Decades before the DVR and years before the first Super Bowl, a young television director decided to try something that would either amaze or confuse TV watchers: the instant replay.

With that, Tony Verna revolutionized the way we watch televised sports. He died Sunday at 81.

Over the course of his career, Verna produced or directed broadcasts of five Super Bowls, the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1985 benefit concert, Live Aid.

But Verna's most important achievement lasted just a few seconds. During the 1963 Army vs. Navy football game in Philadelphia, Verna, then 29, tried something that had never been done before in a live TV broadcast.