12/8/1980 New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins Complete ABC "Monday Night Football" broadcast

This is a video of the ABC Sports "Monday Night Football" broadcast of the Dec. 8, 1980 National Football League game between the New England Patriots and the Dolphins in Miami, won by the Dolphins, 16-13, in overtime. Frank Gifford handles the play by play and Howard Cosell and Fran Tarkenton are on analysis. This game has been out there on YouTube, but only in pieces, so I put it on one file and took out the commercials. Another costly loss for the Patriots, who fell to 8-6 when the Dolphins prevailed in overtime at the Orange Bowl. The game, though, became secondary after the announcement by Howard Cosell that John Lennon of the Beatles had been shot and killed in New York. I had finished a college assignment and flipped the game on just as Frank was imploring Howard to share the news. I couldn't believe it. Still can't. Merely for accounting purposes, the Patriots took a 13–6 lead in the fourth quarter when Matt Cavanaugh threw a 38-yard touchdown to Russ Francis. Then rookie Dolphins QB David Woodley threw a ball into the end zone that hit Joe Rose and bounced to fellow receiver Nat Moore, who grabbed it and barely stayed in bounds. Just after Cosell gave his stunning announcement (the local station had run the fact that Lennon had been shot on a crawl), John Smith attempted the winning field goal for the Patriots but it was blocked. Uwe von Schamann won it with a 23-yard field goal in overtime. Box score in comments. Copyright National Football League. I don't claim the rights to, and don't profit from, this video. I just posted it for historical and educational purposes, and for those who will enjoy it as much as I did.