NFL Films President Steve Sabol (1942-2012): 5 Top Ways He Was An Innovator, Visionary, Storyteller
4. Alcoa Fantastic Finishes
As a child of the early '80s, these were a television staple for me, right alongside Schoolhouse Rock and the Scooby Doo Laff A Lympics. For those of you who weren't alive around that time, there were some serious energy conservation issues going on (Remember cars lining up for gasoline?). Alcoa was the world's leading producer of aluminum and a massive user of energy at that time, so they were in a constant public relations struggle.
In order to convey to the world the essentiality of aluminum to our daily lives and do so in the most cost-effective, impactful way possible (on a shoestring marketing budget), Alcoa decided to convey their message to NFL fans during NFL telecasts and do so at the height of viewership, which was the final two minutes of games. Thus, the Alcoa Fantastic Finishes were born! At the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter of every NFL game, an NFL Films-generated spot showing a great game finish like this one would run....
To this day, I still don't know why someone hasn't come in to fill this void. I loved these!
3. Football Follies
There's a reason why DVDs of popular movies or television programs have entire sections dedicated to bloopers -- we LOVE to watch other people screw up! Steve Sabol knew this, and that's why he created the Football Follies series, a set of programs which today still run on the NFL Network showing all sorts of fumbles, tumbles and gaffes. They never get old...
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