Am I the only one who remembers him as a cop on Police Story?
I do... they sure threw away the mold when
they made him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 6 2010 Last updated at 12:16 PM ET
Don Meredith: An Appreciation.
*snip*
ABC’s Roone Arledge spotted it when he hired him for the original edition in 1970 opposite play-by-play man Keith Jackson and Cosell, the purposely pompous know-it-all New Yorker who was the perfect foil for the laid-back quarterback from Texas.
“Turn Out the Lights, the Party’s Over,’’ he would belt out after a game-clinching touchdown, often as early as the third quarter of one-sided games and he was always the lightest part of the three-man booth — Frank Gifford took over for Jackson in the second year — that earned raves for its balance between Cosell’s social commentary and Meredith’s down-home and sardonic Texas humor.
In fact, Meredith ventured into political waters too — he set off a minor controversy by referring to then President Richard Nixon as “Tricky Dick.’’ He also announced himself on air during a game in Denver as “Mile High,’’ although he always finished a broadcast — Cosell didn’t during a game in Philadelphia in which it was later disclosed he had imbibed considerable liquid refreshment.
Another bit of Meredith humor came in wordplay over a Cleveland Browns receiver named Fair Hooker. “Fair Hooker? Well, I haven’t met one yet.’’
Meredith was self-deprecating as an analyst — some of the analysis came from Gifford, himself a Hall of Fame running back and wide receiver during his playing career.
But Meredith was indeed a fine quarterback.
In his nine seasons during an era where the rules where much harder on passing, he threw for 17,199 yards and 135 touchdowns with a team that at the beginning was a bottom-of-the-barrel expansion side.
http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/06/don-meredith-an-appreciation/