This is a highlight video from recorded footage from the week 17 game of the Chicago Bears defeating the Detroit Lions I payed this past weekend. I’ve been trying to clean up things before vacation so I’ve had less time to go full bore on all the cool features Tom has come up with for bot commenters, but the season hasn’t even started yet!
This video re-enforced that I might want to avoid instant replays when doing these post-game videos. The full-speed action clips seem to work better, or maybe it’s just the inconsistency going between normal speed and slow-mo that gets annoying. I also tried to tell the story of the game with no narration, although I have the NFL Films-style script on-hand thanks to ChatGPT as well as an ESPN highlight reel redux I’ll be recording over this video. You can find it below, with timestamps and everything:
Great — switching from NFL Films-style to an ESPN-style highlight reel redux means we’re going for:
Faster-paced delivery
Punchy, energetic phrasing
A bit of attitude and play-by-play flavor
Less poetry, more “here’s what happened and why it mattered”
Tone-wise, think Stuart Scott, Boomer, or Tirico—with crisp narration that lets the action speak but frames it cleanly.
ESPN-Style Voiceover Script (2:15 Runtime)
For Highlight Reel Sync / ElevenLabs Voiceover
[00:00 – 00:06]
00_00_intro.mp3“Week 17. Bears. Lions. One playoff spot on the line. Let’s go to the Silverdome.”
[00:06 – 00:16]
00_06_lions_td.mp3“Early in the first — Mike Tomczak loads up and hits Germaine Crowell in stride. That’s six for the Lions. 7–0 Detroit.”
[00:16 – 00:30]
00_16_daniels_sacks.mp3“But the Bears defense? Not having it. Philip Daniels — back-to-back sacks to kill the drive. Lions punt. Momentum swings.”
[00:30 – 00:40]
00_30_fake_punt.mp3“Next possession, Bears try a fake punt — ball’s loose — but somehow, Chicago recovers. Big break.”
[00:40 – 00:48]
00_40_enis_td.mp3“And Curtis Enis finishes what they started — 8-yard rumble into the end zone. Tie game.”
[00:48 – 01:03]
00_48_robinson_int.mp3“Now this one hurts — Marcus Robinson steps out just before a would-be touchdown. Next play? McKnown throws a pick. Detroit dodges disaster.”
[01:03 – 01:37]
01_03_second_half_td.mp3“Start of the second half — Bears come out firing. McKnown runs the show. Enis again — this time through the air. Touchdown. Bears take the lead, 14–7.”
[01:37 – 01:52]
01_37_flanagan_sack.mp3“Defense stays hot. Run stuffed. Then Urlacher crashes in for another sack. That’s four on the day for the Bears D.”
[01:52 – 02:08]
01_52_engram_td.mp3“Final blow — McKnown to Bobby Engram. Easy money. Bears up 21–7 and rollin’.”
[02:08 – 02:15]
02_08_final_stats.mp3“Final: Bears 21, Lions 7. Enis goes for 120 total yards and 2 scores. Defense smothers Detroit. Playoffs? Yep — Chicago’s in as the 6 seed.”
Would you like this turned into a downloadable .txt, or split into ready-to-upload ElevenLabs segments with pacing hints?
I can also make a subtitle .srt to match your video.
I can probably do a Boomer Esiason version of this script decently, and I’m gonna give that a try.
I love all the options the machine gives me at every step, right down to subtitles—pretty crazy. For this one, so far at least, the highlight reel was pretty much AI-free. I opened up iMovie and got consumed with trying to make the game highlights as tight and clear as possible, imagining my own commentary over the game play in highlight reel style all the while. I appreciated ChatGPT’s advice to reinforce what I was already thinking, but as much as the goal is to automate I cant help but insert my own impulse to parrot sports media. I really have to remedy that 🙂
