Below is an article from last December about ESPN’s 30 for 30 episode on Ric Flair, which was directed by a Lafayette Hill native. The episode debuts tonight (Tuesday, November 7th) at 10:00 p.m.

From last year…

Yesterday the Internet was buzzing with the release of a trailer for an upcoming edition of ESPN’s 30 for 30 that would feature professional wrestler Ric Flair. The director, Rory Karpf, hails from Lafayette Hill and is a 1995 graduate of Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. The Ric Flair edition will be titled “Nature Boy,” which was Flair’s wrestling nickname.

Karpf has previously directed two other editions of the 30 for 30 series. The first was “Tim Richmond: To the Limit” in 2010 and that was followed by “I Hate Christian Laettner” in 2015. He also directed the documentary The Book of Manning about the life and career of Archie Manning and two television series with Snoop Dog and his involvement in his son’s football career and coaching a youth football team. You can see every project he has been involved in on IMDB.com.

According to a Times Herald article from 2000, Karpf got his start doing stand-up comedy and working at NFL Films. From the article:

Karpf studied television at Boston University while performing stand-up comedy on the side.

“I played at Harvard and Boston University, as well as at comedy clubs . . . and I got paid,” he notes proudly. “I did comedy almost all the way through college, then I stopped because it was taking too much time. It takes up most of your weekend when you are performing.”

Karpf explains that after college, he was getting ready to head for Los Angeles to seek acting jobs when his father suggested that he look at NFL Films and send his resume there.

“I was interviewed and was hired as the youngest producer at that time,” he details. “A lot of people who want to be in front of the camera will move to New York or Los Angeles and wait tables or something. I decided to take the producer job and, once I got established, to start putting myself into segments.

ESPN hasn’t announced yet when “Nature Boy” will air. Watch the trailer below:

Photo: IMDB.com

H/T: Walt Harnett