God 1, NFL 0

John Facenda Jr. has agreed to a settlement with NFL Films over the apparently unauthorized use of his late father's voice in 2006 television show designed to pump sales of the John Madden video football game, which is licensed by the league.

Neither side would comment on the amount of the settlement, but the NFL did not care to pursue the matter through the appeals process. The league had argued that the show was an "artistic" rather an commercial endeavor, an opinion not shared by the federal court system.

John Facenda Sr., the former Philly television anchorman whose "Voice of God" delivery helped make the work of NFL Films distinctive, died in 1984. The NFL owns his recorded work, but is not allowed to use those recordings for any product endorsement.

Facenda Jr. has been vigilant in safeguarding the integrity of his late father's work. He previous brought suit against Campbell's Soup for using a Facenda sound-alike in commercials. That suit also ended in a settlement.

"He does not want to wake up one day hearing his father's voice advertising condoms," lawyer Paul Lauricella told the Associated Press earlier in the proceedings against the NFL.