Jacked Up!

Jacked Up! was a segment of the half-time show of Monday Night Football on ESPN. Hosted by Tom Jackson, the feature aired from 2003 to 2006. Every Monday night, the show would highlight the five hardest hits of the prior week in the NFL. The commentators would recap which players were involved and comment on how "jacked up" they got.

History

Beginning in 2003, the show was a specific feature of Monday Night Football and was unique to ESPN's takeover of the broadcast earlier that year. Eventually, the show morphed into a newer segment called "Hard Hits". The original concept for the feature's title, derived from the nickname, "Jack", of the co-host, Tom Jackson, the former Denver Broncos linebacker.

Jacked Up has now been replaced with a feature called "C'mon man!"

Controversy

During the airing of the show, ESPN maintained that none of the hits featured caused injury or penalty. ESPN Senior Vice President and Director of News Vince Doria stated that "we make it a point to show clean hits, involving no serious injuries. We're spotlighting hard hitting - which is a prominent part of the game. It is video entertainment, and we're in the entertainment business. I don't see it glorifying violence."

Critics of the show argued that it did glorify the violent aspects of football and celebrated cheap shots or injuries.

Guest Commentators & Featured Players

The show regularly featured other guest sportscasters including Michael Irvin and Ron Jaworski. Some of the regularly featured players were Brian Dawkins, Joey Porter, Roy Williams Mike Brown, and Sean Taylor.