Bill Belichick footage prompted documentary - Ingles

When NFL Films this week announced an upcoming two-part documentary based on having miked New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick for the 2009 season — practices, meetings and all games— you had to ask: Huh?

Belichick isn't exactly known for baring his soul publicly. And given that he did so two years ago, how come nobody heard about it?

NFL Films producer Ken Rodgers says it wasn't a secret. Rodgers, part of the three-man crew that shadowed Belichick, says when NFL Films made a Vince Lombardi documentary, it realized it needed more footage of today's icons that might be useful years from now — who says Corporate America never thinks long term? — and asked to follow Belichick. "We just wanted to record history. We didn't know what we'd use it for. Nobody heard about it, because there was no it."

VIDEO: A Football Life: Bill Belichick
That footage will air on NFL Network on Sept. 15 and 22 after the idea for a new A Football Life biographical series came up and, says Rodgers, NFL Films thought Belichick was an obvious kickoff subject since "we now have more footage on him than any coach in the history of the NFL."

Rodgers says Belichick and the Patriots didn't put conditions on anything — "they couldn't have been any more accommodating" — with the team only asking for two phrases to be cut because they were part of the team's play calling.

Rodgers says he's not sure whether Belichick even watched the show tape, but Belichick on Boston station WEEI-AM said that he never "consciously thought" about being under surveillance and had "so much trust" in NFL Films. Rodgers says, outside of games, NFL Films only requested to film about 40% of Belichick's job — "football on a daily basis can be boring" — and captured scenes of Belichick actually "joking." Who knew?

Fox, this weekend kicking off its first-ever coverage of college football's regular season, will have a studio show built around a single analyst: Marcus Allen.

In what will be a contrast to the ever-expanding chorus line on ESPN's various college studio shows, Allen will be joined only by host Kevin Frazier, currently host of The Insider show biz program.

Allen, who had stints on CBS' NFL coverage and on the NFL Network, has sterling on-field bona fides. At USC, he won the 1981 Heisman, then was NFL Rookie of the Year in 1982, Super Bowl MVP in 1983 and NFL MVP in 1985.

Thursday, Allen didn't sound like he was simply going to be a cheerleader for the college game. He thinks his alma mater's ongoing probation, which includes a ban on playing in a bowl this season, wasn't fair. But he also says "USC became a little bit Hollywood and they need to get back to playing football." He wonders what penalties will result from current scandal at the University of Miami — "it's a culture of corruption," he suggests — and says "it will be interesting to see if (NCAA) justice is blind and fair" in that case.

And Allen says college players should be paid: "How do they have a normal life? They aren't allowed to work. Can they go out on a date?"

Starting with Tulsa-Oklahoma Saturday (8 p.m. ET), Fox's FX cable channel this season airs weekly Pacific-12 and Big 12 games , most in Saturday prime time.

The Fox broadcast network, which this season carries the Pac-12 and Big Ten title games, next year will carry Pac-12 regular-season games, mostly in prime time.

Tiger Woods missing tournaments or not playing well enough to remain on-course for Sunday afternoon TV coverage created a big question over golf's TV future.

That was answered Thursday: The PGA Tour will stick with its regular programming — for the next decade. And CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus, whose network — along with NBC— renewed its deal, says nobody got bogged down fretting over Woods' future: "Our business model does not anticipate any golfer being as dominant as Tiger once was. If that happened, it would just be an upside."

In nine-year extensions on deals that would have expired after next season, NBC re-upped to continue carrying 10 events a year while CBS will keep doing 20; both will keep their current schedules. Their deals are timed to conclude the same year as Golf Channel's cable TV deal.

And, logically for a sport that plays on weekdays, the PGA Tour will debut what Commissioner Tim Finchem calls fairly massive online simulcasts of TV coverage. Sensibly, for a sport that has spread-out action, viewers will sometimes get two separate TV views of tournaments. When NBC airs weekend action, Golf Channel, its Comcast corporate cousin, will air separate live action of the same event.

On money, Finchem only says rights fees are increasing while CBS and NBC expect the deal to be profitable each year.

With golf, networks are unusually well-insulated from the vagaries of TV ratings — which must be reassuring, given that the days of Woods sending up TV ratings by 50% on Sundays might be over.

The PGA Tour, thanks to existing sponsors looking to reinforce their tie-ins, can supply buyers for about 65% of network ad time. And, unlike other sports where viewers don't buy the pros' gear, golf gear marketers can help gobble up TV ad time.

So, it's no big deal that the Woods TV meteor — at least outside of golf's majors — might be burned out. Finchem sees today's young players creating a tremendous buzz among golf fans. But then, what else should he say? (source USA Today’s Michael Hiestand)