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What: “Lost Treasures of NFL Films” (Volume II)

Where: ESPN Classic, Tuesday, 5 p.m.

If anything seen on ESPN Classic can truly be called classic, it’s this five-part series featuring footage buried deep in the film vault of NFL Films in Mount Laurel, N.J.

Volume I, shown a couple of weeks ago, was excellent, and so is Volume II.

In 1962, before it was called NFL Films--it was known as Blair Motion Pictures, named after founder Ed Sabol’s daughter--the production company consisted of a few men who loved making movies and loved football. There were no cable channels and no sports programming on television other than games. NFL Films’ main purpose was to provide Kiwanis clubs around the country with a few minutes of NFL highlights.

NFL Films senior producer Phil Tuckett, wondering what happened to all the film that never made it into one of the short highlight films, set out recently to find out. He sifted through the world’s largest sports archive and found some incredible stuff. This series was the result.

Volume II focuses on the years 1966-68, leading up to the merger between the AFL and the NFL. The remaining three volumes will be shown at later dates on ESPN Classic.

All are expertly narrated by Sabol’s son, Steve, the president of NFL Films.

Volume II covers a time period when NFL Films became part of the NFL, when new equipment such as telephoto lenses and high-speed cameras and zoom lens were used for the first time, when the use of sound changed things forever, and when “Football Follies” first came into being.

There were rough spots along the way, and the inclusion of them makes this one-hour show even more interesting. There is an interview with Dallas Cowboy great Bob Hayes, and the question that was meant to be asked was how he and fullback Dan Reeves complement each other in the Cowboy offense. But Hayes is simply asked how he complements Reeves, and Hayes says, “I always compliment Dan because he is always doing something good.”