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

Green Bay Packers legend Boyd Dowler joins The Game before the Money Podcast and brings us into the Packers' locker room with stories about winning 5 NFL championships under Vince Lombardi. Hear his memories about winning the 1959 NFL Rookie of the Year award, scoring the longest NFL receiving touchdown of 1960, and how President Kennedy played a role in the Packers’ 1961 season. Dowler also talks...

Chad Hennings shares stories about dangerous flying missions during the Gulf War and Super Bowl wins with the Dallas Cowboys. We repost this episode to honor our veterans.  Chad Hennings is the only Air Force lineman to win the prestigious Outland Trophy. The Dallas Cowboys drafted him despite his upcoming commitment to military service, much like they did with Roger Staubach. Hennings flew fighte...

Pete Koch interviews with The Game before the Money Podcast and talks about his NFL career and starring in the movie Heartbreak Ridge with Clint Eastwood. Pete Koch talks about being a first-round draft pick in 1984 and what it was like to hold out for a better contract. He also shares stories about starting on the defensive line for the Chiefs and Raiders. He shares memories of Chiefs’ owner Lama...

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 b...

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...

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, Connec...

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...

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 i...

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 St...

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 fut...

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 Col...

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 b...

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 memor...

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 c...

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...

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...

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...

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...

You often hear people say, "Football builds character."  Here are four life lessons that can be gleaned from 1970s NFL football that you can apply to your life and career today! The Game before the Money Podcast comes out each Tuesday. You can learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com . 

What NFL franchises have changed nicknames through the years? We look at 5 franchises who have rebranded themselves under a new name. Teams include the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys, and Oakland Raiders. This is a 5 Minutes of Football History edition of The Game before the Money Podcast. New editions of 5 Minutes of Football History are posted each Tuesday. Oth...

Ken Hall owned the national high school rushing record for 59 years until NFL star Derrick Henry broke the record in 2012. Learn about the history of the record and where NFL greats like Emmitt Smith and Herschel Walker fit into the mix. This episode is a Five Minutes of Football History edition of The Game before the Money Podcast. Five Minutes of Football History is released each Tuesday. I also...

Dub Jones played for the Cleveland Browns during their glory days winning championships in the NFL and AAFC. He is one of only three players in NFL history to score 6 touchdowns in one game. He shares stories accomplishing the feat and about the 1950 NFL Championship Game. He also was a member of the Browns coaching staff when they won the 1964 NFL Championship Game. Jones fills us in about the Br...

A look at Pat Mahomes leading the Kansas City Chiefs to victory in Super Bowl 54 after entering the fourth quarter trailing by 10 points and what similarities that comeback has with two other great fourth-quarter comebacks in NFL championship history: Otto Graham with the 1950 Cleveland Browns and Johnny Unitas with the 1958 Baltimore Colts. This episode is a Five Minutes of Football History editi...

Chicago Bears rookie Gale Sayers scored on the Bears first possession against the San Francisco 49ers on December 12, 1965. He scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter. Then he kept right on scoring and didn't stop until he blasted the 49ers with six touchdowns on a cold and muddy afternoon at Wrigley Field. Sayers became the third player in NFL history to score six touchdowns in one game....

Bengals legend Ken Riley recently passed away. In this Five Minutes of Football History we celebrate his college coach Jake Gaither. Coach Gaither stood as one of the most successful and respected coaches in college football for a quarter of a century. His Florida A and M program placed over 40 players into the NFL, including Hall of Famer Bob Hayes. Five Minutes of Football History is released ea...