Those of us who love the unearthing of old relics of sports television were excited by the NFL Films’ reconstruction of Super Bowl I. Every play was found in the NFL Films archive and stitched together for Friday night’s presentation on NFL Network, which would have stood well on its own for a 90-minute broadcast, with added graphics, factoids and interviews spread out before, after or during breaks.

But given the choice between letting viewers immerse themselves in lost history and overproducing, NFL Network took the latter course. The network could have taken the spirit of 1967 and relived the first Super Bowl without 21st-century excess. But it adopted the ethic of the multi-hour Super Bowl pregame show.

What viewers got was a studio talk-a-thon, when all I believe they needed was something akin to the original experience of Jan. 15, 1967 (although no full tapes of the original CBS and NBC broadcasts seem to exist). A nostalgic excursion turned into a showcase for some of NFL Network’s voices. I’m not sure those who looked forward to seeing Super Bowl I again, or for the first time, cared what network voices like Terrell Davis, Daniel Jeremiah, Willie McGinest or Elliot Harrison had to say about the game.

There was commentary during the game, a nearly constant chatter during the action that was unnecessary, especially when the speaker was anyone but one of the Green Bay Packers (Willie Davis) or the Kansas City Chiefs (Mike Garrett and Fred Williamson) who participated in the game, or Steve Mariucci, an NFL Network analyst and former San Francisco 49ers coach who grew up in Michigan as a passionate Packers fan. He seemed to nearly shiver with excitement sharing his memories of the game.

The impact of the in-game commentary was to silence the actual NBC Radio call by Jim Simpson, who died on Wednesday, and George Ratterman. The host, Chris Rose, repeatedly had to announce that the network was returning to the play-by-play. A purely immersive experience would have been to let viewers watch the game without interference and to add commentary at breaks or at halftime.

That was how MLB Network handled the 2010 rebroadcast of Game 7 of the Pittsburgh Pirates-Yankees World Series in 1960. The kinescopes of the game — which had not been seen since its original broadcast, the same as Super Bowl I — had been found in Bing Crosby’s old wine cellar.

The game was shown in its original form — viewers heard Mel Allen and Bob Prince — and every few innings, players like Bobby Richardson, Dick Groat and Bill Virdon provided memories to Bob Costas before a theater audience that had gathered the month before in Pittsburgh.

In that case, a return to the past was not diluted by too many voices or in-game chatting.

That was the model NFL Network should have followed. It was overkill to have seven people take turns talking from the network’s studio. Some of it was relevant and interesting, but it should not have been done during the game. There were plenty of junctures to take a few minutes to interview the players and Mariucci, then return to the game, uninterrupted. It’s not as if the outcome was unknown or uncertain, so a few diversions lasting a few minutes would not have hurt the production.

The network should have produced segments with all the players involved and used them optimally, rather than bringing a few into the studio and talking to others, like Len Dawson, Jerry Kramer and Dave Robinson, remotely. Kramer was especially good, mocking Williamson nearly a half-century after they played each other. But he and Robinson weren’t called upon until after the game. Well-produced segments — whether they were panel discussions or separate interviews — could have juxtaposed antagonists like Kramer and Williamson. Instead, the network taped everything on Thursday.

The network missed a chance to use Williamson best. He was brought on during the second quarter but should have been brought back in the fourth, when he was knocked out of the game and taken off the field on a stretcher. He was still demonstrating his trademark bravado in the second quarter, diminishing how good Green Bay was; it would have been interesting to hear his reaction to being forced out of Super Bowl I and to hear the happy reaction of the Packers on the sideline.