Contributor

The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2011 will be voted on during the annual selection meeting held at the site of Super Bowl XLV. The Hall of Fame's selection committee will meet in Dallas on Saturday, Feb. 5 to elect no fewer than four and no more than seven members with a maximum of five modern-era candidates.

One of the 2011 finalists is Ed Sabol who has been nominated in the contributor category. Here are some notes on Sabol's long career as the founder/chairman of NFL Films.

Sabol was a competitive swimmer who is a member of the Swimming Hall of Fame. At age 19, he broke Johnny Weissmuller's interscholastic World Record for the 100-meter freestyle.

Sabol is also a charter member of the Sports Television Hall of Fame.

NFL Films won its first Emmy in 1978 for "Road to the Super Bowl."

There are many NFL Films firsts that occurred unde Ed Sabol's leadership. Some include:
>1965: First to place a microphone on a player and coach during an NFL regular season game
>1966: First to use graphics to explain football strategy
>1967: First season of "NFL Films Presents" — now television's longest running sports series
>1968: First to produce a sports blooper film
>1969: First to use a 600mm lens for an NFL game
>1971: First to use reverse-angle replay
>1995: First live-action sports movie shot in Cinemascope, the critically acclaimed "100 Yard Universe," shown exclusively at the Pro Football Hall of Fame