Lights... Camera... Football
Mt. Lebanon Native, Steelers Give NFL Films A Local Touch
By Scott Robertson

Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films, has a theory for his business that he takes from one of his favorite entertainers. Sabol was a fan of the late Kate Smith, best known for her renditions of "God Bless America."

"She used to say that new and improved isn't always better than tried-and-true," Sabol said. "We have a certain style here at NFL Films—a certain way we prefer to tell the story of football. We feel that we are storytellers. That's a feeling that has not changed in 40 years."

Keith Cossrow, 26, who hails from Mt. Lebanon, is one of the up-and-coming storytellers at NFL Films. He joined NFL Films shortly after graduating from Duke University with a degree in English in 1997. Now in his fifth year with NFL Films, Cossrow, a producer, helped put together a one-hour documentary titled "NFL Century—In Their Own Words," which received an Emmy nomination.

"I learned how to read on the sports pages of the Post-Gazette and The Pittsburgh Press," said Cossrow, who graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1993. "The first numbers I learned were the stats of the Penguins and Steelers. What this company does is look for storytellers and writers. Then they train you to be a filmmaker. This was exactly what I wanted to do."

Story telling is the hallmark of the success of NFL Films, which has won 82 Emmy awards and widely is recognized as the most honored filmmaker in sports. Sabol, whose father, Ed, headed the development of NFL Films when it began operations in 1964, says the key to the organization's success lies in developing relationships with owners, players and coaches.

"We've got a unique relationship and chemistry with the Rooneys that goes back to Art Rooney and Super Bowl I," Sabol said. "The Chief was at the press box level that day, and he sat with me and my father. We were doing a film, and the film turned out real well. We sort of thought of him as something of a good luck charm after that.

"Since we thought he was good luck, my father invited him back to sit with us at the Super Bowl every year. He did, until one day in 1974. He called my father and said, `Ed, unfortunately, I won't be able to sit with you this year. I'll have to sit in my own box since my team is in the game."

That decision did not change the Rooneys' luck. The Steelers, of course, beat the Vikings that day for their first Super Bowl win, and would go on to win four in six years. During that time and after, the Rooney-NFL Films relationship grew with Dan Rooney, the current Steelers' president.

"Dan was the chairman of our committee for 10 years," Sabol said. "He, perhaps more than any other owner in the league, supports our efforts to preserve the history of the sport. We kind of look at Art and Dan Rooney as the godfathers of NFL Films."

Sabol credits the relationships he has been able to develop with the league's coaches for NFL Films' success at gaining the necessary access on the sidelines. NFL Films achieves that access despite the fact that the television networks have more cameras and more rights, given that they are paying the NFL large fees to televise the games.

His experiences with coaches have led him to two who are almost diametrically opposed in their demeanor and approaches—former Steelers Coach Chuck Noll and current boss Bill Cowher.

"I've known Bill since he was a player, so we have a relationship that goes back 20 years," Sabol said. "He's kind of grown up on NFL Films. Chuck was different. He came from the Paul Brown era before there was an NFL Films. Chuck is a very private person who felt the media was more a distraction than anything else. Bill understands the give-and-take with the media a little better, I think.

"It's odd, though, that we did a half-hour show on Chuck during one of the Super Bowls, and it was our highest rated show that year. That shows that everyone realizes what he accomplished. When fans tune in like that, it shows they are interested in what he has to say.

"Bill has been very good with us. I don't ever remember having to delete anything he said. He has always told us, `if I said it, use it.' He's got a strong sense of self and that comes across in our pieces and with his team."

Cossrow explained that NFL Films is not interested in reporting on the off-the-field antics of players. Rather, its best efforts are directed at telling fans the stories of their lives in football.

"I don't want to talk about what Plaxico Burress does off the field," Cossrow said. "We want to talk about the reasons we want to watch him play—about the things that make him a great player. We celebrate football here. We create the myths. That's much more fun and more satisfying."

The celebrations and myths created by NFL Films are burned in the minds of fans everywhere. Most football fans can think of any number of NFL Films productions or snippets that display the essence of the game.

Cossrow is hoping to create more of those myths. His work on the NFL Century project is one such example. He worked with nine star players—Smith, Troy Aikman, Moss, Eddie George, Warren Sapp, Keyshawn Johnson, Junior Seau, Aenaes Williams and Mark Schlereth—during the 2000 season. He culled 90-minute interviews with each into a one-hour documentary that let fans get inside the minds of each of those players as he prepared to play his position. The players revealed their thoughts and words about the game in a manner not seen previously.

"I think that was one of the better things I've been able to do so far," said Cossrow, who is a regular contributor to features for the weekly pro football magazine shows "NFL Films Presents" (on ESPN) and "Under the Helmet" (on FOX). His other credits as a producer include "Blue Diamond," the New York Giants 75th anniversary film for USA Home Video and a 90-minute Super Bowl retrospective for ESPN.

He also recently produced a segment for A&E's "Biography" on Beaver Falls' Joe Namath.

"I don't get star-struck very often," Cossrow said. "But (Namath) still has that aura. That's why he's Broadway Joe. I sat and talked with him about growing up in Beaver Falls. It was incredible. He's still grounded after all these years."

Of course, Cossrow had to ask Namath the question he gets every day—the one about the guaranteed victory against the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

"You have to approach a question like that in a way that stays fresh," Cossrow said. "I remember asking him if he got tired of talking about it, and he referred to something he had heard Don Larsen say when people asked if he got tired of talking about his perfect game in the World Series. He (Namath) said, `Get tired of it? Why should I?'

"Then, he said something I thought was really funny. He said the Jets were really prepared for that game. Then he added, `We were really confident going into that game. I think if we had played Baltimore 10 times, they might have won one.' I had to cut that out for the final production, though."

Cossrow has some goals for the future, goals he knows Sabol will help him achieve.

"I tell the stories that you will see on ESPN late at night," he said. "I remember once seeing an old NFL Films piece on Rocky Bleier coming back from Vietnam. It made me cry. The cool thing for me is to try to create a piece like that—the kind that someone will see late at night and that it is so strong that it moves them."

That's Sabol's goal, too. He said personalities like Noll and Cowher, and the stature of places like western Pennsylvania and their role in football lore, make it all possible.

"Western Pennsylvania is Latrobe, and that's where the game began," Sabol said. "People see this as the crucible that forged the game. You can see that with the Steelers. They are like the Packers. They represent not only a city, but an entire way of life."

They also represent the top of the charts, as far as Sabol is concerned. Asked his favorite film or personality, he answered easily.

"The question I get all the time is which is the greatest team of all time," he said. "People might expect me to say the (1972 undefeated) Dolphins. But the '78 Steelers were the best ever. It's not even really close. The only team that comes close is the '58 Colts with John Unitas, Lenny Moore and Raymond Berry and those guys.

"But the '78 Steelers had a unique blend of personalities and great football players—Bradshaw, Joe Greene, Harris, Lambert, Blount, Ham—there has never been a group of guys with that talent and that personality since, and I doubt there ever will be again."