NFL Films puts together Super package

Posted Dec 27, 2011 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Dec 27, 2011 at 11:56 PM

I usually write about sports cards or sports books, but today I am going to dabble in film.

Just got done watching a new DVD put together by NFL Films, Vivendi Entertainment and the National Football League. “Greatest Super Bowl Moments” is scheduled to hit stores on Jan. 3, and it’s a nice game-by-game highlight reel of the Super Bowl.

The DVD is 156 minutes long and has a suggested retail price of $14.93.

The production values are what you would expect from NFL Films — vivid, you-are-in-the-huddle highlights, players and coaches miked for sound, and clear, crisp commentary. I wish there had been a way to get John Facenda to narrate every game — his voice-overs were the best.

What makes this DVD special is the extra content. There are three video features, and the first one plays off an old cliché. It’s called “Never Take It Away,” and it’s a fun, humorous look at how Super Bowl winners note that “they can never take it away from us.” Or, as former quarterback Steve Young observes, “Who are they, and what is it?” (He answers those questions later on).

The second feature is called “Ambush,” and gives the viewer the inside story of the onside kick New Orleans pulled off against Indianapolis to open the second half of Super Bowl XLIV, with the Saints trailing 10-6. It’s a fascinating look at how New Orleans coach Sean Payton prepared for the possibility, and then seized the opportunity when it arose at halftime.

The final feature is titled “Sam Wyche’s Agony,” and it dissects the final, 11-play, 92-yard touchdown drive engineered by San Francisco’s Joe Montana against Wyche’s Bengals in the waning moments of Super Bowl XXIII. Bucs fans will appreciate how the always chatty Wyche reacted during the drive, and it was a bonus that NFL Films put a microphone on him to record it.

“Thirty-four seconds away,” Wyche laments after Montana’s winning touchdown pass finished off a 20-16 comeback.

As for the XLV, err, 45 Super Bowls, they are fun to watch, but I did have one bone to pick. While watching Super Bowl VII (I always enjoy watching Super Bowl VII, by the way), the juxtaposition of highlights and narration made it appear that Jake Scott’s second interception of the game came after Garo Yepremian’s ill-fated pass (“Washington threatened to score again, but Jake Scott preserved the win”).

It was Scott’s interception in the end zone that preserved Miami’s shutout at the time, and his 55-yard return set up Yepremian’s field goal try, which was blocked with hilarious results.

Side note: I interviewed Yepremian later in his career when he was with New Orleans. We are at a minicamp in Vero Beach, and I said to him “Well, I have to ask you about your passing achievements.”

“I’d be insulted if you didn’t,” Garo smirked.

Fun stuff.

And so is this DVD, which has plenty of memories for rabid NFL fans.