Legends Behind the Lens: Steve Sabol The keeper of the flame of NFL Films was one of sports televisions greatest storytellers and one its most ambitious mad scientists By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Tuesday, July 21, 2020 - 12:00 pm
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Story Highlights
The story of American sports television is engrained in the history of this nation, rising on the achievements of countless incredible men and women who never once appeared on our screens. During this pause in live sports, SVG is proud to present a celebration of this great industry. Legends Behind the Lens is a look at how we got here seen through the people who willed it to be. Each weekday, we will share with you the story of a person whose impact on the sports-television industry is indelible.
Legends Behind the Lens is presented in association with the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the SVG Sports Broadcasting Fund. In these trying times - with so many video-production professionals out of work - we hope that you will consider (if you are able) donating to the Sports Broadcasting Fund. Do so by visiting sportsbroadcastfund.org.
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By Jason Dachman
Pro-football legend and pioneer George Halas once called NFL Films the keepers of the flame, entrusted with preserving the game's history as well as preaching the NFL gospel to future generations. Today, thanks largely to the luminous creative force of Steve Sabol, that flame shines brighter than ever nearly half a century after his father founded NFL Films.
Many have tried, but no one in the sports industry has ever duplicated what Steve and NFL Films have accomplished - in any professional league, nationally or internationally, says Sabol's longtime friend and Chairman of USA Football Carl Peterson. Steve's legacy is his ability to grow the business while also retaining the storytelling and human aspects in these films.
A Uniquely Qualified Filmmaker
An All-Conference running back at Colorado College as well as an accomplished art major and film aficionado, Sabol was uniquely qualified to make football movies, according to his father. Ed, an overcoat-salesman-turned-filmmaker, successfully bid for the rights to film the 1962 NFL Championship game and launched NFL Films two years later, bringing his son aboard as a camera operator.
In the early days, Big Ed was the boss, but Steve had his fingerprints all over [NFL Films], says Hank McElwee, current NFL Films executive in charge of cinematography. I always say, if I was going to build a house, I would have Ed build it, but I would have Steve do all the decorating because Steve has always been, without a doubt, the true creative eye of NFL Films.
Perfecting the NFL Films Style
Throughout the 1960s, Sabol cultivated a distinct new style that was based on the rhythm and drama of the game and would become the signature of NFL Films.
We were very much flying by the seat of our pants in those days, says former NFL Films VP/Editor-in-Chief Bob Ryan. Steve wanted to make our films appeal to a wider audience - not just the sports fan but everyone. He wanted it to be more like a Hollywood movie than a documentary.
In those early films and television programs, Sabol and company singlehandedly revolutionized sports-film production, introducing such elements as montage editing, super-slow motion, sideline cameras, telephoto lenses, epic Hollywood-style scores (composed by Sam Spence), mics on players and coaches, and the iconic baritone narration of John Facenda (usually scripted by Sabol himself).
There are so many things that we did in those early films that are clich today, but, in the 1960s, they were considered groundbreaking and even radical, says Sabol. The first time that we did these things, a lot of the owners and people around [the NFL] were not happy. We had to keep doing it to make the owners believe in it. But we believed in it, and that was all that mattered.
I think NFL films is an important part of the history of the league. People would not have the same feeling about the league without NFL Films. Bob Costas
Ryan adds, We stumbled around trying to gain our footing at first, but, under Steve's leadership, our style really started to reveal itself after the first two or three years. Our camera work and use of sound was completely different from anything else that had been done in the past. We took the fan where no one else had ever really been.
Continued Growth and the World-Wide Leader
With his father, Sabol continued to help mold NFL Films' epic style and land distribution deals throughout the 1970s, introducing groundbreaking programming like Inside the NFL and even adding in a dose of humor with the introduction of the popular Football Follies bloopers series. Then, in 1979, a fledgling cable network named ESPN tapped the studio to produce original content to fill out its 24/7 programming slate.
That was a huge step for us because, all of a sudden, our films were being shown in primetime, says Sabol. Before that, we were syndicated, so we would often air in the middle of the night between infomercials. ESPN let us do what we did best and didn't interfere with our creativity, while also exposing us to a much bigger audience.
The Other Side of the Camera
However, NFL Films was desperately in need of a full-time on-air host, having been turned down by a stable of well-known personalities. The solution turned out to be right under Sabol's nose and would end up solidifying him as the face of NFL Films for the next three decades.
[Long-time ESPN executive and current Big East Associate Commissioner] Tom Okjakjian said, Why don't you do it? You are writing all this stuff anyway,' recounts Sabol. But I was concerned because I had never done anything on camera before. So he said, D
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Legends Behind the Lens: Steve Sabol The keeper of the flame of NFL Films was one of sports televisions greatest storytellers and one its most ambitious mad scientists By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
