Marathon

Song - Marathon

Artist(s) - Hal Brown, Donald Bradley Kelley (Brad Kelley) (?)

Released - 1985

Primetime Usage - 1987-88

Contained on - FirstCom UT103 (Lightning)

Featured Highlight - Packers @ Saints, 1987


Perhaps the most used song in the the first two years of NFL Primetime, "Marathon"—though enjoyable—is an unusual one.  It's a track that doesn't seem to fit football highlights at first, but works surprisingly well after a few listens.  I guess Marathon would be classified as fusion, though it's a bit more driving-rockish and edgy than a stereotypical fusion piece like Solar Winds.  Speaking of Solar Winds, Marathon is contained on the same hard-to-find FirstCom Up Tempo album.

As with Communique, I'm not certain I have the artist credits correct.  There is a song named "Marathon" credited to Hal Brown & Donald Bradley Kelley in the ASCAP database, though, and they were frequent FirstCom composers during this era.  They also composed Drive Away, which is similar in many ways to Marathon.

The highlight this time shows the New Orleans Saints coronating their first-ever playoff appearance against the Green Bay Packers.  As you'll see in the video, the Saints would be far more jubilant at the end of this one than they would be a week later after a humiliating loss to the 8-7 Vikings.  This was also Forrest Gregg's final game as an NFL head coach.