Every other Tuesday at 9 AM a new podcast will be released.
September 18, 2018 … Duke Slater is not a common name amongst football fans, but it should be. While he played in the NFL prior to what we know it as now, Slater was still one of the greatest to ever play the game, particularly as a lineman. In fact, when the great Red Grange was asked to name the greatest players of all time (up until that point), Grange did not name himself as one of the greats. In fact, he named 13 players, 12 of whom wound up in the Hall of Fame. The only one who didn’t was Duke Slater. Somewhat a victim of circumstance, all of the voters said Slater should be in, but they always voted for other players and ultimately Slater fell by the wayside. Perhaps, one day he will be enshrined. And why not, it would take some teams as many as 3 or 4 players to block Slater. He started 96 of a possible 99 games. He played every second of 90 of those games. Every second! That’s offense, defense and special teams. In a college game against Notre Dame, a photo of Slater, who played for Iowa, was taken that showed him holding off four would-be tacklers with arm, and waving his running back through the hole with the other. Slater was the last African-American to play in the NFL before it’s “unofficial” ban of African-American’s went into effect. Actually, it was already in effect as Slater was winding down his career with the Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals. But no one wanted to ban him, because he was so good. After his playing days were over, Slater coached several teams that were filled with minority players, but ultimately put his college education to work as a Judge in Chicago. On this episode of Sports’ Forgotten Heroes, Neal Rozendaal who authored the book – Duke Slater: Pioneering Black NFL Player and Judge – joins us for a terrific look back at a legendary career that was not nearly as highly rewarded as it should have been.
October 2, 2018 … Joe Kapp was a real gunslinger. His ball wobbled, but he was never afraid to throw it and when he graduated from Cal, he wound up playing quarterback for the relatively new Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. Why the CFL? Well, the Washington Redskins drafted Kapp but never invited him to camp. Determined to make a living in football, Kapp played for the Stampeders, was traded to the BC Lions, won a Grey Cup with BC, and then ventured south to the Minnesota Vikings where, in his third year, he took the young team to Super Bowl IV. Although he and the Vikings lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, it certainly established Kapp as one of the toughest QB’s to play the game. Edward Gruver from the Professional Football Researcher’s Association joins the podcast to talk about Joe Kapp.
October 16, 2018 … Quick, before Jim Brown, who held the NFL record for most rushing yards? Very few can answer that question because so few remember this outstanding running back – Joe “The Jet” Perry. Until Frank Gore came along, Perry was the leading rusher in the history of the San Francisco 49’ers, is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and was the first back in NFL history to rush for over 1,000-yards in back-to-back seasons. Yet, when talking about the greatest running back’s in history the names that come to mind are Brown, Payton, Campbell, Smith, Sayers, Sanders and a few others. However, Joe Perry’s name very rarely – if ever – gets mentioned. Lee Elder, from the Professional Football Researcher’s Association comes back to SFH for a great talk about one of the greatest ever, Joe “The Jet” Perry.