Gridiron America

For our seventh episode on the Sports History Network, CFL fan and Grey Cup attendee Upton Bell, joins us. Upton is the former director of personnel of the Baltimore Colts, general manager of the New England Patriots, and owner of the New York Stars and Charlotte Hornets of the World Football League. After football, Upton transitioned into sports broadcasting in the New England area where he was the host of "Calling All Sports", "Sports Nightly", "Sports Line", and "Sports Beat." Upton was also the color commentator for the Boston Breakers, Boston Celtics, Boston College and Ivy League football, as well as an interviewer for the Patriots pregame show. He also served as co-host of the first nationally televised NFL draft on PBS in 1977. In the 1980s Upton transitioned to talk radio in Boston where he interviewed three presidents and countless other national figures.  Upton is the son of former NFL Commissioner Bert Bell, and, in 2017, he, along with Ron Borges, authored "Present at the Creation: My Life in the NFL and the Rise of America's Game."

In the first of what we hope is many Sports History Network and Canadian Football Podcast Network crossover events, "Super Fan" Mike Smith-Knutsen, the unofficial Edmonton Elks historian and co-host of The Turf District podcast, joins Scott and Greg to talk the history of the legendary franchise from its early days to its 21st Century rebranding. We talk about legends and barrier breaking players like Normie Kwong and Warren Moon, the history of Commonwealth Stadium, the new name of the team, and much more! And though the old team name is retired, we could not but help at the end to share with you one of the catchiest football marches ever heard in North America.

On a football Sunday morning on what should have been the start of the CFL preseason for Scott and Greg, the pair sit down with Jack Gilden to discuss his book, "Collision of Wills", about the relationship of Johnny Unitas and Don Shula and the times they lived in. They discuss Jack's interviews with the Unitas family, Don Shula, Joe Namath and Earl Morrall, as well as the history of Baltimore football from the Colts, through the Stallions and Ravens, and the legacy both have had on football history.

Scott and Greg sit down with professional football historian and co-host of The World of Football podcast, Randy Snow and talk about the National Football League, Canadian Football League and Arena Football League moments he has shared with his children, and showing us how football has the power to bring families together with memories to last a lifetime. They also discuss Randy's love and long suffering fandom of the Detroit Lions and some of the best books about the team, as well as his love and admiration for the Canadian brand of professional football.

Paul Woods is a journalist, Canadian football historian and author of Bouncing Back: From National Joke to Grey Cup Champs, which chronicled the Toronto Argonauts winning the championship in 1983 after 31 years of futility and misery. In this episode, Paul discusses with Scott and Greg the history of the Argonauts, including the John Candy years, as well their recent issues both on and off the field. His next book, about the 1991 Argonauts, will be published in Summer 2021.

Scott and Greg are back in their 55 yard line cheap seats this month talking all things blue and gold with Winnipeg Blue Bomber historian Roy Rosmus ("@heartobluegold" on Twitter), author of five books that span from the team's inception to their 2019 Grey Cup championship- "The Beginning- Through the Golden Years," "Dieter Brock Through the Championship Years," "The Jonas Era," "Quiet Hero: The Ken Ploen Story," and the upcoming "Good Years, Lean Years, The Cup Returns". 

In their pilot episode, co-host Greg James discusses with fellow co-host Scott Adamson his book on professional football history in Birmingham, Alabama entitled "The Home Team: My Bromance with off Brand Football." The discuss Birmingham's teams of the WFL, USFL, WLAF, CFL, XFL and AAF, as well as the future of Canadian football.