He became the narrator for NFL Films by accident. It happened in
1965 when he and a friend dropped into a club. To boost business that
night, the tavern owner was showing some pro football game action
assembled by NFL Films, which had recently set up shop as a producer
for the National Football League. Fascinated by the slow-motion
sequences, Facenda said, "I started to rhapsodize about how beautiful
it was.
Ed Sabol, the man who founded NFL Films, happened to be at the
bar. He came up to me and asked, 'If I give you a script, could you
repeat what you just did?' I said I would try." Facenda went on from
there to narrate NFL Films' game footage and highlight reels for two
decades, his rich, dramatic voice a perfect complement to the long
passes, thrilling runs and violent line play. Always the perfectionist,
he marked his NFL Film scripts with musical notations for his guidance:
lento (slow down), presto (speed up), glissando (glide through it).
