Sabol was born in Moorestown, New Jersey, and attended Colorado College, where he played football as a running back and was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He was the subject of a humorous article about his self-promotion exploits in the November 22, 1965, issue of "Sports Illustrated". He began working at NFL Films as a cameraman alongside his father Ed Sabol (1916–2015) after graduation. He started in the filming industry when his father got the rights to the 1962 NFL Championship Game, played in Yankee Stadium on December 30.