NFL Films President Steve Sabol has died after an 18-month battle with brain cancer at age 69.
NFL FIlms, based in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, has won more than 100 Emmy Awards, with Steve Sabol receiving 40 of those for writing, cinematography, editing, directing and producing. In 2003, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Sabol was born in Philadelphia on Oct. 2, 1942, and started his career in 1964 as a cameraman working for his father’s company.
Sabol spent the next 50 years working for the NFL and transformed the way NFL Films chronicled games, incorporating super-slow motion, wireless microphones on players, reverse-angle replays, so-called follies films of bizarre plays and custom-composed musical scores.
In 2007, the Pro Football Hall of Fame honored Sabol with the Dan Reeves Pioneer Award, which recognizes innovative ideas that have contributed to the game of professional football.
Sabol is survived by his wife, Penny; a son, Casey; his sister, Blair; and his parents.
