Betty White to star in ESPN intro to New Orleans Saints-Atlanta Falcons game

She's not quite as rowdy as Hank Williams Jr., but are you ready for some Betty White? ESPN has enlisted the 89-year-old actress to star in "A White Christmas" opening sequence before Monday night's NFC South showdown between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.

Kohjiro Kinno/ESPNActress Betty White, 89, has filmed 'A White Christmas' opener for the 'Monday Night Football' telecast between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons

White, a Hollywood icon who stars in TVLand's "Hot in Cleveland" and the upcoming NBC prank show "Off Their Rockers," has filmed a holiday-themed opener to air before the game, even though the game is on the night after Christmas.

An ESPN announcement didn't offer details on White's part, but a photo on the network's website shows the actress sitting in a cozy chair in front of a Christmas tree. A side table holds a lamp wrapped in gold garland along with Saints and Falcons coffee mugs.

According to the ESPN report, its production team was looking to cast a warm grandmotherly type and White fit the bill. And she rarely turns down a job.

White famously starred last year in a football-themed Super Bowl commercial for a candy bar, but that's not her only connection to football. Turns out she is a fan, ESPN wrote, but her favorite sport is much less physical: golf.

The Saints-Falcons game is the season finale of "Monday Night Football." At the beginning of the season, ESPN cut ties with Williams, who for years had sung his signature "Are You Ready for Some Football?" to open each game, after the singer made controversial remarksabout President Barack Obama on a Fox News show.

From: http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2011/12/post_208.html