WEBVTT - Pats from the Past, Episode 18: Ken Rodgers 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.560 Time now for another episode of Pats from the Past podcast. 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:14.480 Matt Smith alongside Brian Worrie and we are more than 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.560 pleased today can be joined by one of the true 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:23.400 greats from NFL Films, their vice president and senior coordinating producer, 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:28.640 Ken Rogers, who you may know as from behind the scenes, 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:34.199 is an integral part of Films' historical component and is 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:38.839 producing such gems as Hard Knocks. And I had the 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:43.120 pleasure or misfortune, probably from Ken's perspective, of joining him 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.440 and helping out with three Games to Glory many many 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.200 moons ago. That's where I got a chance to meet Ken. 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:51.800 So full disclosure, have had the privilege of being able 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:55.080 to sort of is that three Games the Glory one 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.280 or six three at the time, and we've been involved 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:00.080 in the others since. So I've had a chance a 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.480 sort of tug on Superman's cape and grab onto the 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:06.800 coattails of Ken Rogers for many years. Ken, thank you 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:09.000 so much for joining us, for being here today. 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.800 It's a true honor. I thank you for having me. 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:14.520 I wanted to win the Super Bowl as a wild 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:16.399 card team so we could do four Games to Glory. 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.440 Yeah, yeah, Well, can I tell you something I've always 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:23.120 thought of that films would have the material and we 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:25.039 would make sure that we would do our best to 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:29.600 try to buffer or try to enhance whatever great stuff 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:30.280 films would have. 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:32.280 Kenn, I simiz, have. 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:35.360 You copyrighted four games to Glory? Like you have three 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:36.119 Games to Glory? 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.520 I believe so is the answer. I believe so. 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.800 I would imagine the crafts are way ahead. 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:41.959 Of the game. 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.720 Yeah, yep, they're quite good at that, as well as 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:48.160 many other things. Kenny. I think people would be interested 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:53.240 to know, and I think people know who you are, 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:55.720 maybe don't know necessarily your story. How did you get 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.200 started at films? 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:02.560 So? I was working in Los Angeles. I had gone 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.640 to film school out there, originally from New Jersey, and 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:11.760 I had no thought of working in sports, to be honest, 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:13.600 not a huge sports fan. 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:15.359 I was a film geek. 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:19.720 I loved filmmaking, and what I did as a kid 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:23.000 was just watch movies. I grew up in the era 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:27.720 where HBO and those type of pay channels had just 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:32.080 come out, and MTV, of course, to me, was like 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:34.000 we're like little. 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.600 Movies, these videos. So I wanted to be a filmmaker. 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.000 I was trying to make it in Los Angeles, and 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.560 I visited a friend who was working at NFL Films 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:49.400 when I came home for Christmas. One Christmas, and this 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:55.320 was the Christmas of two thousand, right before the changeover, 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:59.919 and I went to NFL Films to meet him and 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:05.800 went to the restroom when I was when I arrived, 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.680 and as I walked out of the restroom, I literally 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:13.520 opened the door and it opened into Steve Sable and 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:16.799 I almost knocked him over. And I sort of knew 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:19.600 who Steve Sable was. I'd wrecked you know, Okay, that's 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:22.240 that guy. I think he's been on TV again. I 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:26.960 wasn't a big sports fan, and my friend introduced us, 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:29.040 and Steve started asking me, oh, what are you doing 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:32.720 out in LA And it turns out if there's one 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:37.440 thing he loves equally to football, it was it was films. 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.520 And we just started talking about filmmaking, and we just 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:42.360 started talking about our favorite films. 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:46.040 And at the time, I was working as. 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:50.600 An assistant to a lawyer at Hans Zimmer's composing studio Wow, 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:55.080 and he had just done Gladiator, and so we started 0:03:55.080 --> 0:04:01.480 talking about about Gladiator movies, you know, which led us 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:05.560 to you know, all kinds of historical recreation movies and 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:08.880 Ben hur and you know, we just started talking and 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:12.720 after ten minutes he stopped and he said, you should 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:13.320 apply here. 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:17.960 You should work here. And you know there's. 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:21.880 A lot of interns and kids will ask me, you know, 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.640 how can I work at NFL Films? I say, look, 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.440 all I know is how I ended up working at 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:33.080 the NFL Films. I had the perfect amount of full 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:36.880 bladder that it timed out perfectly that I opened the 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:40.320 door onto Steve Sable And that's how life is. 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:44.080 You just I have no idea how it happened, because. 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.000 I ended up applying and he became a great friend 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:51.799 and mentor, and it turned out that making football movies 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:56.240 fit my personality and who I am better than probably 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:58.680 anything I would have found in Los Angeles. 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:02.320 What an unbelievable story. I mean, you talk to people kids, 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:04.279 as you said, interns, Hey, how do I get into 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:08.240 a job. You opened the bathroom door onto the founder 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:10.760 of NFL Films, and the rest for Ken Rogers and 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.839 his family is history. I mean that really is. You 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:16.160 talk about making the most of a ten minute situations, 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.560 which I was going to ask you, what is your 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.680 favorite film? 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:22.279 Oh geez. 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:28.800 Gosh, I'm talking about, you know, your LA career. I 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:32.279 want to make the next great Oscar winning drama. You know, 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:33.440 So what is your favorite? 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:33.720 God? 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:38.400 You know, it changes all the time, obviously because there's 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:38.919 so many. 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:42.080 But the film I've been thinking about a lot right. 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:46.120 Now is called The Bad and the Beautiful, which is 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:52.480 a great old film about the film industry actually, and 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.720 I've been thinking about it a lot recently because there's 0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:01.360 a great line in it where a producer is yelling 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:06.640 at a director that they don't know what they're doing 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:10.599 in the scene, and the director says to the producer, 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:13.920 you know what you have to do to get this 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:17.359 scene exactly the way you want it. You have to 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:21.480 direct it yourself, because the director just can't stand the 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:27.120 producer looking over his shoulder. And it reminded me how 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:30.680 our culture at NFL Films is the exact opposite that 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.280 we are. We are given such freedom to make our 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:39.680 stories the way we want to tell them. And when 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:44.120 I grew up watching those movie, those Hollywood movies about Hollywood, 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:47.159 you know, I always thought I want I wanted the power. 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:52.040 I wanted to be the Hollywood producer, like the producer 0:06:53.360 --> 0:07:00.320 in Bad and the Beautiful, and I found out that 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.360 being in a company where there is no power structure, 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:07.800 that Steve Sable saw me as an equal. And I 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:12.520 now really try to see everyone from the lowest person 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:16.160 on the ladder all the way up to my boss's 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:20.800 boss as equals. That's how That's how I want to work, 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:22.840 and that's how I think the best films are made. 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.080 And there's a lot of trust for everybody in the 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:29.840 business in our company. And I've been thinking about that 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:31.840 film a lot and it's become one of my favorites 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:33.000 in recent months. 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.800 So as a parent, then, and I'm sure you're going 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:38.480 to tell me that this is cliched, which is fine, 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:42.400 But did you think I did a solid job parenting 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.160 where I sat down with So I have nineteen year 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.120 old twins, and I think you know, I sat down 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:49.840 with my son last week and we watched The Godfather 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.280 Part one, which would be my favorite movie. Is that 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:56.480 good parenting or poor parenting from your perspective. 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.920 Well, it's poor if it's the first time you've done that. 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:01.920 Agree with that. I agree with that. 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:03.320 I don't even know if I could get my kids 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:07.320 to sit down and watch it, uh. 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:09.880 Three hours I mean, you got you know, you gotta 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:11.080 do that by age eight. 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:16.400 Okay, them down for it and I have failed. That's 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:18.480 a fair shout. But so I'm a little late to 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:22.040 the game because he was told by his friends at 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:25.160 his first semester college that Goodfellows was the best film. 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.440 We watch Goodfellows. I also love Fellaws but loved it, 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.360 and I said, now, as great as Goodfellas is, let's 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:33.840 watch the real McCoy. Let's watch the real McCoy. So 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:34.920 now he wants to see two. 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.120 And oh look, that's the thing, like, I can never 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:43.800 judge my favorite film. It's it's impossible. 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.760 I have a Godfather question though, whatever week it is, right. 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.240 Can you Godfather's Godfather is a better film than The 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:50.920 Bad and the Beautiful? But right now, if I had 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:53.320 to watch one, I love The Bad and Beautiful favorite 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:53.960 film right now. 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.480 So I want your opinion on this. Then Godfather Part 0:08:57.679 --> 0:08:58.200 Part three? 0:08:59.120 --> 0:08:59.600 Is it? 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:05.200 Is it bad compared to one and two or bad? 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:12.760 I think it's it's too maligned for it's over maligned 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:16.280 for what it is. It's bad compared to one and two, 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:20.480 but it is not as bad as people I think 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:25.840 prefer to remember it because it's fun to bash failures. 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:29.440 I mean, that's what American culture does. We raise, we 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:33.480 raise speaking of the Patriots, we raise heroes up and 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:37.600 then there are parts of society that just love to 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:42.240 see them fail. And you can see that across NFL fandom. 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:44.360 You know, in two. 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:48.720 Thousand and one, the country love the Patriots. 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.080 And every fans. 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.480 Of every fan base across the country couldn't wait. God 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:59.440 the Patriots, I hope they win, and the heroes certainly 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:04.319 become the people you want to see fail, and that 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:08.040 that becomes the case in all of culture. And I 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.760 think movie franchises are the same way. People they've had 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:15.360 enough success, like, oh, yes, the third one sucked and 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:16.920 you hate watch it and you. 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.200 Yeah, it sucked. That's right, it sucked. 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:23.720 You know, like we love people to succeed, and then 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.920 we as America, Oh yeah, they love to tear them down. 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:30.240 We're terrible. We're terrible people. 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:33.400 It's funny because after that two thousand and one Super Bowl, 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:36.160 I was having a phone conversation that off season with 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:40.080 Tom Brady's father and we were talking about his contract 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.440 situation and whatnot. And because I was working for Patriots 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.040 Football Weekly at the time, and he uh. 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:46.960 He couldn't believe that. 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:50.360 Like, people were being so critical of Brady in the media, 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:53.200 and I said, mister Brady, you gotta understand. 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:54.840 They build you up so they can tear you down. 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.760 Little did I know that he would reach a point 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:01.240 where it's really tough to tear them down. But back 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:04.679 at that point, he was certainly with just won Super Bowl, 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:06.360 you know, a mere mortal. 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:10.520 So, Kenny, if you started in two thousand, so you 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:13.319 literally were in on the ground floor on this. 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:17.720 So oh I mean, I mean, let me tell you 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:21.720 that the happenstance, So the happenstance of running in the 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:27.560 Steve Sable then compounds by the fact that I'm brand 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:30.800 new and my first season is the two thousand and 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:36.040 one season, and I start the season and I'm you know, 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.320 I'm so green. I've never made football movies. I don't 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:45.679 know that much about football. And after nine to eleven, 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:53.040 a wonderful producer at NFL Film, Suzanne Morgan, had been 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:59.199 making the Patriots highlight films for years and she had 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.040 decided after nine to eleven, you know, I want to 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.160 work part time and I want to spend more time 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.280 with my daughters, and like a lot of people. It 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:12.280 was quite, you know, quite the life changing event for her, 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:16.840 and so she switched to more part time work. So 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:23.120 as the newcomer, Steve Sable came to me and said, listen, 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:30.560 every team gets assigned a producer to follow the team 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:36.840 all season long and do their highlight film at the 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:41.280 end of the season. And Suzanne Morgan has given up 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:45.320 her team, and we're going to give you a highlight film. 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:50.520 But since you're new, I'm sorry, you're getting the worst 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:55.319 team in the league, the two thousand and one Patriots. 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.040 And I thought, oh crap, my career is done. Before 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:01.840 I started, I get this team. You know, I read 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:07.920 all the previews. I'm in trouble. So literally my first 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:12.680 Patriots game that I watched was against the Jets in 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:16.000 Week two, because I have to start really paying attention. 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.080 This is the team I'm going to be be telling 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:23.400 stories about. And I say, well, you know, I don't 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:25.280 have much with this team, but I got I got 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:29.640 a quarterback. You know, they got a good quarterback, Drew Blets. 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.000 Oh Bledsoe's down, you know. 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:34.240 So I'm like, oh geez. 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:39.160 And that was the start of my, you know, NFL 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:39.920 film's career. 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:42.679 And I got to do the highlight film that. 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:47.120 Year of a Super Bowl team, and that caught caught 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:49.880 the eye of Steve Sable even more. And I did, 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:54.520 I guess a pretty good job, I guess, And you 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.880 know I got to work my way up. And I 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:02.480 owe as much as I owe Steve. I owe Robert 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:04.839 Craft and Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and that O 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:09.679 one team. You know, like I, I maybe wouldn't have 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:12.400 caught the eye of Steve and worked my way up 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:13.280 the ladder. 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.120 If I wouldn't. 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.079 Have caught on with the New England Patriots in two 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:22.160 thousand and one. So everything I've achieved is full of happenstance. 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.480 Well, I tell you what I mean. There's a long list, 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:27.120 including the two people who are sitting here talking with you, 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:30.400 who they owe their careers to those three people, and 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:33.040 they they they've employed a lot of people and a 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:37.800 lot of families have been have had a living made 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.640 because of those three people. You forgot one, and I'm 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.840 interested in this one. Have you had a subsequent conversation 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:50.480 with Suzanne Morgan about the happenstance and you said, hey, wow, 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:53.400 how did they work out here? And did she say 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.680 to you I'm really happy with my family. Congratulations on 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:59.680 riding the Patriots trained for the last two decades. 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:04.200 You know what's interesting is we had that talk after 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:09.120 two thousand and four and it was like, can you 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:14.200 believe you know this turned out? And I'm sure as 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:17.520 you as you've experienced too, and anyone who's been on 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.600 this ride, at the end of two thousand and four, 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:26.400 you thought, gosh, what a run like that? That that'll 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.560 never happen again, and you know it's it's over now, 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.160 But you know, I mean, what a run that was 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:37.520 that that four years whoof and who would have ever 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:41.360 thought that it would continue like it like it has. 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:44.760 So I haven't spoken whether recently. 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.960 I almost I don't. I don't want to. 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:54.000 I mean, yeah, like I'm sorry I took the team right, like, 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:57.000 I mean, that would have been really fun to be 0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:03.000 because I've had such great experience and I'm sure you 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:06.120 know she's extremely thrilled with her life. 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:07.440 I surely hope so. 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:11.200 But you know, I got to have some incredible experiences 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:13.520 that sure she would have been able to have. And 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:17.400 I have a little bit of guilt. I mean, sure 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:18.240 I got lucky. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:18.960 I got lucky. 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.640 Well, so I started here in nineteen ninety seven, right 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:25.640 after the team was in Super Bowl thirty one and 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:28.000 then went ten and six, nine and seven, eight and eight, 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.040 five and eleven. I thought I was uh on the 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:33.840 on the downtrain, and then all of a sudden, you know, 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:34.680 it turned around. 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:36.200 And it truly has been. 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:39.920 I mean, seventeen straight seasons with ten or more wins 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:44.360 just snapped with last week's lost to the Rams. It's 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.400 been an incredible run. And and so you you obviously 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:51.240 have some behind the scenes viewpoints of it that even 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:52.240 we don't have working here. 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:55.360 I mean, what would you say? What would you say? 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:59.080 Are some of those those moments where you would you know, 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:00.200 you tell your kids about. 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:04.080 Oh, I'm not allowed to tell my kids. I'm not 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:06.359 allowed to tell anybody about the things I've seen. 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:07.760 Kid me. That's part of. 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:11.560 That's why where he is, that's right, that's right in 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:12.000 this building. 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:17.919 If he didn't, yeah, kidd me. That's part of working 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:19.440 for NFL Films. 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:19.240 You know. 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:24.359 I I've spoken even with people at the Patriots who 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:32.639 work there, including including you two, who say, oh my gosh, 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.520 you were you were in that meeting. You know, you 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:38.720 shot you filmed that meeting. You know, we've never even 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:40.919 seen that meeting. You know, we don't know what happens 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:43.879 in that meeting. Or you know, they watch Hard Knocks 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.000 that I produce on a on a yearly basis and 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.480 they say, God, we've never seen that on our team. 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.200 You know, no one's allowed in those sort of situations. 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:57.600 And that's that's really a it's a really fun part 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.280 of being part of NFL films, and that's it's part 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.640 of our history is you know, since nineteen sixty two, 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:07.040 to celebrate and preserve the history of the NFL and 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:14.520 the trust that that we have of that that secrecy 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:22.240 of Listen, we're going to not break the the trust 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.840 that's given when it comes to football secrets. You know, 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.080 of course we're there to tell a story, but we're 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.760 not going to reveal what play you're running, and we're 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.480 going to not show what your game plan is because 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:38.439 that's all the coaches care about. All this secrecy that 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:43.200 you hear about and all the it's all about competitive reasons. 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:47.200 They're not worried about what they look like. These these 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:51.560 guys are impervious at this point to what people think 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:51.880 of them. 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:54.640 Sony that that forget it. 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:56.760 Yeah, but That's the essence, and I think that that's 0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:59.840 what Patriot fans would find the most fascinating is at 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:03.760 your core and at your company's core, your mission statement 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.200 or your values that you have, it's a simple one word, 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:11.800 it's trust. With trust, it allows you to do some 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:15.240 of the things and the projects that keep you going. 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.320 As somebody who was in Hollywood and wanted to make 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:21.479 the next great Oscar winning film. Because of trust and 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:25.400 because of your brand, you're allowed in rooms, in buildings 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:27.680 and in situations that you wouldn't be able to get 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:30.600 in without that trust. Is that a fair statement to say? 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:32.560 Absolutely? And it's not. 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:37.320 I think I've been an okay carrier of that trust. 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:39.399 But the trust goes back to the Sable family. 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:41.520 I mean, it really does go back to Steve, and 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:45.280 I give the credit all goes to Steve. And I 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:50.639 can tell you that when Coach Belichick was a young coach, 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:56.320 when Robert Craft was in the stands, when Tom Brady 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.320 was a kid, they knew of Steve Sable. 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.840 They trusted Steve Sable already as the. 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:09.040 Voice of NFL history, and then once they met them 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:15.040 met him, they trusted him even more. You know, Coach 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.640 Belichick and Steve Sable used to sit together at owners meetings, 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:21.879 you know, from the eighties forward and got to know 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:26.480 each other. And of course you trust someone who has 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:31.000 never broken that trust and had the trust going back 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:34.560 of all coaches back to Vince Lombardi. I mean, you 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:39.000 know the stories of the people who have trusted Steve 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:43.160 Sable go back to Lombardi. And the first major film 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:47.240 we made was on Vince Lombardi, where we have on film, 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:49.440 you know, Vince lifting weights early in the morning, and 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:54.440 Vince going to church and you know him having meetings 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:57.640 and parties at his house after a win, things that 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:02.120 you'd never imagine we have. No we shot that stuff. 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:06.159 And when you say to a coach, no, no, we 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.639 have that with Lombardi, they say, oh, well, I guess, 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:12.480 I guess if he trusted you, then I can trust you. 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:17.840 And it has a has an effect that, hey, we're 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:22.760 not going to let the other coaches watch your your 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:26.120 ex'es and o's, and uh, that's because we are part 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:29.880 of the NFL and we're If the trust wasn't there, 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:34.119 that competitive balance is going to stay equal. 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:35.880 We would never be. 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:38.920 Allowed in anywhere because, as I said, they don't care 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:41.000 what you think of them as people. They just they 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:45.880 don't want the other coaches to know one single diagram 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:49.960 on the on the board on the whiteboard that they 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:56.280 that is that is sacricy to coaches, is the actual football. 0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:59.040 The other thing that you're dealing with here, Ken is 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:01.960 now maybe less so in two thousand when you started, 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:05.439 but certainly over the last ten or fifteen years, is 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:09.399 we are an instant gratification society. And so whatever it 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:12.320 is that you have and you've got nothing but some 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:14.560 of the greatest stuff ever, is we've got to get 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:16.360 this out there. We've got to put this out there, 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:18.280 we've got to deliver this, we've got to put it 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:20.719 on a platform. We need to broadcast us whatever it is. 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:26.400 And the fact that you were able to say to coaches, owners, 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:31.000 whatever it is, you know what, we need this because 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:32.600 at some point in time that story is going to 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:35.919 need to be told. And you can trust us that 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:38.480 this is going to stay in our vault and it 0:22:38.520 --> 0:22:41.000 won't come out until the appropriate time or when you 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:44.639 say it like that's a huge deal. That goes against 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:48.000 the grain of what content people want today now, which 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:52.040 is instant clicks, instant gratification. Give it to me now, 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:56.120 short attention span. They don't have the wherewithal to think about, Hey, 0:22:56.160 --> 0:22:58.920 this might be valuable five years down the road, ten 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:01.920 years down the road, twenty years down the road. And 0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:04.440 that's a big part of what you guys do, isn't 0:23:04.480 --> 0:23:05.760 it It is. 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:08.639 I mean, everyone points to the example now of the 0:23:08.720 --> 0:23:13.960 Last Dance and how that footage was captured at the 0:23:14.000 --> 0:23:18.680 time and was used decades later. That's sort of what 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:22.400 I planned on doing in two thousand and nine when 0:23:22.440 --> 0:23:27.600