The latest A Football Life on NFL Network examines the history of the forward pass (Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET, NFL Network). Here’s a link to the preview.

Since the NFL Network won’t allow embeds of it previews (Why, I don’t know), here’s the famous clip of Marcia Brady’s contribution to the forward pass.

The rundown from NFL Network:

What do Teddy Roosevelt, Knute Rockne, George Carlin, the Atomic Bomb, the Hail Mary Prayer, Marcia Brady’s broken nose and “American Pie” all have in common? The Forward Pass.

As ubiquitous as it is now, throwing the football was once unimaginable. For the first four decades of football’s existence, the Forward Pass was illegal. However, with rising safety concerns surrounding the game of football, President Roosevelt intervened. It was his demand that rules makers open up the game by legalizing the Forward Pass that saved football from abolition and created the sport we love.

NFL Network’s two-time Emmy-nominated series continues Tuesday, November 19 at 9:00 PM ET with The Forward Pass: A Football Life. The one-hour documentary examines the implementation of the Forward Pass into the game of football and the profound affect it has had on the game and its players, as well as on how football is viewed in society. The Forward Pass: A Football Life tells the story of one of America’s greatest inventions and how it transformed football from a lackluster rugby-style game of running and kicking into the uniquely American spectacle it has become.

Among the topics discussed in the documentary are:

The role President Theodore Roosevelt played in legalizing the Forward Pass and how it ultimately saved football

Knute Rockne’s “invention” of the Forward Pass in a 1913 game between Notre Dame and Army, and Hollywood’s role in mythologizing that event

How football coach and innovator Clark Shaughnessy’s T-formation transformed the quarterback from a blocking back into the hero of every football game

Former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason demonstrates how the evolving shape of the football made it easier to throw the Forward Pass by throwing footballs from throughout history

Former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie demonstrates how the Forward Pass eliminated the Drop Kick

How Don Coryell and Bill Walsh utilized and revived the Forward Pass

What is the meaning of Don McLean’s use of “The Forward Pass” in the lyrics of “American Pie”?

Emmy-nominated actor from CBS’ The Good Wife, Josh Charles, narrates.

The Forward Pass: A Football Life includes interviews with the following people and more:

Bill Belichick – New England Patriots head coach

Dan Fouts – Hall of Fame quarterback

Joe Namath – Hall of Fame quarterback

Roger Staubach – Hall of Fame quarterback

Steve Young – Hall of Fame quarterback

Mike Martz – Former NFL head coach

Boomer Esiason – Former NFL quarterback

Doug Flutie – Former NFL quarterback

Brian Billick – Former NFL head coach

Joe Gibbs – Former NFL head coach

George Seifert – Former NFL head coach

Michael Oriard – Author, Reading Football

Chuck Klosterman – Author, Eating the Dinosaur

John J. Miller – Author, The Big Scrum

Provided below are some select quotes from The Forward Pass: A Football Life:

– “Americans are great innovators; we have a great history of invention…The Forward Pass when you think about it fits nicely into that tradition. It’s a great innovation that turns a sport like rugby into American football.” – John J. Miller

– “There weren’t many options for how to move the ball. Every play kind of looks like what you would expect from a goaline surge during a blizzard. People are just sort of hammering into each other trying to incrementally move the ball…Punting seemed like half of the game.” – Chuck Klosterman on the game of football before the introduction of the Forward Pass

– “It’s like throwing a weighted basketball with laces.” – Boomer Esiason on the rugby football used before the introduction of the Forward Pass

– “In 1913, we had Columbus coming to America in terms of football and that’s when Notre Dame showed up to play Army on the East Coast.” – John J. Miller

– “Everyone knows that [the quarterback is] the center of the game. If Tom Brady was a slot receiver, would he date Gisele [Bundchen]? It’s possible he might – it’s very possible Wes Welker could have ended up dating Gisele, but it doesn’t seem like it. Joe Flacco has a better chance to date someone like Gisele than Wes Welker.” – Chuck Klosterman

– “Throwing the bomb and hitting that long pass is just electrifying. It still is just thinking about it. You get goose bumps.” – Joe Namath

– “It was very prevalent that passing was too risky, and it was the way that they were thinking about it. But the way Bill [Walsh] talked about it – the short passing game – it was the extension of your running game.” – Steve Young

– “You take a look at the greatest plays of the last 50 years, it’s hard to come up with anything like a comprehensive list without going back time and again to the Forward Pass.” – Michael MacCambridge

Following the episode, Jenn Brown hosts A Football Life: Backstory at 10:00 PM ET, a 30-minute show that provides a deeper look into the lives and story of each subject, features interviews with relevant individuals, and includes material that did not make the final edition of the episode.