NFL Films

Recently the idea came to me - perhaps in preparation for the Super Bowl - to watch all the Eagles' season recaps from NFL Films in chronological order. NFL Films loom large in my past and so I can't explain why I never thought of this sooner. Then, seeing that the Eagles season recaps reach all the way back into the 1940's I narrowed my own scope to start at 1983 and... well, I'm up to 2014 and I haven't decided where to stop. It's an idea I highly recommend if you're so minded (just substitute your own team, era or year).

NFL Films, particularly the NFL Films era from the 70's to 90's is a form of entertainment that will never be duplicated. The combination of the stentorian narrator, the classical music, incredible slow-motion footage and clever writing is unlike any other cinematic experience before or since. They are not just first in their genre, they are the pioneer of the genre.

The particular point of relish for me is the writing. Oh man, the writing. When is the last time you read (or heard) anything like this:

"It was under the hot summer sun of Camp Swamp Fox where the Eagles began to tread their comeback road, a path paved with a back-to-basics brand of fundamental football. The enthusiasm of assistant coaches... spread through the Eagles camp. There was an air of optimism filtering through the August heat. It sent the Eagles sailing through three pre-season victories and in September, it carried them to San Francisco's Candlestick Park where the 49ers' plans for a happy home opener were ambushed." - 1983

Or, consider the intro for the 1989 season:

 "There are moments in a lifetime which defy explanation, moments when the natural becomes supernatural and mere words cannot do justice to a man's deeds- deeds which spring from desperate circumstances."

There was one particular phrase that leaped from my screen and captured my imagination. It was from the 1991 season recap: 

"It was more grit than glitter, more spit than polish and it was the Eagles who sparkled."

I marveled and wondered, has professional writing deteriorated this much that, just a generation ago, we were getting this sterling quality from a football video? I couldn't comprehend it, except I considered maybe phrases like these were available cliches, plucked out of the ether of the time and since-forgotten. Then, as I progressed through further seasons the shroud of mystery lifted: 

1992 - "Even for a defense long established as more grit than glitter, more spit than polish..."

1994 - "Zordich was the classic strong safety - more grit than glitter, more spit than polish."

1995 - "They were more grit than glitter, more spit than polish; most of all, they were winners."

1996 - "And while Ricky Watters projected flash and dazzle, he was really more spit than polish, more grit than glitter."

1997 - "And Michael Zordich, the rugged safety who's more grit than glitter, more spit than polish."

Ok, so yeah, they have their saved templates, sticking them in when needed. It is still an admirable style. Even if there are cliches, they are wonderful cliches. 

It seems to me, the end of this classic writing style of the Golden Era coincides with the end of the 1990's when Pat Summerall takes over as narrator. Around this time, the narration is akin to the list of events you'll see written in a newspaper rather than the dime store novel panache of the past. It's prose rather than poetry, literal rather than literary. Ornate oratory was found old-fashioned, the mechanical was modern. The soaring spirit was discarded and faded - moving onward rather than forward, advance without ascension.

Yes, but NFL Films after that are still pretty great, though.

One of the goofy but endearing idiosyncrasies of the NFL Films season recaps is that they all end with victory. If a team wins the Championship, that's obviously a victory. If a team loses in the playoffs,it's a success and they've established that they're one of the elite teams in the NFL. If a team doesn't make the playoffs, they showed the heart of a champion. If a team only wins 3 games, they showed their courage and character through the adversity and never gave up. If every member of the team gets injured in the first game and they go 0-16, well, we look forward to next year when the players will be back and the ship will be righted. Every team for every season is victorious, either by actual victory or moral victory or looking ahead to a bright future. The narrative can never be: the team just stinks and watching them is a waste of time; the narrative is always: your team is bound for ever-increasing glory, glory, GLORY.

The Mandela Effect and Super Bowl 39

 

Super Bowl 39 took place in 2005 and was the Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots. Being a huge Eagles fan, and Super Bowl 39 being the first Super Bowl the Eagles played in the era where I was conscious, Super Bowl 39 was a huge deal for me. And for that reason, it's very strange that I don't remember hardly anything about it - no plays, no moments, not a general outline of what happened -  but the one thing I do remember never happened.

I was mostly happy to not remember anything from the game, it was a painful memory, who revisits the big losses? But I was bothered enough by it and thought that enough time had passed that I decided to re-watch the game today.

First off, it now seems understandable that I didn't remember. Despite being one of the closest Super Bowl games of all time, it's not a particularly good or memorable game. Both offenses start off slow and then get into a better rhythm but somehow the game lacks drama. But eventually, with 5 minutes to go, the Eagles are down by 10 points with possession of the ball, "looking" to make a comeback. At least, in theory. In actuality they are in no hurry to do anything, they appear to be unaware that they're playing the game of football and the point of football is to win. It may be the worst clock management in the history of football and it just so happens to be at the end of a Super Bowl. The Eagles lose by a field goal.

At the epicenter of the Eagles loafing around was the quarterback, Donovan McNabb. Whether he was out of gas, hungover or ill is a matter of controversy to this day, but no one can tell me something wasn't wrong. And, in fact, this brings me to the one thing I remember most distinctly from watching the game live: watching McNabb vomit on live TV. His sickness was probably the difference maker in the Super Bowl and so people have wondered about the cause ever since. And when asked about it, McNabb denied that he ever vomited at all - ludicrous, I saw it, I know what I saw.

Except it never happened. At least it appears that way. Re-watching the game, there is no point where McNabb vomits. Yes, he looks ill, yes he's lethargic in his movement, yes some of his teammates claim he vomited, all the circumstantial evidence supports him being sick, but the point is that the thing that I was sure I remembered seeing on TV in the live broadcast is nowhere to be found in the live broadcast. It was a completely false memory.

Unless someone has gone back and edited the video, that just doesn't exist and never did.

So that's super strange and I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around this reality. I guess that's it. Apologies for the structure and content of this post, I couldn't get it right. This "writing" mirrors the performance of the Eagles' in that fateful game and there's no fixing either.

Super Bowl Trivia

A few facts about the game today...

• Quarterbacks who lead the league in passing yardage during the regular season are now 0-6 in the Super Bowl.
• This is a game where the losing team did not punt.
• Coming into the game, Tom Brady's record in the playoffs when playing teams he did not play in the regular season was 15-0. The Eagles and Patriots did not meet in the regular season.
• The Patriots won their first Super Bowl as underdogs in Bill Belichik's second year with a backup quarterback. Doug Pederson has won his first Super Bowl as an underdog in his second year with a backup quarterback.
• The Eagles won more playoff games this season than the Dallas Cowboys have in the past 21 years.
• The Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl the day after Brian Dawkins and Terrell Owens were selected for Hall of Fame induction.
• The Eagles did not give up a rushing touchdown at home this season.
• Nick Foles has been MVP of the Pro-Bowl and Super Bowl MVP and is currently a back up quarterback.
• The Eagles are the first #1 Seed to be underdogs in all 3 playoff games.
• The Eagles are the only team to defeat Vince Lombardi and Bill Belichik in championship games.
• Nick Foles is the first player to throw and catch a touchdown in the same Super Bowl.
• Foles is the only quarterback in history to earn a 100+ quarterback rating in each of his first 4 career playoff games.
• The last time the Eagles reached the Super Bowl, they played the Vikings, Falcons and Patriots. This time, they played the same teams.
• Doug Pederson is only the 5th coach in history to win the Super Bowl in his second year.
• There was only one sack in the game by either team. The one sack was the Brady forced fumble.
• The NFL Draft this year happens to take place in Dallas. That means that some variant of the phrase "With the 32nd pick, the World Champion Philadelphia Eagles select..." will be said in Dallas stadium.
• The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl on February 4th - Jerome Brown's birthday.

Hype

Demolition

On September 29th, the Eagles signed linebacker Jeremiah Trotter for the third time.

[Pictured: Jeremiah Trotter. Upon taking this DMV photo, the photographer was thrown back for a loss.]

Now 32 years old, has he lost a step? Is this a brilliant move that strengthens an already stellar defense? Will he only be used as a 12th weapon/decoy for an alternate Wildcat offensive "look"? I don't know. The Eagles, famously, don't bother to sign old players who can't perform regardless of whether they've been around forever, are loved by the fans or are Philadelphia legends. So, it's probably an improvement. The real point though, is that I don't care. It's great just to have someone on the team who's a recognizable face. The Eagles change faces so often, they should be called the Philadelphia Joan Rivers'es'es (An actual expansion team coming in 2012 which will vanquish its opponents by repeated references to menopause).