No fantasy tie-in here. This is something much, much larger.
Steve Sabol died of brain cancer on Tuesday. He was 69 years old. Sabol was the president of NFL Films and was involved in bringing football to the masses in such a vivid manner for 50 years. His father, Ed, founded the company in 1962, but Steve was the face of the franchise. He was named president of NFL Films in 1985 and won more than 40 Emmy Awards in the categories of writing, producing, editing, directing and cinematography.
Fantasy Analysis:
Here's your fantasy take: This make-believe game we love wouldn't be possible without the contributions of Steve Sabol. We wouldn't be able to see the game how we see it now. We wouldn't have those great video clips, camera angles and slow-motion replays without NFL Films. We wouldn't have the on-field sound from coaches and players wired with mikes. We wouldn't have that tremendous musical soundtrack. We wouldn't have NFL Network. Simply, Steve Sabol revolutionized how football is seen, heard and emotionally felt. Everything associated with a football broadcast has Sabol's fingerprints. A loss too big to put into words, that's how much Sabol did for not just football but for television and sports in general. May he rest in peace.
