Remembering the Most Outlandish Occurrence Ever on Monday Night Football

After I wrote my book on the 1970s in Pro Football, practically everyone who interviewed me would ask me what was so special about that decade. I would inevitably respond that there were so many unique occurrences during the 1970s that made that decade very special. The occurrence described in tonight’s episode is just one such special event.

The year was 1975, and the date was October 20. The New York Giants would be visiting the Buffalo Bills, and the National Football League would be treated to a very competitive contest that a winner was not decided until the final play of the game.

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Monday Night Football Game You'll Never Forget

But an event that occurred early in the third quarter would take over the thoughts and minds of virtually everyone who saw it live at Rich Stadium in western New York, and the millions who watched it happen on television across the nation.

With so many fans across the airwaves watching the game, practically anything that happened during those three hours was going to be discussed along the next day’s work conversations all throughout the country. Well, what happened during the course of this game was in point of fact incredible…and extremely dangerous. An intoxicated fan…I say intoxicated, because no sober person would do what this moron did…decided to take a hold of the rope which held the placekicking net in place along the west end line of the stadium.

The spectacle of this unnamed fan dangling at least 50 feet in the air above the playing surface while the game continued was unnerving, to say the least.
Even the ABC-TV crew chimed in while watching this spectacle.

Howard Cosell, a wordsmith for the ages, described this event as “…dangerous, disgraceful, and absurd.”

The fan hung on that rope, as the fans and players watched. Many gasps could be heard over the airwaves, and certainly they were soundly heard by those who were in attendance and who were doing the gasping.

This crazy fan hung on that rope for practically 10 full minutes until he somehow miraculously made it back to his departure point on the front row of the upper ledge of Rich Stadium. He then departed the stadium with several police and security personnel giving him a much-deserved escort.

During the time that he was dangling and hanging precipitously over the playing field, practically every player and coach of both teams stopped what they were doing for several moments to watch this attention-seeking idiot.

What Were The Players Thinking?

I have interviewed several players who played in this game, and even over four decades later, they still remembered watching this spectacle. Donnie Green, the late offensive tackle for the Bills, informed me several years ago that he and his teammates “…weren’t sure how it would end.”

Indeed, nobody wanted to see the guy fall. There certainly was not any crash pad on the field surface. Nobody had ever seen or prepared for such an occurrence, because this was the first time, and to my knowledge the only time, that the NFL has ever seen such a stunt.

All throughout the 1970s, dozens of foolish fans would also give rise to the practice of streaking, that of running onto the field with absolutely no clothes on. A streaker would generally attempt such a stunt whenever there would be the most about of national television coverage.

During the 1970s, that usually meant sprinting onto the field naked on Monday Night Football. Their desire was to gain attention, notoriety, and perhaps fame…in a sick and twisted sort of way. But even streaking could not measure up to the sheer danger of the fan hanging from a rope, high above the football field at Rich Stadium.

Playing devil’s advocate, can you imagine what would have happened if the poor guy had lost his grip and fallen off the wire? A loud and unmistakable gasp would have been heard all throughout the stadium, because while he was hanging there, virtually nobody in the stadium was watching the actual game.

The fans preferred to watch this dangerous spectacle happen. Then the best that this guy could possibly hope for is a half dozen or so broken bones. Maybe a ruptured spleen. A couple of compound fractures would not be out of the question either. The worst-case scenario? The guy would plunge to his death.

If that happened, how could the game in all actuality continue? If it did, it would be morbid and grotesque, and definitely in bad taste. The whole scene was a nightmare for NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who definitely wanted to avoid such an occurrence from happening on national television to his beloved sport.

In the end, the intoxicated idiot somehow managed to survive this episode, as he made it back to the section where he began his airborne “journey.”

An urban legend at the time claimed that the guy’s first words to a security guard upon touching down on terra firma was to ask the cop for a drink. And with that, the most outlandish occurrence in the history of NFL Monday Night Football thankfully reached its conclusion.

Ready to learn more about some more NFL fans from the 1970s and their shenanigans?

Or maybe you’d like to learn about the first ever Monday Night football game?

Podcast Trivia Time

Trivia Question:

Who was the New York Giants starting quarterback on the night of that epic Monday Night Football game on October 20, 1975?

Trivia Answer:

Craig Morton

Host of Pro Football in the 1970s - Joe Zagorski

Throughout his days, Joe spent some time as a sportswriter and has been a member of the Pro Football Researchers Association since the mid-1980s. Joe is also a proud member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

Also, if you’re interested in picking one of Joe’s books up, all three are listed below.

Here, you can learn more about Joe and Pro Football in the 1970s.