NFL Films best: Team season highlight films

[Bryan]

I’ve always loved the old NFL Films pieces. Great sources of first-hand information as well as entertainment. The team season highlight films were the backbone of the film making, IMO, showcasing individual players as well as the teams themselves. Here are my picks for top 3 team season highlight films:

1) 1974 Steelers – one of the first NFL films pieces I saw as a kid. Facenda narrating, a great season story, interesting music when the team lost, Jefferson Street Joe, HOF players, weird guy laughing in the background at the OJ joke….its all there.

2) 1982 Redskins – again, you need Facenda narrating the highlights. A lot of unique music in this films, and the shortened season allowed for more focus on the individual games themselves. The NFC championship segment with the fans chanting and the stadium literally rocking was classic. Only negative is the inclusion of preseason Bills-Skins footage in the John Riggins part.

3) 1975 Steelers – similar to 1974, but a drawback is there is no account of any regular season games. I still love the Facenda narration, the music selection, and the actual HOF player footage. The Edvard Grieg arrangement with the Steel Curtain is perhaps my favorite NFL Films segment of all-time.

Honorable mentions: 1970 Colts, 1972 Redskins, 1969 Raiders

[JohnR]

I'm partial to the '73 Raiders film. I bought a VHS copy back in the '90s because in '73 I preferred the Snake over Lamonica and that was the year Stabler became the de facto starter.
Was pleased to find Facenda doing the narration and that it followed the season chronologically. The icing on the cake was the use of Bill King's P-B-P over the Steeler playoff segment. That was a big game for Raider fans as it lifted some of the bitterness from the year before.

[Reaser]

The one I've watched the most, because it's my favorite non-Seahawks single-season team is the '96 Jaguars. Loved following that team at the time so naturally I like the HL film and reliving the moments.

Though, as stated, you need Facenda for any choice to be the best so definitely not nominating it. Just the most [re]watched, for me.

Otherwise I'm partial to the 70's and that's where I think the "best" reside. Particularly the ones that are more 'season in review' than some of the others that tell different stories.

[Citizen]

I think my favorite will always be the 1970 Raiders. It had the customary tight writing, great music and stellar narration, but it also portrayed a playoff team that won a ridiculous number of games in dramatic fashion. Finally, it had Raiders play-by-play man Bill King narrating many of those unlikely moments in his inimitable fashion -- one of the first times, I believe, that live play-by-play audio was used in an NFL Films production.

[BD Sullivan]

I think my favorite will always be the 1970 Raiders. It had the customary tight writing, great music and stellar narration, but it also portrayed a playoff team that won a ridiculous number of games in dramatic fashion. Finally, it had Raiders play-by-play man Bill King narrating many of those unlikely moments in his inimitable fashion -- one of the first times, I believe, that live play-by-play audio was used in an NFL Films production.

There was also the notorious tie against the Chiefs, which was aided by Ben Davidson's spearing of Len Dawson.

[Todd Pence]

1983 Seahawks.

[Jay Z]

With highlights, the older the better for me. Once I realized the amount of creative truth in them, even starting in the 1970s. Crap like having plays in the highlight films that were called back because of penalties. Who cares. Give me the plays. You can keep Facenda.

[JohnR]

[quote="BD Sullivan")
There was also the notorious tie against the Chiefs, which was aided by Ben Davidson's spearing of Len Dawson.[/quote]

That play should be exhibit A in why retaliation on the field is a really bad idea.

Jay Z - I can't argue w/ that. Historical inaccuracies can really dampen one's enthusiasm for the production. I think there were times when Films could have used an ombudsman to quash the gooey propaganda.

[Citizen]

These were marketing tools, not news documentaries. They were made to get fans excited for the upcoming season. For highlights of bad teams, that meant showing touchdowns that were called back, showing the same touchdown twice from different angles, and making the team's final win of the season look far more meaningful than it really was. Doesn't bother me.

[Retro Rider]

I think my favorite will always be the 1970 Raiders. It had the customary tight writing, great music and stellar narration, but it also portrayed a playoff team that won a ridiculous number of games in dramatic fashion. Finally, it had Raiders play-by-play man Bill King narrating many of those unlikely moments in his inimitable fashion -- one of the first times, I believe, that live play-by-play audio was used in an NFL Films production.

That one is my favorite as well ... a George Blanda highlight reel! My top 3 would be:

1) 1970 Oakland Raiders (Challenge of the '70's)

2) 1969 Minnesota Vikings (40 for 60) - I particularly liked the segment covering the Divisional Playoff vs. the Rams. Bill Brown (R.I.P.) was wired for sound ... great footage & lots of bone jarring tackles.

3) 1965 Green Bay Packers (World Champions) - like Lombardi's Packers it's a straight forward, meat and potatoes production (narrated by Ray Scott). Nothing fancy, just a great collection of game highlights & player profiles. Very vibrant color film (like many of the '65 highlight films). Back in the 1980's ESPN - when they were actually worth paying for - would show this film (and the 1970 Raiders) several times a year.