Are you ready for some Hank?
NASHVILLE — The rowdy friends are coming back.
Hank Williams Jr. will return to the opening of Monday Night Football with his song “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night” and its catchphrase “Are you ready for some football?” ESPN had dropped the song six years ago after Williams made intemperate remarks about U.S. President Barack Obama.
The song had played for more than two decades on Monday Night Football and was closely identified with the show, and with football, for a generation of fans. But, in 2011, in an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on the Fox News Channel, Williams faulted Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, for playing golf together. It would be like “Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu,” he said, referring to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.
He also said that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were “the Three Stooges.”
Three days later, ESPN dropped the song, though Williams claimed the decision was his.
Now Williams says he is glad to be back.
“I’m feeling at home and it’s a real good thing,” he told The Tennessean. “I hope there will be some happy people on Monday night again.” The new video with Williams for the show was taped in Nashville on Sunday.
Williams initially recorded the song as “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” in 1984. It was first broadcast on Monday Night Football in ’89, when the show aired on ABC. Williams regularly appeared in the show’s opening montage and recorded different versions of the song tailored for each week’s game.
ESPN never really tried to replace Williams and the popular song with anything as flashy. It mostly stuck with the longtime Monday Night Football instrumental theme known as “Heavy Action.”
“Monday Night Football had the most iconic music video in sports television history with Hank Williams Jr.,” ESPN said in a statement “Fans told us they missed it, so we’re excited to bring this popular segment back to ESPN for the 2017 NFL season with some new twists. We expect to make a formal announcement soon.”
Speaking to The Tennessean about a possible backlash because of Williams’ views, Stephanie Druley, ESPN’s senior vicepresident of events and studio production, said: “I’m sure there’ll be some, but I’m not concerned.”
“It just immediately gets you psyched for the game you’re going to watch and for football fans, that’s a big deal. I think people will be really, really excited about it,” she said.
The song was popular enough to earn a parody on The Simpsons: “Open Wide for Some Soccer” and inspired a host of “Are You Ready for Some ...” headlines and jokes.
Wiliams is currently touring. He plays Durant, Oklahoma, on Friday and Choctaw. Mississippi, on Saturday. This summer he will be appearing in a number of cities with Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Since leaving Monday Night Football, Williams has not hesitated to continue to make provocative statements. “We’ve got a Muslim for a president who hates cowboys, hates cowgirls, hates fishing, hates farming, loves gays and we hate him!” he said of Obama to concertgoers in 2012.