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The November 1, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated featured World Series MVP Johnny Bench on the cover, captured in the middle of the Cincinnati Reds’ dominant World Series sweep of the New York Yankees. The Big Red Machine had just claimed its second straight championship, and the magazine celebrated the team’s power, precision, and place among the greatest clubs of the decade. Inside, the focus stayed largely on baseball’s fall classic, but the sports world of late 1976 was full of other stories waiting to be told — including one unfolding up the Hudson River at West Point, where a lanky quarterback named Leamon Hall was quietly rewriting Army’s passing record book. Hall’s 1976 season stands as one of the most prolific aerial campaigns in Army football history. The 6-foot-5 junior threw for 2,174 yards and 15 touchdowns on 344 attempts, numbers almost unheard of for a service academy team in that era. He was never a dual-threat option quarterback; he was a pure passer who forced the Black Knights to open up their offense. By the time his career ended he owned virtually every meaningful passing record at West Point — single-game, single-season, and career — and remains one of the most productive quarterbacks the Academy has ever produced. This week on Past Our Prime we welcome Army football historian Omar-Rashon Borja, West Point Class of 2021 and a lifelong Cadets fan. Omar explains how Hall blossomed under head coach Homer Smith, who adjusted the offense to take advantage of his strong arm. He also takes us back to the 1940s, arguing that the 1944 Army team — which outscored its opponents 504-35 across nine wins — might be the greatest not only in program history but in all of college football. Omar walks through the three Heisman winners — Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis, and Pete Dawkins — and makes the case that Davis may have been the best player Army ever put on the field. We ask him what it meant for the country to see the Cadets at their absolute peak during the final years of World War II, when college football still ruled the American sports landscape and the team from West Point stood at the center of it. It’s a powerful look back at some of the biggest names in college football history — men who suited up when the nation needed them most — and we have the perfect historian to tell their stories. Omar-Rashon Borja joins us this week on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the cover of the October 25, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated stand two Hall of Famers—Dave Cowens and Julius Erving—as four ABA teams prepare to join the NBA and the Doctor arrives to change the league forever. Cowens, the relentless Celtic center fresh off a championship, shares the spotlight with Dr. J just as the merger brings dazzling new talent into the established league. Inside the magazine, the Big Red Machine rolls over the Yankees, George Foreman steamrolls another challenger, and Seattle Slew announces himself as a future champion. Julius Erving appeared on that cover in a New York Nets uniform, symbolizing the ABA’s arrival in the NBA, yet the image was already outdated by the time the magazine hit newsstands. Just days earlier the financially strapped Nets had sold their transcendent superstar to the Philadelphia 76ers, a transaction that instantly altered both franchises. The Nets lost the player who defined them and slipped into years of struggle, while the 76ers gained the cornerstone of a new era that would carry them to the 1977 Finals and a championship in 1983. Bob Ryan joins Past Our Prime for the fifth time and takes us inside the seismic shift of the 1976 ABA-NBA merger, beginning with the immediate impact Julius Erving had on the league. Ryan recalls first seeing a young Erving as a sophomore at UMass, when the future Doctor dropped 26 points and 18 rebounds long before the afro and the nickname. He walks through the wave of talent the merger delivered and how the 76ers, armed with Dr. J, looked ready to claim a title only to run into a Bill Walton-led Portland team at the absolute peak of its powers. Ryan also explains why Dave Cowens briefly left the Celtics after Red Auerbach made one of the worst decisions of his career by trading Paul Silas, reflects on the “tortured soul” that was Jerry West, and shares that John Havlicek would never have retired when he did had he known how great Larry Bird was going to be. The same intensity that made Cowens great also made the Silas trade especially hard to accept. So much so that Cowens walked away from the game for a bit and famously took a job driving a taxi around Boston before eventually returning. It’s a rich conversation about a pivotal moment in basketball history—and Bob Ryan was there to see it all and now to tell it all… this week on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chuck Foreman was one of the NFL’s most versatile and exciting running backs of the 1970s, a key weapon in the Minnesota Vikings’ run of success that included three Super Bowl appearances. Nicknamed “The Spin Doctor” for his elusive running style, Foreman was as dangerous catching passes out of the backfield as he was carrying the football. Named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1973 and a five-time Pro Bowl selection, he became a central figure in the Vikings’ offense alongside quarterback Fran Tarkenton and helped define an era of Minnesota football built on toughness, creativity, and winning. The October 18, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated featured Foreman on the cover in a dynamic action shot by photographer Walter Iooss Jr., captured while rushing against the Chicago Bears on October 10 in Bloomington. The cover highlighted his powerful presence during another tight Vikings victory—a 20-19 “squeaker” in which Minnesota dominated the first half before the Bears surged back in the second. Inside, Robert F. Jones’s story “The Two-for-One Special” detailed the back-and-forth contest and underscored how the Vikings continued their habit of winning close games that season with Foreman as a central force in their potent offense. On the Past Our Prime podcast, Foreman joins a growing list of Vikings legends that includes fellow great Fran Tarkenton and his dear friend Ed White, the very first guest in the history of the show. He talks about how coach Bud Grant helped mold him into the game’s original dual-threat back, leading the entire NFL in receptions as a fullback in 1975 while scoring 22 touchdowns, then following it up with another Pro Bowl season in 1976. Foreman explains how that innovative Vikings offense was really a precursor to the famous West Coast offense, yet never quite gets the credit it deserves. He gets honest about how losing all those Super Bowls and being branded a “loser” still stings to this day, because those teams were loaded with great players and even greater men. Foreman also reflects on finishing second in the 1975 MVP voting to his quarterback and close friend Tarkenton, and shares stories about learning to catch the ball in the brutal, freezing Minneapolis weather—conditions that became a real home-field advantage for the purple and gold. The great Chuck Foreman, this week on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The October 11, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated featured Cincinnati Reds slugger George Foster on the cover, at a time when the Big Red Machine was chasing its second consecutive World Series championship. Foster was becoming one of baseball’s most feared power hitters, joining Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Pete Rose in a lineup that overwhelmed opponents. The Reds would go on to sweep the Phillies in the NLCS and the Yankees in the World Series, cementing their place among baseball’s all-time great teams. This week on Past Our Prime, we welcome former major league pitcher and longtime Reds broadcaster Chris Welsh as we look back at that incredible team from half a century ago. Welsh tells us how Foster developed into one of the game’s most dangerous hitters—and reveals the funny side of George that fans rarely got to see. Welsh also shares how Pete Rose helped him get one last shot in the big leagues, bringing him back to his hometown Reds. He explains how he broke into broadcasting with no experience, no résumé and no credentials beyond a love of baseball—and somehow turned that opportunity into a career spanning more than three decades. He also reveals how Marty Brennaman gave him the nickname “The Creeper” and tells a hilarious story about how he avoided getting intimate with Reds owner Marge Schott. Chris Welsh has been in baseball for over 40 years, and he's got the stories to match... and he shares a good deal of them this week on Past Our Prime. Download, listen... like... you know the drill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 1976 Maryland Terrapins had their breakout season under quarterback Mark Manges, a 6'3", 220-pound junior out of Cumberland, Maryland, who landed on the October 4, 1976 cover of Sports Illustrated under the headline “Maryland on the Move,” captured mid-scramble against Syracuse by photographer Walter Iooss Jr. Manges, a dual-threat “tackle-busting” quarterback who passed for 1,145 yards on just 139 attempts while also rushing for 448 yards and clearing holes for his running backs, helped lead Maryland to an extraordinary 11-0 start that season, pushing the Terrapins to a No. 6 national ranking before the team ultimately fell to Houston 30-21 in the Cotton Bowl. His performance earned him First-team All-ACC honors, and the cover appearance remains one of the signature moments in Maryland football history — a program that, as the SI piece on his legacy later noted, became more popular in the state that fall “than crab cakes.” That same October 4, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated also featured a photo of another quarterback making his mark that fall: Mike Rae of the Oakland Raiders. When starter Ken Stabler went down with a knee injury early in the season, the former USC Trojan stepped in against the Houston Oilers on September 26 and delivered a steady 13-of-22 performance for 170 yards and two touchdown passes to Cliff Branch in a narrow 14-13 victory that kept the Raiders undefeated at 3-0. Rae’s calm, efficient play provided exactly the insurance John Madden’s team needed. Rae would start twice that year and win both games, including a 24-0 victory over San Diego in the regular-season finale while Stabler rested. His steady presence helped stabilize a loaded Raiders squad that went on to win Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl — the same stadium where Rae had capped off a perfect national championship season for USC under coach John McKay just a few years earlier. Mike Rae swings by the Past Our Prime podcast to talk about what it was really like being the guy who had to step in whenever Kenny “The Snake” Stabler went down for that multi-talented 1970s Raiders team. He gets into all the bigger-than-life personalities around him — owner Al Davis running the show his own way, John Madden pacing the sidelines, and of course Stabler himself. Rae also reflects on returning to the Rose Bowl for the Super Bowl, leaving Oakland for Tampa Bay and reuniting with his college coach, starting his career in the CFL, and wrapping things up in the USFL. And yeah… he drops a great story about the ultimate Raiders super fan, James Garner — Mr. Rockford himself. It’s a fun one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The September 27, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated put Ken Norton on the cover under the headline “All Set to Slam in the Rubber Match,” previewing his highly anticipated third and final showdown with Muhammad Ali, set for September 28 at Yankee Stadium—the last fight ever held at the original ballpark. The trilogy stood at a fascinating 1-1 split: Norton had famously broken Ali’s jaw to win a decision in their first bout back in 1973, while Ali had claimed a close, disputed decision in their 1975 rematch, setting up a rubber match billed as a true toss-up between two evenly matched heavyweights. Despite most ringside observers and commentators feeling Norton had done enough to win the fight, Ali was awarded a controversial 15-round unanimous decision, retaining his WBA, WBC, and Ring heavyweight titles in what remains one of the most hotly debated verdicts in boxing history—a result so contentious that Ali himself later admitted, “Kenny’s style is too difficult for me. I can’t beat him, and I sure don’t want to fight him again.” This despite the fact that Ali never lost a rematch, going 5-0 against Joe Frazier, Ken Norton and Leon Spinks. It was one of the many traits that made Ali the greatest Larry Merchant recalled when we recently chatted us from his home in Southern California. Born in 1931 in New York, Merchant rose from newspaper columns at the Philadelphia Daily News and New York Post to become the definitive voice of boxing on television. Joining HBO in 1978, he spent 35 years as its lead ringside analyst, delivering sharp, fearless commentary and post-fight interviews alongside Jim Lampley and others on countless championship bouts. Known for his poetic insights, skepticism of hype, and memorable confrontations—most famously telling Floyd Mayweather he wished he were 50 years younger so he could kick his ass—Merchant elevated the role of the boxing analyst. A Sam Taub Award winner and inductee into both the World Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame, he is widely regarded as the greatest television boxing analyst of all time. Larry Merchant steps into the squared circle of the Past Our Prime podcast to lace up and talk the historic fights he witnessed ringside over the decades. He takes us back to 1938, when his old man let him stay up late to listen to the second Joe Louis-Max Schmeling war on the radio—and from that night on, the kid was hooked for life. He reflects on the great Muhammad Ali and how even Nelson Mandela, locked away in a South African prison cell, followed the Champ’s every move. Merchant answers the ultimate question: who was the best pound-for-pound fighter he ever laid eyes on. He zeros in on that unforgettable night in Japan when he first knew Iron Mike Tyson was in serious trouble against Buster Douglas, then fast-forwards four years to the night his colleague and friend George Foreman shocked the world by reclaiming the heavyweight crown at age 45. A living boxing historian who covered everyone from Sugar Ray Robinson to Sugar Ray Leonard, Merchant never backed down from firing the toughest questions at the toughest guys in the game. Larry Merchant… all 95 years of him… on the Past Our Prime podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jimmy Connors capped off a dominant tennis season by capturing the 1976 U.S. Open, defeating rival Björn Borg 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a thrilling four-set final at Forest Hills, a result that snapped Borg's 19-match winning streak and improved Connors' career head-to-head record against him to 6-1. It marked the second of what would eventually become five U.S. Open titles for Connors, cementing his place among the sport's all-time greats, tied for the most Open-era U.S. Open championships alongside future legends Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. The victory earned Connors the cover of the September 20, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated, capturing him at the height of his powers and popularity as, in many ways, the toast of New York. On the women’s side of things, Chris Evert delivered one of the most dominant performances in U.S. Open history that same year, capturing her second title at Forest Hills by winning all six of her matches by a staggering combined score of 72-13. Her run extended a clay-court winning streak pushing toward 101 consecutive victories, closing out the tournament with a lopsided 6-3, 6-0 defeat of Evonne Goolagong in the final. Evert herself described feeling "spacey" throughout the week — a state many athletes would recognize as being fully "in the zone" — and her dominance was so complete that it sparked genuine debate about a growing talent gap in the women's game, commentary Evert brushed off even as observers wondered whether anyone, including a young up-and-comer named Tracy Austin, could challenge her for years to come. Curry Kirkpatrick, the celebrated Sports Illustrated writer whose vivid prose captured both champions' runs that year, joins us on Past Our Prime to revisit that unforgettable Forest Hills tournament from the inside. Kirkpatrick shares firsthand memories of covering Connors' gritty triumph over Borg and Evert's near-flawless march through the women's draw, along with insight into Borg himself — the mysterious, icy-cool Swede whose immense talent and unreadable composure made him one of tennis's most fascinating enigmas, even in defeat. And no conversation about that tournament would be complete without Ilie Nastase, the brilliant but combustible showman whose infamous meltdown against Hans-Jürgen Pohmann threw the entire event into chaos — Kirkpatrick reflects on what it was like witnessing that madness unfold in real time, and how Nastase's genius and volatility were often two sides of the very same coin. And he talks at length about the greatest rivalry in tennis history… Chrissy v Martina… and how that intense rivalry has blossomed into a lifelong friendship. Curry joins POP for the sixth time and is better than ever as we talk about the golden age of American tennis by the man who saw it all... on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bert Jones was one of the NFL’s most talented and colorful quarterbacks of the 1970s. The Baltimore Colts selected him with the second overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft, and the “Ruston Rifle” quickly earned a reputation for his powerful arm, toughness and fearless style of play. He was named NFL Rookie of the Year in 1973 and helped transform the Colts from a 2–12 team in 1974 into an AFC East contender just a year later. The September 13, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated featured Jones on its NFL preview cover, a reflection of just how quickly he and the Colts had risen. Jones talks about facing—and beating—the infamous Sports Illustrated jinx. He also takes us back to 1975, when the Colts stumbled out of the gate at 1–4 before finally jelling and reeling off nine straight victories to win the division over Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins. Jones followed that turnaround with a sensational 1976 season, joining his friend Johnny Unitas and Earl Morrall—and later Peyton Manning—as Baltimore Colts quarterbacks to win NFL MVP honors as well as another AFC East title. Jones tells us the best quarterback he ever saw was actually Archie Manning, Peyton’s father. And the best player he ever went up against was a member of Pittsburgh’s legendary Steel Curtain defense—but it might not be who you think. He also laughs about the time he gave Howard Cosell an inside scoop that turned out spectacularly wrong and shares his thoughts on the painful day the Colts left Baltimore. Jones joins a remarkable Past Our Prime guest list of NFL greats that includes Larry Csonka, Fran Tarkenton, Dan Fouts, Jack Ham and many more. It’s a fascinating trip back to the NFL of the 1970s with one of the era’s greatest and toughest quarterbacks—talking about the games, the characters, the triumphs, the disappointments and the memories that have lasted for nearly 50 years. Bert Jones on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The September 6, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated — the magazine's annual College Football Preview — carried the bold headline "Michigan Is No. 1," featuring a close-up cover shot of Wolverines sophomore quarterback Rick Leach. The pick reflected genuine optimism around Bo Schembechler's program, with Leach, a dual-threat talent, taking over as full-time starter after a rocky freshman finish that had cost Michigan a shot at the Rose Bowl. That '76 season proved Leach's breakout campaign — he'd start all 12 games, lead Michigan to a 10-2 record and a No. 3 final ranking, and never lose to Ohio State again — making SI's early faith in him look remarkably well-placed. Notre Dame's preseason outlook that same year was far more tempered, coming a year removed from Rudy Ruettiger's iconic final play against Georgia Tech in November 1975. Second-year coach Dan Devine, still working to fill Ara Parseghian's enormous shoes, had endured a rocky 8-3 debut season that didn't include a bowl bid, and a promising young backup quarterback named Joe Montana suffered a season-ending shoulder separation before 1976 even began, forcing Devine to lean again on returning starter Rick Slager. The Irish opened ranked No. 11 but were promptly throttled 31-10 by ninth-ranked Pittsburgh and Tony Dorsett — ironically, a Panthers team that would go on to win the national championship that year. Notre Dame recovered to finish 9-3 with a Gator Bowl win over Penn State, quietly building the foundation that would carry Montana and the Irish to a national title just one season later. Ruettiger's own path to Notre Dame was defined almost entirely by persistence rather than natural talent — undersized, dyslexic, and academically underprepared, he was rejected multiple times before finally gaining admission in 1974, then walked onto the football team with no scholarship and virtually no chance of meaningful playing time. His singular moment of glory came on that November day against Georgia Tech, when Devine sent him in for the final play, allowing Rudy to record a symbolic sack and get carried off the field by his teammates. Nearly two decades later, his story became the 1993 film "Rudy," starring Sean Astin, which took real dramatic liberties but nonetheless struck such an emotional chord that it transformed Ruettiger's story into an enduring symbol of perseverance recognized far beyond the world of sports. Rudy joins us to walk through the three dreams that defined his life — getting into Notre Dame, making the football team, and finally, the achievement he says mattered most, actually earning his Notre Dame degree. He shares a remarkable story about Kobe Bryant once telling him how deeply his journey had resonated with him, reflects on which was truly harder — cracking Notre Dame's admissions wall or getting his story made into a movie — and takes us back to the gut-wrenching anxiety of the week before the Georgia Tech game, when he feared his moment might never come. And he explains that his lone sack wasn't luck at all, but years of preparation meeting a single instant. A man who built an entire life chasing down dreams, and who'll tell you the journey mattered every bit as much as the destination, shares his incredible story this week — Rudy, on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reggie Jackson graced the August 30, 1976 cover of Sports Illustrated during the single strangest season of his Hall of Fame career — his lone year as a Baltimore Oriole. Fifty years later, the cover still surprises people who forget he ever played for anyone besides Oakland, the Yankees, or California. Jackson wasn't winding down; he was a superstar in his prime when A's owner Charlie Finley cut his salary 20% while dismantling Oakland's three-peat championship roster, prompting Jackson to refuse to sign and Finley to trade him to Baltimore that April. Even then, Jackson held out for a bigger deal and didn't report for a month, finally signing a $200,000 contract for that one season before moving to the Bronx Zoo in 1977. A decade later, Jackson would wind down his career in Oakland — and the person who watched it happen up close, night after night, was Susan Fornoff. A University of Maryland journalism grad who cut her teeth at the Baltimore News-American and USA Today, Fornoff took over as the A's beat writer for the Sacramento Bee in 1985, becoming one of the pioneering women fighting for real locker room access rather than the token accommodations most teams offered at the time. That fight produced one of the sport's most infamous incidents of hostility toward women reporters. A's slugger Dave Kingman froze Fornoff out of the clubhouse and refused to speak to reporters in her presence after his 400th home run, before escalating in 1986 by sending her a live rat in a box with a tag on it that read, “ My name is Sue”— an act that drew a $3,500 fine from the club but little in the way of contrition from Kingman himself. Fornoff went on to co-found the Association for Women in Sports Media in 1987, and in 1993 turned her experiences into the memoir Lady in the Locker Room: Uncovering the Oakland Athletics, chronicling sexism both in the clubhouse and inside sports departments, with a cast of characters that included Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Tony La Russa, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Stewart — and Reggie Jackson himself. Now Fornoff joins Past Our Prime to bring that history full circle, centering the conversation on Jackson's final major league season in 1987 and offering a beat reporter's view of Mr. October as his career wound down. She talks candidly about the Kingman incident, recalling a gut sense that something was off with him in the days before it happened, and reflects on how, even four decades later, the moment still carries weight for her in ways she didn't expect. From there she widens the lens to where women in sports media stand today, contrasting the hostility she faced breaking in during the '80s with the far more accepted — if still imperfect — landscape now. The author of Lady in the Locker Room is now Lady on the Podcast: Susan Fornoff, on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The August 23, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated — titled "The Buccaneers Come Aboard" — put Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Steve Spurrier on the cover, marking the very first Sports Illustrated appearance for the fledgling expansion franchise. The cover photo, shot by Heinz Kluetmeier, captured Spurrier in action during a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers in Milwaukee. By that point, Spurrier — the 1966 Heisman Trophy winner who'd spent nearly a decade with the San Francisco 49ers — was in his lone season as an NFL player with Tampa Bay, part of Coach John McKay's roster for the winless inaugural 1976 campaign, before Spurrier's playing career wound down and his far more decorated coaching career began. Dewey Selmon was part of that historic inaugural roster alongside Spurrier, joining the expansion franchise as one of its foundational defensive pieces after a standout career at Oklahoma, where he and younger brother Lee Roy anchored back-to-back national championship defenses in 1974 and 1975. While Lee Roy became the Buccaneers' most iconic and decorated player, earning Hall of Fame induction, Dewey carved out his own respected role as a steady, physical presence on the defensive line during those brutal early expansion years, when the winless 1976 Bucs were still searching for any semblance of cohesion under head coach John McKay. Selmon's Tampa Bay tenure placed him squarely within one of the more unusual chapters in NFL history — a team that went 0-14 in its debut season but whose young core, including both Selmon brothers, helped build the foundation for the franchise's eventual playoff breakthrough just a few years later. Dewey joins Past Our Prime to reflect on a career and life shaped by both triumph and hardship, starting with Lee Roy, the No. 1 overall pick who became the face of the franchise. Dewey speaks candidly about what those brutal early losing seasons taught him about resilience and self-knowledge, crediting his eventual Ph.D. in philosophy with giving him the intellectual and emotional framework to endure not just the team's first 26 losses, but the far more devastating loss of Lee Roy himself years later. He reflects on John McKay as exactly the right leader for that moment in franchise history, someone whose steady, wry perspective helped a struggling expansion team survive its darkest days, and he shares warm memories of Steve Spurrier, praising him as both a tremendous teammate and an even better person during those formative Tampa Bay years. All of that and more when the great Dewey Selmon goes Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The August 16, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated featured Calvin Hill on the cover under the headline "The Redskins Shop for a Super Bowl," a nod to George Allen's expensive off-season spending spree that brought Hill, John Riggins, Jean Fugett, and Pat Sullivan to Washington in pursuit of a championship. Photographed by Neil Leifer, the cover captured Hill mid-action against the Baltimore Colts, fitting given that his preseason performance against Baltimore was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise rocky exhibition slate for the newly star-studded Redskins. Hill, a former Cowboys standout and Yale product, was seen as the steadiest of Allen's "Rich Four" additions, and the issue captured a Washington team loaded with talent and expectations but still searching for cohesion — a storyline that mirrored the very real growing pains chronicled in that period's Redskins training camp coverage. Jean Fugett was a standout tight end who played for both the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins during the 1970s, part of that same "Rich Four" free-agent class alongside Riggins, Hill, and Sullivan. A graduate of Amherst, Fugett brought a rare dual identity to the NFL — while playing out his option with the Cowboys, he had already begun building a career in journalism, working as a straight news reporter covering Maryland for The Washington Post and even setting up a Black news radio program during his time in Dallas. He left Dallas in part to reconnect with his hometown roots in Baltimore, telling reporters he wanted to "set down some roots" both for himself and his family, and he balanced his NFL career with genuine ambitions in the written word, hoping to communicate directly with Black kids through journalism in a way he felt television news could not. Fugett joins us on Past Our Prime to take us inside the Cowboys and Redskins of the 1970s, sharing firsthand insight on the Roger Staubach–Craig Morton quarterback dynamic under Tom Landry and the strategic thinking behind Dallas's use of the shotgun formation and the famous "Landry shift" up front. He offers a revealing comparison between Landry's buttoned-up, systems-driven approach and George Allen's very different, veteran-trusting style in Washington, giving listeners a rare look at two of the era's most contrasting coaching philosophies from someone who played for both. He also opens up about the remarkable balancing act of his own career, working as a reporter for The Washington Post and CBS News while still an active NFL player, before later attending night classes at George Washington University to earn his law degree while still suiting up on Sundays — all while speaking warmly about teammates like John Riggins, Calvin Hill, Cornell Green, and Herb Adderley. The Redskins-Cowboys rivalry was at its best in the '70s, and Jean Fugett shares, in the only way he can, what it was like to be in the middle of it all on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The August 9, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated closed out the magazine's Montreal Olympics coverage with the headline "Awrright! Bruce Jenner Wins Big" on the cover, capturing Jenner celebrating after his dramatic decathlon victory — a performance that included a world-record total and would go on to define his public identity for decades to come, eventually becoming, in the magazine's own words, "collateral" for a life of endorsements, appearances, and fame. The same issue carried extensive coverage of American athletes across the Games' final events, including a deep look at the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team, which went undefeated en route to gold under Dean Smith, avenging the controversial 1972 loss to the Soviet Union with a disciplined, deliberately low-ego roster that included future NBA standouts like Adrian Dantley, Phil Ford, and Quinn Buckner. Together, Jenner's individual triumph and the basketball team's collective one bookended a Sports Illustrated wrap-up of a Montreal Games defined as much by singular American stars as by unified team performances. Mitch Kupchak was a key contributor to that undefeated U.S. men's basketball team, helping the Americans capture gold under Smith's disciplined coaching. Considered by some critics a consolation choice at center after several bigger-name college stars passed on the Olympics, Kupchak silenced doubters with steady, physical play in the post, part of a deliberately even-tempered, team-first roster. That gold medal launched Kupchak into a lengthy, accomplished NBA career, first as a player who won championships with the Washington Bullets and Los Angeles Lakers, and later as one of basketball's most respected front-office executives as general manager of the Lakers and the Charlotte Hornets. Kupchak joins us on Past Our Prime to reflect on a career loaded with accomplishments, and he tells us that winning gold in Montreal still stands as the number one moment of it all. He credits the demanding, disciplined coaching trio of Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, and John Thompson with preparing him not just for that Olympic run, but for everything that followed, and he opens up about the weight of that 1976 team knowing it had to avenge the U.S.'s controversial 1972 loss to the Soviet Union — a pressure that, once gold was actually secured, made the victory even sweeter. He also shares a warm, personal chapter about being mentored by Jerry West, a relationship that grew from a professional bond into a genuine, lasting friendship. And in one of the show's best stories, Kupchak recounts his father driving back across the Canadian border after the Games, and when a border agent asked if he had anything to declare, his dad beamed and simply said, "Gold." It’s a gold medal show with our final Gold Medal winner from the ’76 Games in Montreal. The great Mitch Kupchak this week on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The August 2, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated carried the headline "She Stole the Show" on its cover, with 14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci as the unmistakable star of that week's Olympic coverage out of Montreal. The issue captured the sensation of Comaneci's historic performance — the first perfect 10 ever awarded in Olympic gymnastics — alongside a broader recap of a Games still reeling from political boycotts by Taiwan and more than two dozen African nations, even as competition itself produced record-breaking swimming performances from the U.S. men's team and a dominant yet controversial showing from East Germany's women. Also woven into that week's coverage were Edwin Moses' world-record run in the 400-meter hurdles and Lanny Bassham's gold-medal moment in rifle shooting — capturing a magazine issue that, much like the Games themselves, balanced political tension with breakout athletic stardom. Bassham's path to that gold began with heartbreak in Munich in 1972, where he won silver in the small-bore three-position rifle event, a result that left him searching for what had separated him from gold. Rather than simply refining his technique, Bassham concluded that the difference was almost entirely mental — as he put it, in 1972 he'd been "standing on sand," while by 1976 he needed to be "standing on concrete." He spent the next four years developing a self-built mental training program, focused on controlling nerves, breathing, and concentration with the same precision shooters use to control a rifle, and by his own admission, he wasn't technically much better in Montreal than he'd been in Munich — the transformation was almost entirely psychological. That mental discipline paid off in dramatic fashion: after tying exactly on score with teammate Margaret Murdock, Bassham won gold on a tiebreaker, then made headlines by inviting Murdock to stand beside him on the top step of the podium, calling the tiebreaker rule unfair even in his moment of triumph. Following that triumph, Bassham channeled the mental training program that had carried him from Munich silver to Olympic gold into a broader philosophy he called Mental Management, formalized in his book "With Winning in Mind." The book distills the psychological framework Bassham developed as a competitive shooter — techniques for controlling nerves, building self-image, managing pressure, and maintaining consistency under the intense demands of elite performance — into principles applicable far beyond the rifle range. It became a foundational text not just for Olympic and professional athletes, but for a strikingly wide range of high performers, from PGA Tour golfers and Miss USA contestants to members of the FBI, Navy SEALs, and Fortune 500 executives, cementing Bassham's legacy as much for his post-competitive teaching career as for the medals he won on the range. Lanny Bassham joins us on Past Our Prime to revisit that Montreal tiebreaker in his own words — a rule he still calls unfair decades later, even as it handed him the gold, which is why he invited Murdock up to stand beside him on the podium so she could share in that moment as an equal. He'll also tell us about the turning point that shaped everything after Munich: rather than seeking out a sports psychologist to teach him how to live with finishing second, Bassham set out to learn how to win, a decision that led him to build his own mental training system from scratch. And in a twist that speaks volumes about what really matters to him, Bassham reveals that it's actually his 1972 silver medal — not the gold — that changed his life the most. All of that on this weeks Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Past Our Prime, we welcome two legends from one of the greatest Olympic swim teams ever assembled—Jim Montgomery and Brian Goodell. Montgomery made history at the 1976 Montreal Olympics by becoming the first swimmer to break the 50-second barrier in the 100-meter freestyle, while Goodell, just 17 years old and still a high school student, captured two individual gold medals and set world records in both the 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle. Together, they helped lead the United States to a dominant performance in Montreal, and on the podcast they relive the races, the rivalries, the unforgettable atmosphere of the Games, and what it was like to be part of one of the most remarkable weeks in Olympic swimming history. The July 26, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated arrived during the first full week of the Montreal Olympics, and its cover perfectly captured the optimism and spectacle of the Games. Featuring the Olympic cauldron being lit during the Opening Ceremonies by Canadian teenagers Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson beneath the headline, "The Show Goes On in Montreal," the cover symbolized the resilience of the Olympics after political boycotts by more than two dozen African nations and the withdrawal of Taiwan threatened to overshadow the competition. Inside, the magazine shifted the focus back to the athletes and the drama unfolding in Montreal, previewing what would become one of the most memorable Olympics in history, highlighted by Nadia Comăneci's perfect 10s, the dominance of the U.S. swim team, and a remarkable week of track and field that reaffirmed the enduring spirit of the Games. Jim Montgomery arrived in Montreal as the world's premier sprint freestyler and left as one of the Olympics' biggest stars. The Indiana University standout became the first swimmer in history to break the 50-second barrier in the 100-meter freestyle, winning gold in a world-record 49.99 seconds—a milestone often compared to Roger Bannister's four-minute mile. Montgomery also won gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay and the 4x100-meter medley relay, with both teams setting world records, and added a bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle. His three gold medals established him as the fastest swimmer in the world and helped lead the United States to one of the most dominant team performances in Olympic swimming history. Brian Goodell was just 17 years old and still a high school student when he emerged as one of the breakout stars of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The distance freestyle sensation captured gold medals in both the 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle, setting world records in each event and establishing himself as the world's premier distance swimmer. After returning home from Montreal as a double Olympic champion and world-record holder, Goodell headed back to California to begin his senior year at Mission Viejo High School, capping one of the most extraordinary summers ever enjoyed by an American teenager. On this week's episode of Past Our Prime, Montgomery and Goodell take listeners back to that magical week in Montreal, sharing firsthand stories from one of the greatest Olympic swim teams ever assembled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices