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

NFL Kicker Tony Franklin tells why he kicked barefoot in the NFL, how he set the NCAA record with two 60-yard field goals in one game, and playing against Earl Campbell in high school.

The popular football history podcast is now a national radio show! Airing Saturdays at 11am Eastern/10 am Central on the SportsMap Radio Network and the SportsMap Radio app. Connecting the past, present, and future of pro and college football.

This interview is the full interview for the August 13, 2022 radio show.

Episodes of The Game Before the Money Radio Show will be posted weekly throughout the 2022 NFL and NCAA football season. Additional episodes of The Game Before the Money Podcast, featuring pro and college football legends, will also be posted regularly.  Learn more at https://www.TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.

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Dick Vermeil shares memories of coaching the Eagles, Rams, and Chiefs. He also discusses winning the Rose Bowl at UCLA, growing up in California, and his friendship with Bill Walsh. Coach Vermeil was an NFL head coach in the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.

Learn more about The Game Before the Money at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com

Upton Bell shares his memories of attending the 1948 NFL Championship Game with his father, NFL commissioner Bert Bell, in this episode of The Game before the Money Podcast. This episode also includes an interview clip from Al Wistert, a Philadelphia Eagles lineman and 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist. The 1948 NFL Championship Game was the first televised NFL Championship Game and laid the foundation for what has become Super Bowl Sunday. Hear how Bert Bell’s foresight helped grow the NFL’s future through the powerful new technology of television.

The 1948 NFL Championship Game featured a rematch of the previous year’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals). The teams played in a blizzard and battled both the elements and their opponents. Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren nearly missed the game because of the weather before scoring the game’s winning touchdown, powered by perhaps one of the greatest blocks in NFL history.

You will also learn how both teams utilized versions of modern NFL offenses rather than the “three yards and a cloud of dust” adjective that is often erroneously used to describe the era.

Episodes of The Game before the Money Podcast are released each week, except for certain episodes that take about two weeks to create. 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.

Bert Bell founded the Philadelphia Eagles in 1933. In 1946, he took over as NFL Commissioner. His innovations provide a backbone for the modern game and pro sports in general. A few of his innovations include: the player draft, overtime, and the weekly injury report. He also vaulted the NFL into the age of television. Learn the backstories to these innovations -- as well as Bell's role in the foundation of the American Football League -- from Bell's son, Upton Bell, in this episode of The Game before the Money Podcast. 

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