football Archives • the Sports Rivals podcast

Super Bowl TV | Gaudelli vs Zyontz | Ep 32

Posted on April 7, 2021 by garygft

Super Bowl Producers | Imagine what it would be like to sit in the chair of the producer for a Super Bowl game, responsible for arguably the number one sports broadcast in the world. What is the night like leading up to the game? Do you sleep? Do you have superstitions? What is the moment like when the kickoff is one minute away?

Super Bowl Producers

Fred Gaudelli and Richie Zyontz have lived those moments, and are scheduled to live them again.

On this podcast you will hear them discuss with one another the answers to those questions, the lessons learned in Zyontz’s 40 years producing network sports and Gaudelli’s 31 years producing NFL prime time games, including 15 years of Sunday Night Football.

John Madden

Both producers have learned by watching the other work and both have had the sheer joy and benefit of working closely with John Madden. The Madden stories are priceless and filled with respect and love.

Listen to the wondrous moment Madden learned he had been elected to the NFL Hall of Fame and how that was shared in a most unusual setting.

These are men who have reached the pinnacle of success in producing television sports. Their rivalry is a shared respect for bringing to audiences the highest quality broadcast of the most watched event in sports.

Direct from the source, this is the television Super Bowl story from the men who sit center stage.

Further Listening:

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AFL | Flores vs Maguire | Ep 30

Posted on January 18, 2021 by garygft

AFL | The friendship derived from a rivalry can be amazingly close and long lived. Such is the case with our two guests today. Their rivalry came in a league that no longer exists, but one that transformed professional football.

The American Football League (AFL) played for ten years beginning in 1960. The AFL competed so successfully with the NFL that it forced a merger in 1970.

AFL Players

Paul Maguire and Tom Flores are 2 of only 20 who played in the American Football League for its entire 10-year existence. Flores was a quarterback for the Bills and Raiders and is the 5^th leading passer in AFL history.

He went on to a highly successful coaching career in the NFL, leading the Raiders to two Super Bowl wins – 1980 and 1983.

Paul Maguire was a linebacker and punter for the Chargers and Bills in the AFL. He played in 6 of the 10 AFL Championship Games. Following his playing days, he became a nationally recognized network television broadcaster, a career that lasted 46 years.

Flores and Maguire met on the football field, but their friendship has taken them around the world.

Did they really meet at the bottom of a tackling pile-up? Did Flores maneuver his offense not around, but at Maguire?

Smile. This rivalry comes with a lot of stories embellished with laughter. Flores and Maguire were football rivals and their lifelong friendship only enhances those football memories. Fortunately for us, we get to listen in and share the joy derived from their passion for the game and the life that went beyond.

Celebrate rivalries. Celebrate friendship. Celebrate Paul Maguire and Tom Flores.

Further Listening:

Be sure to subscribe to the Sports Rivals podcast to listen to this rivalry on your favorite podcast app:

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RE-AIR: 1983 Sugar Bowl | PSU vs GA | Ep 17

Posted on January 5, 2021 by garygft

1983 Sugar Bowl | Seasons in sports are played to lead up to a moment of finality – the World Series, NBA Finals, etc. College football is no different as teams play for a national championship game and a number 1 ranking to end a season.

In January of 1983, that moment was the Sugar Bowl. Georgia came into the game ranked number 1 and Penn State number 2. While not classified as a national championship game at the time, few doubted that the winner would claim that moniker.

The Quarterbacks

Todd Blackledge was the passing quarterback for a high-powered Penn State team that featured the running prowess of Curt Warner. Penn State was a favorite in the game even though ranked number 2.

Todd had a 31-5 mark for his career with the Nittany Lions and did not know when entering that game, that when the day was done, he would be the MVP of the Sugar Bowl.

Todd would go on to play in the NFL with KC and Pittsburgh and have a noted career as a television football analyst.

At quarterback for Georgia was John Lastinger, who entered that day never having lost a game he started at quarterback from the time he was in high school. John was joined in the backfield by Herschel Walker who did the leg work.

John would go on in 1984 to win a Cotton Bowl game and scored the winning touchdown. However, such was not to be John’s fate in 1983.

1983 Sugar Bowl

Penn State won the game 27-23 and the national number 1 ranking that went with it. The game lived up to its pregame hype as you will hear Todd and John remember the day.

There was an opening Penn State drive that both agreed set the stage.

There was a penalty non-call in the game they each remember as critical. A little thing it was not, but rarely is it remembered except by those in the game.

Many in sports say it is far easier to lose by an overwhelming margin than a tight matchup. In the former, you forget the mistakes-they didn’t matter anyway. In the tight ones, you harken back and think “what if.” You will hear that here.

Two QBs in the Louisiana Superdome with a football world watching.

Here are their stories of that game.

Further Listening:

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RE-AIR: Army vs Navy | NCAA Football | Ep 8

Posted on December 8, 2020 by garygft

Army vs Navy – it is the “nation’s football game.” At the end of each football season, there unfolds a pageantry that began in 1890..

The Oath

Each player took the same oath that brought him to this game. Each has a mission far beyond football. When arriving at a military academy, each person takes one of these oaths:

United States Military Academy Oath of Allegiance (ARMY)
I, (Name), do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and bear true allegiance to the National Government; that I will maintain and defend the sovereignty of the United States, paramount to any and all allegiance, sovereignty, or fealty I may owe to any State or Country whatsoever; and that I will at all times obey the legal orders of my superior officers, and the Uniform
Code of Military Justice.

United States Naval Academy Oath of Office (NAVY)
HAVING BEEN APPOINTED A MIDSHIPMAN IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY, DO YOU SOLEMNLY SWEAR (OR AFFIRM) THAT YOU WILL SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC; THAT YOU WILL BEAR TRUE FAITH AND ALLEGIANCE TO THE SAME; THAT YOU TAKE THIS OBLIGATION FREELY, WITHOUT ANY MENTAL RESERVATION OR PURPOSE OF EVASION; AND THAT YOU WILL WELL AND FAITHFULLY DISCHARGE THE DUTIES OF THE OFFICE ON WHICH YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER, SO HELP YOU GOD.

Not exactly a common oath one must take to play football somewhere.

For this game, those sworn to the same mission are rivals for one glorious late Fall afternoon.

The Army-Navy football game has been played annually since 1930. It has involved players who went on to sports careers as well as military service: Glenn Davis, Roger Staubach, Pete Dawkins, Napoleon McCallum, Doc Blanchard, and so many more.

Army vs Navy – The Game

Keegan Wetzel played for Navy and in his senior year was selected as a 1^st Team All Independent linebacker. He played in the 2012 game that saw Navy beat Army for the 11^thconsecutive time.

Across the line from him for that game was Army quarterback Trent Steelman. Steelman is the only modern era Army QB to start every game in his four years at West Point. He holds the Army career record for TDs and is second all-time in career yards.

It was a game decided in the final minutes when Navy took the lead and held on as Army saw a final drive end on a turnover.

Steelman and Wetzel could not know this game would lead to a relationship that endures.

What was the intensity playing in those Army vs Navy games? How did playing in those games shape the lives of the players involved? What are the memories of Wetzel and Steelman about facing each other?

Listen to the depth of feeling from these two as they answer those questions and breathe individual life into the rigors and honor of playing football at the academies.

Rivals? Army vs Navy and THE GAME, as good as it gets. Enjoy.

Further Listening:

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Placekickers | Stenerud vs Benirschke | Ep 24

Posted on November 3, 2020 by garygft

Placekickers | They both could kick a ball, but it was round, not oval. Before their careers were over, it was the oval football they kicked that made all the difference.

What a treat to listen to two of the NFL’s all-time great placekickers relate the unlikely roads they both took to become legends in the game.

The Placekickers

Jan Stenerud kicking for the Kansas City Chiefs

Jan Stenerud was on the field for the Chiefs, Packers and Vikings during a career that covered 1967-1985. He is the first pure placekicker to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Along with a Super Bowl win with the Chiefs and 4 Pro Bowls, he also transformed the placekicking game for all of football.

All of this coming almost by accident to a man who came from Norway to Montana State on a ski jumping scholarship.

Rolf Benirschke kicking for the San Diego Chargers

Rolf Benirschke was a placekicker for the San Diego Chargers from 1978-1986. He retired as the all-time leader in points for the Chargers, an NFL Man of the Year Award winner and a fan of Stenerud.

Listen to his story of the inadvertent chance to kick a football that leads to his time in the NFL.

They watched each other kick, they learned from each other and they competed at the highest level with a talent that brought with it real sport’s pressure.

Two exuberant men, two unlikely careers, and two joyful stories told in their own words.

Rolf walked to midfield with Louie Kelcher

Further Listening:

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If you loved this episode, check out our others: