Gridiron America Radio
364 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★ - 7 ratingsGridiron America Radio is where football is celebrated through game replays, old radio shows, and documentaries in the public domain that cover the history, remembrances, culture, lore, and legends of pro football in Canada, America and around the world. Additionally, you can also find replays of the "From the 55 Yard Line" podcast on The Sports History Network, as well as simulcasts of Gridiron Japan Radio, and replays of USFL America Radio, and Gridiron America FM Radio public domain game broadcasts.
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Episodes
From the 55 Yard Line- Paul Woods and the History of the Toronto Argonauts
June 05, 2021 21:40 - 1 hour - 56.5 MBPaul 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.
The Story of the 1976 Oakland Raiders
June 05, 2021 13:00 - 27 minutes - 25.8 MBWhen it comes to great teams in Raiders history, many teams come to mind. Between the 70's and 80's, the Oakland Raiders were the winningest team in all of professional sports. However no team epitomized the Oakland Raiders quite like the team of 1976. No team was as crazy off the field, especially with their owner's approval. No team struck quite as much fear into opposing teams on the field. Al Davis and John Madden had a great philosophy for running their team: You can be who you are off...
The History of Notre Dame Football
June 04, 2021 13:00 - 52 minutes - 48.9 MBWho better to talk about and teach about the legends and history of Notre Dame football than God himself? In this documentary are reflections on the careers of famous head coaches Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy, and its Heisman Trophy winning players. It also examines Notre Dame's rivalries with USC and Army and some of Notre Dame's greatest games.
The Forward Pass
June 03, 2021 13:00 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBWhat do Teddy Roosevelt, Knute Rockne, George Carlin, the Atomic Bomb, the Hail Mary Prayer, Marcia Brady’s broken nose and “American Pie” all have in common? The Forward Pass. As ubiquitous as it is now, throwing the football was once unimaginable. For the first four decades of football’s existence, the forward pass was illegal. However, with rising safety concerns surrounding the game of football, President Roosevelt intervened. It was his demand that rules makers open up the game by lega...
Journey to the Grey Cup: The 2015 Edmonton Eskimos
June 02, 2021 14:00 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBThe Edmonton Eskimos finished their season with a record of 14-4 (their best performance since 1989 in which they went 16-2). The Calgary Stampeders, the defending Grey Cup champions, finished with the same record as the Eskimos after the regular season. However, Edmonton clinched first place in the division (and a playoff bye) by virtue of defeating Calgary in two of three regular season contests. The two teams then met again in the Western Final after Calgary defeated the BC Lions 35–9 in ...
The King
June 01, 2021 14:00 - 22 minutes - 20.4 MBThe flamboyant James "King" Corcoran had a long and successful career as a minor league pro quarterback, achieving a near-legendary status due to his performance on the field and eccentric behavior off of it. He spent the better part of his first six seasons in the Atlantic Coast Football League. With Wilmington in 1966, he led the ACFL in pass attempts (247) and with Waterbury in 1967 topped the circuit in attempts (309), completions (141), yards (2065), and TD passes (19). Corcoran was cut...
Pottstown Revisited
May 31, 2021 14:00 - 50 minutes - 46.9 MBMinor league football is – and always has been – so far off the radar in this country that it’s impossible to speak of there being any iconic teams. The sport offers nothing like the Hershey Bears hockey team or Rochester Red Wings baseball club that have entertained locals for upwards of a century. To the extent that minor and semi-pro football at least has a cult favorite team – the sport’s answer to the Durham Bulls – it’s likely the short-lived Pottstown Firebirds of the defunct Atlantic...
"I'm Gonna Make It Someday" - The Pottstown Firebirds
May 30, 2021 13:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBFounded in 1968, the Pottstown Firebirds (also known as the Pennsylvania Firebirds in their final season) came into existence at a time when minor league football was enjoying some measure of popularity in North America, particularly in the Midwest and Atlantic states. Members of the Atlantic Coast Football League, the Firebirds were owned by underwear magnate Ed Gruber. The team became a farm club of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) and played its home games a...
"And There Used to Be a Ballpark, Right Here..."
May 29, 2021 13:00 - 47 minutes - 44 MBAnd the people watched in wonder, how they'd laugh and how they'd cheer! And there used to be a ballpark right here. Now the children try to find it, and they can't believe their eyes. 'Cause the old team just isn't playing, and the new team hardly tries. And the sky has got so cloudy when it used to be so clear, and the summer went so quickly this year. Yes, there used to be a ballpark right here...
"There Used to Be a Ballpark..."
May 28, 2021 14:00 - 46 minutes - 43.4 MBAnd there used to be a ballpark where the field was warm and green. And the people played their crazy game with a joy I'd never seen. And the air was such a wonder from the hot-dogs and the beer. Yes, there used to be a ballpark right here. And there used to be rock candy, and a great big 4th of July with the fireworks exploding all across the summer sky...
America's Football Voices
May 27, 2021 14:00 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MBIn America football has a unique sound to each fan. For many, it is these voices that elevate the sport to a higher level; however, among them all, there is only one true Voice of God.
Full Color Football - The Final Frontier
May 26, 2021 14:00 - 58 minutes - 53.8 MBAfter the Jets' victory in Super Bowl III, a contentious debate over realignment erupts; Joe Namath considers retirement; the Chiefs score another victory for the AFL in Super Bowl IV; the dawn of Monday Night Football boosts the popularity of the NFL after the final merger.
Full Color Football - Revolution
May 25, 2021 14:00 - 58 minutes - 54.1 MBThe AFL's credibility suffers after the Raiders are soundly beaten in Super Bowl II. The following year, the Jets' Joe Namath delivers an unforgettable upset in Super Bowl III after guaranteeing a win over the Baltimore Colts.
Full Color Football - War and Peace
May 24, 2021 14:00 - 58 minutes - 54 MBThe AFL begins to lure top college prospects away from the NFL; the Jets are revived by the arrival of Joe Namath; and the ongoing battles over signing top players lead to a merger between the leagues, leading ultimately to the birth of the Super Bowl.
Full Color Football - The Times They Are A Changin'
May 23, 2021 14:00 - 58 minutes - 54 MBThe impact of JFK's assassination and the Civil Rights Movement; San Diego's high-powered offense under Sid Gillman; back-to-back titles in Buffalo; an African-American boycott of the All-Star game.
Full Color Football - The New Frontier
May 22, 2021 14:00 - 56 minutes - 76.9 MBThe history of the American Football League is recalled. The series opener looks at the birth of the league after founder Lamar Hunt's attempt to buy an NFL franchise was rejected. Included: comments from players and owners; footage of early games played in mostly empty stadiums; and the landmark 1962 title game, which went into double overtime.
The Life and Times of Ron Lancaster
May 21, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 56.1 MBA graduate of Wittenburg College, Ron Lancaster started his career with the Ottawa Rough Riders. The eastern Riders were blessed with another outstanding QB in Canadian Russ Jackson and the two split the pivot duties for three years with Lancaster also seeing some action as a defensive back during that period. In his rookie season in 1960, Lancaster threw 201 passes and had three interceptions as a defensive back. Lancaster was traded to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and became their starti...
The Life and Times of Warren Moon
May 20, 2021 13:00 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBAlthough Warren Moon was overlooked time and again throughout his career, his perseverance led to an unusually long and extremely successful stint as a quarterback in the NFL. In addition to having to fight against the perception that he didn't have what it takes to lead an NFL team, he also had to fight against prejudice in a league that had few black quarterbacks. After being passed over by the NFL, Moon went to Canada and led his Edmonton Eskimos to five Grey Cups before being the subject...
Vintage Canadian Football - Sacramento vs Ottawa (July 7, 1993)
May 19, 2021 17:17 - 3 hours - 195 MBOn July 7th, 1993, the first regular season game of an American CFL franchise was played at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa, between the now defunct Sacramento Gold Miners and Ottawa Rough Riders.
The Life and Times of Doug Flutie
May 19, 2021 13:00 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBKnown for the famous "Hail Mary" pass against University of Miami while at Boston College, Doug Flutie went on to play first in the United States Football League before heading to the NFL to play with the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots. He then left the NFL for the Canadian Football League for eight years, where he was a marquee attraction, being named the league's Most Outstanding Player an unprecedented six times and winning three Grey Cup Championships. Flutie went on to sign with...
The Life and Times of Steve Sabol
May 19, 2021 01:22 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MB"I have loved football as an almost mythic game since I was in the fourth grade. To me, the game wasn't even grounded in reality. The uniform turned you into a warrior. Being on a team, the mythology of physical combat, the struggle against the elements, the narrative of the game." ~ Steve Sabol Without Steve Sabol, for many of us, we would not love pro football as passionately as we do...
From the 55 Yard Line- History of the Blue and Gold, With Roy Rosmos
May 18, 2021 01:59 - 1 hour - 56.4 MBScott 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".
The Sea of Hands Game
May 16, 2021 13:00 - 2 hours - 132 MBThe year, 1974. The date, Dec. 21. The occasion, AFC Divisional Round playoff— with the winner advancing to the AFC Championship Game with the legendary Bill King calling the game on radio. The Miami Dolphins had made a habit of being here, playing in the AFC Championship Game the prior three seasons in succession. It was just expected that they’d be there under Don Shula. The Raiders, meanwhile, had plenty of success in that same time span under the legendary John Madden. But defeating th...
2000 Grey Cup Re-Broadcast
May 15, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 91.3 MBLed by veteran quarterback Damon Allen and a two-headed backfield monster of Sean Millington and Robert Drummond, the Cinderella story of 2000 was completed with a two-point victory by B.C. over heavily-favored Montreal. Allen rushed for two touchdowns, while Drummond’s 44-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter forced Anthony Calvillo and the Alouettes to play comeback. And they almost did. After Calvillo hit Ben Cahoon for a 59-yard major in the final minute, his two-point convert attempt...
Try and Catch the Wind
May 14, 2021 14:00 - 24 minutes - 23.1 MBHis is the voice of football poetry squarely rooted in all that is the magical tradition of the game, whose baritone voice and dulcet tone will forever be known as that which must be that of God.
The BC Lions: 60 Seasons of Pride
May 13, 2021 13:00 - 20 minutes - 19.4 MBA look back at was at one time the youngest franchise of the Canadian Football League.
The CFL: A Century of Battle
May 12, 2021 13:00 - 59 minutes - 55.1 MBA look at the CFL's greatest teams, from the Toronto Argonauts to the Baltimore Stallions.
Traditions- British Columbia Lions
May 11, 2021 14:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBThe final chapter in a ten part documentary series detailing the history of football and the Canadian Football League through the early 21st Century. The series is also available for viewing at www.cfl-films.ca
Engraved on a Nation- The 13th Man
May 11, 2021 13:00 - 44 minutes - 41.4 MBDuring the 97th Grey Cup, the Saskatchewan Roughriders received a last-minute “13th man” penalty, spoiling their championship hopes. In the wake of defeat, fans stood by their team proving that they are, and will forever be, the team’s “13th man”.
Traditions- Edmonton Eskimos
May 10, 2021 14:00 - 23 minutes - 32 MBThe ninth chapter in a ten part documentary series detailing the history of football and the Canadian Football League through the early 21st Century. The series is also available for viewing at www.cfl-films.ca
Traditions- Edmonton Eskimos & Elks
May 10, 2021 14:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBThe ninth chapter in a ten part documentary series detailing the history of football and the Canadian Football League through the early 21st Century. The series is also available for viewing at www.cfl-films.ca
Traditions- Calgary Stampeders
May 09, 2021 13:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBThe eighth chapter in a ten part documentary series detailing the history of football and the Canadian Football League through the early 21st Century. The series is also available for viewing at www.cfl-films.ca
Engraved on a Nation- The Crash
May 09, 2021 13:00 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MBFollowing the 1965 All-Star Game in Vancouver, a plane carrying five players crashed, killing everyone on board. The tragedy sent shockwaves through the league that can still be felt to this day as the descendants of one of the athletes retrace the footsteps of the fateful flight.
Journey to the Grey Cup- 2019 Winnipeg Blue Bombers
May 09, 2021 00:18 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBIt had been almost 29 years to the day since the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hoisted the Grey Cup, this was not lost on Bombers fans who had endured three decades of heartbreak, but there was something different about the 2019 Blue Bombers. Every time they've faced adversity, they had been able to keep moving forward and with a never-say-die attitude ended their championship drought. Here is their journey to Calgary.
Biography- Matt Dunigan
May 08, 2021 15:36 - 23 minutes - 22.1 MBA 14-year CFL standout, Matt Dunigan is one of the CFL's most accomplished and celebrated players. In 2006, Dunigan received the CFL's highest honor with his induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and was also named one of the TSN Top 50 CFL Players of the modern era. Dunigan played with six CFL teams throughout his professional career: Edmonton Eskimos (1983-1987), B.C. Lions (1988), Toronto Argonauts (1989-1991), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1992-1994), Birmingham Barracudas (1995), ...
Biography- Johnny Unitas
May 08, 2021 14:51 - 57 minutes - 53 MBKnown as "The Golden Arm," Johnny Unitas is considered to be one of the best and toughest quarter backs to ever play. As a member of the Baltimore Colts, he played in what is arguably the greatest game in American pro football history. In 1958, he led his team to a championship in the first overtime and first nationally-televised American championship game.
Engraved on a Nation- The Kid From La Puente
May 08, 2021 14:00 - 44 minutes - 41.2 MBDuring his 19-year CFL career, Anthony Calvillo never talked a lot about his past. It was known the Canadian Football League’s all-time passing leader grew up in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles and that he chose football over a life of street gang crime, but over the years he gave few details of just how difficult it was. Director Shelley Saywell’s documentary “The Kid From La Puente” shows both the horrifying and uplifting aspects of the star quarterback’s upbringing that he had kept mo...
Traditions- Saskatchewan Roughriders
May 08, 2021 13:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBThe seventh chapter in a ten part documentary series detailing the history of football and the Canadian Football League through the early 21st Century. The series is also available for viewing at www.cfl-films.ca
Traditions- Winnipeg Blue Bombers
May 07, 2021 13:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBThe sixth chapter in a ten part documentary series detailing the history of football and the Canadian Football League through the early 21st Century. The series is also available for viewing at www.cfl-films.ca
Engraved on a Nation- The Photograph
May 07, 2021 13:00 - 44 minutes - 41.2 MBThe Photograph focuses on a picture of the 1942 Toronto Royal Canadian Air Force Hurricanes, a team that inspired a nation en route to winning the first ever non-civilian Grey Cup game. On Dec. 5, 1942, the Hurricanes beat the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers 8-5 in front of a sellout crowd on a frozen field at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium, boosting the country’s morale during the Second World War while thousands of Canadian soldiers listened overseas on radio.
American Pro Football in the 1960s
May 07, 2021 03:27 - 24 minutes - 23 MBThrough the turbulent decade of the 1960s, which was defined in American by assassinations, the Space Race, the Vietnam War, and the struggle for civil rights and equality, a rebel league took on an established major American sports entity, and not only survived, but thrived, ultimately forcing a merger prior to the 1970 season that helped create the modern-day behemoth American football has become.
American Pro Football in the 1970s
May 07, 2021 03:24 - 49 minutes - 45.4 MBIn 1970, professional football in America picked up where it left off in the 1960s, when the game truly started to make the leap as America's No. 1 pastime. This era of pro football saw Dallas, after years of heartbreaking championship defeats, finally break through as champions. The decade also bore witness to the Miami's perfect season, the rise of Oakland's autumn wind and the birth of the Iron City's dynasty. It can be argued that this period in pro football had more dominant teams at on...
The Championship Chase
May 07, 2021 02:54 - 49 minutes - 45.7 MBTo quote the dean of football myth making, "I have loved football as an almost mythic game since I was in the fourth grade. To me, the game wasn't even grounded in reality. The uniform turned you into a warrior. Being on a team, the mythology of physical combat, the struggle against the elements, the narrative of the game." That is what the championship chase is all about.
More Than a Game
May 07, 2021 02:50 - 49 minutes - 46 MBFor gridiron fans in Canada, America and everywhere around the world, the game of football is more than X's and O's. It is a sport filled with drama and story, all of which make it more than a game.
That One Vintage Year
May 06, 2021 22:38 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBA nostalgic look back on the year in which the top tier of modern day American professional football took shape.
Engraved on a Nation- The Greatest Team That Never Won
May 06, 2021 13:00 - 44 minutes - 41.3 MBIn their first Grey Cup appearance in 20 years, the 1971 Toronto Argonauts committed a last-second fumble, spoiling their run. Now, the stars of the team reunite to relive the game and the wild days in Toronto.
Traditions- Ottawa Rough Riders & Renegades
May 06, 2021 13:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBThe fifth chapter in a ten part documentary series detailing the history of football and the Canadian Football League through the early 21st Century. The series is also available for viewing at www.cfl-films.ca
Engraved on a Nation- Western Swagger
May 05, 2021 14:00 - 44 minutes - 41.2 MBWestern Swagger shares the genesis of an East vs. West rivalry both on and off the football field that reached a fever pitch in November 1981. As the Edmonton Eskimos embarked on an unprecedented Grey-Cup winning streak, former Eskimo and Alberta Premier, Peter Lougheed, was in a battle off the field with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau over a National Energy Program – the implementation of which could send Alberta’s economy into a tailspin – and collaborating with his fellow Premiers during ...
Traditions- Montreal Alouettes & Concordes
May 05, 2021 13:00 - 23 minutes - 22.2 MBThe fourth chapter in a ten part documentary series detailing the history of football and the Canadian Football League through the early 21st Century. The series is also available for viewing at www.cfl-films.ca
Traditions- Hamilton Tiger-Cats
May 04, 2021 15:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBThe third chapter in a ten part documentary series detailing the history of football and the Canadian Football League through the early 21st Century. The series is also available for viewing at www.cfl-films.ca