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 about quarterbacking the Colorado Buffaloes to victory in the 1957 Orange Bowl and how he, Paul Hornung, and Ray Nitschke were called into military service in the middle of the NFL season. You will also hear about an incident at a Packers’ practice that left a hole in Nitschke’s helmet!

Did you know that Dowler served as an assistant coach under George Allen? Find out more in this episode of The Game before the Money Podcast.

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.

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 Lamar Hunt, playing against John Elway, and what made Hall of Famer Howie Long such a great player.

You will also learn some helpful workout tips from a former NFL player who remains in fantastic shape!

This is a repeat of an episode that was first released in 2018.

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.

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.

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.