Steve Sabol Dead at Age 69

President and Founder of NFL Films, Steve Sabol, has died from brain cancer at the age of 69.

Together with his father, Ed Sabol, Steve Sabol helped make NFL Films and, for that matter, the NFL, what it is today. I remember being a little kid watching NFL Films at my grandma and grandpa's house during the offseasons. The Football Follies and the season reviews of "America's Team" or "Lombardi's Packers", as well as the introduction of programs such as Hard Knocks and NFL Films Presents, were just a few of the wonderful memories I have of Sabol's work.

NFL Films wasn't just a way for NFL History to be preserved and passed along to the next generation. It was a way of putting an artistic touch do a brutal game. It helped capture the curiosity of the audience and served as a measuring stick upon which sports journalism is measured. Slow motion capture of live football plays was revolutionary, in its day, but Steve Sabol helped bring it all to the forefront.

In March of 2011, Sabol suffered a seizure and it was discovered that he had an irremovable tumor in his brain and received treatment ever since.

This is a huge loss for the NFL community. He was a pioneer for NFL Football, winning the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He will be missed.

Inside NFL Films (via USATODAY)