The Once & Future King, John Facenda

[Chandler#81]

The Voice of God.

 

[Sierra Foothills]

Facenda has been referred to as "The Voice of God."

 

[The Jokeman]

13 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

Facenda has been referred to as "The Voice of God."

 

Morgan Freeman voice: Maybe not. 

[Tulsabillsfanz]

This is a voice from my childhood!  When we moved away from Buffalo to Tulsa in the late 1960s when I was a kid, there was minimal opportunities to see the Bills live on television.  So, many of my Bills memories from that era were highlight shows with THAT voice!      Thanks so much for sharing this! 

[HOUSE]

Chris Berman is the voice of God till he started swearing at the camera crew 🤬 

 

 

Edited August 11 by HOUSE

[Logic]

There are no words adequate to express how crucial John Facenda was in getting me hooked on football. 

Watching those old "NFL Yearbook" highlight reels on ESPN classic -- with the dramatic orchestral music, slow motion video, and Facenda's dramatic narration -- made the NFL seem like the most exciting, high stakes, dramatic spectacle imaginable. 

NFL Films had an ENORMOUS impact on me, and I'm not sure I'd be the football fan I am today without it.
 

 

 

[machine gun kelly]

30 minutes ago, Logic said:

There are no words adequate to express how crucial John Facenda was in getting me hooked on football. 

Watching those old "NFL Yearbook" highlight reels on ESPN classic -- with the dramatic orchestral music, slow motion video, and Facenda's dramatic narration -- made the NFL seem like the most exciting, high stakes, dramatic spectacle imaginable. 

NFL Films had an ENORMOUS impact on me, and I'm not sure I'd be the football fan I am today without it.
 

 

 

God,I love the Autumn Wind.  I still get chills hearing it.  Reminds me of being a little boy.

[Ned Flanders]

If you're old and over 50, Kevin Gallagher and @Ol_TimeFootball are two of the best follows on X.  Heck, if you're under 50, check them out too, if you can put down your Madden controller...

[Old Coot]

IT was a time when feral linebackeruled the earth and QBs were scared.

[Sierra Foothills]

10 hours ago, Logic said:

There are no words adequate to express how crucial John Facenda was in getting me hooked on football. 

Watching those old "NFL Yearbook" highlight reels on ESPN classic -- with the dramatic orchestral music, slow motion video, and Facenda's dramatic narration -- made the NFL seem like the most exciting, high stakes, dramatic spectacle imaginable. 

NFL Films had an ENORMOUS impact on me, and I'm not sure I'd be the football fan I am today without it.
 

 

You are far from alone on this. A huge percentage of baby boomers were indoctrinated into NFL fandom via NFL Films.

 

The glare of their productions were a huge reason that the NFL became America's Passion, eclipsing America's Pastime.

 

[Mikie2times]

10 hours ago, Logic said:

There are no words adequate to express how crucial John Facenda was in getting me hooked on football. 

Watching those old "NFL Yearbook" highlight reels on ESPN classic -- with the dramatic orchestral music, slow motion video, and Facenda's dramatic narration -- made the NFL seem like the most exciting, high stakes, dramatic spectacle imaginable. 

NFL Films had an ENORMOUS impact on me, and I'm not sure I'd be the football fan I am today without it.
 

 

 

 

43 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

You are far from alone on this. A huge percentage of baby boomers were indoctrinated into NFL fandom via NFL Films.

 

The glare of their productions were a huge reason that the NFL became America's Passion, eclipsing America's Pastime.

 

Add me in for a 3rd. I was a huge

NFL historian growing up. Taped anything I could. He was one the all time best. His voice is football. Jealous of the guys who got to see the game back then. 

Edited August 12 by Mikie2times

[Sierra Foothills]

44 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

Add me in for a 3rd. I was a huge

NFL historian growing up. Taped anything I could. He was one the all time best. His voice is football. Jealous of the guys who got to see the game back then. 

 

Digging pretty deeply now... other prominent and excellent NFL Films voices were Hall of Fame announcer Harry Kalas who was the voice of the Phillies for over 30 years, and a person longtime Buffalo sports fans might recall, Jefferson Kaye, who worked at WKBW and WBEN radio.

 

[Chandler#81]

Nobody came close to Facenda. A true original!

[LabattBlue]

7 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

…and a person longtime Buffalo sports fans might recall, Jefferson Kaye, who worked at WKBW and WBEN radio.

 

Van, Stan & the Fan!  😊

[SoonerBillsFan]

On 8/10/2025 at 10:41 AM, Chandler#81 said:

The Voice of God.

 

I almost tear up hearing that.  Like many things, we didn't know what we had until he was gone.  

[BobbyC81]

19 hours ago, Logic said:

There are no words adequate to express how crucial John Facenda was in getting me hooked on football. 

Watching those old "NFL Yearbook" highlight reels on ESPN classic -- with the dramatic orchestral music, slow motion video, and Facenda's dramatic narration -- made the NFL seem like the most exciting, high stakes, dramatic spectacle imaginable. 

NFL Films had an ENORMOUS impact on me, and I'm not sure I'd be the football fan I am today without it.
 

 

 

Yeah, I watch the Bills yearbook every year and even with these exciting seasons it’s kinda meh.

[BobbyC81]

Ed Sabol was underrated, Steve Sabol carried the torch with more personal exposure, but since Steve and Facenda passed, these highlight shows aren’t the same.

 

Liev Schreiber narrating could be better than sleeping pills.

[BillsVet]

On Super Bowl Sunday, ESPN would air all the SB highlight shows from previous years beginning in the early morning.  I think they were 30 minutes long which meant in the early 90s you could get through them all by noon.  I'd watch them, all of which were narrated by Facenda though 1983.  

 

Facenda's voice is a childhood memory for me...waking up at 1am to watch those highlight shows on ESPN.  Cannot believe he's not in Canton.  

 

[Ned Flanders]

1 hour ago, BillsVet said:

On Super Bowl Sunday, ESPN would air all the SB highlight shows from previous years beginning in the early morning.  I think they were 30 minutes long which meant in the early 90s you could get through them all by noon.  I'd watch them, all of which were narrated by Facenda though 1983.  

 

Facenda's voice is a childhood memory for me...waking up at 1am to watch those highlight shows on ESPN.  Cannot believe he's not in Canton.  

 

Yup, Raiders-Skins was Facenda's last Super Bowl, and he delivered what I think is his most memorable line: "On came Marcus Allen, running with the night."

 

Facenda was recognized at the HOF, but agree, he needs a bust in Canton.

 

https://www.profootballhof.com/news/2021/06/john-facenda-named-2021-pete-rozelle-radio-television-award-winner/

 

 

[BobbyC81]

On 8/11/2025 at 9:14 AM, HOUSE said:

Chris Berman is the voice of God till he started swearing at the camera crew 🤬 

 

 

Yeah, there were parts of him (giving cred to Bills) that I really liked but it appears in general he’s an a-hole.  You can’t let it go after the first comments?