As anticipation for the upcoming NFL Draft in Pittsburgh starts to ramp up, the Kamin Science Center is airing a new documentary centered on football in the Western Pennsylvania region.
Produced by NFL Films in conjunction with U.S. Steel, “The Football Town” explores the history of football in the region, along with the role it plays in Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities today. It focuses on football at all levels, including youth, high school, college and professional.
“The release of ‘The Football Town’ marks the beginning of our celebration and sets the tone for everything to come as we build towards the draft,” Steelers vice president of strategy Dan Rooney Jr. said. “In fact, one of the reasons the NFL selected Pittsburgh was the region’s deep roots in football. From the outset, a priority for the Pittsburgh organizing committee has been to shine a light on Western PA’s impact on the game.”
Jim Britt, vice president of sports events at Visit Pittsburgh, called the documentary the “first activation” in preparation for the draft in April and praised the documentary’s ability to capture “the spirit and value of football in this region.”
“We’re excited to use the NFL Draft to showcase that importance in our culture, the fabric of who we are, and we’re excited for this to be the first real stepping out moment for the NFL Draft,” Britt added.
The film is broken down into three sections — labeled Friday, Saturday and Sunday — that cover what a typical fall weekend looks like in the world of football in Western Pennsylvania. Friday focuses on high school football, Saturday on youth and Pitt football and Sunday on the Pittsburgh Steelers and their legacy in the city.
Neil Zender, producer of NFL Films, said that the viewing site for this documentary — the 71-foot-wide, 40-foot-tall screen at Kamin Science Center — provided some challenges for the making of this film.
“It’s about twice the size of your typical movie screen,” he said. “So we had to use — for the first time ever — a brand new camera, the Alexa 35 Xtreme, which has a sensor that is big enough to capture the tight and spiral shots — an NFL Films trademark — and show it on a screen of this size.”
Zender also said the production was the first NFL Films production to use a Dolby Atmos mix.
The film is narrated by Pat McAfee, a former NFL punter, one of the current hosts of ESPN’s College GameDay and a native of Plum, Pennsylvania.
“This is Pat McAfee’s point of view,” Zender said of McAfee’s connection to the film. “And to Pat McAfee, it’s the football town. If you’re from Pittsburgh, it’s the football down. It’s not a football town, it’s the football down, and it’s different.”
McAfee was in Pittsburgh back in November, when College GameDay hosted its first full broadcast from the city in 20 years, when Pitt football played Notre Dame. He’s known for his loud and rowdy style, especially with a crowd behind him. Zender said his personality and love for Pittsburgh only added to the experience.
“The narration session was a wonderful adventure, because in most narrations, typically somebody writes a script and the narrator reads a script, but Pat McAfee had a lot to say,” Zender said. “This is everything that Pat wanted to say about Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, which is a place that he loves very much.”
The documentary is about 52 minutes long. It will air at the Rangos Giant Cinema inside the Kamin Science Center starting this weekend and run until the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh on Thursday, April 23. Tickets are $10.