Monday Night Football Intro Video: Watch Sister Hazel Replace Hank Williams Jr.

Did you notice anything weird at the beginning of ESPN’s Monday Night Football this week?

No, I’m not talking about the fact Curtis Painter is the starting QB for the Indianapolis Colts, I’m talking about the mysterious absence of the intro music featuring Hank Williams. You know, the one with the “Are you ready for some foooootball!!!” line that has become so famous over the years.

The famous song was pulled from Monday’s Colts-Buccaneers game because of comments he made on Fox News earlier on Monday in regards to President Obama. Here is the official statement released by ESPN:

"

While Hank Williams Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize he is closely linked to our company through the opening to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast.

"

Williams was on Fox & Friends and said Obama playing golf with House Speaker John Boehner “would be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli leader) Benjamin Netanyahu." Obviously ESPN wanted to distance themselves from comments like that as fast as they possibly could.

Instead, ESPN aired Sister Hazel’s performance of the National Anthem…something that doesn’t quite evoke the same energy as Williams. The duo put on a solid performance…but it seemed out of place.

If you look at the track record of situations like this…Williams’ days with the “worldwide leader” are over. Remember Jay Mariotti? Rush Limbaugh?

It doesn’t take a whole lot for ESPN to cut you off and the unfortunate comments are more than enough to get him shelved permanently.

Williams claims his comments were “misunderstood” but it’s pretty hard to take out of context quotes that have “Obama” and “Hitler” together.

The worst part for Williams is that he’s trying to run for a seat in the Senate representing Tennessee in the 2012 election. 

Good luck getting past those comments.