Ed is not only one of the most unrecognized filmmakers of all time, he's pound for pound the greatest documentary filmmaker of all time. He took a sport and created an American Mythology out of it.
When I was recovering from surgery when I was a kid I would watch the greatest ever NFL films VHS over and over and over and over. That was the 75th anniversary of the NFL. It made my recovery so much easier meet him and his son Steve rest in peace to the sables and Steve
Ed Sabol had so much to do with the growth and popularity of the NFL. People don't realize how much of the way sports and not just football are televised these days all started with the Sabols. Ed and his son were so great at hiring the right people for the right job i.e., Sam Spence for the music and John Facenda to narrate NFL films. Ed Sabol belongs in the Hall of Fame.
As a kid, I couldn't wait to see the NFL Films episode of the most recent Super Bowl just to watch everything that the network didn't show. I can only imagine if MLB, NBA and NHL followed suit in the 60s. Legends live because of Sabol. And Facenda's voice is legendary. I love "it starts with a whistle and ends with a gun."
Between that and their Football Follies, I seriously loved every thing they put out and it made me a fan of the game instead of one team. I was one of the people they mentioned that would love to hear coaches on the sidelines. Those were my favorite episodes to watch and why I became more of a fan of coaches than players and teams l.
Even though it's long since passed, it's a hard blow to see Steve Sabol as he appeared at his father's induction ceremony, knowing he had but little more than a year left to live.
This father and son is the reason I have something to wat h on youtube. Never been a fan of football but I love the story telling of the NFL Films. Non-existent to other sports.
There should be more comments here. The NFL isn't anything that it is today if it were for Ed Sabol. I saw more football through NFL Films and everything they did than I did games. Their highlights of all the players in action is how I became more a fan of coaches and players by position rather than picking one team. I love everything NFL Films has done. This was a very emotional episode to watch. I can't count the times I shed a tear.
Ed and his son Steve are the reason why the NFL has it's own mythology with a pantheon of Gods they've documented throughout their decades of making NFL documentaries. Thank God both got into the HOF before dying.
