Steve Sabol

[War Wagon]

This tribute should've been posted yesterday but better late than never I always say.

RIP to a legend.

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NFL Films President Steve Sabol, who got game to fans, dies at 69

Published - Sep 19 2012 09:22AM CST

By Randy Covitz, The Kansas City Star

Sept. 19—NFL Films president Steve Sabol, the creative force who provided the soundtrack to pro football for nearly 50 years, died Tuesday after an 18-month battle with brain cancer. He was 69.

Sabol, with his father, Ed Sabol, turned a family film venture into an Emmy-winning corporation that documented the NFL like no other sport has been covered.

With the use of super-slow motion, wireless microphones, reverse angles, pulsating musical scores, crisp writing and memorable narration, NFL Films won more than 100 Emmy Awards, including 35 for Steve Sabol alone for writing, cinematography, editing, directing, and producing.

One of the Sabols' most memorable productions was capturing the Chiefs' 23-7 win over Minnesota in Super Bowl IV, where they affixed a wireless microphone to head coach Hank Stram, whose exhortations of "65 Toss Power Trap" and "Let's matriculate the ball down the field, boys" became the stuff of legends.

"With his limitless passion and unparalleled ability as a storyteller, Steve captured the essence and emotion of our sport, and it was through his eyes and through his lens that we watched pro football become America's game," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement.

"Steve's artistry as a filmmaker gave an unforgettable, cinematic history of the NFL to an entire generation of fans. But beyond his tremendous contributions to the game, Steve was a remarkable man and a cherished friend who will be greatly missed by our family and all who were blessed to know him."

Steve Sabol presented his father for induction into Pro Football's Hall of Fame in 2011, and they were honored in 2003 with the Lifetime Achievement Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for "revolutionizing the way America watches football and setting the standard in sports filmmaking."

In March 2011, Sabol took ill at the 101 Banquet in Kansas City, where NFL Films received the Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football. He was soon after diagnosed with cancer.

His father, Ed, founded NFL Films, and Steve was there working beside him right from the start in 1964. They introduced a series of innovations now taken for granted today, including slow-motion replays, blooper reels and sticking microphones on coaches and players. And they hired the "Voice of God," John Facenda, to read lyrical descriptions in solemn tones.

"Steve Sabol was the creative genius behind the remarkable work of NFL Films," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "Steve's passion for football was matched by his incredible talent and energy. Steve's legacy will be part of the NFL forever.

Before his father's Hall induction, Steve Sabol told The Associated Press that, "We see the game as art as much as sport. That helped us nurture not only the game's traditions but to develop its mythology: America's Team, The Catch, The Frozen Tundra."

It was Steve's high school football games in Philadelphia that gave Ed his only experience filming sports before he won the rights to chronicle the 1962 NFL championship game.

"This is a sad day for football fans everywhere," Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said. "As someone who grew up watching NFL Films creations, I can attest to Steve's vision and contribution to the incredible popularity of this sport. His, along with his father, Ed's, creativity and passion for the game cultivated many, many avid fans."

Sabol is survived by his wife, Penny; his son, Casey; his parents, Audrey and Ed; and his sister, Blair. The NFL said there would be a private funeral.

[mvscal]

RIP to a legend.

No doubt. He certainly belongs in the Hall in his own right. I guess there isn't much of a hurry anymore but it ought to be done.

Doesn't matter what team you back, if your cock doesn't get hard to Autumn Wind, you aren't a pro football fan.

[poptart]

dies at 69

Props to S. Sabol for dying doing what he loved.

[War Wagon]

It has to suck for Ed Sabol, burying his son. Not supposed to work that way but sadly enough, sometimes it does.

[Mikey]

It has to suck for Ed Sabol, burying his son. Not supposed to work that way but sadly enough, sometimes it does.

The guy is what, 95 or 96 years old? He probably doesn't remember that he ever had a son.