October 1, 1979: The Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots, 27-14 at Lambeau Field, on ABC's Monday Night Football. During the broadcast, Coca-Cola first airs a commercial with Joe Greene, the All-Pro defensive tackle for the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
It is often called the greatest commercial, or at least the greatest sports-themed commercial, in TV history. Some people say the commercial revealed Greene as a nice guy, thus ruining his image as "Mean Joe Greene." The Steelers went on to win a 4th Super Bowl in 6 years anyway.
The boy's name was Tommy Okon. In 2022, he is 52 years old, lives in Yonkers, New York, and runs a landscaping business. He and Greene have been reunited a few times.
It is often called the greatest commercial, or at least the greatest sports-themed commercial, in TV history. Some people say the commercial revealed Greene as a nice guy, thus ruining his image as "Mean Joe Greene." The Steelers went on to win a 4th Super Bowl in 6 years anyway.
The boy's name was Tommy Okon. In 2022, he is 52 years old, lives in Yonkers, New York, and runs a landscaping business. He and Greene have been reunited a few times.
Other countries borrowed the idea, usually with soccer players: Argentina with Diego Maradona, Brazil with Zico, France with Michel Platini, Italy with Dino Zoff, and Germany with Harald Schumacher. Oddly, when Britain did it with David Beckham, it was for Coke's great rival, Pepsi. This is equivalent to Beckham's team, Manchester United, singing Liverpool's anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone." But I prefer Pepsi to Coke, so maybe it isn't like that.
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October 1, 1979 was a Monday. This was the only football game played that day. It was a day between the end of baseball's regular season and the start of its Playoffs. And it was too early for the NBA and NHL seasons to start. So this was the only score on this historic day.
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