Pope: ‘Monday Night Football’ comes to town, and even Cosell can’t overshadow ’72 Dolphins

“Don’t (Co)sell the Dolphins short,” a king-sized banner pleaded in the Orange Bowl. “Frank-ly, they’re Dandy.”

And Cosell (Howard) and Frank (Gifford) and Dandy (Don Meredith) didn’t as the nation finally got a full Monday evening’s teleview of the unbeaten Dolphins.

At times during Miami’s raggedy 31-10 dash through the St. Louis Cardinals, Cosell sounded more like the Dolphin historian than Dolphin historians. The verbose centerpiece of ABC-TV’s Monday Night Football crew had spent three hours Sunday afternoon picking the considerable brain of Dolphin linebacker Nick Buoniconti.

It showed

The minute Dick Anderson recovered a fumble at the Card 29 in the first quarter, setting the charge for Jim Kiick’s 1-yard touchdown beaut, Cosell reeled off Anderson’s fumble-grabbing spectaculars of the season.

Without even a note in front of him, yet.

Cosell had been getting heat by mail and telephone over the network about not showing as many Dolphin highlights as some fans wanted. He also had received physical threats since arriving several days earlier with Emmy (“That’s short for Mary-Edith”), his adored wife of 28 1/2 years.

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He showed up at the Orange Bowl under police guard. “But I’m not going to blame South Florida just because there are a couple of kooks around,” he said. “I know this area has no more toleration for that sort of thing than the country in general.”

Cosell said he notified the FBI of threats “because it’s been documented that there are some nuts around ... look what happened to the Kennedys and Martin Luther King and George Wallace.”

Policemen were in numbers around the TV booth. But if Cosell noticed, it was not audible over a monitor set in the press box once the game started.

He was all panegyrics and encomiums on the Dolphins.

Sample: “We’ve seen a lot of fine guards this year, but Larry Little and Bob Kuechenberg are reviving memories of the great Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston of old Green Bay days …”

ABC-TV hasn’t gotten a good Dolphin game here yet. The only other Monday nighter emanating from the Orange Bowl was a 34-3 hacking of Chicago last season.

But the Dolphins’ eminence only fed Cosell’s pregame regard for them.

“Everyone knows the Dolphins played poorly against Dallas in the last Super Bowl,” Cosell said before the game. “However, right now I rate Miami and Washington the best two teams in pro football, one two, either way.

“I also think Don Shula could be one of the best three coaches in the game since World War II, along with George Allen and Vince Lombardi. I don’t believe Shula will be satisfied with just winning one Super Bowl. He’s going to want to keep on and on winning them.”

Loosy-goosy Meredith came across at his best as the Dolphins piled point upon point in their 11th straight victory.

When St. Louis’ quarterback, Dr. Gary Cuozzo, loosed one of many shaky passes, Meredith twanged: “That wasn’t even a good pass for a dentist.”.

Earlier, 38-year-old Earl Morrall had tripped while trying to set up to pass for the Dolphins. “When you’ve been in this thing 17 seasons, you’re bound to stumble once in a while,” Meredith said.

And when Cuozzo got tangled up in his own feet, old Cowboy quarterback Meredith cracked, “Like father, like son.”

The first youngster to run on the field made his sprint in the third quarter. Cosell picked up on that. “Don, did you see that kid run out there when the ball was in play?”

Meredith allowed as how he hadn’t seen any such thing. Gifford said he missed it too. Cosell said it was a pretty awful thing anyway.

“Well, Howard,” Meredith retorted, “Maybe he had to go to the bathroom and there wasn’t any room on his side of the field.”