Not Quite a Non-Highlight Track

Song - Northern Lights (specifically Northern Lights (a))

Artist(s) - William (Bill) Soden

Released - 1986

Primetime Usage - 1987-88 (just non-highlight stuff in 1988)

Contained on - NFL 131 (LP) (Front Runner) (track link)
Featured Highlight - Buccaneers @ Cardinals, 1987

The early years of NFL Primetime didn't really have any tracks used exclusively for non-highlight stuff.  Of course, episodic segments like Inside the Numbers, Game Balls, and TJ's Extra Point didn't exist yet either.  The only non-highlight events with music were clips illustrating commentary segments by Chris, Tom, and Pete, and—if you count them as really being NFL Primetime—Sunday Night Football preview segments presented by Mike Patrick & co.  The songs used with those clips were always songs used for highlights, though.  "Northern Lights," composed by William Soden and contained on the final NFL Films LP, was almost an exception.  Northern Lights was used at least a few times for commentary segments, but it was only attached to a highlight once.  The St. Louis Cardinals, playing in their fourth-to-last game at Busch Stadium before moving to Arizona, came back from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Unfortunately, the directorial organization of this John Saunders clip isn't very good.  Most of the comeback was skipped over, and Saunders's telling of it removed all suspense.  It seems a lot of the John Saunders highlights from this era were short shrift like this.  It's still an entertaining watch, though.

 

*EDIT* - The song is now available for streaming on the new(?) NFL music site linked above.