ESPN pulls Williams intro from NFL game

ESPN pulled Hank Williams Jr.'s classic intro song from its broadcast of last night's Colts-Buccaneers game after the country singer famous for the line "Are you ready for some football?" used an analogy to Adolf Hitler in discussing President Barack Obama.

The Associated Press reports that in an interview yesterday morning on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," Williams said of Obama's outing on the links with House Speaker John Boehner: "It'd be like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu."

Asked to clarify, Williams said: "They're the enemy," adding that by "they" he meant Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

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

Williams released a statement through his publicist, saying: "Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme -- but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me -- how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites and it made no sense. . . . I have always respected the office of the president. . . . When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job -- it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change."

ESPN did not say whether the intro, synonymous with "Monday Night Football" since 1989, would be used again.

Monday night, Williams' intro was replaced by a highlight montage of the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to NFL.com.

The song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night" is a remixed version of Williams' 1984 hit "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight." The version won him four Emmy Awards in the early 1990s as the opening theme to "Monday Night Football," then on ABC.