Posted on 02/09/2015 5:58:15 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
NEW YORK -- Ed Sabol, the NFL Films founder who revolutionized sports broadcasting and reimagined pro football from an up-and-coming league to must-watch theater, has died. He was 98.
Sabol died Monday at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, the NFL said.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
One of my favorite clips - even though I'm a diehard Packers fan - was the "Autumn Wind" with the Raiders.
“Autumn Wind”. I found a CD with some of the music from these clips on it. I wanted the cool “pirate” music from Autumn Wind. Great clip and soundtrack.
RIP.
I must agree completely with the statement that Ed Sabol “revolutionized Pro football”.
John Facenda was the voice.
One night in 1965, Facenda went to a local tavern, the RDA Club, which happened to be showing footage produced by NFL Films. He enjoyed the slow-motion game sequences that were already an NFL Films trademark and would later recall:
“ I started to rhapsodize about how beautiful it was. Ed Sabol, the man who founded NFL Films, happened to be at the bar. He came up to me and asked, ‘If I give you a script, could you repeat what you just did?’ I said I would try. ”
Thus began Facenda’s association with NFL Films, one that would continue until his death. Facenda narrated many highlight films during his career with the company. His dulcet baritone was the perfect match for the highly dramatic nature of the footage he narrated, and earned him the nickname “The Voice of God.” Probably one of the best-remembered (and most frequently-quoted) examples of Facenda’s NFL Films narration is something he never actually said: “the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field” was a quote the sportscaster Chris Berman made up, mimicking Facenda’s voice when he said it. Steve Sabol, son of Ed, claimed that “John may have made a game seem more important than it was because he read lines with a dramatic directness”[2] Bob Costas called Facenda’s voice “one of the most remarkable instruments in the history of broadcasting.”
“He was 98.”
He took his game into Overtime.
Both Ed and his son Steve were nice people. As successful as they were, it never seemed to go to their head. I worked at a Beechcraft dealer in Jersey when I was a kid, they would come in all the time... They owned Bonanza’s. They were alway nice to the kids working “the line”
I called Steve (five years ago or so) a while back because my buddy who play pro was turning 40 and I needed some NFLF stuff. He picked up the phone and chatted for 5 mins, he could have had a secretary take the call.. Doesn’t seem like much, but to me, I thought they were real down to earth
RIP
Facenda was the voice but Sam Spence wrote the music....classic collaboration here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmJhSF86H9U
Sorry posters....but when a person lives to be 98 years old, and dies, it is hard for me to generate any sympathy..I’m feel sure he was more than ready. He lived a good long life..
A lot of the younger generation got their first exposure to Spence’s music via SpongeBob Squarepants.
LOL- to this day i can’t figure out how the music from NFL films got onto that cartoon..
Awesome !!!!
I contend that American Football is or at least was, an expression of life.
The power and the glory.
Conservatives NEED a powerful narrator.
A poet that speaks directly to the hearts and minds of the American soul.
No B.S., no overt politics.
A powerful voice that can capture the attention of the masses on virtually any issue.
A voice that can cut through the noise and deliver the reality with such clarity that nobody would question.
and Spence was a GREAT composer...should get a lot more credit than he does...
i have this CD somewhere but this is just incredible....again like Facenda but the music of Sam Spence for NFL films was amazing...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4E0AXU2myM
NFL films was the first time I heard that famous phrase, “there’s 3 things that can happen when you pass the ball and two of them are bad.”
I don't think anyone was asking for sympathy... just fond remembrances and memories of an accomplished person. I guess you don't get that.
But please return to your standard internet grumpy person mode while the rest of us remember Ed and his accomplishments.
Facenda was a Local Philly newscaster. and i think the company is located across the river in new jersey. nothing like Lombardi in suit and hat with snow swirling around walking on the field with john facenda narrating. i think his son steve died very young.
John Facenda narrated a documentary about a ‘70’s tour of Journey. He did his usual good job. I wondered about how he got that gig but when I saw that it was done by NFL Films, it all came together. RIP Mr. Sabol. You did good.
With the Sabol's cinematography and editing, a new documentary form was created. A "perfect storm" of sorts.
What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor.
You are taking this to a whole new level !!!
I love it.
You put me on a personal mission.
I want to “Narrate” our current political/cultural battle with the same background music.
Delivered with the same tone as Facenda.
“The 0bama administration laid down the gauntlet...
as the cast of the usual characters stood in opposition”
I could go on and on.
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