ABC'S NFL "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" DALLAS COWBOYS VS. WASHINGTON REDSKINS

LIVE MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 9:00 P.M., ET

ABC TELEVISION NETWORK

ABC's NFL "Monday Night Football," the most successful and longest-running primetime sports series, continues its 35th anniversary season with one of the NFL's great rivalries, as Bill Parcells leads his Dallas Cowboys into our Nation's capital to take on his old rival, Joe Gibbs and the Washington Redskins. Coverage from FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland begins MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, at 9:00 p.m., ET, on the ABC Television Network.

The 2003 MNF regular season continues on MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, with an AFC showdown featuring two of the leagues top running backs, as Jamal Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens host Priest Homes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

COMMENTATORS:
Emmy Award-winning announcer Al Michaels is now in his 19th consecutive season as the play-by-play voice of "Monday Night Football." Michaels, one of television's most respected journalists, has appeared on live, primetime, over-the-air television more than anyone in the history of the medium, with the approximate total number of hours now approaching 2,000.

Joining him for his third season on MNF is the legendary John Madden. Madden recently won his unprecedented 14th Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality/Sports Event Analyst.

New to the MNF team this year is sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who has been the courtside reporter for ABC's coverage of the NBA Finals the last two seasons.

MICHAELS AND MADDEN MOST POPULAR:
Al Michaels and John Madden were voted the No. 1 favorite NFL announcing team by a TV Guide poll. They were selected No. 1 by 47% of the country. Their closest competitors were the Fox team of Joe Buck, Chris Collinsworth and Troy Aikman, with 24%.

Additionally, in a Sports Illustrated year-long poll to find America's favorite sportscaster, the magazine polled readers from each state, asking among other questions, "Who is your favorite announcer?" "Monday Night Football" analyst John Madden was voted No. 1 in 39 states and No. 2 in 10 states. In all, Madden and partner Al Michaels were voted the top two most popular sportscasters in America.

DALLAS COWBOYS VS. WASHINGTON REDSKINS:
SERIES:
This is the 89th regular season meeting between these two NFC East rivals, with the Cowboys holding a 52-32-2 lead. The Cowboys won both contests between these two teams last season and have taken 12 of the last 13 games played in this series. The sole Redskins victory in the last 13 games came in their second meeting, in 2002.

This is the 13th meeting between these teams on "Monday Night Football," which each team winning six times. The two teams have played each other on MNF more than any other two teams in the NFL.

PARCELLS VS. GIBBS:
Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs and Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells are two of the most successful coaches in the history of the NFL. They have earned a combined five Super Bowl victories and seven conference titles. They're both in the top five among active coaches in victories -- Parcells second with 160 and Gibbs third with 141. The two coaches faced off against each other regularly from 1983 to 1990, during Gibbs' first tenure with the Redskins and while Parcells was the head coach of the New York Giants.

Dallas Cowboys (1-1)
This is the first of three Cowboys games on "Monday Night Football" this season. They also host the Eagles in week 10 and travel to Seattle to play the Seahawks in week 13. They have an overall MNF record of 36-26, and won their only appearance last season over the New York Giants 35-32 (OT). Their 36 wins tie them with the Raiders for 3rd place among NFL teams on "Monday Night Football". They trail only the Dolphins (38) and 49ers (37) on the all-time MNF victory list.

Washington Redskins (1-1)
The Redskins have an overall record of 24-27 on "Monday Night Football," and have lost their last three MNF appearances - 37-7 to the Eagles in week 2 of 2002, 37-0 to the Packers n week 2 of 2001 and 9-7 to the Cowboys in week 5 of the 2001 season. The Redskins didn't technically appear on MNF last season, though they did defeat the Jets 16-13 in the special Thursday Night opener last season on ABC.

BILLY BOB THORNTON:
The opening tease for this week's "Monday Night Football" game will feature actor Billy Bob Thornton musing about the two head coaches, Bill Parcells and Joe Gibbs, renewing their rivalry.

TORRY HOLT "SACKED":
At halftime, "Monday Night Football" will present a new feature entitled "You've Been Sacked" in which, week-to-week, NFL players play practical jokes on their teammates with the MNF cameras there to capture it all. The fun, entertaining feature promises to reveal something about the players personalities off of the playing field.

In the first episode of "You've Been Sacked", St. Louis Rams Pro Bowl wide receiver Torry Holt has been set up by his teammates. Holt was contacted by a magazine and told that he had been voted the best dressed player in the league. Holt proceeds to a photo shoot where things turn bizarre. It's not until his two teammates, offensive linemen Adam Timmerman and Andy McCollum, come into the shoot to let him know he's been "sacked" that Holt figures out that it was all just a joke. There will be eight "You've Been Sacked" episodes that will run at various MNF halftimes throughout the season.

MNF IN HDTV:
The entire schedule of ABC's NFL "Monday Night Football" is available in HDTV.

SKYCAM:
ABC Sports will feature "SkyCam" throughout the season on "Monday Night Football." "SkyCam" is a camera suspended over the field on a series of cables. The camera, which runs both the length and width of the field, will provide viewers with unique angles.

CREDITS:
Fred Gaudelli is the producer and Drew Esocoff is the director of ABC's NFL "Monday Night Football".