Today, it was announced that Steve Sabol, the president of NFL Films, passed away after an 18-month battle with brain cancer. He was 69.
Steve Sabol and NFL Films introduced me to the National Football League with their impressive camerawork, Valkyrian music, and Sabol's own brilliant voice over narration. Sabol made me understand football not just as a game, but as a struggle. He made the game larger than life.
As Mike Florio wrote earlier today:
If you’ve enjoyed seeing super slow-motion replays, or hearing the sounds of players wearing microphones during games, or laughing at the blooper reels that began with "Football Follies," you can thank NFL Films.
Along with his father, Ed, Steve was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2003. Ed Sabol was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Thoughts are with the Sabol family and friends. Steve Sabol was an icon of the NFL not as a coach or player, but as a visionary talent who used technology to communicate to audiences just how wonderful this game can be.