NFL

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.

Don Shula

Bill Thompson

Last week the National Football League and its fans lost a truly iconic figure, Don Shula, the all-time winningest NFL coach, died at the age of 90.

I met Don Shula in 1995, just a few months before the start of what would be his final season coaching in the NFL. He had written a book on coaching and leadership, along with Ken Blanchard, the prolific author who [s best known for his book “The One Minute Manager.”

Here now, from 1995, Don Shula and Ken Blanchard:

To this day, the 1972 Miami Dolphins team that Don Shula coached is still the only team that’s ever put together a perfect, undefeated season.

Mary Tillman

Bill Thompson

Recently the 20-year war in Afghanistan came to an end. Have his given all of us time to reflect on those two decades.

We also remember the 23 hundred or so US servicemen and women who died in Afghanistan.

One of them, in particular, drew public attention. Then-27 year-old Army Ranger, and former NFL star, Pat Tillman was killed in 2004.

But that tragedy was compounded when the Pentagon apparently attempted to cover up the circumstances of his death.

Mary Tillman on C-SPAN

It eventually was revealed that he was killed by a so-called “friendly fire.”

A few years later, Pat Tillman’s mother, Mary Tillman, wrote a book about her son and her fight with the Pentagon. And that’s when I met her.

So here now, from 2008, Mary Tillman:

Pat Tillman was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

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Tom Landry

Bill Thompson
Photo: Jim Bowen

The NFL regular season kicks off tomorrow night, September 9th, at the Dallas Cowboys take on the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Now, for 29 Seasons, those cowboys were coached by one of the most successful coaches in NFL history: Tom Landry. He was, in fact, the first head coach of the expansion Dallas franchise, in 1960.

He racked up 20 consecutive winning seasons with the Cowboys. Under whose leadership the Cowboys won two Super Bowls, five NFC championships, and 13 divisional titles.

But a string of losing seasons in the late 1980s made of done him in. One day after the new team owner, Jerry Jones, took over, Landry was unceremoniously fired.

The following year, he wrote his autobiography. And that’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1990, Tom Landry.

Tom Landry died in 2000. He was 75.

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Terry BradshawBart Starr

Terry Bradshaw

Bill Thompson

Most people consider Terry Bradshaw, formerly of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, to be among the greatest quarterbacks ever.

His list of accomplishments, on and off the is impressive.

He’s had a long and fruitful career as a broadcaster, and he’s done some acting.

And he’s also written a couple of books. That’s how I met him, in 2002.

And no, football is not the center of his life.

So here now, come 2002, Terry Bradshaw.

Terry Bradshaw will be 73 in September.

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Gene Klein

Bill Thompson

In the early 1960s, the San Diego Chargers were a powerhouse in the American Football League.

In 1966, the franchise was purchased by a very successful California businessman named Gene Klein. He paid the them-princely sum of 10 million dollars.

But after running the team for 18 years, Klein solded in 1984.

And a couple of years later he wrote a book about his experience, which he called First Down And a Billion. And that’s when I met him.

I interviewed him just five days before Super Bowl XXI, so be sure and listen to the end to find out what his prediction was. And how accurate he was.

So here now, from January 1987, Gene Klein.

Gene Klein died in 1990, at the age of 69.

Bart Starr

Bill Thompson
Bart Starr with Bill Thompson, 1987

The Kansas City Chiefs are meeting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. The Chiefs were also in the very first Super Bowl, in 1967.

But it was their misfortune that year to be playing the Green Bay Packers, who are led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr. He was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, as well as MVP of Super Bowl II Ithe following year.

I met Bart Starr in 1987, when he wrote a memoir of not just his years with the Packers, but his college career, his childhood, if you supposed to Green Bay career.

So here now, from 1987, Super Bowl 1 MVP Bart Starr:

Now the NFL hands out the Bart Starr Award, to a player of outstanding character.

Bart Starr died in 2019 at age 85.

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Joe Theismann

Joe Theismann

Bill Thompson

Very few professional athletes are best remembered for the game, or the play, that ended their career. But Joe Theismann maybe one of them.

It was on this date, November 18th, 1985 — 35 years ago — that Joe Theismann sustained a gruesome, career-ending injury before a national TV audience.

It was the second quarter of the Monday night game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants, at Washington’s RFK Stadium. Theismann, the Redskin quarterback, called a a “flea flicker” play, and seconds later was tackled by Lawrence Taylor of the Giants.

The impact snapped Theismann’s lower right leg in half.

He never played football again.I met him two years later, after he had written a book about his football career an d the play that ended it..

So here now, from 1987, Joe Theismann:

Joe Theismann is 71 now. You can still see him as an analyst on the NFL Network, and he’s a popular motivational speaker.

Sam Huff

Bill Thompson

Sam Huff was such a force in the National Football League in the 1950s and ’60s that CBS television produced a special called “The Violent World of Sam Huff.”

One of the first middle linebackers in the NFL, Huff was one of the game’s toughest competitors, first for the New York Giants, later for the Washington Redskins.

Huff played in six NFL Championship Games and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982.

And for more than 20 years Sam Huff was a color commentator on Redskins radio broadcasts.
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I met him in 2011, when he wrote a very frank memoir.

So here now, from 2011, Sam Huff.

Sam Huff is 85 now,