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"We’re taking off, we’re not sure where it’s going to go and we hope we don’t crash.
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Sabol once described “Hard Knocks” as “building an airplane in flight. It could still tell a compelling story despite tight deadlines. “Hard Knocks” ended up being one of Sabol's proudest accomplishments because it showed how NFL Films adapted with the times. He helped so many people start and build their careers that his legacy is all the people making great films and television shows.” “I think that apart from the influence he had on the way we watch football, I think the greatest thing about him is how much people loved him. “He never stopped loving football,” said Penny Ashman Sabol, Steve Sabol’s widow. It might be the only time when the Reverend Jerry Falwell and rocker Ronnie James Dio appear in the same film and agree on something - their love of football. “ Autumn Ritual, ” which was made in 1986, is a film that follows Sabol's mandate that “maintain tradition by breaking tradition” because it shows how the NFL fits in with culture and other art forms. The most interesting part is Sabol discussing how he learned cubism from Picasso's paintings and that he approaches cinematography from looking at things from different points of view. If there is one creation that shows Sabol's philosophy toward film making and NFL Films, it is 1978's “ Super Sunday with NFL Films,” which shows the entire process of how the Super Bowl 12 highlight film was produced, from camera placement to narrator John Facenda going over the script.
Nfl films pro#
"It worked hand in hand with our growth because we had the best in pro football, which was Steve Sabol at NFL Films, and I will always believe that.” “NFL Films enabled us to be the destination for pro football fans certainly the first 15-20 years," Berman said.
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Nfl films series#
He hosted some of “NFL Films” weekly series during the season, introduced Super Bowl highlight films as well as other company projects which aired frequently on ESPN before NFL Network started in 2003.ĮSPN's Chris Berman said having NFL Films programming served as a springboard to the network eventually airing games starting in 1987. Sabol was also recognizable in front of the camera. That included 35 won by Sabol in writing, cinematography, editing, directing and producing, the most by anyone. He began working at NFL Films in 1964 as a cinematographer and rose to president before he passed away.ĭuring Sabol's tenure, NFL Films won more than 100 Emmy Awards. Sabol went to Colorado College, where he was an All-Rocky Mountain Conference running back, and majored in art history. But then the creative style also invented what sports television is creatively today.” “The business decision to create NFL Films and lead the league into the television space pretty much created sports television. “If they didn’t happen together, the NFL wouldn’t be where it is today. Someone creating a company would have just created a company that wouldn’t have done anything without Steve’s creative genius next to it,” he said. But for Rodgers and those who grew up watching NFL Films shows over the years, Steve Sabol's induction makes things whole. Rodgers said when Ed Sabol was inducted, Steve saw that as the entire existence of NFL Films, including his career, being recognized. He made the game and players appear larger than life through cinematography, slow motion replays, orchestral music and putting microphones on players and coaches. While it was Ed Sabol who persuaded Pete Rozelle in 1964 that the league needed its own film company to promote and document the game, it was Steve Sabol who was the creative force at NFL Films. But you can’t tell the history of the league without NFL Films' role in making it the juggernaut it is today. The Sabols never played or coached a down in the National Football League. Sabol was recognized in April by the hall and will be included in the induction festivities on Aug. They join Tim and Wellington Mara, owners of the New York Giants, and Art and Dan Rooney, owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sabol joins his father Ed, who was enshrined in 2011, as the third father/son duo in Canton.
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