It’s time to see Sabol in Canton

Stop the tape. Rewind it. Run it back slowly.

You mean to say that Ed Sabol isn’t in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

The visionary who started NFL Films, turned a risky little business into a sports empire, changed the way America looks at football, isn’t enshrined among other legends of the game? Sabol shouldn’t just be in the Hall of Fame, there should be a whole wing devoted to him and his work.

This isn’t a critique of the voters, who have a wealth of experience covering the league and take their jobs as Canton gatekeepers very seriously. But there’s a Too Tall Jones-sized blind spot here. Voters tend to look at players and coaches as the truly deserving denizens of the Hall, and all the other candidates as suits. I get that. In large part, I agree with that.

But Sabol, who at 48 gave up his career as an overcoat salesman to chase his dream, should be an exception.

Consider some of his innovations: He was the first to put a microphone on a coach during a game, first to shoot ground-level slow motion, first to put popular music to action, first to show a reverse-angle replay, first to compile football follies, and first to get an hour-long sports documentary on national TV -- an in-depth look at Vince Lombardi, which aired in 1966 after “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

Maybe you assumed Sabol was already in the Hall of Fame. If so, you weren’t alone.

“A lot of people think he’s already in there,” says his son, Steve, who started as an NFL Films cameraman in the 1960s and now runs the company.

Things might have been very different had Ed and Audrey Sabol not gotten a movie camera as a wedding gift. That sparked Ed’s interest and, a few years later, he trained that camera on young Steve, filming his first haircut, first pony ride and, naturally, his first pee-wee football game.

“I don’t remember my father ever having a head,” Steve says. “You just looked at him and he had this camera in front of him.”

This wasn’t the typical family footage, either, where Dad forgets to take off the lens cap or shoots everything from the knees down. This was an artist at work. Ed made his own titles -- Audrey was an art student and helped design them -- he’d shoot in slow-mo, and sometimes stand on the roof of Steve’s elementary school to get an end-zone view.

In 1962, Sabol founded Blair Motion Pictures -- named for his daughter -- and its first major contract was to film the 1962 NFL championship game between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers. Two years later, Sabol signed an exclusive deal to preserve NFL games on film, leading him to change his company’s name to NFL Films.

But it wasn’t until 1966 that the enterprise really captured the imagination of Pete Rozelle, the commissioner then. He saw Sabol’s documentary “They Call It Pro Football” as much as a work of storytelling art as a compilation of action shots. He called the Sabols, father and son, into his New York office and showed them the latest Nielsen ratings that had baseball first, college football second and the NFL a distant third.

Rozelle thought NFL Films could help change that, and he was right. It has played a key role in not only promoting the sport, but altering our expectations. We now expect to see the close-up shots of collisions, clouds of hot breath rising from the helmets of frostbitten linemen, the overhead angle on an entire team as it huddles before a Super Bowl kickoff.

That all started with Ed Sabol, who has retired to Scottsdale, Ariz., and is still active at 93. There’s a good chance he’ll be watching today’s Hall of Fame broadcast too. And, as a former scholastic-record-holding swimmer, he understands that Canton should be first and foremost for the athletes. He doesn’t hold a grudge.

“I can see a voter saying, ‘Wait a second, here’s a filmmaker, and here’s a guy who played in the trenches, played 16 years, had six broken bones and was in the Pro Bowl . . . ‘ “ Steve says. “You’re always going to vote for the player, and that’s probably the way it should be.”

Except in this case.

Ed Sabol’s not in the Hall of Fame?

Somebody get rewrite!

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sam.farmer@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

For some, the wait isn’t over

When six new inductees are enshrined today in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, they will join 241 others whose bronze busts already reside in Canton, Ohio. But there are many notable figures from the NFL who might never get that far, as compelling as their arguments for enshrinement might be.

Some of the on-the-fence candidates who spark debate on the 40-voter committee, which has one media member representing each NFL franchise plus eight at-large voters:

ART MODELL, OWNER, CLEVELAND BROWNS/BALTIMORE RAVENS

Case for: A major figure in the emergence of the modern NFL, Modell helped create “Monday Night Football” and, along with Pete Rozelle, orchestrated the first major network television contract. Case against: Many in Ohio will never forgive Modell for moving the beloved Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1996, when the team became the Ravens.

RALPH WILSON, OWNER, BUFFALO BILLS

Case for: A World War II veteran, Wilson was among the founding fathers of the American Football League and was instrumental in the league’s 1970 merger with the NFL. Case against: Wilson is a good owner, but he might have been held in even higher regard had his club won even one of its four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. Simply put, the Hall loves winners.

PAUL TAGLIABUE, FORMER LEAGUE COMMISSIONER

Case for: Tagliabue oversaw the greatest growth spurt of any professional sports league in history, an era when 17 new stadiums were built, teams skyrocketed in value, and there was unprecedented labor peace. Case against: Detractors argue that Tagliabue’s biggest contribution was further enriching a group of owners who were already fabulously wealthy in the first place. It doesn’t help his cause that he wasn’t as affable as his predecessor, Rozelle.

RAY GUY, PUNTER, OAKLAND/LOS ANGELES RAIDERS

Case for: The first pure punter to be selected in the opening round of the NFL draft was a vital member of three Super Bowl-winning Raiders teams. He was named the punter of the NFL’s 75th anniversary team, and retired with a slew of highly notable stats. Among them, he played in 207 consecutive games, had a string of 619 punts without one being blocked, and never had a punt returned for a touchdown. Case against: Did we mention he was a punter?

THIS YEAR’S INDUCTEES

Fred Dean, defensive end, San Diego, 1975-81; San Francisco, 1981-85 -- Dean’s career sack total is near 100 but many came before sacks became an official stat in 1982.

Darrell Green, cornerback, Washington, 1983-2002 -- Consistently among the NFL’s fastest players, he intercepted passes in a record 19 consecutive seasons.

Art Monk, wide receiver, Washington, 1980-93; New York Jets, 1994; Philadelphia, 1995 -- Set then-NFL records for single-season catches (106), most consecutive games with at least one catch (164), and career catches (820).

Emmitt Thomas, cornerback, Kansas City, 1966-78 -- Career interception total (58) leads Chiefs and is fourth all-time for cornerbacks. Five Pro Bowls.

Andre Tippett, linebacker, New England, 1982-93 -- During Patriots’ 1985 Super Bowl season, led conference with 16 1/2 sacks.

Gary Zimmerman, offensive tackle, Minnesota, 1986-92; Denver, 1993-97 -- Anchored lines for two great rushing franchises, and had a streak of 169 consecutive starts. Named to two NFL all-decade teams, 1980s and 1990s.

-- Sam Farmer