(This is the second part of Brian Hauswirth’s two-part series on Dan Dierdorf’s induction)
An NFL Hall of Famer and veteran network broadcaster with ties to Columbia will be inducted into the Missouri Broadcasters Association’s (MBA) Hall of Fame in June.
St. Louisan Dan Dierdorf was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996. He’s best known nationally for serving as an analyst for 12 seasons on ABC’s “Monday Night Football” with Frank Gifford and Al Michaels. Dierdorf says 12 years is a long run in a franchise like MNF:
“Our customary position in the booth was Frank (Gifford) would be in the middle, I was to Frank’s right, Al (Michaels) was to Frank’s left. And I was never not aware of the fact that I was standing with television history,” Dierdorf says.
Mr. Dierdorf says Gifford, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell helped make “Monday Night Football” and describes Michaels as a generational talent. Dierdorf tells 939 the Eagle that he never took for granted where he was, adding that he’s appreciative of the MBA Hall of Fame induction.
Dierdorf is already in the NFL Hall of Fame and the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. He retired from football in 1983. He did Mizzou football with Bill Wilkerson and John Rooney for a few seasons here in Columbia and then served as a network broadcaster for three decades:
“It was my second career but it was the career I did the longest. It was the career that I never didn’t feel blessed to just be a part of it and be around the talent that I was around,” says Dierdorf.
He was in the sports broadcast booth with talent like Dick Enberg, Verne Lundquist, Greg Gumbel and Ian Eagle. Dierdorf also served for two years as sports director of KMOX-TV (now KMOV) in 1986-1987, the CBS affiliate in St. Louis.
Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with NFL Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf: