On This Date in Sports December 8, 1980: Breaking Tragic News
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots 16-13 in overtime at the Orange Bowl on Monday Night Football. The game is overshadowed as Howard Cosell broke the news that John Lennon had been murdered outside his New York apartment. The announcement came at the end of regulation as John Smith of the Patriots was trotting on the field to attempt a game-winning field goal that would be blocked.
Over the first decade of Monday Night Football, the unquestioned star was Howard Cosell, who, besides calling the football games, had a unique perspective on life, sports, and society. Cosell was often unabashed and unafraid to let his feelings known. At one time, he was both the most hated and the most loved commentator in sports and helped truly make Monday Night Football an event. Cosell had also been involved in boxing and was a valuable advocate for Muhammad Ali in his battle after refusing to enter the draft.
Howard Cosell often drew celebrity guests to the Monday Night booth. Six years before the shooting that took his life, John Lennon and Ronald Reagan were in the booth for halftime interview on December 9, 1974. During the game, Reagan gave the legendary Beatle pointers about American Football. Lennon was interviewed that day by Cosell, while Reagan was interviewed moments later by Frank Gifford. On the night that Lennon was shot, Ronald Reagan was preparing to move to the White House, having been elected one month earlier. It would be a few months later that President Reagan survived his own shooting on March 30, 1981.
Heading into their late-season matchup, the New England Patriots coached by Ron Earhardt at 8-5 had a shot at the postseason. The Miami Dolphins led by Don Shula were stuck at 6-7 as they were a team in transition, with longtime quarterback Bob Griese seeing his career come to an end earlier in the season. Rookie David Woodley got the start for Miami, who was looking to avenge a 34-0 loss in Foxboro in Week 6. The Patriots, meanwhile, were looking to end the Miami jinx, as they had never won a game in 14 previous attempts at the Orange Bowl.
The game was a defensive battle as John Smith hit a pair of field goals in the second quarter to give New England a 6-0 lead at the half. The Dolphins would tie the game with a pair of field goals by Uwe Von Schamann in the third quarter. Russ Francis gave the Patriots a 13-6 lead in the fourth quarter, reeling in a 38-yard touchdown pass by Matt Cavanaugh. Miami refused to quit as Nat Moore caught an eight-yard pass from Woodley to tie the game. As time was winding down, the Patriots appeared to be on the verge of a win as John Smith came on for a 30-yard field goal. It was at that moment that news broke of John Lennon’s death.
John Smith, the kicker who was walking on the field, while Cosell was breaking the news of John Lennon’s death, had something in common with the Beatles as he was born and raised in England. Smith had played soccer at King Alfred’s College in Winchester and worked as a teacher before moving to the United States. After playing semipro football, John Smith made the Patriots roster in 1974 and played for ten seasons with New England.
The ability to get word of John Lennon’s death so fast was a matter of happenstance, as a news producer for WABC named Alan Weiss was at Roosevelt Hospital, where Lennon was taken after the shooting after he was knocked from his motorcycle by a taxi. Weiss was in the next bed when Lennon was wheeled in, and overheard doctors pronounced John Lennon dead and saw Yoko Ono screaming. He called his news desk and learned there was a shooting at the Dakota near Central Park and was able to get the news to ABC who, in turn, told Howard Cosell to break it as regulation was coming to an end.
After blocking John Smith’s field goal, the Dolphins won the coin toss in overtime and quickly moved the ball down the field, as David Woodley connected with Duriel Harris on a 54-yard pass that set up Uwe von Schamann for a 23-yard field goal to win the game 16-13.