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frozen tundra of Lam beau Field,’ with such impact that lx- was
nicknamed the “Voice of God."
Both Dad and I felt that we wanted to treat football the way
Hollywood portrays fiction. That is, with a dramatic flair,” Steve
says. “You want to make people /ar/ even more than you want them
to think."
Tlx nerve tenter of this creativity is a 2(X),(XX)-sqiiare-foot, state
of-the-art studio complex in Mount Laurel, N.J., tliat includes film
labs, post-production areas and a recording facility large enough to
Ixxise a 70-piece orchestra. Tlx complex also houses an archival film
vault containing more than 1(X) million feet of football folklore,
with bold titles such as Tlx Immaculate Reception , The Catch and The
Dritx written on canisters.
Upon entry to the complex, 91 gleaming Emmy Awards line
tlx walls alongside a magnificent array of Steves own sports-related
artwork in addition to all manner of unusual and fascinating foot
ball memorabilia, from an Otto Graham lamp and an impressive
collection of antique board ftxxball games, to framed posters of old
football movies from the 1940 s and 'sos. At the core of the com
pany's beehive-like activity, Steve's efforts resonate with an intense
passion, through which he draws intriguing parallels to some of the
great masters in art.
Picasso looked at an image—a bowl of fruit or a womans
face—from multiple perspectives and from different moments in
time," Steve says. "We do the same thing with a ftxxball play."
Like father like son
The success story of NR Films, though, isn’t just about big
bodies clashing in dramatic motion on celluloid; it’s also tlx warm
rendering of a dedicated father-son team that pursued a shared love
of sports.
“I just think it can’t be anymore perfect," says Ed, 91, a onetime
champion swimmer at Ohio State now retired and living in Scotts
dale, Ariz. "We have had an extraordinary relationship. Steve always
says I was his best friend. He’s got such imagination. Most of tlx
ideas, for the last 20 years, have been his. I think he has done more
(Continued on page 14)
A young Steve Sabol
and his father, Ed, talk
football in 1952.
an
www.americanprofile.com •
Courtesy of NFL Films
Page 11
Sailors Super Bowl Moments
Steve Sabol, reportedly one of only nine people who can claim
they ve been present at all 41 Super Bowls, recalls his fawtite Super
Bowl moments: “The greatest shots would be the shot we got ar Super
Bowl X (Pittsbuigh 21, Dallas 17; Jan. 18,1976) of Pittsburgh’s Lynn
Swann’s levitating leap, the ballet... and the shot that Phil Tuckett
got of John Riggins’ 43-yard touchdown run against the Miami Dol
phins; that was the first time in a Super Bowl where we had a great
play by a great player in the fourth quarter deciding the game (Super
Bowl XVII: Washington 27, Miami 17; Jan. 30,1983)t Phil had that
shot coming right into the camera, and you could see Riggins' face. To
me, there’s nothing more dramatic than the human lace. That’s a great
challenge for us as filmmakers, to show the player's face. That one, you
not only saw the am, but you saw the intensity and the strain on Rig
gins face as he was naming fix the game-winning touchdown."
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Steve and Ed at Super Bowl X
Courtly of Nfl Films