This week brings our first Monday night of the NFL regular season. ESPN's Monday Night Football program, already doubling down with back-to-back games to start the autumn, sweetened things a little bit more with an unexpected tribute to recently deceased NFL legend Frank Gifford.
Gifford was a two-way star for the New York Giants in the 1950s and 1960s, then went on to an equally successful second career as an early Monday Night Football broadcaster.
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Current Monday Night Football broadcasters Jon Gruden and Mike Tirico wore old-school MNF jackets -- commonly associated with Gifford -- during their pre-game show ahead of the opening Falcons-Eagles game.
Gruden and Tirico wearing gold jackets in honor of Frank Gifford. pic.twitter.com/R6Ad8EfoeT— ESPN Monday Night (@ESPNMondayNight) September 14, 2015
Here's a shot of Gifford sporting the look back in 1980:
That's not the only Gifford tribute on Monday Night Football this year, though.
In the new show open that debuted today on ESPN, a Gifford-themed Easter egg makes an even more subtle appearance. After William “Refrigerator” Perry spikes the ball in the intro montage, you can very briefly catch a glimpse of Gifford's number, 16, above Jerry Rice as he makes a catch and just below the bank of lights at the top of this screengrab:
