New Primetime - Classic Battle (Sam Spence)

Song - Classic Battle

Artist(s) - Sam Spence

Debut - No later than 1996

Primetime Usage - 2021, 2023-24

Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as some other NFL Films albums like Autumn Thunder Vol. 6)
Featured Highlight - Packers @ Cowboys, 2023 Wild Card

Sam Spence gets his third-straight post on this blog.  "Classic Battle" is another NFL Films classic that most any football fan will recognize.  As with "March to the Trenches," Classic Battle was only used for the intro of the attached game highlight.  That highlight is the Packers/Cowboys Wild Card game from a couple years ago where Dallas decided to play flag football on defense.  Classic Battle accompanies Chris Berman's recaps of the Ice Bowl and the 1995 NFC Championship Game.  Also, as with "The Equalizer," I don't know exactly when Spence composed this piece or when it debuted on NFL Films.  It's not on any of the old NFL Music LPs, and the earliest album with it I know of is NFL CD 005 Magnificent Eleven from 1996.

 

 

New Primetime - The Equalizer (Sam Spence)

Song - The Equalizer

Artist(s) - Sam Spence

Debut - No later than 1996

Primetime Usage - 2021, 2023-24

Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as some other NFL Films albums like The Power and the Glory)
Featured Highlight - Packers @ 49ers, 2021 (SNF)

One of the songs most synonymous with famed NFL Films composer Sam Spence nowadays is "The Equalizer."  When getting ready to make this post, I started to wonder "Why is it so comparatively popular?"  It has nothing to do with the quality of the song.  It's a good song, though I wouldn't say it's my favorite Spence composition or anything.  It's more because I can't figure out when The Equalizer originated or what video it was first used with.  It's not on Autumn Thunder, and it doesn't seem to be on any of the 1970's-'80s NFL Music Library LPs either.  The earliest album I could find with The Equalizer was NFL CD 004 (On to Victory) from 1996, and I have no idea when it debuted on NFL Films' stuff.  Could its modern popularity come from gamers remembering it from Madden '06?  I don't know…

Anyway, the accompanying highlight is the Packers/49ers Sunday Night Football game from Week 3 of 2021.  Green Bay blew a 17-0 lead only to pull out a 2-point win with a last-second field goal.  This would be a Pyrrhic victory for the Packers, however, as we all remember what happened between these two teams in the Divisional Round later that season.

I linked an official source for the song above (the current NFL Music site), but they only allow 30 second previews if you're not signed up or whatever.  If you want to hear the full version, though, it's easy to find by searching Google or YouTube or whatever.