Don Meredith was 'Dandy' on the field – and in the Monday Night Football booth
Don Meredith, who passed on Sunday, quarterbacked the Dallas Cowboys for eight NFL seasons before heading into ABC's 'Monday Night Football' broadcast booth. Don Meredith knew the game, but he added a comedic touch when working with Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell.
This Jan. 1972, photo provided by ABC, shows, from left, Don Meredith, Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford. Meredith, one of the most recognizable figures of the early Dallas Cowboys and a member of ABC's "Monday Night Football" broadcast team, died Sunday, Dec. 5, in Santa Fe, N.M.
AP Photo/ABC
Don Meredith, former Southern Methodist and Dallas Cowboys quarterback, died Sunday in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Meredith was a Texas original. He was born in Mount Vernon and grew up to play quarterback at SMU in Dallas.
Then, he played eight seasons for the Dallas Cowboys, leading them to the NFL Championship game in 1966 and 1967.
Meredith retired after the 1968 season and eventually wound up on television, both providing commentary on NFL games and acting on NBC's 'Police Story' and in Lipton Tea ads.
The former quarterback joined the "Monday Night Football" crew in 1970 and spent three seasons with ABC before leaving for NBC in 1973. Meredith returned to ABC in 1977 and stayed until his retirement in 1984.
Meredith certainly knew the game, as an All-American quarterback at SMU in the late 1950s and attaining All-Pro status with the Cowboys in the 1960s. But his more lasting legacy may be his time in the broadcast booth rather than on the playing field. He's humorous asides earned him cult status as the comic sidekick to the verbose Monday Night announcer, Howard Cosell.