He was someone who served as a pioneer in the NFL for film/video technology starting in the 1970s all the way through the 2012 season with the Eagles, leading the way that every other team followed. Mike Dougherty worked behind the scenes for the franchise for all of those years, and is now being recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame with an Award of Excellence for the great work he did.
Dougherty, the team’s film/video director from 1976 through 2012 – he never missed one of the team’s 736 games – who will be officially honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in June, was part of a two-man crew for the Eagles back then (along with Lou Tucker, who hired Dougherty to his outside business before joining the team) and helped usher in a new era of film technology to a league that needed the jolt.
“It’s an honor to be recognized and to be somewhere in the Hall of Fame for what we’ve done over the years and to help support the NFL,” said Dougherty, who learned of the honor at the NFL’s Video Directors Meeting a few weeks ago and who is one of five film and video directors being lauded for his long-term service to the league. “The money wasn’t around back then like it is today. We used 16-milimeter film with projectors and that grew into Sony Betacam in 1986 and then into digital editing and now everything is on a tablet, on a computer. Everything used to be on VHS tapes and then it went to DVDs and now it’s on the Cloud.
“It’s been a heck of a transition, of which I have been part of all of it.”
“Doc is one of the pioneers of NFL video. His influence and presence helped develop the foundation that today’s video departments function within the league environment. His larger-than-life personality endears him with everyone he works with and I am proud to call him a friend. He so richly deserves this honor and I can’t be happier for his family for all they shared throughout his 37 years of dedicated service to the Eagles,” said Patrick Dolan, Eagles vice president of football technology.
Thirty, 40 years ago, there was a reluctance in league circles to spend money on video production, and the availability of game film was much more scarce and more difficult to share than it is today. The league is at the forefront of technology now, of course, but back then, teams had to play it smart. Dougherty remembers that prior to Eagles-Giants games, the teams’ video staffs would arrange to meet at a truck stop off of Exit 7 of the New Jersey Turnpike to exchange…
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