The BIGGEST FAILURE in Sunday Night Football HISTORY

In 1978, the NFL and ABC experimented with the very first Sunday Night Football package, deciding to put three games on Sunday nights and expand the NFL's presence in primetime. However, to the shock of just about everyone, the results were disastrous; the ratings were such a disaster that the league held off on regularly playing on Sunday nights for nearly a decade after. This is the story behind the failed attempt in the 1970s to launch Sunday Night Football
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[@kayleighlehrman9566]

Raiders and Patriots having a controversial post-season game? I'm sure that won't ever happen again!

[@bryanburnap4537]

Seriously right :)

[@marcus813]

Tuck!

[@NillyNilly546]

Lmao

[@kayodephillips5435]

Lmao 🤣🤣🤣

[@steveswangler6373]

the only people that think the Raiders victory over the Patriots in the 1976 playoffs was controversial are crybaby patriot fans and Raider haters. any reasonable person knows there was no controversy at all.

[@robertkeefer1552]

Back in 1978 we waited all day for MONDAY night!

[@DMS-pq8]

Like you said most people in the 70s only had one TV in the house so dad got to watch football during the day but at night mom was in control

[@KnightBoat]

My family didn't have cable until the 90s. So Sunday Night Football felt like a treat when I was a kid in the 80s when occasionally one of the local channels would carry the ESPN game.

[@mrmoose6619]

Same here. Usually one of the local teams was on and I believe there is a broadcasting rule that all local games must be on a broadcast (Non cable) company.

[@ldr4690]

It was hard to compete for ratings in the 70's against Star Sky and Hutch.

[@leogetz3570]

LMFAO.... I remember his Star Sky comment!!!

[@CTubeMan]

The Patriots and Raiders also met in the 1978 preseason. That’s when Jack Tatum’s hit left Darryl Stingley paralyzed.

[@brettshepherd5240]

You mean Steve grogans sorry ass throw that left stingly vulnerable

[@707Southpaw]

Thank you, Grogan's pass is rarely mentioned.

[@JedForge]

@@707Southpaw And Jack Tatum was a known head hunter back in the days when there weren't penalties for "defenseless receiver" or "helmet to helmet contact"

[@oddballskull1941]

Is that an “also” or is it “the game he actually meant” because I thought he was talking about that game you mentioned but he accidentally said post season? Or is it two different games

[@CTubeMan]

@@oddballskull1941 Also, JG9 didn’t misspeak.

[@jamespgray6928]

I miss the early Super Bowl starting times. Game was over by 6:30, could get enough rest for work the next day.

[@a7x5631]

When did they move it to night time? The earliest I can remember was after the super bowl in 1999 the Family Guy pilot aired at 10pm. None have ended that early since

[@erichaynes7502]

I'm amazed you found such a treasure trove of archival TV content from the 70's. Putting it all together must be extremely hard work. Thanks!

[@TimmyTickle]

To be fair, most of the content is already here on KZbin

[@Rantman9]

Being on the East Coast, it's obvious that the NFL doesn't give a damn about the fans. Few people have jobs that are actual 9-5, most work odd hours and games often go until after 11pm and we have to work early in the morning.

[@miless.9429]

Uh, what exactly do you suggest to fix that problem? You want games to be on at 2am? Whining does not equal valid criticism

[@leogetz3570]

That's why they moved up the MNF kickoff time from 9pm to 8:20pm. Now people on the west coast could argue that working 9-5, they might miss the beginning of the game. It's kind of no win situation, unless you're in the central or mountain time zone

[@ATEC101]

Did not know that everyone on the east coast has to work 'early'. Dear NFL: Stephen Wilson needs to schedule all of your games around his particular schedule so you do not lose his money. If your game watching is that important why not get a job that accommodates it? Lastly, former long haul trucker here, so fuck you and your whining.

[@Rantman9]

@@miless.9429 simple, start games by 4pm. Not whining, just stating facts

[@Rantman9]

@@leogetz3570 you missed the point, the NFL only cares about the ratings from the leftist coast, not about the fans

[@altfactor]

"NFL Sunday Night Football" is so successful today because after mid-October, the league has the ability to move a Sunday afternoon game to Sunday night to showcase a better matchup over the entire NBC network, while moving the previously scheduled Sunday night game to the afternoon, where it would be regionally telecast by either CBS or Fox.

[@Rockhound6165]

I went to a flexed game once. 2015, Cardinals @ Eagles. Cards were about to clinch the NFC West so the league flexed them to Sunday Night. This was when I had Eagles season tix(my wife is an Eagles fan I'm a Cardinals fan). Coldest fricken game I've ever been to and I was wearing a heavy sweatshirt, my Fitzgerald jersey, Cardinals Santa hat over a wool skully, gloves, long johns, heavy woolen socks, and hand warmers and I still froze my ass off. We must have had 6 or so hot chocolates at $6 a pop each. Bitch of it was, the previous week when the Eagles hosted the Bills it was 70 degrees and we were in the stands wearing t-shirts and shorts. Incidentally it was the last game I ever saw live even though I had my tickets for 2 more seasons.

[@mgb4692]

They actually do in recent years in October too, three years ago Rams/Niners was flexed out for Bengals/Chiefs (both were blowouts, not sure much was gained there)

[@shocktrauma85]

@@mgb4692 That Bengals-Chiefs Game should have never been put on Sunday Night. The game I went to at 4 pm that same day, Saints vs Ravens, should have been the Sunday Night Game. I had a blast even though we lost on Justin Tucker's first missed extra point.

[@vincesmith2499]

MNF will also be flexible late in the season starting with the new TV contract.

[@hrose756]

@@vincesmith2499 Nope.

[@jewsco]

The wonderful world of Disney was on Sunday nights where as a kid I saw Mary poppins , chitty , chitty, bang bang and a lot of Disney classic animation like Snow White for the first time. That dominated Sunday nights in my house for a long time

[@disneyfan8178]

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was not a Disney film.

[@warlaker]

That's what caused the Heidi problem. They insisted on starting the show on time, and so you missed the comeback

[@andrewbarker2422]

Pretty sure the wonderful world of Disney was on NBC Sunday nights?

[@jewsco]

@@andrewbarker2422 I think so but I was saying it was a ratings powerhouse not that it was on that channel

[@freddyvidz]

I remember it

[@nicholassmith479]

ESPN Sunday Night Football catered to a niche market. Kinda like Monday Night Football is today. Cable split the television market in so many directions that the Big 3 networks have lost their power. Even the NFL has their own cable network. Now Sunday Night Football is to what Monday Night Football was in the 70s and 80s. Now MNF is a side show on ESPN.

[@leogetz3570]

Yep, MNF used to be something to look forward to, but it seems like as soon as ESPN took it over, it went downhill for some reason. Gotta give NBC credit. The Sunday night games are usually something good

[@vincesmith2499]

@@leogetz3570 The NFL deliberately gave NBC the better games. ESPN is just cable.

[@douglasstarr234]

You hit the nail on the head. Cable TV has allowed people to see many more games than before and now people will watch less morning games and more evening games. In the 1970s Monday Night football also gave people the ability to see highlights from games on Sunday. Now there are multiple different networks that show highlights from Sunday after the last afternoon game. The truth be told, ESPN was smart to have the Sunday night game as they mixed the game with highlights. Great personalities like Chris Berman made the highlights more fun too!

[@pronkb000]

@@leogetz3570 It went downhill because SNF became the primary prime time package and that was because of flex scheduling.

[@timsironworks9912]

ESPN has destroyed MNF. ABC was a lot better. I'm too young to remember the Cosell era, but definitely remember the later Gifford era and of course Madden and Michaels. New commentary is terrible. I actually like the Collinsworth Michaels pairing, as well as Nantz and Romo. Buck and Aikman are awful.. they're "disgusting" acts not by Randy Moss lol 😆😂

[@DanStrayer]

“28 share? Good Lord, what a disaster.” Said no Network Exec in 2021.

[@alice_evermore]

I fondly recall a Sunday night game in October 1983, when the Raiders beat the Cowboys in Dallas in a last-second thriller! - One of Marc Wilson's few decent games.

[@alice_evermore]

@@matthewdaley746 Agree 100%! Wilson single-handedly cost us the 1985 play off game against the Patriots with his terribly inaccurate passing...

[@diaz5292]

The ratings weren't good because SNF went up against Star Sky and Hutch...lol

[@altfactor]

The first Sunday night NFL game between New England and Oakland in 1978 also featured two teams in what were then the fifth (Boston) and sixth (San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose) largest television markets.

[@chillywillie6283]

As a kid growing up in the 1970s, I could never stay awake long enough to see the end of a Monday night game.

[@boondocksaint2619]

I still cant

[@kevinthetruckdriver353]

Back in 1978. NFL Football was considered a local & divisional team sport. If your favourite team from a certain conference wasn't on. You just didn't care. It wasn't popular to watch AFC (old AFL teams) when your favourite team plays in the NFC (old NFL teams). It wasn't until Fantasy Leagues exploded when fans paid attention to both conferences.

[@altfactor]

The great majority of NFL viewing during the regular-season, then and now (especially Sunday afternoons), is to games of the local team by fans in the local team's market.

[@kevinthetruckdriver353]

@@altfactor - But the explosion of Fantasy Leagues has changed the outlook of watching football beyond the local markets. But the real hardcore fans are only interested in a few teams. Some teams like Dallas, New England, Pittsburg, San Francisco are big draws (in their heydays) are the most hated to watch for a casual fan.

[@americangiant1003]

And add in going forward with gambling now legalized in almost every state in the US, that will also bring it more “casual viewers” as well.

[@markguttag4363]

Speaking for myself, this wasn't true for me in 1978. I started actively following the NFL and AFL as a kid back in 1969 in the Washington, D.C. area. This was back in the era of the local television blackout of your home team, so for several years, I only got to see the Redskins on local TV during the regular season just 7 times per year for their road games. For home games, I was stuck listening to Redskins games on radio (As an aside, I recently realized that the only time I probably saw the Redskins in their home Burgundy uniforms during 1969 and the early 1970s was when they played at Dallas or Cleveland or in highlight reels). So, a typical Sunday for me back in those days, was to listen to the Redskins game from 1 to 4 PM and then watch the late game on NBC (AFL/AFC) which was often a home game for an AFL/AFC West team. It often felt like I was able to watch the Raiders more often during the season than the Redskins. Even when the NFL lifted the blackout for sold-out home games (which, back in the day, the Redskins home games always were), when they broadcast a Redskins home game, the Redskins home game was usually on CBS (except for the one or two games each year that featured an AFC away team), which by NFL rules, meant that the second game that day had to be on NBC. Because the Redskins usually played at 1 PM, this meant that, the the game on NBC was often a 4PM EST home game for an AFC West team. So by 1978, I was used to following not only the Redskins and the NFC East but also the AFC West. Although I don't remember the Sunday night games back in the late 1970s, I'm somewhat surprised they weren't more successful given that at the time, my understanding is that in the New York TV market, both then and now, if the Giants and Jets play on Sunday afternoon at 1 PM and 4 PM, those are basically the only two games available to that market, because one of the two teams will be playing at home, which invokes the NFL blackout rules preventing a competing game on TV against the home team being broadcast. Especially back in 1978, when both NY teams had not been in the playoffs for years, I would have expected some decent ratings generated by NFL fans in the NY market starved to see other NFL teams play.

[@kevinthetruckdriver353]

@@markguttag4363 - Back in those days in Minnesota. I was a Minnesota Viking fan. Same rules apply for blackout games. So if the Vikings were blacked out. We usually get a Detroit Lion game. Back in those days the Lions were a terrible team. Then at the end of 1970's. Was stationed (in the military) at Fort Leavenworth, KS. Home market of Kansas City Chiefs. For two seasons, they were 3-13. Terrible teams. So they shown AFC teams on NBC. On CBS, it was an AFC Vs NFC or CBS game of the week (Dallas, New York). Chiefs road games usually in West coast time zone (late). So early game on CBS was whatever. Lost interest in football when I went into the military since I was overseas for six of the eight years I was in.

[@gcooper146]

You missed your chance to say "That's worse than if you did nothing but spike the ball on every play" @3:47. His (Craig Morton) passer rating was 0

[@88cutty]

ESPN killed monday night

[@kyle1910]

More nuanced than that. Due to unattractive matchuos on MNF in the mid-oughts, and due to the fact that the existing TV contract was to expire, the league brought in flex scheduling starting in '06. Before then the MNF games were supposed to be, in the aggregate, the more attractive prime time matchups. Starting in 2006 that switched.

[@rwboa22]

@@kyle1910 the ratings on MNF were on the decline long before SNF became the main attraction. ABC did try to bolster ratings by hiring Lisa Guerrero from "Best Damn Sports Show, Period" as sideline reporter (which actually helped), however once she was let go, MNF went into a tailspin (with ESPN's version SNF, starting at 8:00 pm instead of MNF's start at 8:45-9:00 pm on ABC made the former more attractive, thus the NFL making the deal that saw SNF go to NBC and MNF go to ESPN, with those whose teams are playing, but not have CATV, have access, via similcast on the local ABC station).

[@marquan1976]

10:47 Thank you. I was wondering why this season TNT moved its NBA DH to Tuesday nights. Keep up the good work!

[@americangiant1003]

Because TNT now has NHL TV rights.

[@marquan1976]

@@americangiant1003 True, I know the NHL is on Wednesday

[@markbrian7179]

I never liked Sunday Night games. When it started in 1978, I couldn't watch the entire game because I had to go to school the next morning.

[@cdprince768]

I think you nailed it: most homes only had one TV. I'm sure men would have loved watching three games on Sundays, but when you're sharing a TV with a wife and kids, there's no way you're getting away with that.

[@daBEAGLE1017]

I remember only having 1 TV and 1 phone in our house. No remote controls and no caller ID. We got up to change to 1 of our 5 channels and would answer every call. Miss those days.

[@hennylo68]

The younger sibling was the caller ID. They would answer the phone and we would quietly Whisper to them, ask who it is. Ask who it is.

[@ronsmac]

Back then you just couldn’t expect Mom to let a son and Dad watch 10 hours of football. Then come right back on Monday and watch in prime time. I was a little kid and we didn’t get to see any of those Sunday night games.

[@gorndd]

The mistake was the NFL going up against the ratings juggernaut that was "Star Sky & Hutch"

[@Atomykpimp]

I wonder if Star Sky and Hutch watch Sunday Night Football?

[@JedForge]

LOL! He's never going to live that one down.

[@Atomykpimp]

I truly enjoy his videos very much but Starsky and Hutch is a truly Iconic 70’s TV Show.

[@stevenbauer4799]

Butch johnson's outstretched td catch would be called no td by the megatron 'you have to make a full catch/cradle the ball' rule today.

[@dentonyoung4314]

50 years on and Monday Night Football is still going strong.

[@LukeL007]

Today a 28 share would be unheard of, but back when most homes only had 3-4 channels it was basically what you would get if every home flipped to a random station.

[@billtooke6642]

Exactly. A show getting a 2 share is a hit today

[@fromthehaven94]

Shows on premium channels and streaming services get the bulk of the hype these days.

[@Pdasilva0324]

Even as a young kid in the early-mid 80s, I remember evening TV on Sundays being "family time" and would show Disney movies, or other "family friendly" shows and movies. And most families only had one TV, MAYBE a 2nd B&W in a bedroom. Unless the whole family were rabid fans of a particular team, nobody cared enough to watch "out of market" games. This didn't really change much until the late 80s/early 90s. Football, while already hugely popular in the late 70s, still was not what it is today. MLB was arguably still more popular than NFL in many markets and other than maybe Dallas and Green Bay few teams had national followings. The media, specifically growth of cable and then multimedia, had to grow some before it was ready for an absolute onslaught of NFL football. And while the NFL is most definitely the richest and most popular N. American pro league today, there is still a ceiling to the appetite for football. Which is why most minor league and off season (spring) leagues have failed and why college is king on Saturdays, NFL on Sundays (with the few Mon and Thurs games), and only from Sept-Feb.

[@Biggdoom344]

You are spot on. I watched that Steelers Rams game being a Steelers fan. But back then Sunday night was some of the higher rated shows. That game was going up against All in the family, the Jeffersons, the wonderful world of Disney, 60 minutes on the west coast. If you only had one TV as probably 70% of the country, unless you were a Steelers or rams fan, maybe a football junkie, you probably didn’t watch the game.

[@Pdasilva0324]

@@Biggdoom344 A few things also just culminated to a head in the late 80s/early 90s to help the NFL..1. the demise of "family time"..the family eating dinner and then watching tv declined as people became busier/both parents working, 2. Rise of cable TV availability 3. TV set prices declining leading to multiple TVs in homes, 4. Explosion of fantasy football..other sports have fantasy, but NFL is most easily followed with its shorter schedule 5. Other pro sports self destructing or otherwise declining

[@kafkaOTS]

It seems that Sunday Night Football only became popular when people could record the competing programs to watch later.

[@leogetz3570]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was wondering. The affordability of VCR's in the 80's/90's, to DVR's made it a whole lot easier to watch multiple programs when you wanted to watch them.

[@redmustangredmustang]

As he said the viewers were upset that football was cut into 60 minutes. Back then itwas huge. For many people that was what they watched before they went to bed before they went to work on Monday: They wanted something to relax to after the stress field football game that they just watched.

[@MrRETEROROB]

nice work here. I don't remember the NFL attempting Sunday night football broadcasts in '78. you really seem to like the history of the NFL, and it shows in your work.

[@chadwickwhite6107]

The last Sunday night football game that was ACTUALLY RELEVANT was the Bills-Chiefs game 3 weeks ago. The REST are a 39.6 and BOTH TEAMS should just SPIKE the football into the ground on EVERY single OFFENSIVE play!!!!!

[@marcusanderson933]

The narrator make a mistake. The Patriots and Raiders met during the preseason when Darryl Stingley was paralyzed from a hit from Jack Tatum.

[@alice_evermore]

True, if you want to count a preseason game as an actual meeting.

[@nasetvideos]

This is a phenomenal video. Great job!! Wonderful way to start my weekend.

[@vdubproductions2646]

I believe the next time we would intentionally have no Sunday Night game after SNF became a permanent thing would be Week 17 of 2017 season. Now we’re in the era of flex scheduling, as well as almost all the playoff spots being clinched (Chargers, Bills and Ravens still fighting for 6th seed in AFC in the 4:25 PM time slot. That was when Andy Dalton threw the GW TD pass to Tyler Boyd which got the Bills into the playoffs). Other than that everything else was basically set in stone. Also it was New Year’s Eve as well.

[@justinmaybach6388]

They avoided moving a game because none of the teams had a perfect "win and in" scenario in week 17 of that season. When thinking back to that week I initially thought of Atlanta and Carolina in primetime but it would have only made sense if Seattle won and the NFL had no idea what would happen. It made more sense to just move all the important games to the late window and let people celebrate New Year's Eve on a Sunday night for a change. 2006 had a Sunday night game on New Year's Eve because a clinching scenario existed for the Packers and Brett Favre's future was unknown at the time. Next time New Year's Eve falls on a Sunday is 2023 but I imagine that there will be a Sunday night game no matter what because there is an additional week of football as part of the regular season. Additionally, NBC used to avoid broadcasting primetime games in October at the time of the World Series but now the World Series schedules around the National Football League and avoids playing on Sunday.

[@mgb4692]

A Sunday not ending with Sunday night football? Except that actually happened in 2017, with everything mostly wrapped up and dog matchups all over week 17, NBC took it off--although Dalton-to-Boyd which put the Bills in the playoffs was worthy, but note NBC only had a week 17 Sunday night game to that point once when one team wasn't going to the playoffs, that was 2006 which was rumored to be Brett Favre's final game (of course we knew different) It also happened when SNF was moved during the World Series, and in 1990 the Reds swept the A's, canceling the scheduled Sunday night Game 5, leaving nothing on the table (Patriots/Dolphins was Thursday night on TNT)

[@Marylandbrony]

It was also New Year’s Eve and in a year where ratings were generally down.

[@fromthehaven94]

About that Bengals game winning against the Ravens w/ Dalton to Boyd, the Ravens were upset that the game was moved from the 1pm slot to 4pm. Their New Year's Eve plans were superceded by the NFL'S need to have games with the same playoff spot at stake at the same time. Which is why the Bills/Dolphins game was also moved from 1pm to 4pm.

[@ThatDonChannel]

Another reason Sunday night football didn't do as well back then as it does now: HBO...or, more accurately, the fact that it didn't exist back then, so the only way to watch big movies on TV was on network TV, almost always on Sunday nights - and you couldn't just record the movie (or the game) on your VCR as those weren't widespread yet.

[@shannonrhett3304]

The NFL also staged rare Saturday night games, long before the advent of Monday Night Football. One such game featured the pitiful Steelers upsetting the would be champion Browns, 23-7, at Cleveland in 1964. John Henry Johnson ran wild on them for 200 yards.

[@Knights_Oath]

What a different time, people cared about 60 Minutes, movies on TV were a big deal, and there was such a thing in most people's eyes as too much football.

[@johnmanier7968]

I watched the 3 SNF games in 1978, but as a 15-year-old boy of course I did. One issue might’ve been that the games started at 9 ET-about 2 hours after the late afternoon games (4 ET back then, not 4:25) ended. Now there’s less than an hour between those games, so there’s less opportunity to settle in for non-football programming. Also, the ABC games of 1978 probably had better ratings than NBC does now, because all TV ratings have plunged in the last 40+ years.

[@Oliviacaptain]

I remember back in the day, we used to hang out at my friend Bob's house & watch Monday Night Football. We'd talk about Sunday's games, drink beer, and pass around some smoke at halftime. Those were good times. I was truly a different person then. Today, I don't drink alcohol, nor do I smoke... um... halftime stuff... lol But I remember those Monday nights fondly, and I'm still friends with some of those folks, even all these years later. And the NFL helped to bring us together.

[@teen_laqueefa]

😎💨🤟

[@bigblueguy5706]

Remember they would move MNF so not to compete with the World Series

[@thewhexperience3901]

Really going to miss hearing Al’s voice on Sunday nights :,(

[@renwickhumphrey9498]

Back in the'70s cbs aired NFC games while NBC showed AFC games

[@billtooke6642]

I want to see a JG9 Post 10 collab where Post clears out a culvert with JG at Gillette Stadium

[@daveporter0217]

Two of My favorite channels! Yes please! 🙂

[@michaellee4276]

You should talk about Disney killing the cultural institution of Monday Night Football. They branded it ESPN on ABC which made it like a less special spin-off (like a Taco Bell/KFC in the back of a Gas Station). It went from an event to one of hundreds of Basic Cable shows. (I'll ignore Dennis Miller, where ABC was lucky it wasn't a bigger disaster, and John Madden soon bailed them out of that mistake.) Finally they let ESPN bid for MNF on cable instead of ABC on broadcast, and gave Sunday Night Football to NBC. Did Disney/ESPN/ABC really think the NFL was going to let their Marquee primetime game of the week air on cable? Did they think NBC was going to broadcast the same weak matchups ESPN got since 89? Did they not understand the difference in audience size and prestige between Broadcast and Basic Cable? They seemed surprised. ABC gave up the best program in their lineup: the best program in TV history, in the name of Brand Clarity for ESPN/ABC/Disney. And they did it just as Scripted TV ratings were about to tank (to no one's surprise) and Live sports were predictably becoming more valuable than ever. A stunning failure. I think the NFL may have been slightly better off with broadcast MNF as their marquee game instead of Sunday night, but they did fine. NBC was a HUGE winner, ABC a HUGE loser and ESPN didn't do that well despite them bragging that they had "arrived" by getting MNF. Yeah, they got off-brand MNF. It was like buying a discount Hermes Birkin bag branded in big letters "Birkin Bags by Wal-Mart." It was like bragging that you got "Friends" then airing "Joey". Or Conan O'Brien getting The Tonight Show, but airing at Midnight following a Jay Leno talk show.

[@davids9520]

I thought for certain the Detroit Lions were going to be the cause of the Sunday night football problem! They screw up everything! (g)

[@daboys1215]

How times have changed. People just need to understand that life in the 70's was totally different than it is today. I think it was mentioned in the video but most people back then only had 1 tv in their homes and the family watched tv together at night and they did not watch sports.

[@rgwebb5165]

I didnt have ESPN until late 90s. I did not realize the channel had Sunday night football starting in 1987. Thanks for the knowledge.

[@shackdaddy7106]

Without question the number one thing that made the NFL so much more popular in the 80s and going forward to today than it was even in the 70s is fantasy football. Now football fans we’re literally interested in EVERY NFL game whether it had meaning or not. It was in the mid-80s when fantasy football really took hold in this country. And that was just about the time on Sunday night football became a every week thing. I started playing fantasy football back in 1981, it was not nearly as big as it is now. And leagues were a lot more difficult to run because you had to do all the calculations manually. Now you have services like ESPN fantasy football that literally do all the calculations for you. So it is a lot easier for the commissioners and the players to enjoy. And in a fantasy sense, NFL football is by far the easiest to play because there’s only one game per week per team. And one bye week, which was introduced in the NFL in 1990 that really made fantasy football more interesting from a managerial standpoint.

[@oddballskull1941]

Remember when that one Steelers/ravens game got delayed because of covid, then again because of that tv special award show thing or whatever the hell that was, and everyone freaked out about it, could you imagine a Sunday night game being canceled for this, in this era

[@mgb4692]

And also don't forget the NFL ended up playing every day of the week for maybe the first time ever, definitely in the modern era😎

[@Davehhhh]

I'm so glad ESPN got rid of SNF. Those announcers in the 90s were terrible

[@TooterShelby]

I think that ESPN Sunday Night Football was actually pretty good. Mike Patrick wasn’t that bad of an commentator.

[@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040]

Another quality video by JG9!

[@Cline3911]

Lol. The people complaining about watching football all day would lose their minds if they saw what we have today, redzone channel and all.

[@mrmoose6619]

I believe that possibly back then even the demand was there, it just could not necessarily be realized. I remember growing up that we had 1 main TV so whatever was on that was what was on. There was a small black and white TV at the kitchen table, but really... it was not easy to watch a different show. This was the mid-80's that my memory serves me. Once the console TVs started burning out and modern independent TV sets became cheaper, then multiple TV became the norm. True wireless remote controls and the modern cable box helped this along as well. With console,, the football fans may have gotten their local game and then the kids got their shows before and/or after... (Except perhaps in the New York market... I know my Dad's side it was the men were Giants fans, the women Jets fans... same divide for the Yankees and Mets... don't ask, I never did and can't anymore). Yes, we have Saturday where one can watch 13 hours of college and then Sunday 9 more with a break... multiple TV households help. Non-fans can watch on their own TV whatever... and these days, inside recreational activities have become more normal.... so that helps Sunday Night games...

[@daBEAGLE1017]

I remember our family having a black and white TV and seeing opening credits say "in color" yet wondering why it was still black and white. Im showing my age now.

[@johnharris6655]

If not for some of the most terrible officiating in the history of any AFC Championship game, Super Bowl 12 would have been the defending Super Bowl Champion Raiders against the Cowboys. America's most wanted versus America's team.

[@stevenbauer4799]

Like bolts didn't get hosed by the fake fumble/holy roller play vs. raiders. And vikes not boys would have played in s b x if not for a horrible call on boys hail mary play.

[@penguinsfan251]

The Raiders should have been eliminated by the Patriots in 1976.

[@johnwhite5485]

@@stevenbauer4799 - The holy roller play, (which as a more or less Raider supporter, I'll admit was B/S), had no playoff implications direct or indirect.

[@ericweiseronline6800]

ABC once ran a Friday night game (Jets at Dolphins, 12/16/83) that was originally scheduled for that Friday, 9 p.m., not moved because of a storm or any other reason. Long time ago, still remember it - Miami clobbered the Jets in that one. To this day, never was sure why they scheduled a Friday night game, but always thought Friday night NFL games were a good idea late in the season (h.s. football over by that time, so wouldn't interfere). I guess the idea never caught on.

[@igotjams1]

Monday Night Foitball with Howard Cosell and dandy Don Merredith... Don : "Houston, Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers they are number one..." Howard : "Oh, shut up !"

[@grxracer-1606]

Sunday Night and Thursday night football were great on ABC with Dandy Don, Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford. Late 70,s and 80,s. When football was worth watching.

[@fallandbounce]

Sunday nights were tough back then. 60 Minutes after the 4 o'clock game was a given, then people settled in for Monday morning. I loved football, but it felt gratuitous, like lying in bed all day or eating cake and ice cream for lunch and dinner. It wasn't right for the time.

[@Musicradio77Network]

“The Wonderful World of Disney” was on NBC around the time that the Sunday edition of “Monday Night Football” was on ABC which was a disaster. NBC had Disney on hours after the game.

[@shannonrhett3304]

I appreciate the back story, but whereas most people beat around the bush in getting to the point, you tend to beat around the forest.

[@karlcooper8460]

I remember Sunday night football.

[@karlcooper8460]

That was Craig Morton getting sacked not John Elway just for your info.

[@davidcobb2693]

Just for your info, John Elway was 17 years old when Super Bowl XII was played

[@karlcooper8460]

@@davidcobb2693 I know but you know how it is with this generation just thought I would educate a few people.

[@davidcobb2693]

@@karlcooper8460 You also could have mentioned that Craig Morton had spent 10 years with Dallas so the Cowboys knew what to expect from the Broncos.

[@karlcooper8460]

@@davidcobb2693 My point wasn't to get that deep.

[@johnwhite5485]

and not Payton Manning either.

[@terrymartin3200]

You didn't mention the night that the network decided to jump to the movie "Heidi" in the last minutes of a really tight game because the game extended beyond the end of the time slot.

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Did a video on that here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6LcmKmketmMpcU

[@igotjams1]

I remember that Rams/Steelers game. I was just a kid but we couldn't wait for this game because back then, all non sell outs were blacked out. The Rams played in the 90,000 seat Coliseum, so every game was blacked out, even though they averaged 70,000 per game! The game was actually so-so, but the fact that we were watching a home game on tv was cool.

[@rocknroll7316]

I will definitely not watch 3 full games on Sunday but it's nice to have them to pick and choose from. Usually I will watch 1 full name and parts of the other games depending on how entertaining they are

[@shocktrauma85]

Same. I watch highlights from others though on KZbin.

[@warlaker]

Now, in theory, the NFL could put on a game every day of the week if they wish and it would easily win in the ratings.

[@kpk33x]

I can remember watching three straight games many Sundays 20 years ago. It wasn't the third game that was the problem, the 2nd game would sometimes drag and I would fall asleep for part. Now married with 2 kids I am lucky if I get to watch three straight minutes.

[@krl97a]

SB 12 was a showcase for great defense. Doomsday in the dome.

[@MrTwenty20video]

Thank you.

[@scottconner7930]

43 Years Ago

[@lenny1680]

You are forgetting about Turkey Day games since you said that the NFL played ONLY on Sunday afternoons. he NFL played its first game on Thanksgiving in 1920. The Akron Pros defeated the Canton Bulldogs by a score of 7-0. Except for the years during World War II, the Detroit Lions have hosted a game every year since 1934. The Dallas Cowboys have hosted a game most years since 1966.

[@elliebellie7816]

The only time all year I watch Detroit is on Thanksgiving. Wouldn't miss it for the world.

[@crowtservo]

I watch SNF unless the World Series is on. I watched the 1979 World Series when I got the DVD box set for it about 15 years ago. During game 5, they promoted the Sunday Night Game later that night (WS game 5 was a late afternoon game) and when I first saw it I thought ABC had the game until they decided to put it on ESPN after that. Now that I saw this video, I’m sure they were hoping that the World Series would be a good lead in for the football game between the Cowboys and Rams.

[@dr.roberts4508]

Las Vegas had a lot to do with football T.V. scheduling

[@bpsoup1]

Thursday night football with Dallas Cowboys - good ratings; Sunday night Superbowl with Dallas Cowboys - best NFL ratings ever; I know! Let's try this risky experiment with teams that aren't the Dallas Cowboys, what could go wrong?

[@BrianKapellusch]

Why is it "waiting all day for Sunday night?". We know it's Sunday. How about "waiting all week for Sunday night?"

[@stevepaljusevic3724]

which ask the question what change between today when every one wait for Sunday Night to back in the 70's when the country said 1 PM and 4 PM is OK but a special Monday night on a Sunday was too much, and as a follow up what did NBC (and before that ESPN and TNT) get sunday night football so right and ABC got so wrong with MNF on a sunday night

[@AlBowlly2316]

I attended the Rams/Steelers game. Miserable weather for LA. Cold and wet. We had seats in the front row on the side of the end zone. Hard to see most of the game, but we did have Rams cheerleaders right in front of us all night.

[@ecembrew]

Wow the steelers benefitting from bad officiating....never heard that one before* insert sarcasm

[@ecembrew]

@@matthewdaley746 That was a fluke very different.. if the Patriots played them 100 times they would have beaten them 99 times... plus there were 2 TDs scored by the Eagles, that for the previous decade would have been incomplete; however, for the SB the NFL kind of came to its senses on what a catch is....

[@nathanjm000]

You should make a video on Craig Morton is Super Bowl XII

[@johnwhite5485]

I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't. From what I remember he didn't exactly light up the field in SB V either.

[@ronpeacock9939]

with only 3 stations.. you can flood the airwaves.. I remember being a kid back then and Sunday night was often a disney movie of some kind. now we have so many channels with cable/satallite that we don't have to care if you flood the market.. hell, disney has multiple networks of it's own. But the 70's.. well, as Jeff foxworthy pointed out.. if the president decided to talk, your night was shot.

[@itsallinmyhead365]

I remember having to watch MNF on the 2nd tv ( black & white ). Using my imagination to picture the Seahawks ultra blue unis as they lost, again, to the Raiders.😎

[@markvidpa]

I can’t take this videos anymore. Everything is the BIGGEST and WORST. And take way too long.

[@kayodephillips5435]

I love Al Michaels and Cris Collisworth announcing the game

[@WendyBouchoux]

Me too.

[@knelsud92]

One thing you don't mention, or only mention it in passing, is that one of ABC's biggest Sunday night draws was DROPPED by the network in 1978 (The Wonderful World of Disney), and was picked up by NBC. Why? Mainly so ABC could justify spending an outrageous amount at the time for a new show, Battlestar Galactica. ABC had that, and a movie on most Sunday nights going forward, while CBS had All in The Family, amongst others. (60 Minutes would not necessarily apply here on the East Coast). ABC needed something for an attempt at ratings. I would not doubt that the Sunday night NFL failure had something to do with ABC cancelling Battlestar Galactica abruptly after April 1979. I have no doubt had it worked, there would have been one Sunday night game a week on ABC starting in the 1979 season.

[@ricknibert6417]

NBC had the Disney show from 1961 to 1981. When it moved to Saturday night on CBS, my pastor assured his Sunday night hooky players they no longer had an excuse.

[@erichaynes7502]

On a side note does anyone remember the Monday Night Football game around 75/76 where there was a defensive penalty on the last play of the game. Since time had run out the game clock could not be reset to 3 seconds so they had the scoreboard operator display "3 Seconds" and then finished the game. My best guess is that the home team was Minnesota.

[@steveswangler6373]

in 1978, the Raiders and Patriots were not "two great teams". the Raiders would finish 9-7 mediocre, and the Patriots were good, perhaps very good at 11-5, but neither were "great". so, a 12 minute video to explain that the sunday night games did not garner high ratings and was shelved. seriously?

[@mgb4692]

An earlier JG piece was perhaps the most notable Sunday night special: Ken Stabler's final game in 1984. Also it was at that time the latest start in NFL history, a 9:45 start because of the Reagan/Mondale ("youth and inexperience") debate

[@johnchedsey1306]

If Dan Snyder has his way, the NFL's goose will be laying turds

[@vincentr.6109]

After watching highlights of that Denver-Dallas super bowl, Denver is lucky they lost by only 17. I know back then the Super Bowl was not generally a high scoring affair, but there's a limit.

[@johnwhite5485]

Denver shouldn't have been in that game but the officials effectively gave them a touchdown advantage in the AFC championship when their running back, John Keyworth, fumbled on the one but it wasn't called.

[@mgb4692]

A few weeks after this was the first Thursday night game (Vikings/Cowboys Oct 26)

[@johnblackhead2384]

You know why we hear Underwood? Because the big NFL babies continue to kneel and they don’t show it. Pathetic.

[@sweet1212121]

I hold the unpopular opinion that there’s too much football nowadays. The older I get the less interested I am. Now we threw in an extra game on top of that. I know I don’t have to watch, just my opinion

[@garytruex6906]

Interestingly only the Cowboys game that year got the ratings. Cowboys are ratings gold and have been for 50 plus years.

[@spider_hoss]

I'm still shaken by Star Sky and Hutch from one of your previous videos.

[@nbafan9388]

Click the card on the upper right drinking game.

[@DaleGoins]

I refuse to watch Sunday Night Football as long as Chris Collingsworth is on the program.