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Browns-Jets on Monday Night Football: That's where it all started in 1970

Cleveland Browns defensive ends Jack Gregory (81) and Ron Snidow (88) blast through the Jets protection to pressure quarterback Joe Namath on Sept. 21, 1970. Photo Credit: AP/Anonymous

Whether it was “a ballyhooed game full of the snap and crackle people have come to expect of these taffy pulls,” as Stan Isaacs wrote in Newsday, or simply a penalty-marred mess of a game largely was beside the point.

When the Jets visited the Browns on Sept. 21, 1970, it was a seminal event in the history of sports media, one that the current NFL schedule will acknowledge by having the teams meet again Monday night at MetLife Stadium.