Don meredith dies | don meredith, don meredith death, don meredith biography, don meredith quotes

Don meredith dies | don meredith, don meredith death, don meredith biography, don meredith quotes

Don Meredith was the happiest, most fun-loving guy wherever he went, whether crooning country tunes in the huddle as quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys or jawing with Howard Cosell in the broadcast booth as analyst on the groundbreaking “Monday Night Football.”
His irreverent personality made him one of the most beloved figures in sports and entertainment in the 1970s and 1980s, helping turn the Cowboys and “Monday Night Football” into national sensations.
“Dandy Don” died Sunday after suffering a brain hemorrhage and lapsing into a coma in Santa Fe, N.M., where he lived with his wife, Susan, for the past 25 years. He was 72.
A folksy foil to Cosell’s tell-it-like-it-is pomposity, Meredith was at his best with unscripted one-liners — often aimed at his broadcast partners. His trademark, though, came when one team had the game locked up. Meredith would warble, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over” — from a song by his pal Willie Nelson.
Meredith played for the Cowboys in 1960-68, taking them from winless expansion team to the brink of a championship. In 1966, Meredith led Dallas to the playoffs, where it lost 34-27 to the Green Bay Packers. In 1967, the Packers eliminated Meredith’s Cowboys from the playoffs 21-17 in a game that came to be known as the “Ice Bowl” because of frigid conditions in Green Bay.
He was only 31 when he retired before training camp in 1969, and a year later wound up alongside Cosell in the broadcast
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booth.
“Watching him on TV was like being in the huddle with Don again,” former teammate Dan Reeves said. “He just made the game fun.”
Meredith was the life of the party on Monday nights from 1970 through 1984, except for a three-year stint playing a detective on NBC’s “Police Story.” He spent 11 of those years teamed with another former player, Frank Gifford, a friend before they became broadcast partners.
Meredith also appeared in more than a dozen made-for-TV movies, specials or dramas. He once filled in for Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show” and was a popular pitchman for Lipton tea.
“He loved life, he loved people, God bless him,” former teammate Walt Garrison said. “When he walked into a room, he took it over. … You couldn’t be sad around Don very long. When you left, you’d come away laughing.”
Broncos: Josh McDaniels was fired as coach after losing 17 of his last 22 games with Denver. Running backs coach Eric Studesville was named interim coach.
McDaniels has two years left on his contract, leaving the Broncos on the hook for nearly $7 million, plus millions more owed Mike Shanahan, who was fired as coach last year. That means the Broncos will be paying three head coaches next season unless the organization decides to withhold McDaniels’ salaries for 2011 and ’12 based on a violation of his deal, such as a morals clause.
McDaniels hired videographer Steve Scarnecchia, who violated league rules by videotaping a 49ers practice in London on Oct. 30. McDaniels was fined $50,000 by the NFL for failing to report the transgression.
Fines: The NFL fined Ravens linebacker Jameel McClain $40,000 for his helmet hit Sunday that left Steelers tight end Heath Miller with a concussion. Nose tackle Haloti Ngata was fined $15,000 for hitting Ben Roethlisberger’s helmet and breaking the Pittsburgh quarterback’s nose.
Injuries: Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib (hip) and center Jeff Faine (triceps) and Rams linebacker Na’il Diggs (torn pectoral muscle) will miss the rest of the season.

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Posted by musicking on Dec 7 2010. Filed under World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry