Football Watching Wouldn’t Be The Same Without This Guy

Six years ago one of the most influential people in the history of televised football broadcasts passed away. His name was Tony Verna. Tony Verna invented one of the most important pieces of equipment needed for a football broadcast and now is even a part of the game itself…the instant replay machine. How many times have we heard the words "Upon further review..."

Verna died in January 18, 2015 at the age of 81. He was a young producer for CBS in 1963 when he came up with the instant replay idea during a broadcast of an Army-Navy game. It was a way of showing a play for a second time. The drawback was it took 15 minutes (that’s right...15 minutes) to cue up the film and ready it for a re-broadcast then. So replays then were shown during the half and end of the game broadcast.

Now replays are almost instantaneous at the end of a play and multiple replays are broadcast of each play at times. The replays are now also a part of disputed calls made on the field by officials. Can you imagine not being able to watch a football broadcast without using a replay? How many times have we heard the words "Upon further review...".

Thank you Tony Verna for making sports watching on TV much more enjoyable. Upon further review, this was one great invention.

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