January 19, 2015
DGA President Paris Barclay made the following statement upon learning of the passing of DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Direction recipient Tony Verna:
“By any measure, a career spent directing major sporting events like the Super Bowl and the Kentucky Derby would be accomplishment enough. But Tony Verna’s legacy replays on television sets around the world every day,” said Barclay. “With the creation of instant replay 50 years ago, Tony changed the future of televised sports, and sports direction, forever. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Awards
Tony Verna is credited with inventing instant replay, first deployed during the broadcast of the Army vs. Navy football game he directed for CBS Sports on December 7, 1963. In recognition of his directorial accomplishments and contributions to the genre, the Directors Guild of America honored Verna with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Direction in 1995.