NFL Films owner teaches students to take chances

by Paul Moser sports editor

Owner of NFL Films, Steve Sabol, believes in taking chances. In fact, taking chances has been his philosophy his whole life. Sabol preached this lesson that he says began with his father's vision.

This is what Sabol, whose NFL Films company has won a record of 73 Emmys over the years, preached to a crowd of 200 at the Widener Center Lecture Hall on Tuesday, April 13.

bol's father, Ed Sabol, received an oldcame for his wedding present. Sabo d he would forever pla his father and this c a together throughout his childh

According to e young abol, from then on he did not know what his fat 1 ed like from the shoulders up. All he recognized was ss lens filming his every move up to and includ· ·s hig chool football games at Haverford High ool.

It was ortly after this that SllQ.olsaid his father taught him mething that he has kept witn'q_imfor the rest of his • the value of taking chances. '\.

It was during Sabol's junior year of his collegiate career at Colorado State that his father took a chance.

Before the 1961 NFL championship game, which was the equivalent of the Super Bowl at that time, the rights to film the game were sold to the highest bidder. Sabol's father bid on the game for double the amount of the highest bidder at $3,000 despite having no professional experience.

When the commissioner of the league at the time, Pete Rozelle, found out that the man who was to film the biggest game of the year had only filming Sabol's high school football games as his relevant experience, he was a little bit leery. One three-martini lunch later, Sabol's father, a former salesman, convinced Rozelle that he was the right man for the job. Sabol preached that it was this chance his father decided to take that started what NFL Films has become

Since then, Sabol has used this lesson to his advantage and has built one of the most successful film companies in the world.

Sabol feels that all successful people in the world at some time or another must have the foresight to take a chance.

Three years following that game, Sabol joined his father and NFL Films was born. Sabol feels that it was his father's original vision that sparked the success of NFL Films.

Sabol and his father continued their creative work in this field and took another chance, revolutionizing the way that football had been covered in the past.

According to Sabol, football had originally been presented as more of a live action play-by-play event in these types of films.

Sabol and his father had a different idea, portraying the game as a Hollywood filmmaker would portray a story. To this day the words spoken in one of their early films about the game still have an emotional attachment for Sabol. phia Eagles training camp and the players thought it was hi"The phrase 'It starts with a whistle and ends with a gun' larious. To this day, the "Football Follies" remain one of the still sends shivers down my spine," Sabol said. biggest sports video sellers.

In addition to this desire to show football as a movie was Just to drum home the idea of taking chances even more, also Sabol's desire to show the game he loved from his per- Sabol even gave the students the example of the failure spective as a player and what he had experienced, instead of bonus that NFL Films issues each year. The employee who the traditional overview shot that was the norm at the time. has the biggest "screw-up" of the year at NFL Films reIt was this ingenuity that inspired the creation of the high- ceives a $1,000 bonus. est grossing sports video of all time, called "Football Fol- Sabol feels that new ideas sometimes work and somelies," in 1967. Sabol was quick to point out that this was times fail and this reward is a way of promoting new ideas. one of the many chances he took. Sabol said that someone once had an idea to write a poem Sabol said that the idea was to knock the football players and add it to football footage, but it ended up being a big off the pedestal that they had been on for years and put disaster. The creator of that particular project won the them on a more human plateau by showing their mishaps. screw-up award for that year. A year later Sabol used the This is something that had never been done before and for idea by putting it to Dr. Seuss poetry instead of Walt Whitthat time it was shown to be unheard of. man poetry, and the film won an Emmy. Sabol said that Sabol said that the official he showed the film to in the even a bad idea can become a good idea. league offices hated the film, but by luck. Rozelle had lis- To this day Sabol says he continues to take chances. Why tened to the conversation outside of an o~ and demand- not? It is chances that have built his,company into the filmed to see the film. He then asked the Sabol~o test the film ing giant it is today. Who woul<®11ou~t a wed~g gift by showing it to the players to see what they thought of it. would have been one of the maJor contnbutors to this suc__ Sllbolbrou&htthe film tQ Joe Colliaric