher
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| Howard Cosell (1918-1995) Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award |
"He Could.... Go... All... the Way!"
The "Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award" is given annually by the Pro Football Hall of Fame to an iconic football broadcasting figure for "longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football," yet for the 23-year history of the award, there has been one glaring oversight: Howard Cosell has never won it.
Cosell was rated as the #1 rated network sportcaster by David J. Halberstam of Yahoo! Sports in a field of fifty top contenders.
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"Every person working in sports journalism today owes a tremendous debt to Howard Cosell. His greatest contribution was elevating sports reporting out of daily play-by-play and placing it in the larger context of society."
Roone Arledge, the late former President of ABC Sports_______________________________________
"History will reflect that Howard Cosell was easily the dominant sportscaster of all time," wrote colleague Al Michaels in the foreword to Cosell's book "What's Wrong with Sports."
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Cosell was a true journalist with a heart for serving the public interest. A lawyer by trade, Cosell ventured where few others in the sports media had the courage to go. Whether it was a discussion of athletes of color in sports, free-agency, illegal drugs, anti-trust laws, player strikes, owners unjustly moving teams, and increasing fan violence. Howard Cosell was much more than a reporter, he was a purveyor of truth, unafraid to offend those who would take offense. For all his many quirks and faults, he was a loyal and loving husband, a family man, a crusader against racial prejudice, and an educated professional.
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"His coda," author Mark Ribowsky writes, "more than anything else, is his singularity - a long lost quality in the postmodern culture that has wiped men like him off the slate." "Howard Cosell made his own mold, and then broke it when he was done."
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Howard Cosell's contributions fits the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award selection criteria perfectly:
"The Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award is given for recognizing outstanding contributions for longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football."
Howard Cosell broadcast on both radio and television, as well as creating several sports documentaries. It has been said that "Cosell was just as good at creating an audience as he was at alienating it, and THAT was exactly what sports needed." "Monday Night Football" and Howard Cosell became a mainstream phenomenon overnight.
"ABC Sports - The House Cosell Built"
-- from the book "Howard Cosell, The Man, the Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports" by author Mark Ribowsky
Howard Cosell towered among sports broadcasters. One could easily make the case that Howard Cosell was the single most important sports journalist ever. Cosell certainly played a pivotal role in transforming ABC Sports from the "Almost Broadcasting Company" to "The House that Cosell Built." In the 1970's Howard Cosell was inarguably the lightening-rod and "soul" of Monday Night Football, part of a three man team assembled by Roone Arlege that brought the game of football into the cultural mainstream. Cosell entertained his audience as part linguist, and part word-smith with a distinctive hesitating staccato delivery that demanded the audience's attention. At the height of his popularity, Cosell may have been the most parodied and imitated voice in America, the focus of countless conversations at the office water cooler. Cosell's iconic style distinguished Monday Night Football from previous sports programming, that began to usher in an era of other color commentators in broadcasting. Huge TV contracts generated huge profits with advertisers, players salaries escalated, as did profits for the team owners as well as for the cites they hosted teams in. The television rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games are now the most lucrative and expensive rights of any American sport.
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"I remember him as someone who was an important journalistic figure, and I think to deny that is to let your prejudices get in the way."
-- Frank Deford, Author, Sportswriter
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Cosell quickly became a monumental figure in electronic journalism by his use of analysis and context in-arguably bringing television sports reporting very close to the kind of in-depth reporting one expected from "hard" news reporters.
Howard Cosell believed that, "What's popular isn't always right, and whats right isn't always popular." Admittedly, Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these. Of course.... I am all of these things."
Howard Cosell was a lawyer by trade, and a champion of the people. Howard Cosell had a strong civil-rights record. Cosell was a staunch supporter of all athletes including Willie Mays, Curt Flood, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Arthur Ashe, Muhammad Ali, and John Carlos/Tommy Smith in the 1968 Olympics, among others.
Howard Cosell never played the corporate game of politics. Cosell was an advocate of the fans, and despite pressures from a powerful NFL hierarchy, Cosell maintained his social sense of purpose, and his conservative belief in basic American rights such as due process and freedom of speech. One of his most famous and enduring catchphrases was, "I'm just telling it like it is."
"to voices what the Grand Canyon is to ditches."
-- Dave Kindred, Sports Journalist, author
A broadcasting legend, a sports-journalist, a pop-culture icon who achieved celebrity status and brought professional football in our living rooms. We are not likely to experience this same level of color-commentary genius ever again. As Howard Cosell would say, that's "Telling it like it is."
Howard Cosell defends his friend Frank Gifford on the David Letterman Show.
NFL Films, Steve Sabol
"Howard Cosell was Monday Night Football. Without Howard Cosell, there was no Monday Night Football."
Chet Forte, former Director of ABC Monday Night Football
Chet Forte, former Director of ABC Monday Night Football
Awards and Facts:
● 1940, graduated Phi Beta Kappa, New York University School of Law
● 1953-1956, "All League Clubhouse" Radio program featuring little league baseball players meeting Major League players
● 1957-1958, Sports Focus, ABC Network Show
● 1961-1992, Speaking of Sports, WABC Radio Show Broadcast
● 1970-1983, Color Commentator for ABC Monday Night Football
● 1974 Emmy Award nomination from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for Outstanding Achievement in Sports Programming
● Howard Cosell: "Speaking of Everything" - Hour-long Radio Show Sunday nights in New York (1974-1988)
● “ABC SportsBeat” from 1981-1986, a half-hour TV show, won 3 Emmy Awards
● Cosell rated #1 on David J. Halberstam's list of Top 50 All Time Network Television Sports Announcers on Yahoo! Sports
● Voted in the "Top Ten" by American Sportscasters Association (ASA)
● 1993 American Sportscasters Hall of Fame
● 1993 National Sportscasters and Sportswriters (NSSA) Hall of Fame
● 1993 Inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
● 1993, TV Guide named Howard Cosell The All-Time Best Sportscaster in its issue Celebrating 40 years of television.
● 1995 ESPY Awards recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award (by ESPN)
● 1995 Sports Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
● 1996 Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame Award
● 2007 Induction to The Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in New York
● 2010 International Boxing Hall of Fame - Canastota, N.Y.
Howard Cosell Produced Sports Documentaries:
● "A Look Behind the Legend" about Babe Ruth
● "The Polo Grounds: Requiem for an Arena" (April 1964), about the demolition of New Yorks historic Coogans Bluff Polo Grounds. Horace McMahon narrates this special review of the history of the Polo Grounds. Bobby Thompson, Ralph Branca, Willie Mays, Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson, Ken Strong, Arthur Daly, Frankie Frisch, Leo Durocher, Jack Dempsey and Carl Hubbel review the fabulous past of the Polo Grounds, a great arena where everything but Polo was played. Produced by Howard Cosell. (52 minutes)
● "Grambling: One Hundred Yards to Glory" a Golden Eagle Award winner about the history of Grambling College football
● "Run to Daylight" Vince Lombardi and Green Bay Packers training camp, Howard Cosell and Lou Volpicelli (1964)
(Run to Daylight "the most highly acclaimed TV sports documentary ever" - Lawrence Linderman - Playboy Mag.)
● "Mickey Mantle: A Self Portrait" Interview style documentary on Mantles obsession with death and dying. (August 1965, 25 minutes)
● "Johnny Keane: The Yankee From Texas"
● "Whitey Ford: A Self Portrait" (April 16, 1966)
● Other player self portraits on Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain, Pancho Gonzales, Ralph Houk
Books by Howard Cosell:
● Cosell (1973)
● Like It Is (1974)
● I Never Played the Game (1985)
● What's Wrong With Sports (1991)
Sources:
Marky Billson, Sports Illustrated Magazine (2010) Read the article
Mark Ribowsky, "Howard Cosell, The Man, the Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports" 2012
Robert Lipsyte, An Accidental Sportswriter
Dave Kindred, Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship (2006)
John Bloom, There you have it : The life, legacy, and legend of Howard Cosell (2010)
Bob Knight, Knight: My Story
Monday Night Mayhem, the movie
Roone Arledge, Roone: A Memoir (2004)
Howard Cosell, Cosell (1974)
Howard Cosell, I Never Played the Game (1985)
Howard Cosell, What’s Wrong with Sports (1991)
Mark Gunther and Bill Carter, Monday Night Mayhem: The Inside Story of ABC’s Monday Night Football (1988)
The Official Howard Cosell Website (Link)
Marky Billson Article (Link)
Pete Rozelle Award Page (Link)
ABC Monday Night Football Team (Link)
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Howard Cosell often reminded me of Ted Husing.
ReplyDeleteFans today have no idea how big Howard was for football. Howard Cosell was perfect for the role. He was clearly the most loved and hated man in America. Brass, cocky, controversial but always wanting to open his mouth and have everyone listens to him. My fondest memories of Monday Night Football is Don Meredith and his comedy. It was worth watching just to listen to Don. Frank Gifford was the ballast, the middleman compromise between Frank and Don who made everything run smoothly. Howard was an intelligent, complex man who had a huge desire to be loved. I miss him.
ReplyDeleteA former lawyer to many athletes, Cosell became one of the most respected journalists to report on them. Covering Cassius Clay before and after he became Muhammed Ali, Cosell's friendship with Ali played for big ratings and brought an everlasting respect between the two. Cosell was also part of the broadcast team for ABC's Monday Night Football. Cosell, like what Edward R. Murrow did for hard news, took a no–nonsense, pull-no-punches style to reporting. Using the catchphrase, "I'm just telling it like it is," Cosell would talk openly about the controversial race and social issues of the day. Perhaps his biggest moments in history came as a reporter on the 1972 Olympic games, when the Black September group had attacked Israeli athletes (Cosell’s commentary on the event can be heard in “Munich,” and during a Monday Night Football broadcast, reporting that John Lennon had been killed, "Dead on arrival."
ReplyDeletewhat a tragedy it is that Cosell was never enshrined. Howard wasn't buddy-buddy enough with the right guys, asked probing questions, was like a junkyard dog with a bone on so many things. He really just rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Which is why he was such a good journalist and commentator.
ReplyDeleteAfter all of these years, I think it's very naive to believe that there isn't something political going on inside the halls of Canton with regards to Cosell. Joe Horrigan isn't going to be totally forthcoming about the inside politics. I do agree that "intellectually" Howard Cosell is a clear choice for the award and the fans of Cosell (of which there were many) shouldn't have to wait so many years after his death to see him recognized. My gut tells me that this has something to do with Frank Gifford.
ReplyDeleteCosell was a human being -- flawed, often rude, insecure. But again, the broader picture is how Cosell was at the head of the line when it came to turning sports into something more than the "toy department." Society was in flux in the '60s. Outsiders such as Harry Edwards and Jack Scott were probing how sports was hardly pure. Ditto for athletes such as Jim Bouton, and of course, Ali. Cosell's presence and voice on a major forum such as ABC brought that front and center, at once amplifying and legitimizing for a far broader approach to exploring sports than had ever existed before. He's the catalyst for programs such as HBO's Real Sports, ESPN's Outside the Lines, PTI and so many forms of vocalized sports talk.
ReplyDeleteHoward Cosell was the smartest and most entertaining and unforgettable television broadcaster in the history of sports. A superb reporter who worked harder and asked better questions than anyone else who'd ever worn earphones.
ReplyDeleteWhat's sad is that he was a major figure -- he was the pioneer of sports journalism. His bitterness pushed people away at a time when the whole world would have been predisposed to honor him. Such a shame.
ReplyDeleteIn an ESPN special, they picked the top 40 figures in the history of sports. Cosell was in his top five, along with heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's been any other broadcaster in the history of the art who had a greater influence on the way society viewed sports," he said. "At a time when many reporters -- broadcast and print -- were content to feed Pablum to the public, he served a full-course meal. He believed what he said, that sports needed to be changed. While people may have wanted the escape sports provided, they also needed to hear the principles he spoke about.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame Cosell from walking away from the boxing in 1982 after that brutal bout between heavyweight champion Larry Holmes and Randall "Tex" Cobb.
ReplyDelete"It worked out all right. It really did. I give (Cosell) a lot of credit for setting a certain tone. He made my job so much easier." -- Don Meredith
ReplyDelete