Edwin Milton Sabol (September 11, 1916 – February 9, 2015) was an American filmmaker and the founder (with his son Steve Sabol, among others) of

NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries for and about the NFL, as well as ...

. He was elected to the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

in 2011 as a contributor due to his works with NFL Films.

Biography

Early life, education, and career

Sabol was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

mother and Romanian father in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1916 and raised in

Blairstown, New Jersey Blairstown is a township in Warren County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Blairstown's population was 5,704. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 5,967 Blair Academy Blair Academy is a coeducational, boarding and day school for students in high school. The school serves students from ninth through twelfth grades as well as a small post-graduate class. The school's campus is located on a campus in Blair ...

, he excelled in several sports, and set a World Interscholastic Swimming record in the 100-yard freestyle race. He continued his noted swimming career at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. He was selected for the 1936 Olympic team but refused to participate because of the games' connections to

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

Germany. He had some success in the theater as an actor, appearing on Broadway for the production of ''

Where Do We Go from Here Where Do We Go from Here may refer to: Film * Where Do We Go from Here? (1945 film), ''Where Do We Go from Here?'' (1945 film), an American film directed by Gregory Ratoff * Where Do We Go from Here? (2015 film), ''Where Do We Go from Here?'' (2015 ...

''. He served in World War II, and upon returning to civilian life, worked as a clothing salesman out of his father-in-law's factory.

NFL Films

Sabol founded Blair Motion Pictures in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

. Its first major contract was to film the

1962 NFL Championship Game The 1962 NFL Championship Game was the 30th NFL title game, played on December 30 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. It matched the New York Giants (12–2) of the Eastern Conference and Green Bay Packers (13–1) of the Western Conference, th ...

between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

in New York. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

, Blair Motion Pictures became NFL Films, with an exclusive deal to preserve NFL games on film. It has been said by his son Steve Sabol, of NFL Films, "The only other human endeavor more thoroughly captured on 16-mm film than the National Football League is World War II." In 1995, he officially retired from NFL Films in his role as President and chairman. In 1996, he was elected to the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere arou ...

. On February 5, 2011, Sabol was elected to the

in Canton, Ohio.

Death

Sabol died on February 9, 2015, at his home in Arizona.

Awards and honors

* 1935: World Interscholastic Record holder, 100-yard freestyle swimming * 1937:

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship, 400-yard freestyle relay swimming * 1937: National AAU championship, 400-yard freestyle relay swimming * 91 Emmy Awards (to NFL Films) * 1987: Order of the Leather Helmet (presented by the NFL Alumni Association) * 1987: Bert Bell Memorial Award (presented by the NFL) * 1991:

Pete Rozelle Award The Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, created in 1989 and named for the late longtime NFL commissioner, Pete Rozelle, is bestowed annually by the Pro Football Hall of Fame "for longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in profes ...

(presented by the NFL) * 1996: International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame * 2003: Lifetime Achievement Emmy * 2004: John Grierson International Gold Medal * 2011:

References

External links

* *
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabol, Ed 1916 births 2015 deaths American cinematographers Film producers from New Jersey American male actors American male swimmers American military personnel of World War II Blair Academy alumni Jewish American sportspeople NFL Films people Ohio State Buckeyes men's swimmers People from Warren County, New Jersey Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award recipients Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Sports Emmy Award winners Sportspeople from Atlantic City, New Jersey Sportspeople from Warren County, New Jersey Jewish American military personnel American people of Romanian descent 21st-century American Jews