NJ Senate Approves Steve Sabol Day

New Jersey is one step closer to memorializing a Moorestown man who changed how America watches football.

The state Senate approved a resolution naming Oct. 2 as Steve Sabol Day. Sabol is the late president and co-founder of NFL Films, based in Mount Laurel. Sabol died in September 2012 after an 18-month battle with brain cancer.

Sabol’s NFL Films captured football action on and off the field as no other. Sabol helped humanize football, and its players, to the nation. While his footage used techniques—slow motion, extreme close-ups—that viewers previously didn’t see, Sabol’s storytelling was at the heart of his clips.

For more on Sabol's life and work, read

The New Jersey Senate on Monday unanimously approved the resolution to declare Oct. 2 in Sabol’s honor. State Sens. Diane Allen and Dawn Marien Addiego (R-Burlington) sponsored the measure, which now goes before the New Jersey Assembly.

“Steve Sabol is one of New Jersey’s most innovative entrepreneurs and his creativity has revolutionized both sports and documentary cinematography around the world,” Allen said in statement. “He has made Mount Laurel the home of America’s favorite sport, having created a model business employing hundreds of people and boasting the world’s largest sports film library. He showed us the passion of the game — and made it our passion, too.”  

 “With ingenuity and grace, Steve Sabol has humanized America’s favorite sport bringing people inside the hearts and minds of their football heroes,” added Addiego. “Continuing Steve Sabol’s passion, NFL Films will continue to make Burlington County proud, as it chronicles the season of New Jersey’s Super Bowl.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also supports the Steve Sabol Day initiative.

“Steve Sabol was a creative genius who changed the way we look at football and sports,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “This is a great honor that I know Steve would proudly share with all of his colleagues at NFL Films headquarters in Mount Laurel.”