Athletes

Conrad Dobler

Bill Thompson

The NFL’s regular season begins tomorrow. By next February we’ll have another Super Bowl champion, And another year’s worth of memorable plays and thrilling endings.

But for today, let’s hit rewind and go back to an interview I did in 1988, with a 10-year NFL veteran, three-time Pro Bowl player, known for his alleged underhanded tactics on the field.

During his six years with the Cardinals, two with the Saints, and two with the Bills, his opponents often referred to Conrad Dobler as a “dirty” player.

So in 1988, when Dobler wrote his memoir, what do you think he called it? Its title is They Call Me Dirty.

So here now, from 1988, Conrad Dobler.

Conrad Dobler died last February. He was 72.

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Tracy Austin

Bill Thompson
Photo by Robbie Mendelson

To this day, no woman has ever done what Tracy Austin did at the US Open.

Austin won the US Open women’s singles title in 1979, when she was just 16, making her the youngest ever to win that title.

During her professional career, Austin won 30 tennis titles.

But by age 21, her career was all but ended by a series of injuries. That led to speculationand rumor about what was really going on with Tracy Austin.

In 1992 she set out to put those rumors to rest, and tell her story in her own words. Her book was called Beyond Center Court. And that’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1992, Tracy Austin.

Tracy Austin is 60 now. She works as a metwork TV tennis commentator.

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Cyndy Garvey

Bill Thompson
Photo by Cal Montney, LA Times

Major League baseball fans will remember Steve Garvey, the charismatic All-Star first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1970s and 1980s.

On the field, Garvey was a superstar.

In his personal life, however, not so much, according to his ex-wife Cyndy Garvey.

There’s was a messy and public divorce in the late 1970s.

And, according to Cyndy, she took much of the blame from loyal Dodgers fan who couldn’t believe allegations accusing Steve of cheating and abuse.

Steve and Cyndy Garvey with their daughter, 1975. Photo: LA Times

She put it all in her 1989 book The Secret Life of Cyndy Garvey.

And that’s when I met her. So here now, from 1989, Cyndy Garvey.

Cyndy Garvey celebrated her 74th birthday this month.

More than 30 years after his retirement from baseball, Steve Garvey has not yet won election to the baseball Hall of Fame.

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Rafer Johnson

Bill Thompson
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Let’s go back to 1960, and the Olympic games. That was the year a 26-year-old named Rafer Johnson took the gold medal in the decathlon. Four years earlier, Johnson had won the silver.

But his achievements did not end when his athletic career was over. Johnson became a successful actor in the 1960s and ”70s.

Johnson also became politically active in the 1960s, and that’s how he found himself in the kitchen at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles the night. Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, 55 years ago this week.

I met him in 1998, when he wrote his autobiography, called The Best that I Can Be:

So here now, from 1998, Rafer Johnson.z

Rafer Johnson died in 2020. He was 86

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Tamilee Webb

Bill Thompson

If you’ve ever seen the exercise video called “Buns of Steel, you” know exactly who Tamilee Webb is.

For over 30 years, Webb has been one of America’s leading and most popular fitness gurus.

Webb’s popularity as a television personality helped propel her to a series of best-selling books and videos.

I met her in 1995, when she was promoting her book Step Up Fitness Workout.

So here now, from 1995, Tamilee Webb.

Tamilee Webb is 64 now. And still going strong. She was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame in 2008.

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Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Bill Thompson

Sports Illustrated For Women once named Jackie Joyner-Kersee the greatest female athlete of all time.

With her almost superhuman talents in the heptathlon and long jump, Joyner-Kersee accumulated multiple Olympic gold medals during her career.

After her Olympic career ended, she even was briefly a professional basketball player.

In 1997, Jackie Joyner-Kersee wrote her autobiography, a book called A Kind of Grace. That’s when I have the chance to talk with her. So here now, from 1997, Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee is 61 now. A few weeks ago, she was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.

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Joe Garagiola

Bill Thompson

Tomorrow is Major League baseball’s opening day, the first day of the 2023 season.

On the first day of a 162 game schedule, every team is in first place. Any team can win the world series. And a batter can hit /400, and a picture can have a no-hitter.

The world is full of possibilities .

On the Opening Day roster for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1946 was a rookie catcher named Joe Garageola.

That year Joe played in his first, and only, World Series. He was a major leaguer for nine seasons, playing for the Cardinals, the Pirates, the Cubs, and the Giants.

But after his retirement from the game, Joe Garagiola found another career in which he had much greater success.

Television.

He did sports broadcasting, but also game shows, and even substitute hosting on the Tonight Show.

I met him in 1988, when he was promoting his book It’s Anybody’s Ballgame, about his post baseball career.

No, to add some context to the interview you’re about to hear. We talked just a couple of weeks into the 1988 season, but already by that time the hapless Baltimore Orioles had a 13 game losing streak, a major league record. Sadly he Os Went on to lose their first 21 games in a row, which still stands as the major league record.

So here now, from 1988, Joe Garagiola.

Joe Garagiola.died in 2016. He was 90.

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Doug Williams

Bill Thompson

It’s super bowl weekend, and as we prepare to watch the Rams and Bengals in super bowl 56, let me take you back to super bowl 22 in January 1988 between the Washington Redskins and the Denver broncos.

The quarterback for the Redskins that evening was 32-year-old. Doug Williams.

And by halftime, Williams had made NFL history. In the second quarter alone, he passed for $340 yards and four touchdowns. The Redskins ended up as super bowl champions, and Williams was the game’s MVP.

He was the first black quarterback to start and win a super bowl.
A couple of years later, he wrote an autobiography called Quarterblack.

And even though this interview is 30 years old, it still seems very relevant today, especially in light of the Brian Flores lawsuit against the NFL.

So here now, from 1990, Doug Williams.

Doug Williams of 66 now. He’s an executive with the Washington Redskins, now known as the Washington Commanders.

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Dan Jansen

Bill Thompson
Photo: Ineke Vogel

As the 2022 Winter Olympics get underway today in China, we are reminded that these games can produce heroes and great triumphs, but also soul crushing defeats which can bring out either the best or the worst in a competitor.

Wisconsin native Dan Jansen was one of the world’s best speed skaters when he went to the Winter Olympics in 1988. He carried the expectations of millions of Americans on his shoulders. But as the games got underway, Jensen got devastating news from back home — his sister Jane was dying of leukemia.

He was informed of her death just before competing in the 500-meter event, the one he was expected to win. But he fell in that race, and fell again in the 1,000-meter race, and came home with no medals.

In 1992, he again came home empty-handed. Many people tacked the name the heartbreak kid on him.

But in 1994, at the Lillehammer Olympics, in his final race, the 1,000-meter, Jansen won his first and only medal, a gold medal.

I met him just a few months later, when he wrote a book called Full Circle.

So here now, from 1994, Dan Jansen.

Dan Jansen is 56 now. He’s an NBC commentator.

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Dick Butkus

Bill Thompson
Photo by Alan Light

The national football League is over 100 years old, and in that time, football fans have enjoyed some breathtaking games, spectacular plays, some of the most colorful athletes we’ve ever known, and more than a few moments of spectator sport agony.

In 1994, The NFL participated in publishing a huge coffee table book reflecting on the first 75 years of the league. And to write the forward to that book, they chose legendary Chicago bears, middle linebacker Dick Butkus.

Now I grew up in the Chicago area, so I knew the name Dick butkus very well — and his reputation. An opponent once said that when he was tackling you, Dick Butkus was aiming not to put you in the hospital but the cemetery.

But when I met him to talk about that book, I found him to be a very warm and personable guy with lots of fun stories.

So here now, from 1994, Dick Butkus

Dick Butkus celebrated his 79th birthday last week. He’s active in several charities through the Butkus Foundation.