John Lennon and Howard Cosell don’t seem like they’d have much in common, much less be friends, but they were. I don’t think they were best buddies or anything, but they were friendly with each other and Lennon was interviewed by Howard Cosell twice in his life. When he was murdered on December 8th, 1980, Cosell interrupted the Monday Night Football show to announce the death of John Lennon to a shocked and stunned audience. Very stunned! Here’s the two interviews and lastly the video from the Monday Night Football night when Lennon had been murdered in New York City.

First Interview in October, 1974

They first met in October of 1974 when Lennon was interviewed by Cosell on the sportscasters radio show, “Speaking of Everything” which was broadcast on WABC out of New York City where they both lived. It’s really a good interview and you can tell the two of them were getting along. It’s starts out with the two of them kidding around and then they talked about Lennon’s immigration problem at the time. If you’re not familiar with that, you can read about it here. They also talk about The Beatles and Lennon said that the possibilities of The Beatles recording together again were very good. He also plugs his new album at the time, “Walls And Bridges" and gives his opnion about the music in the ‘70’s.

Second Interview in December, 1974 On monday night football

Two months later, John Lennon was a guest on Howard Cosell’s Monday Night Football halftime show. This was in Los Angeles at an L.A. Rams game and John Lennon was in the middle of his “lost weekend” and he looks like he’s feeling no pain as he chats with his friend Howard Cosell.

Howard Cosell Announces John Lennon’s Death On Monday Night Football, December 8th, 1980

John Lennon was shot and killed on Monday, December 8th, 1980. They got the word in the announcer’s booth at the Monday Night Football game and it was decided that Howard Cosell should announce it to the audience. This video from ESPN shows the backstory and the announcement from Howard Cosell. “An unspeakable tragedy...dead on arrival.”

Links to Howard Cosell and John Lennon on the Interwebs

Watch John Lennon On Monday Night Football 1974 [VIDEO]

Howard Cosell and John Lennon Break Down the Action on 'Monday Night Football' (1974)

From John Lennon’s death to the 1989 San Francisco earthquake: When breaking news and sports collide

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