ESPN debuts cover of Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight' as new 'Monday Night Football' anthem

ESPN debuted a new "Monday Night Football" anthem for the NFL's Week 2 doubleheader Monday night.

Country music singer Chris Stapleton teamed up with rapper Snoop Dogg and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana for a cover of Phil Collins' classic "In the Air Tonight," a rendition that saw a lot of praise on social media.

The new theme song debuted just before the Carolina Panthers took on the New Orleans Saints, in which the Saints scraped by with a 20 to 17 win. The song played again before the second game of the night between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns, which aired on ABC.

The anthem will be heard ahead of all "Monday Night Football" games throughout the season, ESPN's Week 18 Saturday doubleheader, Super Wild Card and the network's first Divisional playoff game, ESPN said in a news release.

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The new theme song will see plenty of airtime this season on ABC too. The network announced that it will simulcast 10 "Monday Night Football" games this fall alongside its usual ESPN airings. 

The Oct. 2 matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants will be the next Monday night game on ABC. The decision helps to fill the gaping holes in ABC’s fall lineup as Hollywood writers and actors continue their labor strikes.

ESPN said the new "Monday Night Football" anthem is "comprised of Chris Stapleton covering Collins’ lyrics, with Snoop Dogg, in his signature style adding football-centric verses, Cindy Blackman Santana, a powerhouse on the drums, rocking the song’s iconic drum break and brings her own style and accents to this classic song."

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"The show open will include NFL stars, game highlights and dramatic moments intercut with dramatic performances from all three artists. ESPN’s Creative Content Unit produced the open in conjunction with the musical trio and Grammy-award winning record producer Dave Cobb," the release continued.

The classic instrumental theme "Heavy Action" that has been featured on "Monday Night Football" since 1975 will still be played following the new theme song.

The Hank Williams Jr. song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night" was the theme song from 1989 until 2011, when it was dropped following controversial comments Williams made about then President Obama. The song later returned as the "Monday Night Football" theme from 2017 to 2019.

On this day in history, September 19, 1796, President George Washington issues his Farewell Address

A prophetic father of his country, President George Washington issued his Farewell Address as he approached the end of his second term in office on this day in history, Sept. 19, 1796. 

He triumphantly celebrated the burgeoning young nation and his role in its creation, while soberly warning of the threat posed by regional and sectarian division. 

"In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me," wrote Washington in an address that first appeared in the American Daily Advertiser, a newspaper in Philadelphia. 

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Washington was the hero of the American Revolution — and his Abrahamic faith in the cause of independence inspired and held the nation together in the darkest hours of the rebellion.

But party divisions arose in the United States during his time in office. He warned in 1796 of their potential to shred the hard-fought unity of the previous 20 years.

"One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts," Washington said in his address.

"They tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection." 

He added, "The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism."

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Washington issued his farewell statement after choosing not to run for a third term as president. 

He proved the rare leader in history who willingly forfeited what might have been many more years of power. 

His decision set the stage for the tradition of presidents to serve only two terms. 

The two-term tradition was codified by the 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, six years after Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office while serving his fourth term as president. 

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Washington was so beloved in his era he was unanimously voted the nation's first president by the electoral college in late 1788-early 1789. 

John Adams was elected the first vice president.

Washington and Adams both easily won re-election in 1792. 

But the vice presidential race of that second national election began to divide along party lines, setting the stage for Washington's farewell warning.

Adams, of the Federalist Party, defeated Thomas Jefferson, of the Democratic-Republican Party, in Nov. 1796, two months after Washington's farewell.

The father of his country invoked pride in his new nation, one unique in the history of mankind, as he left public life. 

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"The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations," he said. 

"Washington’s Farewell Address spoke to contemporary concerns that the Union was weak and vulnerable to attacks from internal and external enemies," writes the library of George Washington's Mount Vernon. 

"But even after the uncertainty of the early national period had passed, his message of unity remained powerful." 

Washington's words, Mount Vernon also says, are "still recited annually in the United States Senate, a tradition dating back to the Civil War. The Farewell Address endures as a critical founding document for issues of Union, partisanship and isolationism."

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