NFL Films Founder ED SABOL, whose "obsession with home movies developed into a business that helped transform professional football into America's preeminent sport," died yesterday at 98, according to a front-page piece by Frank Fitzpatrick of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Sabol founded NFL Films in '64 and ran it until '95, during which time it "won 52 Emmy Awards." Sabol "changed the way football was filmed and how it was viewed." In his hands, the "previously mundane task of filming sporting events became an art form as he layered on music, dramatic and literate narration, and a romantic point of view." He was elected to the Pro Football HOF in '11. Fitzpatrick notes in '64, then-NFL Commissioner PETE ROZELLE "asked owners to purchase the business from Sabol." They "rejected that initial proposal but a year later agreed to do so, providing the filmmaker with $12,000 and orders for highlight reels for each of the 14 teams." Sabol "spiced up mundane game films with a showman's flair -- adding stirring scores, dramatic voice-overs ... and a storyteller's sensibilities." NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL said Sabol "made the NFL a better league, and that's quite a legacy" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 2/10). NFL.com's Chris Wesseling noted Sabol's film, "Pro Football's Longest Day," about the '62 NFL Championship Game between the Giants and Packers at Yankee Stadium, "helped convince the NFL of the need for its own motion picture company to promote the game and preserve its history." Before Sabol, the NFL's fanbase "consisted of a small but devoted segment of connoisseurs," but as the television age "introduced the game to a wider audience, Sabol taught America how to watch football" (NFL.com, 2/9). In L.A., Mike Kupper notes with "ever-growing exposure, at least some of it traced directly to Sabol's work, the NFL took off in the '60s" (L.A. TIMES, 2/10).
TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL: In N.Y., Douglas Martin notes Sabol "played a significant role in making professional football America’s No. 1 spectator sport, in part by borrowing from Hollywood." He deployed "multiple cameras, zoomed in for raw close-up shots -- of a linebacker’s bloody knuckles, for example -- employed unexpected angles, added slow motion for dramatic effect, and put microphones on players, coaches and officials, capturing exhortations and the thuds and grunts of a violent game." Along the way, he named the Cowboys "America’s Team and invented the sports blooper genre" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/10). The AP's Rachel Cohen noted Sabol, working with his son, STEVE, "introduced a series of innovations taken for granted today: super slow-motion replays, blooper reels, reverse angle shots." They "stuck microphones on coaches and players, set highlights to pop music and recorded pregame locker room speeches." One of their "most important decisions was hiring JOHN FACENDA to narrate all this." He became "known as the 'Voice of God,' reading lyrical descriptions in solemn tones" (AP, 2/9). On Long Island, Neil Best notes one of the "most important events in the company's history was Super Bowl IV," when Steve Sabol convinced Chiefs coach HANK STRAM to "wear a mic for the game." The Chiefs beat the Vikings "in an upset, and the soundtrack of Stram on the sidelines from that day remains a classic of the genre" (NEWSDAY, 2/10).
ATTENTION TO DETAIL: In N.Y., Kevin Armstrong notes Sabol’s "sharp eye for detail led cameramen to train their lenses on spiraling footballs, violent collisions between tacklers and ball carriers and altogether putting the fans closer to the action." His productions included soundtracks "typically reserved for war films" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/10). BLOOMBERG NEWS' Stephen Miller writes NFL Films "originated diagramming plays on screen, shots in the locker room before the game, and telephoto slow motion of a spiraling pass curving toward a receiver in the end zone." Sabol helped "create the NFL’s mythology with phrases such as 'The Frozen Tundra,' 'America’s Team' and 'The Catch'" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 2/10). THE MMQB's Emily Kaplan writes Ed and Steve Sabol's impact "cannot be understated." They "were directors, the gridiron their stage, and by adding a dramatic flair and intimate touches, they made the sport accessible to everyone." Ed Sabol "believed football could be riveting cinema." If Packers QB BART STARR "lobbed the ball downfield, Sabol wanted viewers to feel the tension to build with each spiral" (MMQB.SI.com, 2/10).
A MARKETER'S DREAM: ESPN’s Mike Greenberg said NFL Films is the "single greatest element of marketing in the history of American professional sports, and nothing is close." Greenberg: "It will go on now for as long as there is football” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 2/10). MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said Sabol and NFL Films "did more to spread the great word about the NFL than anybody else” (“Morning Joe,” MSNBC, 2/10). FS1's Ryan Field noted Sabol leaves behind a "legacy of a visionary force who helped revolutionize sports on camera and helped make the game seem larger than life” (“Fox Sports Live,” FS1, 2/9). NFL Network's Steve Wyche said, "He changed the way all sports are covered the way news was covered, the way we understand the game.” NFL Network's Eric Davis said, "He invented reality television. ... There is no truer reality than the unscripted game, and what he did -- it’s the gladiator sport, and he took you inside the coliseum” ("NFL AM," NFL Network, 2/10).
THE POWER OF MUSIC: BILLBOARD's Phil Gallo wrote for the generation that "came of age in the 1960s and '70s," Sabol was the "visionary who showed how instrumental music can add to the impact of a film." Sabol "recognized the power of film and TV music," and pushed composer SAM SPENCE to "capture the power of scores such as 'Peter Gunn' and war movies." The music "was majestic, a perfect underscore" for Facenda. The music "played the flipside of the game's heroics, too, accompanying scenes of on-field fumbles and foibles with a musical laugh track on their 'Football Follies' series." Gallo: "Loony tunes and merry melodies took over for Wagner and Rossini" (BILLBOARD.com, 2/9).
