Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist and author. Cosell became prominent and influential during his tenure with ABC Sports from 1953 until 1985.
Cosell was widely known for his blustery, confident personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. There's no question that I'm all of those things" when he was nicknamed Humble Howard by the Buffalo Bills. In its obituary for Cosell, The New York Times described Cosell's effect on American sports coverage:
He entered sports broadcasting in the mid-1950s, when the predominant style was unabashed adulation, [and] offered a brassy counterpoint that was first ridiculed, then copied until it became the dominant note of sports broadcasting.
His style contrasted greatly with Ray Scott, who is understated, and often used very few words. He also brought an antagonistic, almost heel-like commentary, notably giving unfounded criticism of Terry Bradshaw when Cosell was introducing him in an interview.
In 1993, TV Guide named Howard Cosell The All-Time Best Sportscaster in its issue celebrating 40 years of television.