SEASON PREMIERE

ABC'S NFL "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" KICK-OFF OPENER OAKLAND RAIDERS VS. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS LIVE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 9:00 P.M., ET

"NFL OPENING KICK-OFF 2005 PRESENTED BY SPRINT" 8:00 P.M., ET

ABC TELEVISION NETWORK

ABC's NFL "Monday Night Football," the most successful primetime series in television history, begins its 36th season as the Oakland Raiders, with their new additions, Randy Moss and Lamont Jordan, head to Foxboro to take on Tom Brady and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. Kick-off for the NFL season opener is THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, at 9:00 p.m., ET, on the ABC Television Network.

The 2005 schedule continues on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, as Michael Vick and the NFC South champion Atlanta Falcons host Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens and the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in a rematch of last year's NFC Championship game.

In 2006, MNF moves to its new television home -- ESPN

"NFL OPENING KICK-OFF 2005 PRESENTED BY SPRINT"
The Rolling Stones will help start up the 2005 NFL season from their "A Bigger Bang" World Tour with the first performance footage of songs from their concert in Detroit as part of "NFL Opening Kickoff 2005" - a one-hour pre-game special on ABC, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, at 8:00 p.m., ET. The show will feature live performances by Green Day, Santana, Trisha Yearwood, Maroon 5 and Kanye West.

The performances are part of a three-city football and music celebration of the NFL's "Road to Forty" season that will look back at the history of the Super Bowl, honor the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, and look down the road to Super Bowl XL, slated for Feb. 5, 2006 in Detroit on ABC.

Green Day and Santana will perform from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, while Maroon 5 and Kanye West will be outside the Los Angeles Coliseum, site of the first Super Bowl, as part of a free concert. Trisha Yearwood will perform the national anthem from Gillette Stadium, where the show will be hosted by Freddie Prinze, Jr. (star of the new ABC comedy, "Freddie").

COMMENTATORS:
Emmy Award-winning announcer Al Michaels is now in his 20th consecutive season as the play-by-play voice of "Monday Night Football." Michaels, one of television's most respected journalists, has appeared on live, primetime, over-the-air television more than anyone in the history of the medium.

Joining him for his fourth season on MNF is the legendary John Madden. Madden has won an unprecedented 14 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Personality/Sports Event Analyst.

In her second season on MNF is sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who has been the courtside reporter for ABC's coverage of the NBA Finals the last three seasons.

NFL SEASON PREMIERE:

OAKLAND RAIDERS VS. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Oakland Raiders (2004: 5-11, 4th Place in AFC West)
The Raiders are looking to bounce back from back-to-back disappointing seasons following their appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII. Last season's squad finished 5-11 in last place in the AFC West. The Raiders made many off-season moves, but none bigger than acquiring Pro Bowl WR Randy Moss in a trade with Minnesota. The addition of Moss, coupled with the free agent signing of RB Lamont Jordan and another year of QB Kerry Collins, should give the Raiders one of the more potent offenses in the league.

New England Patriots (2004: 14-2, 1st Place in AFC East, Super Bowl XXXIX Champions)
For the second straight season the Patriots finished 14-2, had home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, and advanced to the Super Bowl and won, this time defeating the Eagles 24-21. That marked the third time in the last four seasons that the Patriots ended their season holding the Vince Lombardi trophy - certainly a dynasty. This season the Pats will do without some key players and coaches: LB Teddy Bruschi will take the season off following an off-season stroke, LB Ted Johnson retired and DB Ty Law signed with the Jets. Additionally, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis is now the head coach of Notre Dame and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel is now the head coach ofthe Cleveland Browns. But you can never count out the Pats as long as Tom Brady is behind center.

SERIES:
The Raiders hold the all-time series between these two teams 14-12-1, with the Raiders winning the last game of the series 27-20 in 2002. The most famous game in this series took place in the 2001 divisional playoffs, when the Patriots defeated the Raiders 16-13 in the snow in Foxboro in the famous "tuck game." That game propelled the Pats to the playoffs and their first Super Bowl victory.

HALFTIME FEATURES:
Tim McGraw: "I Like it, I Love it"
In part of a season-long partnership, Grammy Award-winning superstar Tim McGraw teams with "MNF" for special musical halftime highlights throughout the 36th season of the series. On Thursday, NFL season preview highlights will be set to McGraw's single, "I Like it, I Love it," in a twist of the hugely popular former "MNF" halftime segment - Howard Cosell's halftime highlights.

During each ABC game, the lyrics of "I Like it, I Love it" will be rewritten to fit the halftime highlights. NFL Films will provide highlights for the "MNF" segment that have not previously been seen. McGraw and his band are recording a new version of the song to be used for "Monday Night Football."

Jimmy Kimmel:
Throughout the season on "MNF," talk show host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel will provide a halftime commentary. Kimmel's commentary with be a 60-second take from the world of sports, news or pop culture.

MNF IN HDTV:
The entire schedule of ABC's NFL "Monday Night Football" will be available in HDTV.

CREDITS:
Fred Gaudelli is the producer and Drew Esocoff is the director of ABC's NFL "Monday Night Football."

"Monday Night Football" -- recipient of the Sports Emmy Award for best Live Series in 2005 - will move to ESPN in 2006 as the most successful and longest-running sports series in television history. The series celebrates its 36th season on ABC Sports with an 18-game regular season schedule, before culminating with Super Bowl XL in Detroit on February 5, 2006. ESPN, which received the Sports Emmy in 2004 for "Sunday Night Football," will begin televising "Monday Night Football" next season, while continuing to provide the most comprehensive NFL coverage across the company's multimedia assets.