Here’s the link to an extremely powerful NFL Films look at Paul Zimmerman, a.k.a. Dr. Z. This merits 8:58 of your time.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes about the making of the film.

Like that of (Will) McDonough, who died in January 2003, his inimitable voice is missed. Yet Zimmerman’s life is not in past tense. He is still alive and of sharp mind at 81 years old, as a beautiful little essay of a film — titled “NFL Films Presents: Yours Truly, Dr. Z” and running slightly less than nine minutes — on NFL.com reminds us.

But he is trapped in a cruelly ironic prison: Since suffering the first of a series of strokes in November 2008, the prolific writer and voracious reader has not been able to read or speak.

Ken Rodgers, the supervising producer for NFL Films, was working on a documentary for ESPN’s “30 for 30” series — a look back on the 1983 NFL draft, titled “Elway to Marino” — when the idea began to germinate about finding a way to help Dr. Z tell his story. To give him his voice back, in whatever way he could.

“The one guy I wish I could have interviewed for [“Elway to Marino”] was Paul Zimmerman,’’ said Rodgers. “Paul was one of the three ESPN talents on set at the draft room in 1983, and he was by far the most vocal in his opinion, as you can imagine.

“He was funny, he was eloquent, he was right, he was wrong [he’s famous for panning Miami’s pick of Dan Marino], he was flabbergasted, it was really everything you’d want in front of a television camera.

“That we couldn’t follow up with him and couldn’t look back with him on that draft 30 years later because of his current situation struck me as sad. We missed his voice, and it made me start thinking of a way to give him that opportunity in some sense to get it back.”

Finn writes:

The limitations of Zimmerman’s ability to verbally communicate are made apparent quickly. He says “yeah” and “no,’’ but when speaking at length, it comes out as a string of the word “when.”

Yet the film is told in the first person, with actor Tom Wopat speaking on Zimmerman’s behalf, even appearing on camera with him in a couple of humorous scenes. Wopat, an accomplished singer and stage actor who unfortunately is best known for his early ’80s role on “The Dukes of Hazard,” isn’t so much a narrator as he a conduit for Zimmerman’s words.

Which leaves the most obvious question unanswered: How did Rodgers, and eventually Wopat, know what Zimmerman wanted to say?

“It was trial and error, a time-intensive process,’’ said Rodgers. “I would say, ‘So is it true you boxed Hemingway?’ And he would answer with his, ‘Oh, when-when-when-when,’ and shake his head. In this case, he pointed to his crotch. ‘Oh, when-when when-when-when.’ And I’d say, ‘Hemingway hit you below the belt once in a while?’ and he’d say, ‘when-when-when-when’ and shake no and point to his crotch. And I’d say, ‘He hit you below the belt more?’ And he lit up: ‘Yeah, yeah.’

I’m sure S.L. Price wrote an excellent story on Tony Romo, and the photo looks cool. He’s actually having a decent season from a stats perspective: 23 TDs, 7 Ints and 2,931 yards.

However, the Cowboys are 6-5 in the NFL’s worst division, and Romo still has won only one playoff game during his career.

All I’m saying is if Romo was the quarterback of a 6-5 team in Houston, or Jacksonville, or Tampa Bay, etc., would he be on the cover of SI? I think you know the answer.

Sorry, but I’ve had enough of the Dallas Cowboys.

Yes, it’s true. More people tuned into the 5-5 Cowboys vs. 4-6 Giants than another memorable showdown between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

The afternoon doubleheader game averaged 27.9 million viewers on Fox, while NBC pulled in 26.5 million viewers for the prime time game.

A couple of factors come into play:

Denver-New England had to go up against stiff prime time competition on CBS, ABC and elsewhere. Don’t tell me what happened in Homeland. Need to catch up.

Also, some viewers probably tuned out when the Broncos went up 24-0. I know I did for a while, and was stunned to see New England winning 28-24.

NBC, though, still did a huge number. It will give thanks for four Peyton Manning telecasts this year, all of which generated high ratings.

Yet the evening game still didn’t beat a game featuring two highly mediocre teams on Fox.

Bottom line: While NBC’s Sunday Night Football likely will be the highest-rated program in prime time again, the most watched part of the NFL’s TV package usually is the Sunday afternoon doubleheader telecast. Good teams or not.

A new documentary series from Comcast Sports Net should give Bears fans some relief after last Sunday’s debacle in St. Louis. Always fun to hear the rant.

Here are the details from CSN:

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Chicago, IL (November 18, 2013) – As part of its programming partnership with the Chicago Bears, which includes this season’s additions of “Bears Pregame Live” and the live stream of “Bears Halftime Live,” along with the returns of “United Bears Recap,” “Bears Blitz” and “Bears Huddle,” Comcast SportsNet and the Chicago Bears will debut a brand new documentary series this month that takes a look back at some of the most memorable games in Bears history.

Premiering Wednesday, November 27 at 9:30 PM CT exclusively on Comcast SportsNet, Bears Classics presented by Honda, is a new, one-hour series that chronicles season-defining games from select eras in Bears history as fans will hear behind-the-scenes stories from the players who played in these games and from those who covered them that have never been heard before…until now.

The debut airing will go back in time to Monday night, October 16, 2006 when the Bears faced the Arizona Cardinals…a game featuring a remarkable comeback that set them on the path to an appearance in Super Bowl XLI.  The four-episode series (new airings focusing on separate games to debut in December, January and next September) will be narrated by local/national television broadcasting legend/multiple Peabody & Emmy Award winner Bill Kurtis.  Comcast SportsNet’s Chuck Garfien is the documentary series writer/director and Willie Parker is the series producer.

“We couldn’t be prouder of our expanding partnership with the Chicago Bears and we feel this brand new documentary series will be exciting ‘appointment television’ events that both old and new Bears fans will truly appreciate,” said Phil Bedella, VP/GM of Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

The first episode of Bears Classics (entitled “Night of the Ridiculous”) will take viewers back to that memorable “Monday Night Football” game in October of 2006.  The Bears were off to a 5-0 start that season, but endured some early season struggles offensively.  These struggles were exposed to a prime time MNF audience watching the Cardinals take advantage of those problems by taking a 20-0 lead into the half.  However, thanks to some highly-motivational halftime speeches in the locker room, the Bears defensive and special teams units were the ones who came up big as they combined for an unforgettable second-half performance, highlighted by Brian Urlacher’s 25-tackle showcase, a forced fumble that led to a score, and Bears rookie Devin Hester’s stunning 82-yard punt return TD that propelled the Bears to a 24-23 victory.  This unexpected Bears victory also struck a nerve with Cardinals Head Coach Dennis Green, as his “They are who we thought they were!” post-game press conference rant added to the lore of this remarkable moment in Bears history.

BRIAN URLACHER on center Olin Kreutz addressing the team at halftime: “I remember halftime.  Olin Kreutz stood up and we were like ‘what’s going on here?’ Olin said ‘we’re gonna win this f-in’ game’…then he was yelling ‘WE’RE GONNA WIN THIS F-in’ GAME!”

MUHSIN MUHAMMAD on Rex Grossman’s nightmarish performance: “He had six turnovers in that game…four interceptions, a couple of fumbles, and anytime you get to a quarterback early and you can hit him, the quarterback’s going to struggle.”

REX GROSSMAN on the offensive unit’s adversities in that game:  “Everything was a struggle, they were all over us and their offense was starting hot…and I just remember the (Urlacher) sack-fumble getting everybody pumped up.”

CHARLES “PEANUT” TILLMAN on Urlacher’s 25-tackle performance:  “Brian Urlacher turned into…he was just a beast the rest of the game.  And to be on the field and witness it up close and personal, I mean it was probably one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen.”

OLIN KREUTZ on Urlacher’s 25-tackle performance:  “That was the greatest performance I have ever seen on a football field.  I mean it was unbelievable.  He took over the whole game almost single-handedly.”

BRIAN URLACHER on his 25-tackle performance:  “I didn’t feel like I was getting blocked, and if you watch the film, I didn’t get blocked a lot.  There were times when they had guys on me, but I didn’t feel like I was getting blocked a whole lot in the second half.”

DEVIN HESTER on the punt return TD that completed the Bears’ comeback:  “I felt a little knick on my leg that I was able to avoid to stay up, and after that, the rest was history.  Before I even crossed the goal line, the last five yards were like ‘please don’t get caught!”

RICK TELANDER on Hester’s punt return TD:  “As an observer, you couldn’t help but think ‘punt it to him. Please god, please punt the ball to him. Get it in his hands. You idiots! You morons!”

SCOTT PLAYER on punting the ball that led to Hester’s game-winning TD:  “You hope that those ten other guys can cover the punt, which they should be able to do if they’re in the National Football League.”

OLIN KREUTZ on Cardinals Head Coach Dennis Green’s infamous post-game rant:  “I think that’s what made that game legendary was just his comments after the game…I mean he went crazy.”

LANCE BRIGGS on Green’s post-game rant:  “It’s a moment I think will outlive everyone.  Years from now, we’ll look back and say moments in sports history, and you’ll see Denny Green.  And not only will you see what he said, but they’ll show that game.”

Comcast SportsNet will also re-air this episode of Bears Classics on Saturday, December 7 at 9:00 PM and on Wednesday, December 11 at 11:00 PM.  Details regarding December’s premiere episode of Bears Classics will be announced in the coming weeks.

In addition, fans can also get interactive prior and during every airing of Bears Classics with their thoughts, memories and comments by utilizing the Twitter hashtag #BearsClassics.  Plus, CSNChicago.com will provide additional, online exclusive interviews and commentary write-ups from a variety of Comcast SportsNet on-air talent members and from CSNChicago.com’s Bears “Insider” John ‘Moon’ Mullin.