Podcast — Ron McDole — AFL Champion Bills, Over The Hill Gang Redskins

Tag: American Football League
Posted on in Podcasts

Podcast — Ron McDole — AFL Champion Bills, Over The Hill Gang Redskins

  Ron McDole joins us on The Game Before the Money Podcast. The all-time interception leader for defensive linemen remembers winning the AFL Championship with the Bills, and facing the Chargers Ron Mix in the 1964 and 1965 AFL Championship Games. He also talks about George Allen and the Over the Hill Gang, of which he was a part. Hear the inside story about the most famous play in Super Bowl 7, when Mike Bass returned a blocked kick and subsequent Garo Yepremian interception for a touchdown. He talks about the Washington/Dallas rivalry and a time when pro football teams held training camps at a hotel. Ron played college ball at the University of Nebraska, with Pat Fischer and Mick Tingelhoff. Ron has a new book available on Amazon.com. You can also order The Game Before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. You can listen in the player at the top, and also […]

by The Game Before the Money
Posted on in This Might Surprise You

This Might Surprise You — After Merger, Only 4 AFL Teams Have Won Super Bowls

Let me start by saying I love the American Football League and its history. I also believe the league was on par with the National Football League. The Super Bowl, however, has clearly been dominated by original NFL teams. Only four AFL franchises have won Super Bowls after the AFL-NFL merger. Crazy huh? When we entered the 2000s, only three AFL franchises had won Super Bowls. Those three teams were the Miami Dolphins, Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, and Denver Broncos.  The New England Patriots joined the club in the early 2000s. The Super Bowl started when both the American Football League and the National Football League agreed to merge. The NFL was generally thought of as superior, and most experts expected NFL teams to crush the AFL in Super Bowls. The Green Bay Packers, coached by Vince Lombardi, made good on those predictions in Super Bowl 1 and Super Bowl 2. The Packers outscored their AFL opponents by a combined 44 […]

by The Game Before the Money
Posted on in Current News and Commentary, Historical Analysis

QB Reality – Why Most Teams Stand No Chance

UPDATED: Super Bowl 48 was a bit of an anomaly. Maybe. We’ll see if Russell Wilson wins another Super Bowl, which he’s already in position to do. Stark reality looms for teams without a quarterback sporting a championship ring: Out of nearly 50 Super Bowls, only 31 quarterbacks have won. Of those 31 quarterbacks, 11 have won multiple Super Bowls. That equates to 28 of the 48 Super Bowls, roughly 60 percent of the games. The trend stays fairly steady through the Free Agency Era. Multi-winning quarterbacks have won 11 of the 21 contests, and only 15 quarterbacks won championships. Before Free Agency, 16 quarterbacks won those 27 SBs. Dawson in Super Bowl 4. Wilson and Joe Flacco won the last two, perhaps slightly bucking the trend. In the Super Bowl era, however, Super Bowls 3-5 were the only three straight SBs in which the winning quarterback didn’t win multiple times on Super Bowl Sunday. Even that statistic’s a stretch, […]

by The Game Before the Money
Posted on in Legendary Insights

Legendary Insights: Don Maynard Part 3

This is the final post in a three-part series recounting my recent chat with New York Jets legend modified game equipment and the Jets passing attack. Today we take a look at the Jets magical run to Super Bowl 3 and their historic victory. FEWER SACKS = MORE WINS Most quarterbacks dropped back about 8 yards to throw. Jets quarterback Joe Namath usually backed up 10-12 yards, compensating for a lack of mobility from chronic knee problems. The few extra yards gave Namath more time to throw, and his sack total is one of the lowest in NFL history. Maynard credited much of the Jets success to an usually low sack total, allowing the passing game to flourish. 1968 AFL CHAMPIONSHIP The Jets played the Oakland Raiders in the 1968 AFL Championship, a few weeks after their famous “Heidi Bowl” debacle. Maynard guffawed suggestions that the Jets thought about the Heidi Bowl during the championship. “Any game you’ve played has nothing to do with […]

by The Game Before the Money
Posted on in Legendary Insights

Legendary Insights: Don Maynard Part 2

This is the second of three posts summarizing my recent chat with New York Jets legend gained from modified equipment. We now examine the explosive Jets passing offense of the 1960s. ROUNDING OFF Maynard broke into pro football with the New York Giants in 1958.  He played behind Frank Gifford and Kyle Rote as a running back and receiver. He also returned kicks and subbed as the fifth defensive back. “Besides Gifford, I was probably the most all-around ball player they had,” Maynard said. Don paid attention to how Gifford and Rote ran pass routes and modified their actions. For example, Maynard noticed that when a receiver cuts sharply, he grants the defender an extra second while he stops to cut. Maynard rounded off his routes to keep his momentum going. The Jets had a “staircase” pattern. A receiver ran several yards, cut across, and flew downfield. Maynard’s rounding approach not only sustained his momentum, but also left turning defensive backs flat-footed. That […]

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