Sep 10th 2008 7:29AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Raiders, NFL VideoYou might not recognize the name John Facenda, but if you’re an NFL fan you definitely recognize his voice:

Facenda died nearly a quarter of a century ago, but people still associate that “voice of God” with the NFL. Unfortunately, the voice is now the central issue in a lawsuit between Facenda’s family and NFL Films.

A U.S. appeals court has ruled that John Facenda Jr. can sue NFL Films over the use of his father’s voice in a show about the Madden video game. Facenda’s contract barred use of his voice for product endorsements, and a three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that the show about the Madden game, which aired on NFL Network, was a commercial.

Facenda Jr. is now headed to trial against the league that has been so often identified with his father’s voice.