The John Facenda era of NFL Films from the late '60s to the early '80s - there was no better time. The narration, the music. They turned football into art and drama. It was magic to watch them. Still is. I never get tired of them.
You nailed it, Dude. I dont know why they decided recently to speed it up, and try to look like some kind of blurred rock video, where you see 8 hits in 2 seconds, and you have no idea what you just saw, and they play horrible modern music. --- THIS is what made the NFL what it is. They would have done better to leave it as was.
YES! I became a football fan because of NFL Films and the narration by John Facenda. The greatest sports films in the history of professional sports. John Facenda and Ed Sabol should had been cloned to continue the tradition.
This sounds like a worthy cause to fight for. It will need leadership and direction. We can probably look to longtime NFL owners; franchises that have stayed in a particular family being perhaps the best place to start. I'm looking at YOU, Mara, Bidwell and Halas families.
I thought he was in the NFL Hall of Fame and I can't believe that those who are part of the NFL Hall of Fame have not recognized the great contribution of John Facenda to the game of football. Shame on you NFL Hall of Fame members.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing today that compares to the work these guys did for the game of football. So many memories of playing slow motion football on the floor where no one gets hurt started here with these brilliant productions.
Facenda is the voice of the NFL! Thank you Sabol for putting it all on film for us! I grew up watching NFL films highlights every Christmas Eve with my dad till we both fell asleep! Lol sadly I didn’t give a damn about Chriscringle I just wanted to watch the NFL films marathon with my old man!! Sure do miss you dad!!
I have similar memories with my father...that is why Sabol, Facenda, & Spence should all be in the HOF...they helped build the NFL through their artistic beauty
The greatest anthem in professional football and professional sports. This documentary would not have been complete if it didn't include the Oakland Raiders and John Facenda last narration of NFL Films couldn't have been better narrating the Super Bowl victory of the Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII. If it wasn't for NFL Films, the Raiders and John Facenda, I would have never been a die hard football fan. I think John Facenda enjoy narrating NFL Films when it was about the Raiders more than any other NFL team. GO RAIDERS!
Growing up and watching This week in Pro Football was a great joy.Nothing like that music and John’s fantastic narration to go along with that slow motion footage.
John Facenda had a great voice. Watched him as a kid on WCAU Channel 10 in Philadelphia. What is really special about the NFL narrations were the scripts... they were really well written
“The team that hits.. is the team that win..”. John Facenda narrating the preview of the 1970 Super Bowl …Minnesota Vikings vs Kansas City Chiefs. Man I used to like his voice when I was a teenager!
I think that Steve Sabol once stated that John Facenda " could make a laundry list sound dramatic". I was spoiled to grow up in the 1960's and 1970's and to have Pat Summerall & Tom Brookshier & John Facenda narrate slow motion hard hitting football, on grass, with the music of Sam Spence in the background. It was good then and still good now.
Indeed, the era of pro football's ascendancy was uniquely special to behold. I wasn't old enough to appreciate the game itself until the mid-70's, but remember that the first Superbowl that I was aware of, and wanted to watch (and did) was VI; Dallas over Miami. 1975: The memory of Brent, Irv and Phyllis; a veritable Mod Squad, as the original lineup of The NFL Today is still fresh. Musburger was quite young and raw, then, and the show was only a half-hour of pregame, but it gave the viewer a sense of connected-ness to the game. Facenda was still in his NFL Films prime, at that time, and I can remember watching what we now see as faded RU-vid clips in their original glory. In many ways, the NFL is like a rock band with a long career. Fans tend to idealize the up-and-coming, "hungry" era; the early albums, if you will, as being the band's best output. Sure, we have bigger, stronger, faster and thicker athletes now, with better protective technology, and rules that also try to help the cause of safety, but for those of us who remember the golden age of the early MNF era, those days will always be the best that the league could be. Maybe it was because the players were not so overpaid, and were more relatable. Today's players seem to live in more of their own bubble. I could go on about this age, but know when to quit. There's probably an entire treatise within me about MNF in the 70's. It was always epic, even when the games were crap, because of the dynamic in the booth, and the fact that TV options were largely limited. Great stuff. Thanks for letting an old man ramble.
Pat Summerall & Tom Brookshier got me interested in football in the late '60s. I used to watch CBS on my Sony Triniton, on Sunday afternoons with my young son. It was a special time! Before then, I could care less about football.
K Bear, that’s ok. I grew up outside of Philly and still confuse Facenda with Harry Kalis, who called Phillies Games, And I know the damn difference. But when I watch those NFL films, each voice was perfect.
What John Williams' soundtracks are to Star Wars and so many other movies, John Facenda's voice and Sam Spence's music is to NFL Films. You would have still likely watched anyway, but that sound just hits you right in the gut and it is something you feel. It is what makes these films so rewatchable.
12:00pm Sundays were essential viewing on CBS with "This Week In Football" reviewing all of the previous week's games. Every game was epic and told with prowess. Even the then new and hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers were spoken of as warriors on the field. One of his last game reviews involved the "Refrigerator" boring through the defensive line like a Mack truck in the 1985 Super Bowl. I was never even an Oakland Raiders fan and yet "The Autumn Wind" was simply epic for all football fans. Damn, without the hint of exaggeration, John Facenda with triumphant orchestral music was an amazing essential force for the current success of the NFL in American culture.
Anything relating to football not narrated by John Facenda was a letdown of epic proprtions!! God looks like Cary Grant and sounds like John Facenda. His vocal cords were dipped in liquid gold!! There will never be another to approach him.
Good to hear Mr. Facenda's voice again. I heard him as a newscaster growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia (Delaware County) and then as a teenager I heard him transition in NFL films. Such a great match!
John Facenda Harry "The K" Kalas Howard Cosell Those 3 brothers had platinum voices.. They made sports not only exciting to watch, but equally as exciting to listen too.
These films helped make football replace baseball as America's favorite sport. I love both, but frankly, I'd rather watch a football game than a baseball game. Football is simply more exciting more often and these films really captured that.
Philadelphia is the Land of Legendary Announcers! The greatest ones ever all come from Philadelphia broadcasting. JohnFacemda. Harry Kalas (also of NFL Films) and the GreatMerrill Reese just to name a few!
Charm City Gamer harry was known locally for baseball but he was objectively much better and more well known nationally as the NFL Films narrator than as the Phillies announcer
My absolute favorite game reviews of Facenda was of the plethora of Earl Campbell running plays bulldozing half of the defense every play making a defense take punishment to finally tackle big Earl Campbell. Talk about war, the sad reality is that older Earl still has a native Texas heart of gold but can barely walk today in ungodly painful movement after several surgeries.
John Facenda can turn the Oakland Raider's silver & black uniforms into full Kodachrome color with his illustrustrative narration and growling baritone.
Hearing the Spiderman 1967 - 1970 Cartoon music background was cool , that meant these composers o f music 🎶 must had no contract agreement just permission to use there music , John Facenda hands down was The voice of the NFL...
In the spot of George Allen John Facenda got it wrong when he said he did n t swear.You watch the 1971 Redskins highlight film & he does alot of swearing
