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What: “St. Louis Rams: Super Bowl Champions” videotape
Price: $19.95
Only 22 days after the St. Louis Rams’ exciting 23-16 Super Bowl victory over the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Films’ Ram Super Bowl videotape became available in video outlets Tuesday.
All that needs to be said about this 60-minute video is that it is NFL Films quality. Which means it is tremendous.
Viewers are taken through the Rams’ improbable season, game by game, with footage, interviews, narration and music that is vintage NFL Films. You don’t have to be a Ram fan to enjoy this tape.
In the beginning, there is footage--in color--of Norm Van Brocklin’s winning touchdown pass to Tom Fears in the 1951 NFL championship game, when the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cleveland Browns, 24-17. It was the Rams’ last title until this season, which was also their first winning season in 10 years.
There is a lot of what you might expect--Dick Vermeil, wearing a microphone, supplying candid comments during games, and interviews with stars such as Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, D’Marco Farr and Kevin Carter. No, there are no interviews with owner Georgia Frontiere, although you’ll see enough of her--mostly inside the Ram locker room. Team President John Shaw, however, goes unrecognized.
A nice touch is that most of Vermeil’s staff does not go unrecognized. So often assistant coaches get so little credit. Among those who get some air time--identified graphically at various times--are Mike Martz, who has since been elevated from offensive coordinator to head coach, receivers coach Al Saunders, assistant head coach and former Raider coach Mike White, offensive line coach and former St. Louis Cardinal coach Jim Hanifan, defensive line coach Carl Hairston, tight ends coach Lynn Stiles, and running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery.
NFL Films has done a super job on this Super Bowl video, which is being distributed by USA Home Entertainment. If there is a flaw, and it is a very minor one, a viewer with a poor memory might wonder why the Titans didn’t get an extra point after their first touchdown made the score 16-6. Their failed two-point try got edited out. But just about everything else from the Rams’ Super Bowl season is there.
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