Ready For Some Football? Pt. 2 Quiz

Answer: 83

On October 11, 1999, Bryan Barker booted a punt an astounding 83 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars. That punt was one of the few Jets' highlights (if you can call it that) as Jacksonville defeated the Jets, 16-6.

Answer: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On December 12, 1983, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost in overtime to the Green Bay Packers, 12-9. The team would not make another appearance on the show until September 28, 1998, fifteen seasons later. That game was also a loss, 27-6 to the Detroit Lions.

Answer: Buffalo Bills

On the season premiere of ABC's "Monday Night Football" on September 16, 1974, the Oakland Raiders suffered their only loss during that 20 game stretch at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, 21-20, at Rich Stadium. Oakland had a chance to win the game at the end, but George Blanda missed the 50-yard field goal try.

Answer: False

While the Packers were indeed one of the teams involved in that historic first "Monday Night Football" tie, they tied with the Detroit Lions, not the Chicago Bears. The game was played on November 1, 1971, at Lambeau Field and did not go into overtime because the overtime rule for regular season ties had not come into play yet. The rule would not come into effect until the 1974 season.

Answer: Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills were the last of the 26 teams to appear on the show. They beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 23-14, on October 29, 1973. The week before, the Denver Broncos had made their initial appearance on the show which ended in a 23-23 tie against the Raiders.

Answer: 1978

In 1961, the NFL season increased from 12 to 14 games because of expansion (the Dallas Cowboys, 1960, and the Minnesota Vikings, 1961, had entered the league) and to compete with the AFL, which had played a 14-game schedule since its inception the previous year.

When "Monday Night Football" debuted in 1970, the show only televised games 13 of those weeks. Then, in 1978, the season was again increased by another two games to 16. It was in this season that "Monday Night Football" began televising a full season's worth of games.

Answer: Miami Dolphins

After appearing on the show every year since its start, the Miami Dolphins finally missed making the "cut", so to speak, in 1989. However, they would rejoin the show in 1990 and continue to appear every year through to the end of the 1990s. As for the Raiders, they almost made the show every season, but their one missed appearance happened in 1998.

They returned to the Monday night spotlight a year later.

Answer: San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers once ran off a string of 13 consecutive wins. They were:

October 5, 1987 : 49ers - Giants, 41-21
December 14, 1987 : 49ers - Bears, 41-0
November 21, 1988 : 49ers - Redskins 31-21
November 6, 1989 : 49ers - Saints 31-13
November 27, 1989 : 49ers - Giants, 34-24
December 6, 1989 : 49ers - Rams, 30-27
September 10, 1990 : 49ers - Saints, 13-12
Deember 3, 1990 : 49ers - Giants, 7-3
December 17, 1990 : 49ers - Rams, 26-10
November 21, 1991 : 49ers - Rams, 33-10
December 23, 1991 : 49ers - Bears, 52-14
November 9, 1992 : 49ers - Falcons, 41-3
December 28, 1992 : 49ers - Lions, 24-6

The 'Niners had their streak broken one game shy of tying the Raiders' record of 14 straight wins when the lost to the Cleveland Browns on September 13, 1993, 23-13. The team started another streak of nine straight wins that lasted from December 2, 1996 to September 27, 1999. Green Bay snapped the streak this time with a 20-3 victory on November 29, 1999.

Answer: Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons lost a record 10 straight times on ABC's "Monday Night Football". After a 31-30 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Novermber 23, 1981, the Falcons starting their slide of Monday night futility with a 21-16 loss to the (then) Los Angeles Rams on December 14, 1981. The team would lose their next nine appearances. They were:

November 14, 1983 : Rams - Falcons, 36-14
October 22, 1984 : Rams - Falcons, 24-10
November 5, 1984 : Redskins - Falcons 27-14
November 9, 1992 : 49ers - Falcons, 41-3
December 21, 1992 : Cowboys - Falcons, 41-17
September, 27, 1993 : Steelers - Falcons, 45-17
December 2, 1996 : 49ers - Falcons, 34-10
September 20, 1999 : Cowboys - Falcons, 24-7
October 25, 1999 : Steelers - Falcons, 13-9

The Falcons would not get another win until the season the 1999 season finale of ABC'S "Monday Night Football", which happened to take place on January 3, 2000. They beat the 49ers, 34-29.

Answer: Heavy Action

British composer/pianist, Johnny Pearson, wrote the piece, "Heavy Action", for the British sports show, "Superstars", in 1970. The show, which was a competition pitting various athletes against each other in various sporting events (the athletes could not compete in their own events of expertise, however), was a huge hit in Europe before catching on in the U.S., in 1973. ABC bought the rights to use "Heavy Action" as the theme song for ABC's "Monday Night Football" telecasts, in 1971, and it continued to be a staple of the show throughout its run on ABC.

In 1987, composer Edd Kalehoff, who specializes in music compositions for televsion, re-vamped the song. While Kalehoff's version remained true to Pearson's version, anyone can tell that there is a distinct difference between the two songs. "Heavy Action" is still used on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" telecasts, but not with the same prominence that Pearson's version was used. The theme song has been replaced by Hank Williams, Jr.'s "All My Rowdy Friends (Are You Ready For Some Football)" for the show's introduction. For me, Johnny Pearson's version will always have a special place in my heart.