NFL Films
Written by Karen Galle in the Marking Time category and the Fall 2015 issue Topics in this article: Dick Vermeil, Ed Sabol, film, football, Jim Murray, John Facenda, National Football League, NFL Films, Pennsylvania Historical Marker Program, Pete Rozelle, Philadelphia, Steve Sabol, Tom BrookshierIn 1962 the National Football League (NFL) was lagging in popularity behind both Major League Baseball and NCAA Football. That same year a Philadelphia overcoat salesman, Ed Sabol (1916-2015), won the bidding rights to film the NFL Championship Game. Sabol’s only previous filmmaking experience had been shooting his son’s football games, family vacations and a couple of documentaries as a hobby. The resulting 1962 Championship Game film was received so well by both the public and NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle (1926-96) that in 1964 the league purchased Sabol’s fledgling company, and NFL Films was born.
The company found its first home on a side street in Center City Philadelphia. In the following years the films made there revolutionized the way sporting events were presented on television. Many of the pioneering ideas came from Sabol’s son, Steve (1942-2012), who dropped out of college to run the company with his father. Steve became the scriptwriter and was influenced by the grit and drama of black-and-white war documentaries.
NFL Films founders Ed and Steve Sabol around 2002 with the EMS camera used to shoot the 1962 Championship Game.
NFL Films
NFL Films was the first production company to put wireless microphones on athletes to record real game audio and the first to use slow motion photography to broadcast replays. Close-up shots, effective use of zoom lenses, vivid sounds of player contact, highlights set to classical orchestral music, and the “Voice of God” narration of Philadelphia broadcaster John Facenda (1913-84) were trademarks of NFL Films. The company’s innovations paved the way for all-sports networks like ESPN.
For decades NFL Films produced weekly football highlight shows for television, such as This Week in Pro Football and NFL Game of the Week. Their Football Follies spawned countless subsequent sports bloopers shows. Since 1962 the company has recorded every NFL game with multiple cameras, making NFL football one of the most documented human endeavors in history, second only to World War II. During its heyday the company purchased more film stock from Kodak than any other client except the U.S. Army. Well-regarded in the television industry, NFL Films has received more than 100 Emmy Awards.
In 1977 Rozelle praised Ed Sabol for “fulfilling our original goal for NFL Films – to operate it as a sound business entity, but primarily as a promotional vehicle to glamorize the game and present it in its best light.” NFL Films has contributed significantly to the overwhelming popularity of professional football.
On July 23, 2009, NFL and PHMC recognized the impact of NFL Films with the dedication of a Pennsylvania Historical Marker in Philadelphia at 230 North 13th Street, the company’s original headquarters from 1965 to 1981. The event was highlighted with speeches by Steve Sabol and legendary NFL coach Dick Vermeil. The audience included Philadelphia football luminaries Tom Brookshier and Jim Murray, and Philadelphia soft pretzels were available as refreshments. The only thing missing was the baritone voice of John Facenda to emcee the event.
Steve Sabol and Dick Vermeil at the marker dedication for NFL Films on July 23, 2009. NFL Films
Karen Galle is on the staff of PHMC’s Bureau of Historic Preservation and has been the coordinator of the Pennsylvania Historical Marker Program since 2005.
