Six years ago ESPN removed Hank Williams Jr.’s “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here For Monday Night” as the opening theme for their Monday Night Football broadcasts after remarks he made about President Barack Obama being “the enemy.” The intro, which first debuted in 1989, will return in 2017 with Williams and a pair of “contemporary music artists” as ESPN is willing to accept backlash in order to get their iconic intro song back, according to the Tennesseean.
The new intro video was shot in Nashville over the weekend and will once again feature lyrics that are tailored to each week’s matchup. ESPN senior vice president of events and studio production, Stephanie Druley, explained the motive to bring Williams back to the Tennesseean‘s Cindy Watts.
“I think it’s a return to our past in that it’s such an iconic song associated with football,” Druley said. “It was the original. It belongs to Monday Night Football. It really is about returning to what fans know. It’s a Monday night party and that’s what we’re all hoping to get back to.”
When asked about backlash to the move, Druley said ESPN will take the criticism so they can have Williams back.
“I’m sure there’ll be some, but I’m not concerned,” Druley told the Tennesseean.”It was the right time. We discussed it internally and it was just the right time to bring him back.”
Williams’ intro is as well known as any lead-in song in sports, but the move comes at a curious time as ESPN is re-investing in Williams’ pre-game promo in the midst of massive layoffs. Comparing the two is apples to oranges, but for those upset at the company for unloading talent like Ed Werder, Trent Dilfer, and most recently John Clayton on the NFL side, they’ll see this as an allocation of funds that could have gone to trying to keep some of them — it also seems to poke a hole in that whole, “liberal agenda” argument against ESPN.
For some, the move will be a questionable one by ESPN, while others will celebrate the return of the once great question posed every Monday night: “Are you ready for some football?”
