Chet Forte

Chet Forte, former director of ABC's "Monday Night Football" who last year pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion, has been hired as a sports talk-show host for radio station XTRA (690) in San Diego. An announcement will be made today. Forte, who blames a gambling habit for his legal problems, is still awaiting sentencing. A prison term is likely, but Forte is hoping for probation. At XTRA, Forte will serve as co-host of a 1-to-4 p.m. talk show with Steve Hartman.

There are only two reasons why God took Chet Forte: He needed a shooting guard or St. Peter got tired of listening to Howard Cosell. MARK BERGLAS Irvine

Chet Forte, an Emmy-award winning producer and a former director of ABC-TV's "Monday Night Football," has been indicted in Newark, N.J., on federal tax and mail fraud charges. Forte, 55, is named on charges of not filing a federal income tax return for 1987 and seeking mortgage loans in 1985 and 1986 without telling lenders that he owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Internal Revenue Service, an Atlantic City, N.J., casino and banks.

Maybe nobody can change totally, but Chet Forte came close. There was the fast-living, free-spending, action-crazed, hot-tempered Chet Forte who was bringing in $900,000 a year as ABC Sports' top director. And then there was the Chet Forte of the last five years, humbled by a gambling sickness that left him $1.5 million in debt and with legal problems that almost sent him to prison. But he was determined to rebuild his life.

Emmy Award-winning sports television producer Chet Forte pleaded guilty today to federal income tax and fraud charges His attorney said the charges were a result of compulsive gambling. Forte helped make "Monday Night Football" a national pastime when he worked for ABC Sports. The plea was accepted by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Rodriguez. Forte, 54, faces a maximum 11 years in prison and $27,000 in fines when he is sentenced Jan. 11.

Chet Forte, longtime director of ABC's "Monday Night Football" who became a radio sports talk-show host at age 55, died at 5 a.m. Saturday from a heart attack at his home in northern San Diego County. He was 60. Forte, who had a history of heart problems, had triple bypass surgery on June 17 of last year. For the last five years, Forte had been paired with Steve Hartman on San Diego-based XTRA and the two billed themselves as "The Loose Cannons."

For more than two decades, Chet Forte's life was a stretch limousine. He was the director of ABC television's Monday night football as it became an American institution. He won nine Emmy awards, earned a salary that reached $900,000 a year, lived in a six-bedroom, seven-bathroom house in fashionable Saddle River, N.J., and rarely left home without that chauffeur-driven limo. Today, Forte--the national collegiate basketball player of the year in 1957, when he was known as "Chet the Jet"--is $1.

By all accounts, Chet Forte knew a lot about directing sports telecasts. Directing his life was another matter. Forte, the longtime director of "Monday Night Football," was paid well--reportedly as much as $500,000 a year. He lived in the fashionable area of Saddle River, N.J., in a six-bedroom, seven-bathroom home appraised at $1.5 million. But he has lost everything--his money, his home and his dignity. He has no income, no assets and debts of about $1 million.

There are only two reasons why God took Chet Forte: He needed a shooting guard or St. Peter got tired of listening to Howard Cosell. MARK BERGLAS Irvine

Penalty: Chet Forte, a former producer and director of "Monday Night Football," was sentenced to five years on probation in U.S. District Court in New Jersey for mail and wire fraud, as well as failure to file income tax returns. Forte, 56, who lives in San Diego and hosts a radio talk show, pleaded guilty to those charges Sept. 14. He has admitted to a compulsive gambling problem that cost him his $900,000-a-year job at ABC Sports.

Chet Forte, longtime director of ABC's "Monday Night Football" who became a radio sports talk-show host at age 55, died at 5 a.m. Saturday from a heart attack at his home in northern San Diego County. He was 60. Forte, who had a history of heart problems, had triple bypass surgery on June 17 of last year. For the last five years, Forte had been paired with Steve Hartman on San Diego-based XTRA and the two billed themselves as "The Loose Cannons."

XTRA sports talk-show host Chet Forte, a former Emmy Award-winning director for ABC Sports, is in intensive care at a San Diego hospital recovering from triple bypass surgery, his broadcast partner, Steve Hartman, said Sunday. Hartman said Forte, who has a history of heart trouble, had not been feeling well the past few weeks and went to a hospital for tests on Friday. He had the surgery Saturday.

Penalty: Chet Forte, a former producer and director of "Monday Night Football," was sentenced to five years on probation in U.S. District Court in New Jersey for mail and wire fraud, as well as failure to file income tax returns. Forte, 56, who lives in San Diego and hosts a radio talk show, pleaded guilty to those charges Sept. 14. He has admitted to a compulsive gambling problem that cost him his $900,000-a-year job at ABC Sports.

Chet Forte, longtime director of ABC's "Monday Night Football" who is now is sports-talk show host at XTRA in San Diego, was sentenced Friday to five years' probation for fraud charges linked to gambling. "I will never forget this date," said Forte, 56, who was an All-American basketball player for Columbia University during the 1956-57 season.

It's only a start, and it might not last, but Chet Forte is bubbling with enthusiasm over his long-awaited chance to rebuild his life. In the four years since compulsive gambling cost him everything he owned and led to his conviction for fraud and income tax evasion, Forte has been treated like a leper in the television industry that was once his domain. Not until radio station XTRA hired him as co-host of its afternoon sports-talk show was he able to find a job.

No matter what direction the conversation took Friday morning at the Doubletree Hotel, it kept coming back to one subject: Opportunity. Chet Forte, a nine-time Emmy Award winner as a director at ABC Sports, was introduced as a new co-host of radio station XTRA's 1-4 p.m. sports talk show, and how unusual were his opening day remarks? Well, he thanked John Lynch, chairman and CEO of Noble Broadcast Group--which owns and operates XTRA, thanked several others at the station . . .

XTRA sports talk-show host Chet Forte, a former Emmy Award-winning director for ABC Sports, is in intensive care at a San Diego hospital recovering from triple bypass surgery, his broadcast partner, Steve Hartman, said Sunday. Hartman said Forte, who has a history of heart trouble, had not been feeling well the past few weeks and went to a hospital for tests on Friday. He had the surgery Saturday.

Chet Forte, former director of ABC's "Monday Night Football" who last year pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion, has been hired as a sports talk-show host for radio station XTRA (690) in San Diego. An announcement will be made today. Forte, who blames a gambling habit for his legal problems, is still awaiting sentencing. A prison term is likely, but Forte is hoping for probation. At XTRA, Forte will serve as co-host of a 1-to-4 p.m. talk show with Steve Hartman.

For more than two decades, Chet Forte's life was a stretch limousine. He was the director of ABC television's Monday night football as it became an American institution. He won nine Emmy awards, earned a salary that reached $900,000 a year, lived in a six-bedroom, seven-bathroom house in fashionable Saddle River, N.J., and rarely left home without that chauffeur-driven limo. Today, Forte--the national collegiate basketball player of the year in 1957, when he was known as "Chet the Jet"--is $1.