NFL Classics is a series of videotaped rebroadcasts of National Football League games that air on the NFL Network. The show airs weekly during the offseason and also occasionally during the NFL season. As of the 2010, the series airs on Monday night while Super Bowl Classics airs on Friday night.
NFL Classics is an extension of an earlier series called Super Bowl Classics, which showed full-length re-airs of some of the most memorable Super Bowl games.
The NFL is the last United States-based major professional sports league to make such broadcasts available on TV. Previously, NFL Network and ESPN Classic had aired NFL's Greatest Games, 90-minute edited versions using footage from NFL Films. The other major leagues – MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR – have all had games (or races, in NASCAR's case) air on ESPN Classic. However, at this time, full-length MLB games are shown on Classic only occasionally, while NHL games are presently aired on NHL Network.
1This was not on the original NFLN schedule; it replaced a scheduled telecast of the Las Vegas All-American Classic, which was cancelled 2The last minute of the first half (including the Rocky Bleier touchdown reception) was missing from the footage.
This schedule reflects only game re-airs that NFL Network did not show the previous year. Also, most of the premieres tied into the participating teams in Super Bowl XLII and to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only perfect team for an entire season in NFL history.
June 21, 2007 – Green Bay Packers 33, Seattle Seahawks 27 in OT, January 4, 2004 – As Mike Holmgren coaches against his former Packers team, Matt Hasselbeck's boasts after the overtime coin flip, "We want the ball, and we're gonna score!" But the brag backfires as Al Harris scores the game-winning interception return touchdown.
June 28, 2007 – San Francisco 49ers 39, New York Giants 38 January 5, 2003: In one of the largest comebacks in NFL history. the 49ers rally from a three-touchdown deficit late in the third quarter of the NFC Wild Card game to win by scoring 25 unanswered points. However, a chaotic play caused by a botched field goal attempt decides the outcome.
July 5, 2007 – Cleveland Browns 33, Pittsburgh Steelers 36, January 5, 2003: Led by quarterback Tommy Maddox, the Steelers scored 29 points in the final 19 minutes of the 2002 AFC wild card game to defeat the Cleveland Browns 36–33. Maddox, the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, passed for 367 yards and three touchdowns.
July 12, 2007 – Green Bay Packers 41, Oakland Raiders 7, December 22, 2003: The day after his father's death, Brett Favre completes 22 of 30 passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns as the Packers dominated the Raiders 41–7 on Monday Night Football. Favre set a Packers record recording a 154.9 quarterback rating in the victory.
July 19, 2007 – Oakland Raiders 25, Denver Broncos 24, November 28, 2004: Broncos kicker Jason Elam's 42-yard field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter was blocked by Langston Walker to preserve a 25–24 victory for the Raiders on a snowy night in Denver. Raiders quarterback Kerry Collins passed for 339 yards and four touchdowns.
Except for the Dec. 8 and 21 games, all of these contests promoted the December 28 game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants which was shown on NFLN, CBS, and NBC in a three-way simulcast.
December 21, 2007 – Miami Dolphins 29, New England Patriots 28, December 20, 2004: Trailing 28–17, underdog Miami comes back to win against the heavily favored Patriots thanks to a rushing touchdown by Sammy Morris, a passing touchdown by A. J. Feeley, and two late interceptions by Tom Brady in the last 2:17.
December 26, 2007 – New England Patriots 38, New York Jets 14 September 9, 2007: The Patriots win against the Jets in a game that began New England's 16–0 run and was most remembered as the game in which Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs recorded the longest kickoff return in NFL history (108 Yards).
December 26, 2007 – New England Patriots 24, Indianapolis Colts 20 November 4, 2007: In a game that was built up as "Super Bowl 41½", The Patriots ended up winning and continuing its run to a 16–0 record thanks to two touchdown passes by Tom Brady late in the game when the Colts were leading by 10 points.
December 27, 2007 – New England Patriots 31, Philadelphia Eagles 28, November 26, 2007: The Patriots ended up beating a tougher-than-expected Philadelphia squad to continue their quest for an undefeated season in what was New England's closest game of that season.
December 28, 2007 – New England Patriots 27, Baltimore Ravens 24, December 3, 2007: Thanks to a few penalties in New England's favor and a good final drive, the Patriots were able to go 12–0 on a Monday night in what would be a 16–0 regular season in a game many people said should've been won by Baltimore. Despite leading 27–24, the Patriots did not secure the win until a last-second desperation heave by Kyle Boller was caught at the Patriots 2-yard line by Derrick Mason and stopped. This game was the most watched program in cable television history.
January 17, 2008 – New England Patriots 24, San Diego Chargers 21, January 14, 2007: In a game with the teams combining 7 turnovers, Nate Kaeding misses a game-tying field goal with :08 seconds left to give the New England Patriots the victory over the favored Chargers and a spot in the AFC Championship Game for the fourth time in five years.
January 18, 2008 – Green Bay Packers 35, New York Giants 13, September 16, 2007: Packers' quarterback Brett Favre becomes the winningest quarterback in NFL history beating the Giants, the same team the Packers would lose to later in the season in the 2007 NFC Championship Game.
January 24, 2008 – New England Patriots 38, New York Giants 35, December 29, 2007: The Patriots beat the Giants, a team which they would meet 1 month later in Super Bowl XLII, to rewrite history and complete a perfect 16–0 regular season. This would also be the game many regular season NFL records were broken, such as Tom Brady breaking Peyton Manning's single – season TD passes record with 50 and Randy Moss breaking Jerry Rice's single- season TD catches record with 23.
January 25, 2008 – New York Giants 23, Green Bay Packers 20 in OT, January 20, 2008: On a chilly, below temperature night in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Lawrence Tynes made a game- winning field goal with 12:34 in overtime after missing two straight in the last seven minutes of regulation to get the Giants a victory in the 2008 NFC Championship Game and a spot in Super Bowl XLII, which they would eventually win.
Beginning with this season, NFL Classics is a new series of 2½ to 3 hour programs with opening and closing sequences and some editing. This was scheduled to run on Monday nights for 10 weeks.
June 2, 2008 – Miami Dolphins 28, New York Jets 24, November 27, 1994: With the Jets leading 24–6 in the third quarter of a game that, if won by New York, would result in a first-place tie with Miami in the AFC East, Dan Marino throws two more touchdown passes to Mark Ingram to cut the lead to three. Then with just over 2 minutes left in regulation, Marino led a last-minute drive that culminated in a "fake spike" pass where Marino pretended to spike the ball (which would stop the clock) before throwing the winning touchdown pass to Ingram with 22 seconds left (the Clock Play).
June 23, 2008 – Tennessee Titans 22, Buffalo Bills 16 January 8, 2000: This is the game where the Music City Miracle occurred. Following a late field goal by Bills kicker Steve Christie, Buffalo kicked off and the ball was recovered by Titan fullback Lorenzo Neal. Neal handed off to tight end Frank Wycheck who lateraled the ball to receiver Kevin Dyson, who ran in for a touchdown with 3 seconds remaining. The play was ruled as a lateral, and thus a legal play instead of an illegal forward pass, by Phil Luckett after instant replay.
June 30, 2008 – Green Bay Packers 24, Cincinnati Bengals 23 September 20, 1992: This game is where Brett Favre's career officially began, as he was forced into the game in the 1st quarter in place of injured Don Majkowski. Favre started slow, as the Packers trailed 17–3 in the 4th quarter, but rallied, throwing his first NFL touchdown pass to Sterling Sharpe in the 4th quarter. Trailing 23–17 with just over a minute left, Favre drove the team down the field, completing the winning touchdown throw with just 13 seconds remaining, and since then, he has started every game for the Green Bay Packers through the 2007 season.
