Michaels In, Namath and Simpson Out

Joe Namath and O.J. Simpson will not return to “Monday Night Football” next season, Al Michaels will replace Frank Gifford as the play-by-play announcer and Gifford will become the lone commentator.

The plans for realignment on “Monday Night Football” were confirmed by network sources in New York.

The new alignment will mark the first time since the series went on the air in 1970 that only two announcers will be used.

ABC is expected to buy up the remaining year on Namath’s contract, while Simpson will be offered a job as a college football commentator.

According to KMPC sportscaster Jim Healy, Namath was making $25,000 per game, or about $400,000 per year. At the time Namath signed, sources in New York said his contract called for him to make $350,000 in 1985 and $450,000 this year.

But Namath later said he was making close to $1 million per year, which seemed unusually high to those familiar with the business.

Also included in Namath’s contract were three option years, beginning with 1987, which obviously will not be picked up.

Namath, whom ABC considered hiring in 1974, replaced Don Meredith last season.

Critics complained about Namath as a communicator and said he offered little insight. A plus was that he wasn’t afraid to express opinions. He once called the Rams’ offense archaic.

Simpson spent three seasons on “Monday Night Football.”

Simpson’s biggest critic turned out to be Howard Cosell, whom Simpson worked with in 1983. In his book, “I Never Played the Game,” Cosell wrote of Simpson: “I thought his speech was improving and he could handle the assignment. I was wrong.”

It had been rumored that Michaels, ABC’s No. 1 play-by-play announcer on baseball, might take over Keith Jackson’s spot on college football if Jackson and ABC couldn’t agree on a new contract. But Jackson and ABC recently reached an agreement.

Roone Arledge, former president of ABC Sports, was an advocate of the three-announcer format. But Arledge has been replaced by Dennis Swanson.

With ABC now owned by cost-conscious Capital Cities Communications and critics often complaining that three announcers in the booth was one too many, the move to a two announcer format seemed inevitable.

Gifford, as a play-by-play announcer, was often criticized for making too many mistakes, while Michaels is generally praised for his accuracy.