Your substitute for Hank Williams Jr. on Monday Night Football: NFL legend Barry Sanders

By now, sports fans have grown accustomed to TV networks shoehorning pop stars into their favorite games in a misguided attempt to "broaden" their audience. Hank Williams Jr.'s "All My Rowdy Friends" is an early example; Faith Hill's corny theme song for NBC's Sunday Night Football has carried on the tradition. (Then there were those terrible "I Like It, I Love It" week-end round-ups Tim McGraw used to sing at halftime for MNF, which we fortunately can't find on YouTube.) But now that ESPN has booted Williams from the MNF telecast, the network appears to be moving in a different, more sports-y direction with its new intro: Former NFL great Barry Sanders has been tapped to introduce this Monday's Bears-Lions game, reports the Detroit Press. We're assuming that Sanders won't be talking about his rowdy friends, as Sanders is known for his shy demeanor, dignified playing style, and inexperience with honky-tonk music. Instead, we expect some no-nonsense football discourse with several references to "honor," "battle," and "toughness." [Via The Hollywood Reporter]