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. Spence was born in San Francisco. A former University of Southern California music instructor living and working in Munich, Spence was hired in 1966 to score the mini-documentaries that conveyed National Football League highlights and personalities to fans in the network-television era. Spence's music cues combined with the voices of announcers Pat Summerall, Tom Brookshier, Charlie Jones, John Facenda, and Harry Kalas created the trademark style of sports highlights films of the NFL. Initially, Mahlon Merrick was asked to provide scores for NFL Films. A friend of Spence, Merrick asked Spence to help in the recording sessions. "Mahlon had written marches. Toward the end of that recording session, I stuck in a couple of different pieces—my own orchestral compositions with strings and woodwinds, more like a Hollywood film score. It turned out they were Ed Sabol's favorites and he offered me a three-year contract to write, conduct, and produce NFL Films' music." In Germany, Spence wrote several TV soundtracks with Hani Chamseddine, e.g., for the Francis Durbridge thriller "". After his retirement in 1990, he returned to Munich. He achieved unexpected fame in 1998 with the success of a CD compilation entitled "The Power and the Glory: The Original Music & Voices Of NFL Films". Spence died at a Lewisville, Texas nursing center on February 6, 2016, at the age of 88. In 2005, Spence's music was remade by the hip hop music group Da Riffs, which can be heard on several NFL Network shows and found in the soundtrack of the game "Madden NFL 06". Along with the urban remakes, the original songs still play in the game's soundtrack. His music was also included in "Madden NFL 07", "Madden NFL 08", and "Madden NFL 09", being remixed again by Da Riffs. Spence's music has been performed live several times, with the composer conducting guest residencies with regional orchestras. On June 14, 2008, he guest conducted a medley of his NFL Films hits with the Golden State Pops Orchestra in San Pedro, California, as part of the orchestra's "Pops for Pops" concert.