Tim Coffeen Talks Indy car and Racing History is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

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HIGHLIGHTED SHOW

Tim Coffeen, the host of “Tim Coffeen Talks Indy car and Racing History,” will share stories and memories from his long career with top Indy car teams.

As a winner of seven championship rings, Tim not only understands the history of open-wheel racing, he has lived it!

Learn more about the show on the Sports History Network.

Mentioned in this episode:

Sports History Network Theme Song

This theme song was produced by Ron "Tyke" Oliver of Music Meets Sportz

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

Back in 1920, center, George Trafton of the Decatur Staleys was so despised, that the fans of the Rock Island Independents nearly caused a riot trying to crucify him after one game. The reason? Trafton had merely knocked three of the Rock Island players out of the game, cleverly rearranging the betting chances of those same excitable Independents’ followers.

And, many will recall that as the Staleys headed north in 1921 and eventually emerged as the Chicago Bears, Trafton was a fixture in the starting lineup for coach George Halas until 1932, missing only the 1922 season. He was later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964, but his reputation always loomed in the background. As one writer once noted: “Trafton was strongly disliked in every city in the NFL except Green Bay and Rock Island. In those places, he was hated!”.......

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

Our program today will focus on a pair of brothers who were nationally known for their stardom on the fields of the Ivy League, but who also demonstrated exceptional ability on the professional level with the Chicago Cardinals in the early days of the National Football League. And yet, long after they left this planet, the brothers continued to have a presence at every single game of the NFL, even if no one really knew their name (or any of their names)! This surprising story began way back in the late 19th century when the brothers were born in Chicago......

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

This episode of “When Football Was Football” is indeed a special one. Although it is hard to believe, “When Football Was Football” emerged nearly two years ago on the Sports History Network.

As such, the program that you are about to hear is the 50th edition in our efforts to share some unusual stories about the early days of pro football in Chicago. Twice each month, we enter the dusty football archives in search of a forgotten hero, or simply to present another side of a familiar historical person or event. Although it was totally unexpected, we were very honored recently when this podcast was named as one of the eight finalists in the category of “team” podcasts in the global competition presented by the Sports Podcast Awards.

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

Billy Cross had heard it all before—that he was too short, too light, and not tough enough for football. Yet he persisted in continually proving his doubters wrong all the way through high school, college, and into the National Football League. Billy Cross stood just 5-6 and weighed a mere 145 pounds when he joined the Chicago Cardinals in 1951—then made an immediate impact on head coach Curly Lambeau.....

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

He was an imposing figure, whether tracking down opposing quarterbacks or selling caskets. At 6-8 and approximately 280 pounds, with a high jumper’s athleticism, it’s not difficult to imagine what it was like to play quarterback with this defensive end bearing down on you. His name was Doug Atkins, and after an NFL career that stretched from 1953 to 1969, his portfolio of quotes from terrified quarterbacks combined both respect and humor from those opponents.

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

When his coaching career ended almost 95 years ago, he was so successful that he remains today as the NFL’s winningest coach of all time.

He won four NFL titles in six years of coaching.

In those four championship seasons, he piled up a phenomenal 42-2-6 record, and did so with three different teams!

And yet, in his only season with the Chicago Cardinals, he stumbled with his first losing campaign and was fired before the end of the schedule, never to coach again.

In this episode of “When Football Was Football,” we’ll look at the incredible career of Guy Chamberlin, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. While Chamberlin excelled as both a professional player and coach from 1919 through 1927, it was his mysterious departure from the Cardinals in 1927 that deserves a deeper look at this time.

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

In professional sports, we have experienced a wide spectrum of clearly memorable nicknames. For example, in baseball, we instantly recognize nicknames like the Babe, Mick, Yogi, and Moose. Moose? Of course, that would be “Moose” Skowron who played for the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox among other teams. But what about pro football?

As with baseball, we can often mention one word and it will translate into an image of a well-known player. Try this one: the Refrigerator! We can easily visualize William Perry, the sterling, and rather large, lineman for the Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears in the 1980s. The Refrigerator was known for his immoveable status in the center of the Bears’ defensive line and he also scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl XX victory over the Patriots in January of 1986. So where did Perry earn his infamous nickname? Apparently, while he was a student at Clemson in 1981 Perry was taking his laundry down to the washing machine. When another student had difficulty sliding into the elevator with Perry, the student said: "Man, you're about as big as a refrigerator." The name stuck!

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

As we approach the 2022 Super Bowl, one old and familiar name will be missing from the participants: the Cardinals. Again. After a promising start to the 2021 season that sputtered and then ground to a halt in the first round of the playoffs, the Cardinals have ensured that the longest streak without a championship in any professional sport will now stretch into its 75th year. 75 years!

While many fans of the team certainly hoped that the impressive start this year signaled the imminent end of the team’s title drought, fate interceded and crushed those hopes with nary a look back. Very few are still around who personally witnessed the Cardinals' last championship in 1947 yet we can always dip into the history books to experience the heroes and highlights of that long-ago victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on December 28, 1947.

In a past episode of “When Football Was Football,” we covered that title contest but as we near the conclusion of still another NFL season without a Cardinals’ championship, we’ll peek behind the curtain from another direction and share the Philadelphia side of that famous battle. The result of that long ago contest will remain the same: the Cardinals survived the Eagles 28-21 behind two touchdowns each from Charley Trippi and Elmer Angsman. It was a tough game, played on the frozen surface of Comiskey Park in Chicago and the weather played a prominent role in the outcome, at least early in the game......

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

GET A 7-DAY FREE TRIAL TO NEWSPAPERS.COM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND MANY MORE SPORTS HISTORY MOMENTS FROM THE TIMEFRAME OF WHEN THEY OCCURRED.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear.

NETWORK SPONSORS

Row One - the vintage shop for sports history fans!

EPISODE SUMMARY

It is now common in the National Football League to have quarterbacks who are bigger in size than linemen were in days gone by. Consider guys like Big Ben Roethlisberger and Cam Newton who both stand 6-5 and weigh over 240 pounds. A century ago, when the NFL was struggling to survive, it was rare to find a tackle who was as large as today’s signal callers. Big, fast, mobile, and crafty—those are traits that are highly desirable among quarterbacks in the 21st century.

In this episode of “When Football Was Football,” we’ll look at the colorful career of quarterback Joey Sternaman of the Chicago Bears who certainly did not fit the mold when it came to big, powerful quarterbacks. But Sternaman had all of the attributes just mentioned except for one: size. Joey stood just 5-6 and was listed as being 150 pounds, although many felt that he was likely just a shade over 135 during his playing days.....

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

GET A 7-DAY FREE TRIAL TO NEWSPAPERS.COM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND MANY MORE SPORTS HISTORY MOMENTS FROM THE TIMEFRAME OF WHEN THEY OCCURRED.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/