BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — ESPN pulled Hank Williams
Jr.'s classic intro song from its broadcast of Monday night's NFL game after
the country singer famous for the line "Are you ready for some
football?" used an analogy to Adolf Hitler in discussing President Barack
Obama.
In an interview Monday morning on Fox News'
"Fox & Friends," Williams, unprompted, said of Obama's outing on
the links with House Speaker John Boehner: "It'd be like Hitler playing
golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu."
Asked to clarify, Williams said, "They're the
enemy," adding that by "they" he meant Obama and Vice President
Joe Biden.
Anchor Gretchen Carlson later said to him,
"You used the name of one of the most hated people in all of the world to
describe, I think, the president." Williams replied, "Well, that is
true. But I'm telling you like it is."
"While Hank Williams Jr. is not an ESPN
employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the
open to 'Monday Night Football,'" the network said in a statement.
"We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have
decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast."
Williams released a statement through his
publicist, saying: "Some of us have strong opinions and are often
misunderstood. My analogy was extreme — but it was to make a point. I was
simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me — how ludicrous that
pairing was. They're polar opposites and it made no sense. They don't see
eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the
president."
ESPN did not say whether the intro, synonymous with
"Monday Night Football" since 1989, would be used again after this
week's Colts- Buccaneers game.
"Every time the media brings up the tea party
it's painted as racist and extremists — but there's never a backlash — no
outrage to those comparisons," Williams' statement continued.
"Working-class people are hurting — and it doesn't seem like anybody
cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else
is without a job — it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change.
The policies have to change."
ESPN covered the story during
"SportsCenter" and the pregame show but did not mention the song's
absence at the start of the game telecast when fans would normally be hearing
"Are you ready for some football?" Instead of a music video, viewers
just saw clips of both teams and heard a voice-over about the matchup.
The song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on
Monday Night" is a remixed version of his 1984 hit "All My Rowdy
Friends are Coming Over Tonight." The version won Williams four Emmy
Awards in the early 1990s as the opening theme to "Monday Night Football,"
then on ABC.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/John Raoux, File)
