Death Silences Howard Cosell Sportscaster Leaves Legacy Of Controversy

Love him or hate him - and most people did - there was no ignoring Howard Cosell.

With his caustic “tell it like it is” personality, Cosell became the most celebrated sportscaster in history and turned “Monday Night Football” into a national institution.

Cosell, who underwent cancer surgery in 1991, died Sunday at NYU’s Hospital for Joint Diseases. He was 77. His grandson, Justin Cohane, said Cosell died of a heart embolism after a long illness.

Cosell was the strident, colorful voice of ABC radio and television from 1953 to 1992. It was a period of phenomenal growth and change in America’s pastimes, spurred by television’s cascading millions and increased greed among both athletes and promoters.

“Howard Cosell was one of the most original people ever to appear on American television,” said ABC News president Roone Arledge, who was head of ABC Sports during Cosell’s heyday. “He became a giant by the simple act of telling the truth in an industry that was not used to hearing it, and considered it revolutionary.”

Cosell was one of the first sportscasters to acknowledge Muhammad Ali by his new name after he changed it from Cassius Clay and stood up for Ali when the heavyweight champion refused to enter military service during the Vietnam War and was stripped of his title.

“Howard Cosell was a good man and he lived a good life,” Ali said. “I have been interviewed by many people, but I enjoyed interviews with Howard the best. We always put on a good show. I hope to meet him one day in the hereafter. I can hear Howard now saying, ‘Muhammad, you’re not the man you used to be.’ I pray that he is in God’s hands. I will miss him.”

Cosell’s acid tongue generated bitter feuds with not only the print media but also contemporaries in broadcasting. Few, high or low, escaped his often bitter sarcasm, including the institutions on whom his fame was based, boxing and the NFL.

“I never sacrificed truth in the name of friendship,” he insisted.

But he could exhibit stubborn loyalty when his sense of right and wrong was outraged.

Cosell was vilified by many when he defended Ali, but the boxer went on to beat the government in the courts, reclaim his crown and become one of the most popular champions in history. Cosell held firm and emerged as an even more celebrated figure.

“It was a fight Ali had to make. He made it and won,” Cosell said. “People said we, Ali and I, played off each other. That’s partially true.”

Cosell waged a similar battle to defend Curt Flood, who challenged baseball rules binding one player to a team for life unless traded or sold.

Cosell, a graduate in law from New York University, was a TV producer, author and lecturer as well as sportscaster. Cosell was best known for his role with ABC’s “Monday Night Football,” which began in 1970, as well as his broadcasting of big-time prize fights.

In December 1982, after covering a heavyweight title bout in which champion Larry Holmes pummeled Randall “Tex” Cobb for 15 rounds, he announced he never again would broadcast a pro fight.

“I am tired of the hypocrisy and sleaziness of the boxing scene,” he said, calling for it to be reformed or abolished.

He withdrew from “Monday Night Football” in 1983, after 13 years. While acknowledging his reasons were largely personal - he and his wife were both tired of his constant traveling - he also complained that “pro football has become a stagnant bore.”

He criticized the TV industry for bringing former coaches and players into broadcast booths, and he deplored the transfer of football teams from city to city, which he called “a travesty, an affront to fan loyalty.”

Cosell’s looks and voice were as distinctive as his opinions. He was a tall, stoop-shouldered man with long nose, slicked-down hair (in later years, supplemented by a toupee), and an inevitable cigar.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: COSELL QUOTEBOOK “Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these. Of course, I am.” “I have found most baseball players to be afflicted with tobacco-chewing minds.” “I see nothing to sanctify any sports event.” “Boxing is the only sport in the world where the clear intention is for one person to inflict bodily harm upon the other person, mainly to the head where brain damage must ensue … I don’t think improvements or controls are the answer. I think the answer is abolition.” “Without me, the nature of the telecasts was entirely altered. I had commanded attention. I had a palpable impact on the show, giving it a sense of moment. If that sounds like ego, what can I say? I’m telling it like it is.” - Cosell assessing Monday Night Football after his departure from the broadcast team.