Back in 1967, Ed Sabol and his son, Steve, ventured to Green Bay to document a behind-the-scenes look at what turned out to be Vince Lombardi's last season with the Packers. The end result was NFL Films' "Lombardi."
"Ever since then, we've been asked, 'When are you going to spend an entire season with a NFL team? When are you going to do a regular-season 'Hard Knocks'?" said Keith Cossrow, the coordinating producer for NFL Films.
The answer is now.
Friday, NFL Films will debut "All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals." All eight one-hour episodes will be available exclusively on Amazon. They follow the Cardinals from their 2015 NFL Draft through their trip to the NFC Championship Game against Carolina.
This is a ground-breaking project. It marks the first time NFL Films has been embedded with a team for an entire season since those '67 Packers.
"You might say this is nearly 50 years in the making," Cossrow said.
Cossrow said NFL Films felt the time was right to try it again. The key was finding a team that truly was willing to provide comprehensive access for the long haul.
NFL Films zeroed in on the Cardinals. In the spring of 2015, Cossrow and director Jay Jackson met with team president Michael Bidwill, coach Bruce Arians and general manager Steve Keim.
"We were never going to try something like this until we were sure we could get the genuine article," Cossrow said. "After meeting with them, we felt like we had a shot at getting the genuine article. [Bidwill] was a terrific partner. He understood what we needed in terms of access."
NFL Films made the most of it. This was a massive endeavor, with more than 1,000 hours of footage to be boiled down for the eight-hour package. The sheer volume required four directors: Steve Trout, Julia Harmon and Shannon Furman joined Jackson in filming the series.
Given the number of hours involved, the NFL Films crew put a premium on trying to fade into the background during shoots. They didn't want to be a distraction, especially to Arians.
"You don't want to get in Bruce Arians' crosshairs," Jackson said.
NFL Films knew Arians, wearing his ever-present "Gatsby" cap, would be a compelling and colorful character. In the first episode, there is an entertaining scene in which he scolds his players about parking in spots designated for him and others at the Cardinals' training facility.
As always, the behind-the-scenes footage is terrific. The first show takes viewers into the Cardinals' 2015 draft room. A positively giddy Keim is shown talking on the phone to Ameer Abdullah, as Arizona was poised to take him in the second round. However, during the conversation, the running back informs Keim that Detroit is calling for him. Uh oh. Keim's elation quickly washes away, as the Lions select Abdullah ahead of the Cardinals.
"To witness the roller coaster that Keim goes through during that hour of his life, that's what makes this show so special," Cossrow said.
With the way it is shot and presented, the Cardinals series is similar to "Hard Knocks." However, Cossrow maintains "All or Nothing" is much different than that long-time series, which focuses on a team during training camp.
In "Hard Knocks," Cossrow says, the storylines mainly focus on the young players and their battles to make the team. In "All or Nothing," the stars are truly the stars: Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald and Patrick Peterson receive the bulk of the attention.
"When we did 'Hard Knocks' on the Houston Texans, J.J. Watt was terrific, but his story didn't have an arc, a beginning, middle or end," Cossrow said. "Here, the stars are the main characters. Their stories have an arc. This is their journey. You learn what's at stake for them."
Added Jackson: "The players were terrific. They bought into what we were doing."
Cossrow said NFL Films went into the project not knowing where the finished product would air. Eventually, it was decided to take the series to Amazon, representing another ground-breaking move for NFL Films.
"The Cardinals and us were interested in a non-traditional national platform," Cossrow said. "We wanted to reach an audience that goes beyond the core football fan. 'Hard Knocks' [on HBO] does well with women. We wanted something similar.
"Amazon expressed interest right away. We thought this was a great opportunity to do a binge show. If someone wanted to, they could watch all eight episodes at once."
Cossrow hopes "All or Nothing" becomes "a franchise" series like "Hard Knocks." He said NFL Films is looking for teams willing to participate next year or in the near future.
Cossrow and NFL Films are motivated to do more after this first effort. He insists "All or Nothing" didn't require the Cardinals to do it all -- as in, go to the Super Bowl -- for the series to be successful. In fact, Arizona's loss in the NFC title game wasn't a loss for NFL Films.
"It really was an incredible journey," Cossrow said. "Every episode gets better and better. The stories only get richer and deeper. The NFC title game gave us some of the most authentic material that's ever been produced by NFL Films. If you spend eight hours watching the series, the emotional impact at the end is really powerful."
All eight one-hour episodes of "All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals" will be available for Amazon Prime members as part of their membership, and to all Amazon customers starting July 1 via the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV, mobile devices and online at Amazon.com/allornothing. For a list of all Amazon Video compatible devices, visit www.amazon.com/howtostream.
