NFL Films
Ed Sabol stood in a Philadelphia living room on the 1st of January 1962, holding a motion picture camera that had been given to him as a wedding gift. He recorded his son Steve playing high school football games for fun and profit. The footage inspired him to start Blair Motion Pictures, named after his daughter Blair. In 1962, he won the bidding rights to film the NFL championship game for $5,000. This was double the bid from the previous year's championship game. The resulting film impressed NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle enough to ask league owners to buy out Sabol's company. Owners rejected the proposal in 1964 but agreed one year later. They renamed the operation NFL Films and gave Sabol $20,000 in seed money from each of the fourteen owners. He promised to shoot all NFL games and produce an annual highlight film for every team. By June 1966, the NFL planned to merge with the rival American Football League by 1970. One reason for keeping leagues separate initially was to give Sabol time to expand NFL Films. Under merger terms, NFL Films began covering the AFL in 1968 through a division called AFL Films. Crews wore different jackets to appease AFL loyalists while remaining regular NFL Films personnel. On the 6th of August 2011, Ed Sabol was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a major contributor to the National Football League. He died on the 9th of February 2015, at his home in Arizona.
A single camera dedicated entirely to slow motion shots captures the spiral of a football leaving a quarterback's hand. Microphones placed near the sidelines pick up both game sounds and sideline talk. Narrators with deep baritone voices describe events that turn ordinary plays into epic battles. John Facenda, Harry Kalas, Jefferson Kaye, Andy Musser, Jack Whitaker, William Woodson, and Scott Graham have narrated NFL Films presentations from the Philadelphia metropolitan area. J.K. Simmons narrated the one-hour recap of the 16, 0 regular season of the 2007 New England Patriots. Burt Lancaster provided narration for films released in 1969. Burl Ives narrated the 1971 Washington Redskins highlight film. Carl Weathers narrated Oakland Raiders season reviews from 1985, 2000, and 2001. Frank Gifford narrated New York Giants season reviews until he died in 2015. Pat Summerall narrated highlight films for many teams until he died in 2013. Gil Santos narrated year-in-review films for the 1974, 1976, and 1978 seasons. Don Criqui called Saints games for the NFL on CBS and narrated their films from inception through 1979. Larry Richert narrates Pittsburgh Steelers films today while serving as PA announcer at Acrisure Stadium. Leonard Dozier hosts NFL Films Presents and its Super Bowl Recap. The style tightens focus on the spiral, showing a quarterback throwing then zooming to the spinning ball before it lands in a receiver's hands. Radio announcers' enthusiastic sound bites are dubbed over key plays because they often show more emotion than network television broadcasters. Multiple camera angles emphasize close-up shots that exaggerate player speed in real time. Muscular orchestral scores by Sam Spence, Johnny Pearson, Frank Rothman, Ralph Dollimore, Udi Harpaz, Malcolm Lockyer, Jan Stoeckart, Peter Reno, Paul Lewis, Prameela Tomashek, Dave Robidoux, and Tom Hedden fill the airwaves. Syd Dale composed Maelstrom for the 1968 Minnesota Vikings season highlight reel. Artful Dodger played during the montage of Super Bowl V featuring Johnny Unitas's 75-yard touchdown pass to John Mackey.
Hard Knocks follows one NFL team through training camp leading up to the start of the season with production run entirely from the field and the NFL Films facility. Greatest Moments series details classic games from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s decades. Lost Treasures series uses old NFL Films footage never previously shown on television to look at football players, coaches, and referees. NFL Films Presents serves as an umbrella title for other productions not fitting existing series categories. Katie Nolan currently hosts NFL Films Presents. The company produces NFL Game of the Week showcasing previous week's games. ION Television purchased rights to air Game of the Week during the 2007 season. NFL Total Access and much of the NFL Network programming output come from NFL Films. A dedicated channel launched on Pluto TV in August 2019. Game highlights have been a staple of Inside the NFL since its entire run started at HBO in 1977. Showtime aired Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League in fall 2009 as part of the American Football League 50th anniversary celebration. An annual highlight film for each team distributes via home video every season. Team-specific films revel in victories while breezing through or skipping losses during poor seasons. Losses and pitiful play are edited out leaving only isolated moments of success. Most films conclude by portraying teams optimistically for the upcoming season regardless of foundation status. Football Follies series uses blooper plays such as fumbles, dropped passes, deflected or bobbled passes, players slipping and falling, mascots, quarterback lining up behind guard instead of center, disorganization, outtakes, and silly narration.
NFL Films operates its own in-house 16mm and 35mm Color Negative Processing Lab located in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. This enables film shot at each game to be rushed back to the facility and processed immediately so production teams get maximum time to produce weekly shows. The lab is open to public development needs with clients including feature length and short films shot on location in Philadelphia plus students from local universities. The current lab represents the third incarnation after two previous locations. Original lab sat next to NFL Films original offices at 230 N 13th Street in Philadelphia. Second lab housed inside center of NFL Films offices at 330 Fellowship Road in Mt. Laurel before being razed and replaced with modern four-story office building. Third lab sits within Bishop's Gate industrial park behind a two-story glass wall allowing visitors to see inner workings of entire processing lab. Morning tours often let employees develop film for use in weekly shows visible through windows. NFL Films Lab handles archiving and maintenance of vault containing over 100 continuous years of football footage. Vault houses all film shot or acquired from other sources throughout entire history. Company currently re-transferring all footage into high-definition format while keeping original film since it likely outlasts tape medium regarding degradation. Without presence of NFL Films cameras no surviving footage exists from many 1960s-era games when sports telecasts were either broadcast live without recording or destroyed and recycled later. Practice did not fully stop until 1978. No surviving footage exists of early Super Bowls compared to other sports lacking film resources that NFL had archives missing up through 1970s.
Sam Spence engaged in a controversial situation with the NFL regarding rights to perform or use his music in any media outlets. Alexander Klein reported details in Film Score Monthly article published April 2013. In an interview, Spence claimed he was convinced to sign contract relinquishing all rights to his music under promise league would return document to him. Spence alleged NFL Films claimed his music was stolen and signing document empowered them to protect music in court. Albums released include The Power and the Glory: The Original Music & Voices of NFL Films in 1998. Autumn Thunder: 40 Years of NFL Films Music arrived in 2004. NFL Country came out in 1996. Music from National Football League Films LP NFL-1 dates circa 1970s. Truth in 24 released in 2008. Lombardi appeared in 2011. Fantasy Football dropped the 25th of November 2022 on Paramount+. The Perfect 10 hit theaters the 11th of February 2023 via Fox Sports Films. Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story premiered the 30th of November 2024 on Hallmark Channel.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
Who founded NFL Films and when did the company start?
Ed Sabol founded NFL Films in 1962 after recording his son playing high school football games. He initially named the operation Blair Motion Pictures before league owners bought out his company one year later.
What is the history of Ed Sabol's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Ed Sabol was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the 6th of August 2011 as a major contributor to the National Football League. He died at his home in Arizona on the 9th of February 2015.
Which narrators have worked for NFL Films presentations from the Philadelphia metropolitan area?
John Facenda, Harry Kalas, Jefferson Kaye, Andy Musser, Jack Whitaker, William Woodson, and Scott Graham have narrated NFL Films presentations from the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Burt Lancaster provided narration for films released in 1969 while Burl Ives narrated the 1971 Washington Redskins highlight film.
Where is the NFL Films Color Negative Processing Lab located today?
NFL Films operates its own in-house 16mm and 35mm Color Negative Processing Lab located in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. The current lab sits within Bishop's Gate industrial park behind a two-story glass wall allowing visitors to see inner workings of entire processing lab.
When did Sam Spence release albums related to NFL Films music?
Sam Spence released albums including The Power and the Glory: The Original Music & Voices of NFL Films in 1998 and Autumn Thunder: 40 Years of NFL Films Music arrived in 2004. Fantasy Football dropped on Paramount+ on the 25th of November 2022 while The Perfect 10 hit theaters on the 11th of February 2023 via Fox Sports Films.