Steve Sabol
Sabol in 1998
Born	Stephen Douglas Sabol (1942-10-02)October 2, 1942 Moorestown, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	September 18, 2012(2012-09-18) (aged 69) Moorestown, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupations	Sports filmmaker narrator cameraman entrepreneur artist co-founder of NFL Films with father Ed Sabol Pro Football Hall of Fame 2020 Class
Years active	1962–2012
Spouse(s)	Lisa (divorced; 1 child) Penny
Parent	Ed Sabol (1916–2015)

Stephen Douglas Sabol (October 2, 1942 – September 18, 2012)^{[citation needed]} was an American filmmaker. He was the president and one of the founders of NFL Films, along with his father Ed. He was also a widely exhibited visual artist.^{[citation needed]}

Early life

Sabol was born in Moorestown, New Jersey, and attended Colorado College, where he majored in art history and was an All-Rocky Mountain Conference^{[citation needed]} football as a running back^[1] and was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.^[2]

He was the subject of a humorous article about his self-promotion exploits in the November 22, 1965, issue of Sports Illustrated.^[3]

Career

After graduation, he began his career in 1964 as a cameraman alongside his father Ed Sabol (1916–2015) when his father got the filming rights to the 1962 NFL Championship Game, played in Yankee Stadium.^{[citation needed]} With his degree in art history and experience playing football, Sabol was, as his father put it, "uniquely qualified to make football movies."^{[citation needed]}

This company eventually grew into NFL Films, with Sabol serving mainly as a cameraman, editor, and writer in the 1960s and 1970s. When ESPN was founded in 1979, they soon signed NFL Films as a production company and Sabol became an on-air personality in the 1980s. He won 35 Emmy Awards and had a documentary about him air on 60 Minutes.^{[citation needed]} Sabol played a part in founding the NFL Network.^{[citation needed]}

Sabol took over NFL Films from his father.^{[when?][citation needed]} NFL Films was the first company to wire coaches and players for sound as well as the first to use slow motion and montage editing in sports.^[4] The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted Sabol into their Hall of Fame in 1996.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2011, NFL Films was recognized with the Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football.^{[citation needed]}

Awards and recognitions

Sabol was named the 2002 Sports Executive of the Year by Sporting News magazine. Sabol also received the Pete Rozelle Award, which is presented each year to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the National Football League and to professional football.^{[citation needed]}

Sabol and his father, Ed, 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."^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, the Pro Football Hall of Fame honored Sabol with the Dan Reeves Pioneer Award. Sabol was the recipient of the 2010 Sports Leadership Award presented to him at the March of Dimes 27th Annual Sports Luncheon.^{[citation needed]}

Both Sabol and his father were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5, 2011^{[citation needed]} They were inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in November 2011, which was followed by Sabol's induction into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in December.^{[citation needed]}

Sabol received the Sports Business Journal's "Champions – Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business" award in March 2012.^{[citation needed]}

Sabol won over 40 Emmys during his time with NFL Films.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Steve Sabol's desk in his office at NFL Films, which has been left untouched since his death.

Sabol was married for over a decade to his first wife, Lisa, mother of his only son, Casey Sabol. After their divorce, Lisa married John DeBella. Sabol then married his second wife, Penny Sabol. He was of Romanian descent.^[5]

Sabol was the author of the poem "The Autumn Wind", later adopted by the Oakland Raiders as an unofficial anthem.^{[citation needed]}

Death and legacy

On September 18, 2012, Sabol died of brain cancer in Moorestown, New Jersey, 18 months after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in March 2011. He died two weeks before his 70th birthday, and a week after his father's (Ed Sabol) 96th.^[6] He was honored before every NFL game in Week 3 with a video tribute.^[7]

The NFL paid tribute to his life and contributions to the league, at a ceremony on February 12, 2013, in Philadelphia.^[8]

On January 15, 2020 Sabol was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020.^[9]