Tom Hedden
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Tom Hedden is an American score composer, the former music director at
NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries for and about the NFL, as well as ot ...
, and
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
Director of Music Administration. In 2009, Hedden left the NFL and has since composed music independently for, among others, NASCAR Media Group, Golf Channel, World Poker Tour, Hock Films, ESPN and The
SEC Network The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...
.


Career

Hedden graduated out of
Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
, and became the music director of NFL Films in 1990. Hedden was instructed by NFL Films President Steve Sabol in 1994 to create a score for a
TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
special titled, ''75 Seasons: The History of the NFL''. After nine months, Hedden was awarded the
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for Musical Score; working with David Robidoux, Hedden would eventually win four more Emmys for the specials '' Favre 4Ever'', ''
Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Among other accolades, he is the lea ...
: Run With History'', ''NFL Century – In Their Words'', and ''
Unitas Unitas may refer to: * 306 Unitas, a main belt asteroid * UNITAS, a multi-lateral naval exercise in South and Central America * Unitas Capital, a private equity firm, formerly known as CCMP Capital Asia * ''Humani generis unitas'', a planned ency ...
''. Together, Hedden and Robidoux would also create the score for
History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
's ''Blood in a Stone''. In 1997, Hedden performed the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
theme he composed with the
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is an American orchestra based in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only full-time, professional orchestra in the Gulf South. The orchestra performs at the Orpheum Theater. The Louisiana Philharmonic Or ...
at
Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
. One of the pieces he composed, ''A New Game'', featured an unusual 15/8
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
; the piece would eventually be played at
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
games whenever the visiting team calls a timeout. Another composition of his, ''Sprint Right'', is played in NFL broadcasts. Hedden also had his music featured in films such as ''
The Waterboy ''The Waterboy'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It was written by Adam Sandler as well as Tim Herlihy and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. Sandler also stars as the title character while Kathy Bates ...
'' and '' Little Children''. In 2008, he became the NFL's Director of Music Administration, and is in charge of music rights for
NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...
, NFL.com and other branches operated by the league. In 2009, Hedden left his position at NFL Films to form Tom Hedden Music, a musical production and consulting company, though he still works with the company. In 2012, Hedden composed music used at
Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...
. He was named
SESAC SESAC is a for-profit performance-rights organization in the United States. Founded in 1930 as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, it is the second-oldest performance-rights organization in the United States.
's Television Composer of the Year twice, and has received accolades from the International Television Association and Philadelphia Advertising Club. Hedden was part of the team at John Hill Music who were awarded a Clio Award in 1988 for Best Automotive Campaign for a
Subaru ( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...
commercial. Hedden's work is featured in both the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
and
NASCAR Hall of Fame The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning ...
. His work is also featured in the ''
Madden NFL ''Madden NFL'' (known as ''John Madden Football'' until 1993) is an American football video game series developed by EA Tiburon for EA Sports. It is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden and sold more than 130 m ...
'' video game series.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedden, Tom American film score composers NFL Films people National Football League music Berklee College of Music alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)