Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Following Steve's passing, there were a number of warm and sincere messages posted on the forum by both
members and guests. These exceeded two pages which, on the old forum, consisted of 20 posts each.
When the postings had stopped, I saved the actual web pages displaying each individual entry, printed them
without need for any editing, and sent them to NFL Films.
Shortly thereafter, I received a very nice note of appreciation from one of the excutive staff
That was later followed by an unidentified e-mail also expressing thanks.
I am sure they received so many condolences that the e-mail was an auto-reply exercise.
It is a shame that Ed's passing has not generated the same type of action without the interspersing of nonsense
that is both irrelevant and unprofessional.
R.I.P.
Ed Sabol

Remember that story about the first NFL exhibition game held in Japan? Those in attendance became restless and unhappy. NFL execs started to press for answers and discovered
the Japanese were disappointed because they were expecting the music. NFL Films had become synonymous w/ pro football. RIP, Big Ed.

I am sad by the passing of Mr. Sabol, his visionary form has been unique and most influential not only in sports (since high school I began to shoot and develop in the lab black-and-white photography, and also I learned to play the organ, and I credit NFL Films as one of my top influences in both fields). It's sad that Steve died before him, but I was happy that in life both could be present at Ed's Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. R. I. P. Mr. Sabol, and thank you for ever.

oldecapecod 11 wrote:Following Steve's passing, there were a number of warm and sincere messages posted on the forum by both
members and guests. These exceeded two pages which, on the old forum, consisted of 20 posts each.
When the postings had stopped, I saved the actual web pages displaying each individual entry, printed them
without need for any editing, and sent them to NFL Films.
Shortly thereafter, I received a very nice note of appreciation from one of the excutive staff
That was later followed by an unidentified e-mail also expressing thanks.
I am sure they received so many condolences that the e-mail was an auto-reply exercise.
It is a shame that Ed's passing has not generated the same type of action without the interspersing of nonsense
that is both irrelevant and unprofessional.
R.I.P.
Ed Sabol

That was a nice thing to do, OCC. No doubt you're correct about the number of condolences they received.

Thanks for the memories...

R.I.P.

Rest in Peace Mr. Sabol. I'm betting you'll get a front row seat with your son Steve in Heaven to watch the 2016 NFL season.
Joe Zagorski

Listened to NFLF music CD tonight in homer or big Ed. Man that stuff was good. Its amazing listening to it I could see Old Man Willie running down the sideline. My TV was off but the association of the music with certain images is great.

No doubt about it; Ed, Steve and the rest of the Films crew have given us a lifetime of great entertainment and memories. Thank you and rest in peace, Ed...oh, and please say hi to Steve for us.

I think the last great achievement of the Steve & Ed Sabol NFL Films was the America's Game series from like 10 years ago...they interviewed a lot of the old Super Bowl players right before they passed away, and then Steve himself passed away. Im not that impressed with the recent NFL Films stuff, but the quality of the late-60's to mid-80's stuff is astounding. A Football Life is very hit-or-miss with me...kind of like ESPN's 30/30 series.

I've always been very impressed with their doing half hour game of the week episodes on every single NFL game of the 1966 season. In doing that, they documented that season in a way that had never been done before or since. From a historical standpoint, I wished they had continued the practice in 1967 and later, but I get the feeling that NFL Films probably lost money on the project since it's hard to find enough highlights to fill a 25 minute show on a 49-7 game and have people sitting thru the whole thing. Even the NFL Network doesn't do highlight shows on the blowout games I believe. The GOTW shows on each of the 1966 Packers games were very valuable in doing my writings on the Packers games for the 1966 season for the upcoming PFRA Packers book.