Monday Night Football: ESPN Makes Right Call with Barry Sanders MNF Intro

The folks at ESPN have been hard at work trying to think of something to replace Hank Williams Jr. as the Monday Night Football intro, and they've settled on former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders. 

If your mouth just dropped wide open in amazement, you are not alone. No, Sanders won't be singing, but rather narrating the intro.

Unless he surprises us all, I highly doubt he belts the high notes or anything like that. 

This is a fantastic idea by ESPN for right now.

With the game in Detroit on Monday, having Sanders featured in the intro is not only smart but safe. He is obviously the most notable Detroit Lions player ever, and they have not really amounted to anything since he retired.

That is, until now, since the Lions are 4-0 with tons of believers.  

Like everyone else these days, Sanders took to the social media world to let everyone know he's involved with MNF.  

ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz told the Detroit Free Press, "This is the format we'll likely use the remainder of the season. We haven't made any decisions beyond that."

The World Wide Leader knows it will find an artist and have a creative and fun intro once again, but for now, this is the best way to go about it. 

Hank Jr. has been a Monday Night Football staple since 1989, and picking a musician to replace him immediately isn't the best move given the way Hank Jr. left. 

If you haven't heard of why he was let go by ESPN, it certainly is an interesting story. People compare President Obama to different things on a daily basis, but when you go on national television and compare him to Adolf Hitler, you're going to face some heat. 

It cost Hank Jr. his job, but that didn't stop ESPN from quickly thinking of a new intro idea for the next MNF game. 

Having former greats doing the intro is something fans can look forward to for the rest of the season. Fans will be guessing every week as to which prominent player will be in the intro. 

Since there won't be a song, it has potential to not be all that great, but we'll just have to wait and see.

ESPN typically does a solid job with their opens and previews, so this should be a fun and interesting segment. 

This does set up a few questions for the future of the program.

Who does the intro when MNF rolls into Jacksonville in Week 7 and Week 13? 

Also, will Brett Favre do the intro in Week 10 when the Green Bay Packers are on MNF? Pretty please?