The Game Before the Money: Oral History of Pro and College Football

Bob Griese, the Miami Dolphins’ Hall of Fame quarterback, talks about playing in the 1972 AFC Championship Game after returning from a dislocated ankle injury similar to that of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. In this episode we hear a brief interview clip from Griese’s interview for the book, The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL. I also examine Griese’s career before and after the dislocated ankle and broken leg he sustained in Week 5 of the 1972 season. I discuss the similarities between Prescott’s dislocated ankle and compound fracture with Griese’s injury, and how Griese’s recovery might predict Prescott’s return. This episode is a “Five Minutes of Football History” edition of The Game before the Money Podcast.  New episodes of The Game before the Money Podcast are released each week. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Many episodes feature interviews with pro and college football legends. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

What future president played football against Jim Thorpe? What president won an NCAA national championship? Who is the only president to attend an AFL game? Find out the answers on this episode. Let’s have some election-time fun and look at presidents with a connection to football. One worked as an assistant coach on a team that produced two Heisman Trophy winners. Another performed the Super Bowl coin flip live from the White House via satellite. You will greatly enjoy this non-political look at a few U.S. Presidents and their love of the game.   New episodes of The Game before the Money Podcast are released each week. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Many episodes feature interviews with pro and college football legends. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

John Lobon shares his experience as a member of the Syracuse 8, a group of Syracuse football players who stood up for student-athlete rights and against racial injustice. The players were ultimately suspended for the entire 1970 season but later vindicated in an investigative report ordered by the university. John Lobon tells the story of his stellar high school football career in Hartford, Connecticut, his decision to attend Syracuse University, and his decision to join the Syracuse 8. He describes the defensive play he made that his teammates called, “The Defining Moment” of the team his freshman year, and brings us into the times of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The story of the Syracuse 8 illustrates how discrimination can occur in places one might not expect. John Lobon and his teammates rallied against discrimination and for better medical and academic support for all student-athletes. The young men paid a heavy cost to establish gains still enjoyed by student-athletes today. The Game before the Money Podcast is released each Tuesday. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

Ron McDole shares NFL and AFL stories on The Game Before the Money Podcast. He is the NFL's all-time leader in interceptions by a defensive lineman. His storied 18-year career includes winning the 1964 and 1965 AFL Championships with the Buffalo Bills, and playing in Super Bowl 7 as part of Washington's Over the Hill Gang. You might know McDole by his nickname, “The Dancing Bear.” This episode is a repeat of an episode posted in 2018. We will be back with a brand new episode next week.   The Game before the Money Podcast is released each Tuesday. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

Did you know the Columbia University football team helped with the Manhattan Project? Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know that – the players didn’t know either! Learn what role the Columbia Lions football played in the top secret Manhattan Project on this 5 Minutes of Football History edition of The Game Before the Money Podcast. The Game before the Money Podcast is released each Tuesday. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

Walt Garrison played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1966-1974. In this podcast, you will hear excerpts from his interview for The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL. You will get a feel for what it’s like to sit down with a true NFL legend and hear him share some great stories. In these outtakes not used in the book, Walt takes us into the huddle with Don Meredith and Roger Staubach, fills you in on who he thought was one of the hardest hitters in the NFL (the answer may surprise you), and brings us into meetings with Tom Landry. He also shares memories about his roommate and close friend Dan Reeves, who later went on to coach both the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons into Super Bowls. The Game before the Money Podcast is released each Tuesday. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

We toast the kickoff to the 2020 NFL season by celebrating some of the best NFL Week 1 games of all-time. What are some of the best Week 1 moments in NFL history? We look at some record-setting performances, including one NFL record that has stood for nearly 70 years! Take a trip to the first-ever American Football League game, the first game in Minnesota Vikings history (a breakout game for a future Hall of Famer), and the first game at Lambeau Field. Join the Cincinnati Bengals in their greatest comeback in franchise history and experience a triumphant comeback from a career-threating injury by one of the NFL’s most iconic quarterbacks.   The Game before the Money Podcast is released each Tuesday. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

Karl Mecklenburg played linebacker for the Denver Broncos and helped guide the team to three Super Bowls. Hear him share memories of “The Drive” in the 1986 AFC Championship Game and “The Fumble” in the 1987 AFC Championship Game. You will also hear his inspirational story of hard work and dedication that earned him a spot in the NFL. Karl Mecklenburg also talks about defensive coordinator Joe Collier’s leadership, shares a funny story about his jersey being stolen before a game in San Diego, and grants insight on how Broncos quarterback John Elway influenced the team’s defensive play. The Game before the Money Podcast is released each Tuesday. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

Have the recent boycotts in the NBA and Major League Baseball made you wonder if national events and protests affected pro and college football in the past? This episode of The Game before the Money provides an overview of three times players protested  against the social climate: the 1965 AFL All-Star Game, the Wyoming Black 14, and the Syracuse 8. We also look at how things are different today by looking at more recent player protests at the University of Texas and the University of Missouri. The Game before the Money Podcast is released each Tuesday. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.  

In an exciting new addition to The Game before the Money Podcast we premiere, “Stories from the Vault” – great moments from the interviews for The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL that weren’t used in the book. Goose Gonsoulin was the first member of the Denver Broncos and is enshrined in the Broncos Ring of Fame. Included in this episode are excerpts of him sharing memories from the first-ever Broncos training camp and on-the-field game day banter with legendary Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson. Also in this episode, two senior nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2021 class are discussed: Tom Flores and Drew Pearson. Plus: who are some other players that deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? Goose Gonsoulin passed away in September of 2014. The clips used are from interviews sometime between 2011 and 2013. The Game before the Money Podcast is released each Tuesday. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

Pete Brewster played nine seasons in the NFL, including seven with Paul Brown’s legendary Cleveland Browns of the 1950s and made the Pro Bowl as a receiver. He also worked as an assistant coach for the Kansas City Chiefs when they won Super Bowl 4 and was a member of the very first Minnesota Vikings coaching staff. Brewster shared stories with me during the summer of 2019. He talked about why he chose Purdue and how he ended up playing for the Browns despite being drafted by the Cardinals. He remembered the great Cleveland teams of the 1950s and how Otto Graham paid him an enormous compliment. Brewster finished his playing career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Brewster passed away in January of 2020. The Game before the Money Podcast comes out each Tuesday. Author Jackson Michael hosts and produces the program. The podcast often features stories from pro and college football legends. You can learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.    

Many fans know that Dick “Night Train” Lane holds the single-season interception record. Did you also know he also co-holds the record for the longest touchdown reception in Cardinals history? Hear the story as told by Cardinal quarterback Odgen Compton. There are incredible triumphs and incomparable tragedies in Night Train Lane’s life – literally right from the start. Few NFL backstories compare with the journey Night Train Lane took on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The fact that Lane even got a tryout – let alone a starting position -- with the defending world champion Rams without having played regular college football is astounding. Add to it that he set an NFL record that has stood for nearly 70 years when he was simply a rookie fresh out of the military and you’ve got yourself an amazing story indeed. In this episode you’ll hear stories from his teammate Odgen Compton and Lane’s friend, sports artist Robert Hurst. The Game before the Money Podcast comes out every Tuesday. It is hosted and produced by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL. You can learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

President Richard Nixon called to congratulate Washington Redskins head coach George Allen his team defeated the Dallas Cowboys in October of 1972. This episode features the lion’s share of their conversation which was about 15 minutes.   Football dominates the conversation as the two discuss Washington’s come-from-behind victory at home. Nixon displays a solid knowledge of the NFL as he and Allen talk about players from both teams – including Hall of Famers Sonny Jurgensen, Roger Staubach, and Lance Alworth. They go over the next games on both teams’ schedules and ponder possible trades Washington could make as the team makes a successful run towards Super Bowl 7.   This is a very fun listen for any fan of football and/or politics. President Nixon greatly enjoyed pro and college football as well as his friendship with George Allen. The conversation was recorded as part of the “Nixon Tapes” and is available on the Nixon Library’s website. The conversation is Tape 32-007.   The Game before the Money Podcast comes out on Tuesdays and is hosted and produced by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL and writer/director of We Were the Oilers: The Luv Ya Blue Era! You can learn more football history and about the author at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

Roger Zatkoff starred at linebacker for the University of Michigan in the early 1950s. He went on to star in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions. He won the NFL Championship with the 1957 Lions.   Hear Roger share stories of playing for Michigan under iconic coach Bennie Oosterbaan and winning the 1957 NFL Championship with the Detroit Lions. He takes us into the locker room during the famous halftime scenario of the 1957 West Division Playoff against the San Francisco 49ers – a game that the Lions set a record for the largest playoff comeback in NFL history that stood for over 30 years. You will also learn what it was like to play for the Green Bay Packers in the days before Lambeau Field was built.   Zatkoff also goes behind-the-scenes to describe a trade that sent him from the Packers to the Browns, then the Rams, and ultimately the Lions. The story involves Bert Bell, then commissioner of the NFL,, future commissioner Pete Rozelle, and Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown.   The Game before the Money Podcast comes out each Tuesday. The show is hosted and produced by Jackson Michael, author of the book The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, writer/director of the documentary We Were the Oilers: The Luv Ya Blue Era!, and host/producer of The Texas Sports Hall of Fame Podcast.

Can a season be defined by one play?    The 1972 Oakland Raiders are best remembered as the team on the wrong side of the Pittsburgh Steelers Immaculate Reception play. What was the team's season really like? Find out on this episode of The Game before the Money Podcast.   The football history podcast is hosted and produced by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press.