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ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION No. 96

STATE OF NEW JERSEY 215th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Sponsored by: Assemblyman TROY SINGLETON District 7 (Burlington) Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR. District 7 (Burlington)

SYNOPSIS Designates October 2 “ Day” in New Jersey.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced.

AJR96 SINGLETON, CONAWAY 2

1 A JOINT RESOLUTION designating October 2 of each year as “Steve 2 Sabol Day” in New Jersey. 3 4 WHEREAS, Stephen Douglas Sabol was born in , 5 Pennsylvania on October 2, 1942; and 6 WHEREAS, During his time at College, in an attempt to 7 receive more playing time, Steve Sabol tapped into his now famous 8 creativity and developed a media campaign aimed at his football 9 coach in which he dubbed himself "Sudden Death Sabol," and 10 compared himself to great professional football players such as Jim 11 Brown; and 12 WHEREAS, In 1962, , Steve’s father, convinced the 13 Commissioner of the (NFL), Pete 14 Rozelle, to accept his low bid for the job to film the 1962 NFL 15 championship game between the and the New 16 York Giants; and 17 WHEREAS, Immediately after being awarded the contract by the NFL 18 to film the 1962 championship game, Ed Sabol called Steve, 19 at 19 the time, and said, “All you’ve done all your life is play football 20 and go to the movies. You ought to be able to make some 21 contribution”; and 22 WHEREAS, In 1965, after three years of selling the NFL films of its 23 own games, the NFL agreed to purchase the company, which would 24 be run independently by Ed Sabol and his son, Steve, who would be 25 named co-founder of NFL Films; and 26 WHEREAS, According to Ed Sabol, Steve was the creative power 27 behind the innovative filming and narration techniques which 28 would become hallmarks of NFL Films for decades to come; and 29 WHEREAS, Steve Sabol understood that there existed a certain art and 30 beauty amid the violence of professional football, and believed that, 31 through his films, he had the ability to convey that beauty to the 32 American people; and 33 WHEREAS, Steve Sabol integrated a hand held camera on the sidelines 34 to capture intense close-ups, invented the idea of playing classical 35 music during highlights, wrote scripts to be read as narration during 36 the films; and 37 WHEREAS, In his film review of the Raiders’ 1974 season, Steve 38 Sabol included a poem now known to generations of football fans, 39 read by the legendary narrator of NFL Films , who 40 declared in a bold, booming voice that, “ is a 41 Raider, pillaging just for fun. He’ll knock you around and upside 42 down and laugh when he’s conquered and won”; and 43 WHEREAS, Perhaps most importantly, Steve Sabol convinced players 44 and coaches to wear microphones during games, eternally capturing 45 in their glory legendary figures such as , Hank 46 Stram, , and , as well as more modern stars 47 from ; , and , to Peyton 48 Manning and ; and

AJR96 SINGLETON, CONAWAY 3

1 WHEREAS, Under Steve Sabol’s direction, NFL Films has also 2 become the definitive historical archive for 3 films, with its film vault storing more than 100 million feet of game 4 film, including Thomas Edison’s film of the 1894 college football 5 game between Rutgers and Princeton; and 6 WHEREAS, The success NFL Films has had in the sports industry is 7 unparalleled, with the company winning a total of 107 Sports 8 Emmys, with Steve Sabol being personally cited on more than one 9 third of the awards; and 10 WHEREAS, NFL Films has had its headquarters in New Jersey for 11 decades and is currently located in Mount Laurel, New Jersey; and 12 WHEREAS, Steve Sabol is the only person in television to win Emmys 13 for writing, cinematography, editing, directing and producing; and 14 WHEREAS, Roger Goodell, the Commissioner of the NFL, stated that 15 “Steve Sabol was a creative genius who changed the way we look 16 at football and sports”; and 17 WHEREAS, Steve Sabol passed away in Moorestown, New Jersey on 18 September 18, 2012 after a long, courageous battle with brain 19 cancer; and 20 WHEREAS, It has been said that while Ed Sabol may have created NFL 21 Films, Steve Sabol defined what it became: the finest cinematic 22 reflection of a sport in absolute totality, consciously designed to 23 amplify an intellectual viewing experience through emotional 24 means; and 25 WHEREAS, In honor of a great New Jerseyan, it is fitting and 26 appropriate that the Legislature and Governor commemorate Steve 27 Sabol’s ingenuity, artistic brilliance, and his endless commitment to 28 providing the public with unprecedented access to the most popular 29 sport in the country; now, therefore, 30 31 BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate and General Assembly of the 32 State of New Jersey: 33 34 1. October 2nd of each year is designated “Steve Sabol Day” to 35 honor the widespread impact that New Jerseyan Steve Sabol and his 36 company, NFL Films, has had on generations of American football 37 fans and aspiring filmmakers. 38 39 2. The Governor is requested to annually issue a proclamation 40 and call upon public officials, private organizations, and all citizens 41 and residents of this State to observe October 2nd with appropriate 42 events and activities. 43 44 3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.

AJR96 SINGLETON, CONAWAY 4

1 STATEMENT 2 3 This joint resolution designates October 2nd of each year as 4 “Steve Sabol Day.” In 1962, Ed Sabol, Steve’s father, convinced 5 then Commissioner of the National Football League (NFL), Pete 6 Rozelle, to accept his bid to film the 1962 NFL championship game 7 between the Green Bay Packers and the . 8 Immediately after being awarded the contract by the NFL to film 9 the game, Ed Sabol called Steve, 19 at the time, and said, “All 10 you’ve done all your life is play football and go to the movies. You 11 ought to be able to make some contribution.” That call proved 12 prophetic, as Steve Sabol made an unprecedented contribution to 13 how Americans view sports, especially football. 14 Ed Sabol may have started NFL Films, but Steve Sabol defined 15 what it became: the finest cinematic reflection of a sport in absolute 16 totality, consciously designed to amplify an intellectual viewing 17 experience through emotional means. Perhaps most impressively, 18 Steve Sabol convinced players and coaches to wear microphones for 19 the first time, eternally capturing on film legendary figures such as 20 Vince Lombardi, , Al Davis, and John Madden, as well 21 as more modern stars from Bill Parcells; John Elway, and Reggie 22 White, to and Bill Belichick. 23 Under Steve Sabol’s direction, NFL Films has also become the 24 definitive historical archive for American football films, with its 25 film vault storing more than 100 million feet of game film, 26 including Thomas Edison’s film of the1894 college football game 27 between Rutgers and Princeton. The success NFL Films has had in 28 the sports industry is unparalleled, with the company winning a 29 total of 107 Sports Emmys, with Steve Sabol being personally cited 30 on more than one third of the awards. NFL Films has been 31 headquartered in New Jersey since its inception, and is currently 32 located in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. 33 In honor of a great New Jerseyan, it is fitting and appropriate 34 that the Legislature and Governor designate October 2nd of each 35 year as “Steve Sabol Day,” to commemorate Steve Sabol’s 36 ingenuity, artistic brilliance, and his endless commitment to 37 providing the public with unprecedented access to the most popular 38 sport in the country.