PhilTuckett,
(clickfor biography) JeffHillegass, and Steve Sabol of NFL Films
wonan EMMY
fortheir original film about the Pottstown Firebirds.
30 yearsafter producing this documentary film about
a semi-pro football team. NFL FILMSreturns to Pottstown, Pennsylvania in search of the
“The King”.....
,
hostedby Steve Sabol.Thistwo-hour special
ofthe critically acclaimed series for
ESPNClassic
premierednationally
Friday,October 27 at 9 PM (ET).
andwas exhibited on November 12, 2000
atthe
FortLauderdale
InternationalFilm Festival
twoshowings:
1:30pm and 7:30 PM
atthe Gateway Theater on Sunrise Boulevard.
The first part ofthe special is devoted to Pro Football: Pottstown, PA, an NFLFILMS documentary that was produced in theearly ‘70s by Lost Treasures of NFL FILMSseniorproducer Phil Tuckett and filmed by Sabol. The film profiled the1970 Pottstown Firebirds, a minor-league football team made up of formerNFL players and men who could not let go of the game, even if the gamehad let go of them.In the secondpart of the special, Tuckett and Sabol return to Pottstown ? and stopsin between ? to track down several of the players profiled in the originalfilm, including the elusive "King" Corcoran.
The Lost Treasuresof NFL FILMS series was created entirely from400 hours of retrieved 16mm film footage that has never been previouslyaired. In 1962, before they became the premier filmmakers in sports,before they were even called NFL FILMS,Thegroup was just a few men who loved making movies and loved professionalfootball.
Back in thosedays, when no one ever heard of “sports- programming,”NFL FILMS’ only priority was to convince someKiwanis clubs around the country that a few minutes of NFLFILMS highlights would show pro football ina radically new and exciting way.
Almost forty yearslater, NFL FILMShas produced a million times over those original few-minute highlights. However, Tuckett asked, “What happened to all sound and film that nevermade it into those “first few minutes”?
In sifting throughthe NFL FILMSfilm archive ? the world’s largest sports film library ? not only did Tuckettdiscover the history of the NFL in the 1960s and some of the era’s lostplayers, but he also discovered the early beginnings of NFLFILMS.
"PottstownRevisited"
