"The Autumn Wind" is a sports-themed

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

adapted from Mary Jane Carr's "Pirate Wind" by former

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 ...

President and co-founder Steve Sabol (son of founder

Ed Sabol Edwin Milton Sabol (September 11, 1916 – February 9, 2015) was an American filmmaker and the founder (with his son Steve Sabol, among others) of NFL Films. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011 as a contributor due to his wo ...

) describing the atmosphere of autumn weather, as it relates to pro football season. It is synonymous with the

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 ...

(NFL)'s

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...

, and is often heard blaring out of the speakers at Raider games. Narrated by

John Facenda John Thomas Ralph Augustine James Facenda ( ; August 8, 1913September 26, 1984) was an American broadcaster and sports announcer. He was a fixture on Philadelphia radio and television for decades, and achieved national fame as a narrator for N ...

, this 1974 production has been dubbed "The Battle Hymn of the

Raider Nation The Raider Nation is the official name for the fans of the National Football League (NFL)'s Las Vegas Raiders (formerly the Oakland Raiders and the Los Angeles Raiders). Fan Jim Hudson coined the term in the 1990s when the Raiders returned to Oa ...

". The poem was first used for the team's official team yearbook film in 1974, of the same title, and also for

' hour-long recap of the 1974 season. Legend has it that when Raider owner and managing general partner Al Davis heard "The Autumn Wind" song for the first time, he remained silent for a second before telling then NFL Films President Ed Sabol that he loved it, and that "it epitomized everything that the Raiders stood for". It has been used on numerous official

audio album soundtracks, most notably ''The Power & The Glory'' LP, featuring Facenda narrating over it, as well as numerous other tracks composed and conducted by

Sam Spence Samuel Lloyd Spence (March 29, 1927February 6, 2016) was an American soundtrack composer best known for his work with NFL Films. His music has also been in the EA Sports '' Madden NFL'' football video games and many football-related commercials. ...

and played by the NFL Films Orchestra. Rapper, actor and Raider fan Ice Cube uses the first and last quartets to introduce his song ''Raider Nation'', the theme for '' Straight Outta L.A.'', his

ESPN 30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

documentary about how the Raiders' time in Los Angeles coincided with, among other things, the rise of N.W.A. and hip hop in Los Angeles.''Raider Nation'' – Ice Cube
YouTube

References

External links

Autumn Wind: An Ode to the History of the Raiders
(via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel) {{DEFAULTSORT:Autumn Wind Las Vegas Raiders Oakland Raiders NFL Films 1974 poems American poems San Francisco Bay Area literature