If any single event has come to define the National Football League in all its magic and malaise, it's Monday Night Football.
It brought professional sports to mainstream television - for you young folks, that means back in the day when television was basically ABC, CBS and NBC unless your dad sprang for cable - in prime time. In many ways, it remains the biggest money machine in the history of television.
At its zenith, there wasn't a red-blooded American male on the planet who didn't plan his week around those three hours on ABC hosted by Frank Gifford, Dandy Don Meredith and Howard "Tell it like it is" Cosell.
Most of the time, the games were almost as good as the announcing team.
No offense to the Big Orange Nation's dream coach, Jon Gruden - who currently plays something akin to a Gifford-Meredith hybrid on MNF - but to borrow an old line from the Dandy One, it might be time to turn out the lights on that franchise, because the party's been over for awhile.
But as Monday's Atlanta Falcons-Seattle Seahawks game kicked off in Seattle, what to do with MNF's sagging ratings is the least of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's worries these days.
Instead, one has to wonder if Goodell is even going to hold onto his $31 million job. Especially after word leaked a couple of weeks ago that he was asking for as much as $49.5 million, use of a private plane for life and health insurance for life for his family in his negotiations for a new contract.
Those numbers, once made public, not only reinforced the cash cow that is the NFL but also ruffled feathers among the league's 32 owners, most of whom appear to remain in Goodell's corner but have become increasingly uncomfortable with his clumsy handling of everything from Ray Rice's domestic violence charge to Bountygate to Deflategate.
Throw in understandable angst over the emotional tug-of-war taking place prior to the start of every kickoff between the players and the fans regarding the national anthem, and it would seem something of a shock that any of these owners wouldn't at least consider an alternative to Goodell moving forward.
Surely for $30 million or more a year - Goodell supposedly has earned more than $200 million during his time as commissioner - they could find somebody with a bit more savvy and sensitivity.
Instead, according to the Wall Street Journal, the NFL's compensation committee - which ultimately will decide on the value of Goodell's contract - denied Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' request that the league's owners be allowed a final vote of approval on Goodell's contract extension.
The WSJ also reported Monday that the committee once more had asked/strongly encouraged/ordered (maybe) Jones to give up on his attempt to sue the league over Goodell's newest compensation package.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who chairs the compensation committee, even wrote in a letter that Jones was doing all this to "satisfy your personal agenda," which some believe is centered on retaliation for Goodell's six-game suspension of Cowpokes running back Ezekiel Elliott over a domestic violence claim (he was never charged) going back to his time at Ohio State.
There is no doubt that Goodell seems often to test public reaction before making his decisions. But the league is also a $13 billion-a-year business, which would appear to take the see-no-evil-speak-no-evil approach to Goodell's shortcomings.
Also, for all the attention given shrinking attendance and viewing, it's off roughly five percent. In a season in which the best story may be the continued excellence of the New England Patriots and 40-year-old quarterback Tom Brady and the Pats are the league's most hated team, that five percent seems less worrisome than most seem to want to trumpet.
Finally, there's this. That compensation committee is made up of Blank, New England owner Robert Kraft, Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs, the New York Giants' John Mara, Bob McNair of the Houston Texans and Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Everyone knows Kraft's troubles with the commish, and others on the committee have sometimes publicly questioned Goodell's actions.
So perhaps what the league really needs to combat the public's semi-fatigue with the NFL is not so much a new man at the top but a team capable of becoming a true rival of the Patriots.
That would no doubt satisfy a lot of fans' personal agendas every bit as much as hiring a new commish.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.