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

Tag: NFL
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 […]

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Posted on in Podcasts

Podcast — Pete Koch — Bengals, Chiefs, Raiders Legend

You can listen in the player below, and also listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and iTunes, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Stitcher.       What made Howie Long one of the best players of his generation? Pete Koch fills us in, and brings us into the workout room with Raiders Greg Townsend and Bill Pickel on The Game Before the Money Podcast. The Bengals drafted Koch in the first round of the 1984 NFL draft. They drafted Pete’s college teammate Boomer Esiason in the second round. Pete later played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Raiders. He joins us on the podcast, and discusses what it was like to be a first-round draft choice. He also talks about the mid-80s glory years in the AFC West, facing quarterbacks such as John Elway and Dan Fouts. He shares great memories of playing on a Chiefs line that featured outstanding players such as Art Still, Bill Maas, and Mike Bell. […]

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Posted on in Thinking Out Loud

Thinking Out Loud: Ray Rice Announces He Would Donate NFL Salary

Former Baltimore Raven Ray Rice announced today that he’d donate his entire NFL salary should a team sign him for the 2016 season. Rice admitted he deserved the criticism he received after well-publicized domestic violence charges. The charges, although later dismissed in court, forced Rice out of the National Football League. Rice states his offer isn’t a ploy to earn the good graces of the NFL and convince a team to sign him based on goodwill. Rice claims that he recognizes the seriousness of domestic violence, and that he’s moved by a heartfelt conviction to assist domestic violence victims. The outrageous number of scandals, arrests, and DUIs in today’s media landscape make it difficult to judge one’s true intentions. Many celebrities make transparent statements amounting to nothing more than a bully’s teacher-enforced apology during recess. Most athletes and other celebrities get to move on with their careers as if nothing happened. Rice wasn’t as fortunate. He finds himself faced with the possibility […]

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Posted on in Appreciations, Current News and Commentary

An Appreciation: Bart Starr Part 1

(Painting by Robert Hurst) Before I had the privilege of meeting Bart Starr, I repeatedly heard the same things from his teammates and others who had met him. “Oh, he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.” “Bart’s the perfect man.” “Salt of the earth.” Bart’s one of those rare people that all those good things you hear about him beforehand turn out to be true. I first met him at a Tri-Star autograph show in Houston, hoping to interview him for The Game before the Money. He didn’t have time that day to interview, but gave me a number to reach him at later. He did, however, have time to chat with everyone who wanted to meet him. He granted everyone who wanted to meet him a good amount of time, and was kind and respectful to all. He and I had a pleasant conversation about Wisconsin, the people and the weather there. I could do a post on how […]

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Posted on in A Brief History of....

A Brief History of… Goal Posts

We see them every game, cast in their photogenic stance. Fans love to tear them down. But what is the story behind those fabled goal posts? The information’s pretty tough to find, but I’ll put as much of it together here as I can. EARLY YEARS In football’s earliest days – and we’re talking Pudge Heffelfinger, pre-1900 days – a field goal was actually more valuable than a touchdown. Under those rules, Stephen Gostkowski’s field goals would notch 5 points, Marshawn Lynch’s TDs only 4. Soon both plays were worth 5 points, and gradually moved to modern-day scoring by 1912. In the NFL’s earliest days — days before the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles existed — the league followed the NCAA rule book. Goal posts were on the goal line. When the NCAA moved them to the end zone’s backline in 1927, the NFL followed suit. In 1933, however, the NFL adopted its own rule book and placed the goal […]

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Posted on in Current News and Commentary, Thinking Out Loud

Thinking Out Loud: The 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class

SENIOR NOMINEES The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced two senior nominees for its 2016 induction class. The Seniors Committee, comprised of nine members on a rotating basis, selects the senior nominees. Nominees must be retired for at least 25 years. We’ve discussed My recent post countered Peter King of Sports Illustrated, declaring Stabler as more than worthy. King, however, has an actual vote in the process, and it will be interesting to see whom the rest of the voters agree with. Who else has three of the most iconic plays in history – the “Sea of Hands” game, the “Ghost to the Post,” and the “Holy Roller” – to his quarterbacking credit? Stabler also almost nearly won the “Immaculate Reception” game with a 30-yard scramble to put the Raiders ahead 7-6 in the fourth quarter. Most arguments against Stabler tend to be statistically based. Here’s a statistic to mull over: of the quarterbacks who rank in the Top 50 […]

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Posted on in Current News and Commentary, Historical Analysis, Thinking Out Loud

Thinking Out Loud: Ken Stabler and the Pro Football Hall of Fame

My first NFL memories involve during Super Bowl 11 and explained the meaning of the NFL’s biggest day while Stabler led the Raiders to ultimate victory. The Holy Roller play remains a cherished memory, and one of the first epic plays I witnessed live on television. Stabler helped characterize the 1970s NFL. His bearded face symbolizes Raider football. The Hall of Fame has yet to induct “The Snake,” a position defended by Sports Illustrated writer and Hall of Fame voter Peter King. Many fans, however, disagree. Count me in that group. King argues that statistics and career consistency don’t land in Stabler’s favor. I get that, and statistics play a huge part. Being great for 5 years is much different than being great for 10 or 15. Yet we call it the “Hall of Fame.” The moniker implies the word “famous,” and nobody can deny #12’s fame throughout his career. Similar to the old E.F. Hutton commercials, when Stabler played, […]

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