Andy Griffith's "What It Was, Was Football!" In 1953, a young North Carolina actor named Andy Griffith did a stand-up routine about the game of football. The recording of it became a runaway bestseller across the country, and it quickly propelled Griffith toward major motion picture roles and of course The Andy Griffith Show. And since that time "What It Was, Was Football!" has become one of the best-known comedy monologues in history. I first heard this bit around 1984, when the local edition of P.M. Magazine did a video clip of Griffith's routine accompanied by footage from a local...