Howard
Cosell was arguably the most colorful and controversial
national sports reporter and personality in American
media. His provocative style redefined
sports play-by-play and “color”
commentary from the 1960s through
most of the 1980s.
Cosell came into prominence as a
blow-by-blow radio-TV reporter of early
(Cassius Clay) Muhammad Ali
fights. An attorney by profession, his
meteoric rise as a sports journalist paralleled
the equally meteoric career of
(Clay) Ali, who won the Olympic Light-
Heavyweight title in 1956 and soon after
captured the World Heavyweight
crown. During the 1960s and 1970s,
Cosell called every Ali fight and virtually
every major championship boxing
match originating in the United States.
The most enduring Cosell
imprimatur
was created as a member of the
American Broadcasting Company’s
(ABC-TV’s) original Monday Night Football broadcast corps. Teamed with two
football legends, Don Meredith and
Frank Gifford, Cosell’s colorful and
provocative commentaries were both
praised and deplored by viewers and
critics alike—but were nonetheless effective
in establishing the innovative
Monday TV football telecasts as an
American tradition.
For many years, Cosell also provided
color commentary on ABC’s Monday
Night Baseball, and top-lined numerous
other sports commentary shows on
both television and radio. He also hosted
a Saturday Night Live variety hour for a limited period on
ABC Television.
His many honors include
election in 1993 to
the American Sportscasters
Hall of Fame and the
National Sportscasters
and Sportwriters Hall of
Fame.
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