NEW YORK (AP) — With the eye of an art history major, Steve Sabol filmed the NFL as a ballet and blockbuster movie all in one.
Half
of the father-son team that revolutionized sports broadcasting, the NFL
Films president died Tuesday of brain cancer at age 69 in Moorestown,
N.J. He leaves behind a league bigger than ever, its fans enthralled by
the plot twists and characters he so deftly chronicled.
"Steve Sabol
was the creative genius behind the remarkable work of NFL Films," NFL
Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement from the league
confirming Sabol's death. "Steve's passion for
football was matched by his incredible talent and energy. Steve's legacy
will be part of the NFL forever. He was a major contributor to the
success of the NFL, a man who changed the way we look at football and
sports, and a great friend."
Sabol was diagnosed with a tumor on the left side of his brain after being hospitalized for a seizure in March 2011.
When Ed Sabol
founded NFL Films, his son was there working beside him as a
cinematographer right from the start in 1964. They introduced a series
of innovations taken for granted today, from super slow-motion replays
to blooper reels to sticking microphones on coaches and players. And
they hired the "Voice of God," John Facenda, to read lyrical
descriptions in solemn tones.
Until he landed the rights to chronicle the 1962 NFL championship game, Ed Sabol's only experience filming sports was recording the action at Steve's high school football games in Philadelphia.
"We see the game as art as much as sport," Steve Sabol
told The Associated Press before his father was inducted into the Pro
Football Hall of Fame last year. "That helped us nurture not only the
game's traditions but to develop its mythology: America's Team, The
Catch, The Frozen Tundra."
The two were honored with the Lifetime
Achievement Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and
Sciences in 2003. In his career, Steve Sabol
won 35 Emmys for writing, cinematography, editing, directing and
producing — no one else had ever earned that many in as many different
categories.
"Steve Sabol leaves a lasting
impact on the National Football League that will be felt for a long
time to come," NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice
Smith said. "His vision and innovation helped make him a pioneer the
likes of which the NFL has never seen before and won't see again."
He
was the perfect fit for the job: an all-Rocky Mountain Conference
running back at Colorado College majoring in art history. It was Sabol who later wrote of the Raiders, "The autumn wind is a pirate, blustering in from sea," words immortalized by Facenda.
The Sabols'
advances included everything from reverse angle replays to filming
pregame locker room speeches to setting highlights to pop music.
"Today
of course those techniques are so common it's hard to imagine just how
radical they once were," Steve told the AP last year. "Believe me, it
wasn't always easy getting people to accept them, but I think it was
worth the effort."
His efforts extended beyond his work as a producer, including appearances on screen and in public to promote NFL Films' mission.
An accomplished collage artist, Sabol
exhibited at the ArtExpo in New York, the Avant Gallery in Miami, the
Govinda Gallery in Washington, the Milan Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas,
and the Garth Davidson Gallery in Moorestown, N.J.
"Steve was a
legend in this business — a dynamic, innovative leader who made NFL
Films the creative force it is today," ESPN President John Skipper said.
"The work he and his dedicated and talented team create every day is
one of the many reasons why so many more fans love the game of football
today."
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.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
This Feb. 5, 2011 file photo shows Steve Sabol during an interview in Dallas. NFL Films President Steve Sabol has died from brain cancer. He was 69.
