RIP Steve Sabol

[Elliotte Friedman]

Via Adam Schefter tweet.

Enormous impact on the NFL and television. Great mind, terrific person who would always come on sports radio station in Toronto when we asked. One time, he was interrupted by his laundry being returned to his hotel room. Came back, resumed the interview right where he left off.

RIP.

 

[LongTimeListener]

That's too bad. I never met him, but he has to be on the very short list of most universally liked people within NFL circles. I always thought it was a great decision by MacCambridge to devote so much space to NFL Films in "America's Game."

Hopefully they show a Best Of NFL Films marathon on NFL Network. I don't know why, but for some reason the episode on the Bills' comeback against the Oilers has always been my favorite.

 

[Chef2]

RIP Sir.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Dammit. Cancer sucks.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

That's terribly sad news, but here was a man who got the very most out of the life he was given.

 

[poindexter]

One of the best assets the NFL ever had.

That's too bad. RIP.

 

[Norrin Radd]

NFL Films is one of the great propaganda machines in human history.

I mean that in a positive way. Absolutely adore their work.

RIP.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

To see how good at entertainment Sabol was, compare the NFL Films product and the older the product the better, with the films and videos from similar periods broadcast by the other three sports' cable networks. The World Series and Stanley Cup highlight films are amateur travesties when John Facenda was ALREADY a legend created by the Sabol family.

 

[LongTimeListener]

The Autumn Wind is a pirate
Blustering in from sea
With a rollicking song he sweeps along
swaggering boisterously
His face is weather beaten
He wears a hooded sash
With his silver hat about his head
And a bristly black moustache
He growls as he storms the country
A villain big and bold
And the trees all shake and quiver and quake
As he robs them of their gold
The Autumn wind is a Raider
Pillaging just for fun
He’ll knock you ’round and upside down
And laugh when he’s conquered and won.

Pure genius. I actually remember a time when I thought that was a poem of olden days adapted to the Oakland Raiders.

http://theraidercast.com/the-autumn-wind/

 

[Drip]

Took over for his dad and built an empire. RIP

 

[Matt Stephens]

So sad.

 

[RubberSoul1979]

A one-of-a-kind to be sure, and what a nice guy. What a legacy. He will be missed.

 

[Bubbler]

****. I'm truly saddened by this. A part of my childhood and adulthood died a little bit. I know Ed Sabol founded NFL Films, but for someone my age (41), Steve Sabol was the face of the brand.

Like Norrin said, NFL Films was propaganda in the best sense of the word ... and I ate up every last bit of it. Sabol even made fun of this in the NFL Films' docs of the last 10 years or so.

I think it can be argued that no single person outside of the players was responsible for the canonization of the NFL in the public's mind than Sabol was.

And while there are plenty of players who have good arguments about being left out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Sabol not being in is its most glaring omission.

NFL Films was obviously low-brow in many ways and much of it is hilariously dated, but there's some legitimately brilliant work they did too. The Lost Treasures series was fantastic from start to finish. So was the Super Bowl America's Game series.

And those Super Bowl highlight films, especially the ones from the late 70s, are absolutely riveting.

(And a **** you to Hulu which used to have a bunch of those films on their site, including a whole bunch of random 70s and 80s team highlight films)

RIP to a NFL giant.

 

[mpcincal]

RIP. Very sad to hear, but the consolation in all of this is that his work and influence will live on for a long, long time.

I remember reading somewhere that movie director Sam Peckinpaugh actually emulated some of Sabol's NFL Films work in filming some of his fight scenes.

 

[Lugnuts]

How sad.

 

[Bubbler]

I remember reading somewhere that movie director Sam Peckinpaugh actually emulated some of Sabol's NFL Films work in filming some of his fight scenes.

Probably the way Peckinpah edited them. Early NFL Films had that quick edit kind of vibe that Peckinpah's trademark fight scenes did.

 

[Cubbiebum]

He is my first memories of the NFL. I grew up in a soccer family. Watching those old NFL Film shows with him grabbed my interest and from there grew my obsession with the NFL.

RIP

 

[Beaker]

RIP. Absolutely love NFL Films.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Count me in as another one who grew up on NFL Films. Used to love the Follies, and I always remember watching Joe Namath shooting pool.

My favorite, though, was the Lost Treasures episode where NFL Films was trying to track down a guy who, 20+ years earlier, when they were filming the expansion Bucs, got cut on the practice field by McKay in training camp. They showed several employees with phone books sitting in an office calling people, then they finally found the guy after a few months. The guy was stunned that he was found, and had never seen the tape of him getting cut until NFL Films flew down to his little hometown (I think it was in South Carolina), showed it to him, and profiled him.

RIP, to a great pioneer, and one of my boyhood memories.

 

[MileHigh]

RIP to a true giant.