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Betty White Rides The Pain Train For Her Monday Night Football Intro

A few days ago, we made note of the fact that Betty White was appearing on last night’s Monday Night Football intro. What we wanted from the segment:

[If ESPN was] looking for a grandmotherly type with impeccable comic timing, it’s hard to imagine there was a better choice than White out there. We hope, though, that it won’t all be grandmotherly. Perhaps she’ll start out that way, then grow progressively more irreverent/saucy as the segment progresses.

Did we get what we wanted? Well, here’s what aired:

…and she didn’t get quite as irreverent as we hoped. The “reminds me of some of my friends who are still driving” line wasn’t bad, White tried her hardest to sell every bit of it, and the mandatory Tim Tebow reference happened, but…eh, a little too safe for us.

This was by design, of course, since ESPN has a large, diverse audience to think about, and the way the last Monday Night Football intro guy’s tenure ended doesn’t have them in much of a risk-taking mood, but it was a little too vanilla for us. There’s an edgy streak that White can bring out if the material calls for it, and if MNF has her back, we’d like to see a little less of the sweet old grandma side and a little more of the pin-up model side.