No one would ever have conceived of calling Cosell a racist. He made Clay (Mohammed Ali), and the reverse was also true. Before MNF, ABC had the Friday Night Fights (in an old stable on West 66th Street just off of Central Park West.) It worked perfectly for all of them - except the fight show. I don’t remember why it ended.
I agree. The accusations of racism bringing him down was simply PC rearing its ugly little head even then. We didn’t notice this was slipping the frog into the pot and now it’s at a full, rolling boil.
(I think it’s awesome that you knew Cossell)
One time, in a public crowd, a fan pressed in and told Howard they had seen him at such and such a time and place. Howard replied, 'That must have been the greatest day of your life!' I only smiled; you could never be sure how he would react. :^D