Editing NFL Primetime (section)

==Original format (1987–2005)==
Until the [[2006 NFL season|2006 season]], ''NFL Primetime'' aired every Sunday night during the [[National Football League|NFL]] season and it preceded ESPN's coverage of ''[[ESPN Sunday Night Football|Sunday Night Football]]'' (it even aired when ESPN did not have a Sunday night game, especially from [[1990 NFL season|1990]] to [[1997 NFL season|1997]] when [[NFL on TNT|TNT]] had Sunday night games the first half of the season). The show was hosted by [[Chris Berman]], with analysis from [[Tom Jackson (American football, born 1951)|Tom Jackson]]. Berman and Jackson recapped Sunday afternoon's NFL games with highlights, statistics, and commentary.

[[Pete Axthelm]] was a regular from [[1987 NFL season|1987]] until his death in [[1991 NFL season|1991]]. Through the show's history, other co-hosts included [[John Saunders (journalist)|John Saunders]], [[Robin Roberts (newscaster)|Robin Roberts]], [[Bill Pidto]], and [[Stuart Scott]]. Pidto was often the target of good-natured ribbing by Berman, since Pidto often did recaps of games featuring losing teams. Roberts also seemed to be assigned to recap almost every game the [[Tampa Bay Buccaneers]] played between [[1990 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season|1990]] and [[1992 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season|1992]], when the Bucs were fielding some of the worst teams in NFL history. The position of co-host was dropped prior to the start of the [[1998 NFL season|1998 season]].

During the first three rounds of the playoffs, a half-hour edition of ''NFL Primetime'' would air after the competition of each night's games. A guest analyst typically joined Jackson on the panel, while a co-host was deemed unnecessary since Berman would only need to recap only two games on those nights. An extended edition of ''NFL Primetime'' would then air after each Super Bowl at the game's site, serving as ESPN's [[postgame show]] with player interviews.

===Presentation===
Rather than provide the usual package of scoring highlights, ''NFL Primetime'' presented extended highlights which also showed less dramatic plays. This provided context for the greater depth of analysis of each game.  A common non-dramatic play that would be shown would be a game-clinching first down while a team was running out the clock.  Some of the less dramatic plays would be used to demonstrate an overall large accomplishment.  During the highlights for the [[2000 Chicago Bears season|Chicago Bears]]-[[2000 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]] matchup in [[2000 NFL season|2000]], when [[Terrell Owens]] broke an NFL record by catching 20 passes in a game (since broken by [[Brandon Marshall]]), all 20 of Owens's receptions were shown.  Other examples involved seemingly unsuccessful plays ultimately benefitting a team.  For the highlights of the [[2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season|Buccaneers]]-[[2000 Miami Dolphins season|Miami Dolphins]] game in 2000, a contest marred by heavy rains which came down to the final minute, a play where Bucs running back [[Warrick Dunn]] broke a tackle in his own end zone to avoid a safety was shown to demonstrate it as one of the biggest plays contributing to the Bucs's victory.

The show began with Berman welcoming viewers and then giving a quick rundown of the late games before beginning the highlights of the early games.  They were generally shown in a relatively chronological order, with the 1:00 games shown first and the 4:00/4:15 games shown near the end of the program.  However, on some occasions (particularly in Week 17 when teams would be making their final push for the playoffs), the highlights would be presented less chronologically.  For Week 17 games, the highlights would instead be sorted by conference, with teams competing against each other for a playoff spot or a division title shown back-to-back.  Probably the show's most notable occurrence with this scenario came in Week 17 of the [[1999 NFL season|1999 season]], when the [[1999 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay Packers]] and [[1999 Carolina Panthers season|Carolina Panthers]] tied in overall record, division record, conference record, and common opponent record, meaning that a spot involving the two teams would come down to point differential.  As a result, both teams ran up the score against their opponents in their final games in order to try to outscore the other team in the race.  For this scenario, the [[1999 Arizona Cardinals season|Arizona Cardinals]]-Packers and the [[1999 New Orleans Saints season|New Orleans Saints]]-Panthers highlights were shown simultaneously, with scoring by the teams in both games shown chronologically while a graphic would be shown featuring which team was leading at the time based on point differential.  When ESPN aired the Sunday Night game, the broadcast usually featured a preview of that game.  Later airings of NFL Primetime featured a [[SportsCenter]] highlight of that game.

Starting in [[2003 NFL season|2003]], a game with either high stakes for both teams or an exciting finish (typically a 1:00 game) would be chosen by Berman, Jackson, and their staff as that week's "Prime Cut."  This game would be shown in the middle of the program with an extended lead-in by Berman.  Also in 2003, a segment entitled "T.J.'s Extra Point" was introduced, where Jackson would demonstrate greater analysis over a strategy a team used to great success.  At the end of the show, a segment entitled "Primetime Players" would feature both Berman and Jackson choosing a player or team unit that particularly impressed them from that week's games.  At the turn of the millennium, a fan vote for that week's primetime player would also be conducted for the show on ESPN's website.

===Music===
A staple of the show was the various FirstCom Music instrumental pieces that played in the background during the highlights, while Berman and Jackson recapped each game. This often gave the games, even in highlight form, a more epic feel overall. This feature continues during highlights on ''The Blitz''.

For the most part, highlights from the show would feature FirstCom Music scores over the highlights.  Some songs were even played on a consistent basis for certain teams.  The [[Buffalo Bills]], for example, often had their game played out (regardless of outcome) to a dramatic piece entitled "Powersurge," featuring triumphant passages of brass instruments.  The [[Las Vegas Raiders|Oakland Raiders]], meanwhile, were often represented by an ominous-sounding piece called "Bad Company," that featured extensive use of minor-key strings, horns, and keyboards.  Other songs were commonly used for certain situations.  "International Statement," an epic-sounding song complete with a climactic build-up of low brass and strings that was arguably NFL Primetime's signature song, was often used for a high-stakes game, while "Grid-Lock," a lighter song featuring a more subdued introductory horn riff and an extended guitar solo (unusual for a song utilized in the program), was utilized for relatively unexciting games involving teams at the bottom of the standings.

On rare occasions, however, the standard FirstCom Music themes would be replaced by other music themes.  For the [[2000 Oakland Raiders season|Raiders]]-[[2000 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers]] matchup in 2000, which marked their last meeting at [[Three Rivers Stadium]] as well as the stadium's second to last game, the music was replaced by classic [[NFL Films]] themes by [[Sam Spence]] including "A Golden Boy Again" and "The Raiders," while Berman confused then-current Raiders and Steelers with legendary ones.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bu9g09aAWU |title=YouTube, a Google company |url-status=dead |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=November 26, 2016 |archive-date=April 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409130830/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bu9g09aAWU }}</ref>  A similar example involved the [[2000 San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers]]-[[2000 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Rams]] matchup earlier in 2000, when the music was replaced by the [[William Tell Overture]] to underscore the Rams as the "Greatest Show on Turf" (with the music subsequently muted when the Chargers were shown making a good play).  On other occasions, non-standard music themes would interrupt the themes being played on the highlights. For the [[Washington Redskins]]' final game at [[RFK Stadium]] in [[1996 Washington Redskins season|1996]], a 36–10 win over the [[1996 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys]], the music was briefly replaced by their fight song "[[Hail to the Redskins]]" before returning to the previous standard theme for the final stats. In 2000, when the [[2000 Baltimore Ravens season|Baltimore Ravens]] scored a touchdown after having failed to score one in their previous five games, the music was briefly interrupted with celebratory music before returning to the standard FirstCom theme for the remainder of the highlights.

Finally, music was occasionally altered on the program, particularly in situations involving injured players.  On some occasions where a serious injury or other tragic event occurred, the music would be played at a noticeably softer volume than usual, or would be muted entirely until the highlight resumed.  After then-[[2005 Indianapolis Colts season|Indianapolis Colts]] head coach Tony Dungy's son James committed suicide in 2005, the highlights for the Colts's first game after his death began with silence while tributes taking place during the game were shown, with the music only playing for the actual game itself.