Jim Burnette, a long-time sports advertising sales exec credited wtih creating the “pre-kickoff” NFL commercial break as well as the TV’s superimposed yellow football “first down line,” died Feb. 6. He was 81.

Burnette, who began his career at ABC in the mid-1960s and served as a media buyer at the William Esty ad agency in the early 1970s, went on to hold senior positions in advertising sales at NBC Sports and Fox Sports.

Among his other sports advertising milestones, was introducing home plate advertising signage to Major League Baseball.

"He took risks," retired Anheuser-Busch media chief Tony Ponturo said in a LinkedIn post, recalling, "We sponsored the NFL opening kickoffs with the Budweiser label around the frame...had never been done.

"He pioneered quarter exclusivities with the auto makers on the NBA telecasts."