John Facenda was a fixture on Philadelphia radio and television for decades, and achieved national fame as a narrator for NFL Films and Football Follies.
17 Facts About John Facenda
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John Facenda's father was an immigrant from Italy who went from Portsmouth, Virginia, to help with building the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia while his wife and children remained in Virginia.
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John Facenda attended Roman Catholic High School in Center City, Philadelphia and then later Villanova University but dropped out.
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In 1948, John Facenda became an anchorman at WCAU-TV, a role that he held until 1973.
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One night in 1965, John Facenda went to a local tavern, the RDA Club, which happened to be showing footage produced by NFL Films.
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John Facenda enjoyed the slow-motion game sequences that were already an NFL Films trademark and would later recall:.
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John Facenda narrated many highlight films during his career with the company.
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Probably one of the best-remembered examples of John Facenda's NFL Films narration is something he never actually said: "the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" was a quote sportscaster Chris Berman made up, mimicking John Facenda's voice when he said it.
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John Facenda was at the pinnacle of his style in 1974's "The Championship Chase" with his recitation of "The Autumn Wind", a football poem written by Steve Sabol, personifying fall weather:.
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John Facenda's face is weatherbeaten He wears a hooded sash With a silver hat about his head And a bristling black mustache He growls as he storms the country A villain big and bold And the trees all shake and quiver and quake As he robs them of their gold.
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John Facenda narrated a documentary on Notre Dame Football in 1982 titled "Wake Up the Echoes", one of the few times he put his voice to something that wasn't NFL-related.
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John Facenda was co-anchor for the station's coverage of Pope John Paul II's visit to Philadelphia in 1979.
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Twelve days before John Facenda died, he was presented with the Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Philadelphia chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
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John Facenda was named Person of the Year by the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia in 1971 and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1992.
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John Facenda died of cancer on September 26,1984, at the age of 71.
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In 1986, John Facenda was posthumously honored with the Ralph Hay Pioneer Award.
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In 2021, John Facenda was honored again by the hall with the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, making him and Joe Browne the only two people to be given two separate auxiliary honors by the hall.