Navy’s Roger Staubach, USC’s Mike Garrett and Florida’s Steve Spurrier were among the magical names in college football in the mid 1960s, but none had quite as much magic as “Sudden Death” Sabol out of Colorado College.
While Staubach, Garrett and Spurrier gained national acclaim as Heisman Trophy winners, “Sudden Death” Sabol became a household name in the manner of a comic-strip character.
Even when it became clear that the player with the catchy nickname was the work of the imagination of Steve Sabol, a real-life player at CC, the farce continued. Who could ignore the exploits of a hard-running fullback from Possum Trot, Miss., playing for a team well off the main college football map?
“I was at CC for six years,” Steve Sabol said from his office as president of NFL Films. “It was a fascinating time in my life. I was kicked out of school one year for streaking. I also had to leave school another year when I contracted a case of hepatitis.”
Sabol pointed out the folly of trying to find Possum Trot, Miss., on the map, although there is a Possum Trot, Tenn. He once was presented a key to the Tennessee town because of the name connection.
As for choosing the name “Sudden Death”?
“I always was fascinated by neat nicknames,” Sabol said.
A 1964 story about Sabol read: “Never since the late 20s and the days of heralded Dutch Clark has a Colorado College student generated the fanfare which has been whomped up by Sabol. Clark earned his national fame as a genuine All-American runner, passer and kicker. Sabol, an owlish, myopic young man who looks more like the debating team captain, has provided his own fame with theatrical gimmicks, fan letters to himself and to newspapers and magazines all over the nation. He even purchased advertisements in newspapers and the football programs.”
Sabol sold T-shirts inscribed, “I’m a little Possum Trotter.”
“There were more students in the library than there were in the stands,” Sabol said. “I decided the only way to get them to our games was to try some gimmicks. I decided to list myself from Coaltown, Pa., because the name of the state is synonymous with great football. That didn’t get much attention so I listed myself in the program as being from Possum Trot, Miss.”
In 1964, Sabol did it all. He was the football team’s captain, sports editor and columnist for the college newspaper and self-appointed chairman of the homecoming committee.
His schedule might have seemed to leave little time for football. But he was all business on the field, earning all-conference honors in 1963 when CC played in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The following year, CC played an independent schedule, allowing Sabol to claim he was CC’s last all-conference player.
In some cases, Sabol’s memories of his playing days rival the make-believe. Each year during preseason practice in August, the Tigers would scrimmage a team at the state prison in Cañon City.
“The first couple of times you went there, it scared the heck out you,” Sabol said. “I finally got into a game the third year. I hurt my ankle and had to go to the infirmary. The guy running the X-ray machine said we had to speed up the game. He only had 20 years.”
Sabol came to CC, located in Colorado Springs, from Villanova, Pa., by accident. After being put on a waiting list to attend Harvard, he found some material on CC and decided to take a look. After leaving college, Sabol followed in the footsteps of his father, Ed Sabol, in the business of filming NFL games.
Sabol hasn’t forgotten his days at CC. Clippings about his being named captain of the football team and all-conference hang on his office wall.
Sabol bio
Born: Oct. 2, 1942, in Philadelphia
High school: Haverford School, Philadelphia
College: Colorado College
Family: Wife Penny, son Casey
Hobby: Artist
Outlook: Had a dream job for 45 years.
