For Super Bowl XLV, Fox plans to air a special opening with a reading of the Declaration of Independence. Current and former NFL players along with military personnel will take part. Introducing the reading will be NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and former Army General Colin Powell.
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FOX SUPER BOWL TRADITION CONTINUES
Current and Former NFL Greats, U.S. Military & Diverse Citizenry Featured in All-New Presentation of the Declaration of Independence
Original Score, Declaration Anthem, Sets Backdrop
New York – The Super Bowl is to unofficial holidays what the Fourth of July is to those officially recognized. So as 100 million Americans gather to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6, FOX Sports offers an all-new presentation of the Declaration of Independence in what has become a FOX SUPER BOWL SUNDAY tradition.
The piece begins with an introduction and perspective from retired Army General Colin Powell and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell who were filmed at The Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom at The National Archives in Washington, D.C. home of the Declaration of Independence. The script was written by FOX Sports producer Jennifer Pransky with contributions from Goodell and Powell. In addition to the Declaration of Independence, it draws inspiration from the Preamble to the Constitution, God Bless America, Pledge of Allegiance and the words of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Powell.
The reading features current and former NFL greats reading excerpts from the document, and the participants were chosen for their extraordinary service to team and country. Every NFL personality was filmed with either US military personnel or community minded people who represent the diversity that makes America great. The list of participating players past and present, along with their community representatives, includes: New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees with G.W. Carver High School students in New Orleans; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver and cornerback Charles Woodson with employees of Green Bay Packaging; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra; Washington Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb and former head coach Joe Gibbs with Army personnel atop the US Chamber of Commerce Building in Washington; former NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett with students from Stanford University’s El Centro Chicano; Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice and future Hall of Famer Tim Brown with the Coast Guard members on San Francisco Bay; Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz with Ohio grain farmers at Mike Farm Enterprises; Hall of Famer Bart Starr with Navy representatives in Alabama; Air Force personnel in Southwest Asia; Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware with the Cowboys’ Play 60 Salvation Army All-Star Team; Hall of Famer Art Donovan with Marines at National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA. Donovan served in the Marines during World War II as an anti-aircraft gunner. He saw action in the Caroline Islands, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Luzon and is also a member of the US Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame.
The piece is set to a new original score titled “Declaration Anthem” composed by Steve Dancz of Placement Music, a new Atlanta-based company with a Grammy-Award winning team specializing in custom music and score. Dancz, who has composed and conducted numerous orchestral pieces for television and film, is director of Jazz Studies at the University of Georgia. The trumpet player on the composition is Charles Arnold, former US Navy fleet musician, who performed for President George H. W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, as well as former President Jimmy Carter. Arnold was a part of the first military band to visit Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union when the Seventh Fleet Band visited Vladivostok in 1992.
This is the fourth time FOX Sports is presenting the Declaration of Independence on Super Bowl Sunday. The first came prior to Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002, the first Super Bowl following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. This is the third version, but only this effort and the first were completely original productions. Besides the unique locations that serve as backdrops, patriotic images are sprinkled throughout and include several renowned paintings including “The Declaration” by Barry Faulkner, which is located over the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives; a rendering of King George III by Alan Ramsay; “Declaration of Independence” by John Trumbell, which is located in the US Capitol Rotunda, along with Independence Hall and the Jefferson Memorial.
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