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This podcast is part of the Sports History Network - the headquarters of sports' yesteryear. SHOW DESCRIPTION: These days, the New England Patriots are often thought of as one of the elite teams in the NFL. However, that hasn’t always been the case, especially during the team’s infancy, when they were a charter member of the upstart AFL and chaos and confusion often reigned. The Patriots of the 60s and early 70s were a transient team and played its home games in no less than 5 different stadiums. The Pats also cycled thru its head coaches quite frequently back then and one coach in particular is often remembered as the one who best epitomized the team’s failings during this time. In this 4-part series, we will take a look at the team’s humble beginnings in Boston in 1960 to their first years in Foxboro. We will also do a deep dive into the timeline between 1969 – 1972 to relive some of the most shocking and bizarre events to ever impact a professional sports franchise. The Patriots: From Boston to Foxboro. HOST - JOE SANTOS: Joe Santos grew up in Massachusetts and is an avid football fan, with a special fondness for the NFL in the early 70s. This Week in Pro Football and NFL Game of the Week were must-see TV back in the day. And living in Massachusetts meant you saw all of the NY Giants games on tv, both home and away, as they were the de facto home team for the NFC. Due to the blackout rules at the time, only the Patriots away games were shown. Being a huge sports history fan, Joe will continue to tell the unusual stories from an era that's considered to be the golden age of pro football.

Thanksgiving Day, 1924. The recently-established tradition of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team hosting the Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions on the afternoon of the national autumnal holiday continues. Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is sent to cover the Pitt-Penn State “Keystone Classic” of 1924; in so doing, he discovers a throughline of the football-on-Thanksgiving tradition going back to 1621 (okay, actually, that’s going back to 1869) and reminds us that high-level football games on Thanksgiving are nearly as old as the official Thanksgiving holiday itself.   Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is an audio drama podcast from Number 80 Productions and the Sports History Network. Thanksgiving and Football (or maybe Vice Versa) script & story by Os Davis. Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer stars Doug Fye, Ilona Fye, and Eric Bodwell. Thanksgiving and Football (or maybe Vice Versa) co-stars, in order of appearance, Caedmon Holland, Forrest Hartl and Wayne Brett. Additional direction by Eric Bodwell. Sound recording and primary editing by Don McIver. The theme song of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is “the Dayton Triangles Rag” and was arranged and performed by Bruce Smith.  Other tracks in this episode include •  “Jazz Club” by Kriss (available through fair-use agreement via FreeMusicArchive.org); •  “Litany of the Street” by Silverman Sound Studios; •  “Bimini Bay” (1921) by the Benson Orchestra of Chicago; and •  “Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer (Outro)” by David Liso of Dynamo Stairs. Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is produced by Os Davis and Darin Hayes. Series concept by Darrin Hayes. Stay tuned for more episodes of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer – coming soon!

In the 1964 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings chose Milt in the twentieth round, number 271 overall. He would play ten seasons in the NFL and would play behind players like Grady Alderman and Mick Tinglehoff. He made one pro bowl in his professional career and was part of the 1969 team that won the last NFL Championship before it was renamed the NFC Championship starting in 1970.

This time on the pigskin tales podcast, I will be talking about a guy who grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was instrumental in helping Ernie Nevers set a never been touched record of 40 pts in a regular season NFL game. Teammates nicknamed him Big Kies. High School classmates nicknamed him Babe because he hit home runs like Babe Ruth at the time.

Hey friends! On the last episode of the podcast, I wrote a short story on Dave Casper. He was a one of a kind guy who played with the Raiders, Vikings and Oilers. He was born in Bemidji, Minnesota, but grew up in the woods of Wisconsin. Don’t take the literally folks, please. He won a super bowl with the Raiders in 1975 and became the 9th best tight end in NFL history. This time, the tale is about an average Joe from White Earth, Minnesota. He grew up in the same era as Jim Thorpe, played fullback on offense and sideback on defense. Later, the position was renamed to defensive halfback according to him. This, is, Pigskin Tales. The story of Joe, “Big Chief” Guyon.

When Dave Casper was a member of the Oakland Raiders, he said “With the Raiders we don’t have to put up with that Mickey Mouse stuff. We don’t have rules about keeping our chinstraps buckled on the sidelines. We don’t have coaches encouraging a lot of false chatter on the practice field. The phony stuff is for losers. We’re treated like intelligent human beings. We don’t live by a lot of degrading rules. Our coaches don’t harass us because they know we’re winners.” Dave Casper was a winner in the National Football League. According to profootballhof.com, he played for eleven seasons with the Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers, and Minnesota Vikings.  He finished his playing career with 5,216 yards receiving on 378 receptions and 52 touchdowns over the course of 147 games. He played in four pro bowls in six and a half seasons with the Raiders, and one with the Houston Oilers. Casper was also named to the All-Pro and All-AFC teams four times. Where does Dave’s story start? I’m going to tell you. This is the story of Dave “the ghost” Casper.

For those that are new to listening to the Pigskin Tales Podcast, thanks for choosing to listen. I appreciate the fact that you took the time out of your busy day to find out what this podcast is all about. Before really get into it, I want to take some time to tell you a little bit about myself.  My name is Ross and I grew up in a small farming community 25 miles south of Fargo, North Dakota. Colfax, is one of the closest high schools that I attended. Technically it’s in the Richland school district and its comprised of Colfax, Abercrombie, Christine, Galchutt, and Barney. I am part of a family of 3 boys and no sisters. But now that my 2 brothers and I have been married for a while, I can say that I have 2 sisters and a wife. My wife and I don’t have any kids of our own, but we’ve fostered kids within Grand Forks County and since that didn’t work out to adopt, we have now been looking into adopting from the Village. The Village is a small company that helps people in many different ways; like financial counseling, adopting children and just counseling in general. Anyway, my older brother lives with his wife and 2 boys in Minneapolis and my younger brother lives in Waconia with his wife and 5 boys. My younger brother just turned 40 on the 8th and so, now we’re all officially in the 40 and older club. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing. Maybe we’ll just say that we’re all a little older and wiser. Ok, so now that I have that you know a little bit about me and my family, I want to tell you about this podcast. First, the easiest and simplest way of explaining what it is, is a collection of stories I have found on ex-NFL players that came from Minnesota. That’s what it has evolved into. At first, I just started out analyzing Minnesota Vikings players, news, and games that I watched. Then I decided to research the history of the Vikings and try to put it into a biography of sorts. I was attempting to do my own version of ESPN’s 30for30, but that didn’t work out. So really I just wrote the players biography from the internet. I know I am not supposed to use Wikipedia, but I used it for some of the research links. And at the end of an episode, I used to say all the links I used. But then I decided to shorten things up. Now, what I have been doing is sort of the same thing as before, writing a biography about a player, but now I do it in a short series if I can. Some series have gotten really long; like Ernie Nevers, but I been trying to limit myself to only 4 parts so that it doesn’t get too long. If you have listened to this podcast in the past and have enjoyed it, please review my work. I have an email address you can send a message to or you can find my profile on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I have attempted to create a You-tube account, but have not used that as of late, because my computer doesn’t seem to want to save my video work. So I’m working on saving money to buy a new computer. If you want to send me an email my address is [email protected]. I also have a patreon account in which you can support me monetarily. There are membership levels so low that it only costs you a dollar to support me if you so choose. I am also part of the sports history network ran by Arnie Chapman who doubles as host of the podcast the Football History Dude. His stuff is good too. Take a listen! He just made his 200th episode! So there ya have it. A little bit about the Pigskin Tales Podcast. I hope you enjoyed listening to this and I hope that you decide to listen to more episodes moving forward.

Thanks for listening to the Pigskin Tales Podcast. This story was written and produced by Ross Blilie; Edited by Nikki Blilie. To support the podcast join me on Patreon. You can find the podcast on any platform you want. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible. If you like the story, help me out by doing a quick review.  This will help others to want to listen. The soundtrack is from film music.io Last time on the pigskin tales podcast, I had interviewed Jim LeClair’s eldest daughter Kelli. She and I have a special relationship that goes back to 2011 when I went to Mayville State University for Elementary Education. Coincidentally, she just happened to not only be one of my teachers, she was the daughter of one of the 50 greatest linebackers in Cincinnati Bengals franchise history. The interview was awesome, and if you haven’t listened to it yet check it out. This time on the pigskin tales podcast, I’ll be finishing up the story of the Mayville Mayor Jim LeClair. So sit back, relax, and enjoy listening to the pigskin tales podcast.

In this episode of the Pigskin Tales Podcast, I interviewed Jim LeClair's eldest daughter Kelli. She and I have a special relationship since 2011 when I attended Mayville State University as a student taking classes in Elementary Education. She was one of my teachers. I had no idea that her dad was one of the 50 greatest players in Cincinnati Bengals franchise history. Kelli gives me a unique perspective on how life of an NFL star was in the 1970's.

Last time on the pigskin tales podcast, I introduced you to a man that became a star in Cincinnati Bengals franchise history. Jim LeClair was a guy from South Saint Paul, Minnesota who grew up to be an All-Pro at the NFL level. His passion, toughness, and never say quit attitude propelled him to the highest level. He is remembered for his love of god, family and football, in that order. He also played for the New Jersey Generals for two seasons in the USFL in the mid 80’s. This time on the pigskin tales podcast, I’ll dive a little deeper into Jim’s football career.

This is not an episode. This is my " why is patreon important?" sales pitch. It also includes some promos I made for other podcasters like Darin Hayes and Joe Zagorski. Pleae consider supporting me on patreon. here is the link to check it out. www.patreon.com/pigskintales

On this episode of the Pigskin Tales, the populations of Minneapolis and Saint Paul are compared. The NFL was becoming a more popular sport with increased stadium attendance, and Jim LeClair from South Saint Paul, Minnesota, becomes an all-metro first team roster member in the Twin Cities in 1968. Next time, you'll hear a story about Jim in college at UMN-Crookston and UND. Later, he gets drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL and becomes a staple of the Cincinnati Bengals defense for 12 seasons.

This is the last episode in the Bronko Nagurski series. In this episode, Nagurski and the Bears play in the '34 NFL championship that's dubbed "The sneakers game." Plus, Nagurski retires after being told by Halas that he can't get a raise to help secure his family's future.

Yesterday's Sports is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, I used interviews from a youtube video from former NFL players created in 2018 and a youtube clip from NBC Sports created in 2021. I also input my own thoughts about the first ever playoff championship game in NFL history. Get a FREE 1-Week Trial to Newspapers.com to learn about this topic and much more!!! ABOUT PIGSKIN TALES The podcast is a single hosted biography-style show that is informative utilizing historical context. it is the re-telling of an athlete’s life story through newspaper clippings and youtube videos. the host adds their own opinion on the athlete’s performance based on stats found online at profootballreference.com it is not connected to the NFL in any way. The podcast is strictly written and produced by a guy who loves history and football. PIGSKIN TALES PAGE ABOUT HOST - ROSS BLILIE The host of the Pigskin Tales podcast is Ross Blilie ( pronounced BLY-LEE). He lives in Grand Forks, ND with his wife and dog. He started podcasting in March of 2018 as a suggestion from his older brother to continue with his love of being on the radio Ross has worked in several radio stations as an announcer in both Fargo, ND, and Grand Forks, ND. Ross’s radio career started in 2004 as an intern for Y-94 in Fargo, ND. Eventually, he made his way to Grand Forks in 2011. He has college degrees from MSUM in Moorhead, MN, and Mayville State University in Mayville, ND. Follow Ross on Twitter – @pigskintalespod

On this episode of the Pigskin Tales Podcast, Bronko Nagurski gets drafted to the Chicago Bears and helps the team win their first NFL Championship.