Admittedly, I don’t know too much about Steve Sabol, the legendary NFL Films co-founder who won 35 Emmys and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this morning.

But John George over at the Philadelphia Business Journal does know about the Moorestown native, who gave him a tour of the then-brand new NFL Films headquarters back in 2002. George, writing on Sabol’s Hall of Fame honor, recalls a story in which he showed his enthusiasm for the new digs over in Mount Laurel:

“I don’t think there’s another building like this on the East Coast,” Sabol told me during the tour. “This place is the eighth wonder of New Jersey.” Then, after a brief pause, he added, “I’m not really sure what the other seven are, but they’re nowhere around here.”

He was clearly very proud of the complex and its role with the NFL.

“This is Hollywood on the Delaware River,” Sabol said at the time. “What makes us unique is not just the talent we house in this building, but the variety of that talent. Our cinematographers are dispatched from here. The film is processed here. And the legendary stories of the NFL are shaped here as they move through one creative department to another.”

Great quote, and a good question –

What would the other seven wonders of New Jersey be? Definitely that big elephant down in Margate. The Stone Pony up there in Asbury Park, where Springsteen played something like 700 shows (and they were all three hours long, probably). I’d also add the Cherry Hill Mall and blueberry fields of Hammonton to the list. Is the Statue of Liberty in Jersey? Let’s write that down, too.

But on a more serious note, Sabol and his father co-founded NFL Films way back in 1962. It was originally located in South Philly before the New Jersey move. The younger Sabol died of cancer at age 69 in 2012, so his induction is, unfortunately, posthumous, but if you’ve enjoyed anything NFL Films has ever produced, you can thank him for that.

John’s original story from 2002 is worth a read: NFL Films Kicks Off New Digs