It's Normal And Natural To Watch Old Super Bowl Highlights

Last night, while the world wept over videotapes and dynasties, ESPN2 strung together a bunch of those NFL Films specials of Super Bowl highlights. It might've been the most sports they've aired on one channel in quite some time.

These marathons might actually be the best part about Super Bowl week. Once a year, they dust off these tapes so that fans, when they have nothing else better to do and they've already masturbated, watch these episodes in solitude, thinking they're such nerds. "Look, there's Brian Billick being a successful quarterback coach." "Look, there's the Patriots, two-touchdown underdogs." "Look, there's Mike Ditka, still relevant."

Given the hit-or-miss excitement of the Super Bowl, the NFL Films series politely reminds us that (a) tonight could be a classic Super Bowl, or (b) even if tonight's game is an ugly rout, it will soon be turned into a half-hour episode that is strangely fun to watch, because the secret is in the slow motion footage and regal music.

This couple-of-years-old interview with reminds us how innovative they've been on the entire concept of highlights. No matter how old the highlights are, we'll never have Soulja Boy superimposed on top of Steve McNair scrambling around on the final drive.

How I Did It: Steve Sabol, President, NFL Films [Inc.]