Sport and Cinema.com

94-year-old former overcoat salesman from Philadelphia, Ed Sabol, in a long, long overdue tribute to the game of football will join the sport’s immortals this weekend after being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The founder of NFL Films, who simply revolutionized how we experience the game, will be presented by his son Steve, NFL Films President who is battling brain cancer.

He couldn’t run pass patterns like Shannon Sharpe. His speed in the 40 didn’t come close to Marshall Faulk or Deion Sanders nor could he fight through to pressure quarterbacks like Richard Dent, but Ed Sabol’s talent is certainly just as deserving of a place in pro football’s hall of fame.

From their early days as a new expansion team in the early 60s under tempermental hall of fame quarterback-turned-coach Norm Van Brocklin and the glory days under Bud Grant with led by their Purple People Eaters on defense to some of the most brilliant offense in NFL history with Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman, Randy Moss and Brett Favre with Adrian Peterson, Viking fans have enjoyed an exciting half-century of pro football in the Twin Cities including several Super Bowl appearances.

In the long history of the National Football League, there is no other franchise that is more noted for their ball-stopping prowess.

For almost 90 years, the Monsters of the Midway have won nine NFL Championships mainly on the shoulders of the team’s strong, attacking defense.

It is about halftime, so grab another cold one and enjoy this brilliant new five-part documentary on Showtime celebrating the 50th season of “The Other League”.

From its tumultuous beginnings to its unlikely merger with its all-powerful well-established rival NFL, follow the birth of this brilliantly innovative upstart league filled with unique personalities both on and off the field.

From their early days in the fledgling American Football League to the exciting squads of the 21st century, all the great games, star players and classic moments of one of the National Football League’s most exciting franchises scores on a new double-disc DVD set

Missing your Sunday football fix? Here’s something to lighten your day.