KGOU Sports; Sports Interviews

So you play in the varsity alumni game, how did you come to play in that? A lot of times players don't play in those kind of games. Well, it was really a sprue of the moment thing. I'm trying to come back to all of us and I'm not a game for the chance to meet all the guys that you play with. And you really don't get the chance to see them because we all spread out all across the country. You missed that one opportunity. You might never see those guys again. I came back this year and first of all, I started out just, I was just going to suit up. And I like to come back and tease the guys on the varsity and tell them we're going to play and we're going to win this year and all that. Get out there and suit up and never go on the field. But I got out and I played out of my position. You know, it's a little different. A lot of fun too because at the wire receiver don't get hit as much as the running back. And you look at the game from a different perspective. And I got out there and I started having fun and running up and down the field. I wasn't getting hit. So then I got the ball a couple of times felt pretty good and I ended up playing more than I wanted to. But I really did have a lot of fun. So you figured you're going to do that more in the future?

Oh, yeah. I'll be coming back to all of them. I don't know if I'll be playing like I did last year. It all depends on how the coaches for the Browns feel about that. You know, they don't want you to take a chance and I'm getting hurt. Which I'm going to be very careful about doing that. I'm never going to go out there and get in a lot of contact. In fact, I don't like contact. I don't know if I can get out there so I'm going to play a couple of plays and join myself. Then yeah, I'll be coming back every year. How the Browns going to be this year? Well, it all depends on how well the young guy that we get out of the draft adapt to our system. We're going to depend heavily on the draft. We can some spots. We only have a few positions that need to be stringed. And if we can get people that can play right away and adapt to the system, we can do well. How do you think is going to help out most out of the new players? I think Newsom out of Alabama is that right? I think he's going to be the biggest asset in that we need to kick our primary turn guy and a wire receiver and he can play all those positions. You're going to be backing Superstars again? Yeah, I'll be back next year.

You're OK. Thank you. What about yourself now in the future? What are you planning to be doing? Well, I'm in the midst of negotiating a new kind of track with NBC. It'll carry through the Olympics in Moscow. Where I'll be doing the AFC pro football games and the postseason games, the Rose Bowl, etc. Probably some journalistic pieces for sports world. They've talked to me about sort of a new concept coming into big events and being a host on them and opening and closing the shows with some special commentary. I sort of like they call it Eric, etc., it's sports like that. And we're going to experiment around with that some and then I do the American sportsman show for ABC, the Hunting and Fishing. I go out five or six times around the world and do that. And that's enough. That's all I want to do and I want a little time to myself. I've worked off a hard, over a long period of time. So I want to stay in sports broadcasting but sort of at bone terms and at bone time. So you've done a lot of things so you'd like to maybe experiment a little bit and have some time yourself.

I like to do something some things different. I've done 14 worlds. I'm not brave enough to stay. In fact, six super bowls, a thousand of games and I'm a veteran in the business and I've seen thousands of games and I think I have the background that maybe come in and do some special commentary as a host after big events and introduce them and take them off there. And frankly, it appeals to me. It appeals to me. And I think it might be a new role for me and one that could be very helpful. And that is the way NBC is approaching. And they say, hey, look, you want to do some games. You want to do what you want on that way. But we also like you to try this. And under those circumstances, I think it's going to be very good. As a young broadcaster, I'm wondering where the sports scene is going to be taking me in the next few years. Do you like the way things are going? And I know a lot of different kinds of events and things that get away from sports. And of course, we do have the X athletes too. Well, as a young sports announcer, I don't like some of the things I see for you. You mentioned the X athletes.

They're just about taking over the business. They have never bothered me and my career because I guess I was in there and established. But that is the trend. And it's a shame to me because I see so many of you young fellows that go to college, take communication courses, start to work in stations like Norman and get to be very good and are very qualified and are not being given chances at the upper level because you don't have the big athletic names. I don't think that's fair, but that's the way it's been. Secondly, in this business, it's become so competitive. And I went through what I call the innocent days of sports, the 50s, the 60s. It was really pleasant. Now you have these TV sports columns and every time criticizing everybody. You have tremendous unrest in the networks, musical chairs. NBC's had three presidents in the last year. CBS has had four different sports directors in the last five years. They fire executives and a new executive comes in once he's own people in with him. There's tremendous enmity over the events, bidding for him, the things all out of sight. And I just don't like what I see about it.

Maybe it'll settle back down again. The business used to be a lot of fun and very pleasant and it's a jungle now. And it's not going to affect me. My career has been there. But yours isn't. Yours is ahead of you. And I just wonder what's going to happen to young fellows like you. I think one thing, I say to you that in a market like Oklahoma City in this area, you can do very well. And maybe be better off here at this local level, rather than what I see happen to some fellows that have come to the networks and see the way they've been kicked around and not really been given a fair chance. Another thing. What about Bud Wilkinson now becoming a coach in the NFL? I think Bud Wilkinson could coach in Upper Slobobia. I broadcast the first four years at Bud coached here at Oklahoma. He's got a very wonderful mind. And he was his record here at Oklahoma stands on its own. Everybody said, well, he's been away for 15 years. And secondly, he's in his 60s and he'll be too old to handle the young people. Bud Wilkinson is ageless in the way he thinks he's mine.

And he may be away, but you never lose a grasp that he has, a real grasp of football. It's all very simple. He's put it on the line already, publicly. You stop the other team and score a few more points and get good field position. You do it with fundamentals, the way Lombardi and everybody's taught it, Shula. You're blocking your tackle and you hit somebody and you don't give the ball up. And it's just a very basic. We all make it so complicated. I think Bud will do very well. I did the Thanksgiving Day game where Miami murdered the cardinals and I think Bud's got some personnel problems. I don't think the defense is very good. And I think he has a rebuilding program losing Terry Metcash not going to help him. So I would say his main problem is not as a coach, but as a type of player he's got in building that squad back up again. Well, I mean, pretty good shape. I need to stay. Well, I'm working on building him up a little bit stronger than they were even before I injured him. So I think I'd be in this shape.

San Diego has a good young team. Do you think it's going to be getting better? Well, out of seven games we lost last season. I think we only were out of maybe two or three of them. And the other four we lost were in the closing three or four minutes or something like that. So we can play with the best. We cut down a lot of our mistakes and be a little bit more consistent. I think we'll be okay. You get back here to Oklahoma very much. Well, I try to get back at least once a year, you know, for things like this, you know, during the summer. And I might happen to come through during Christmas when I go home and see my folks or something like that. Thank you, Jerry. Sure. What about the story-taded Dallas paper about saying that you might resign? There is no proof of that. There you talked to anyone yesterday about the doubt and from the Dallas purpose.

Why would a rumor like that get started? I have no reason. I guess sitting around coffee table. Barry, the UPI has a story out this afternoon quoting Bell in a supportive position of you. Public, uh, some more. Did you know that that was a female? No. I knew if he was asked it would be, but I haven't talked to him. You have any response to make to his comment? Well, I felt that that would be the stance that he had taken or would take. I've talked to several regions and he felt that that would be, you know, that's the position they would have taken. How do you plan to handle situations, the situation, the rumors that get started, that you're going to resign?

First of all, I don't start those rumors and I don't make a statement I made to Hank him a while ago, is that it would dignify them too much to mention them in order to deny them. Some of them, they just, science fiction is no need to get into discussing them. Some of them are, but are some of them probably true? Are you going to deny them all? I'm not even going to discuss them. Does that mean you're going to stonewall it? And you said that will not discuss them. What are you doing in the office season? Do this kind of thing a lot? Well, we've got five children, so, you know, I try not to travel too much, but I am involved in the FCI. I'll just tell them, I'll do so many appearances for them and speaking and let them control it as far as where they want me to go and what they want me to do.

And some are conferences and everything else. I'm involved with them with their branch working associates too. I'm heading up that, so if Bill says it's important to go to Oklahoma with, you know, and I know Chuck Bowman, you know, I'll do it. But the unfortunate thing is I just can't do that much traveling. We've got, you know, we've got five children, so I try to stay home and do very little commercial speaking, almost none now. I do some commercials that are not just traveling to speak, so the FCA is very special and I try and do as much as I can. As long as Marianne lets me go, I travel, but that's the toughest thing right now for me is not traveling too much because of our family situation. How much do I have here? What about your goals for your career now that you've been with the Cowboys a few years and so on? Well, I am in very good physical condition and I've got it to the point now with my 10th year that I have some experiences as an NFL quarterback. The age is working against me to some degree.

But yet I have the experience and physically I feel good so I'm going to play them, you know, one year at a time. I really think I can improve the quality of my play because of the experience. When I reach a point where the physical part starts really being a problem then I'll have to retire, but I don't look for retirement, you know, for a while and hopefully I'll stay healthy and that's the key thing right now. What can we look for from the Cowboys this year? Who is the Super Bowl champions and I know you're going to be asked that a million in one time. Well, we've got really a fine football team with a great attitude. Our off season program this year which started in April has been well attended. A lot of players are working out hard at the practice field a couple hours a day and on their own, but yet with some supervision. So that's really important as far as how we start the season and so far it's after Super Bowl. It started out well, attitude wise. And if you can stay away from injuries which can hurt any team, we'll be in the thick of it when December gets here.

We play 16 games with a very rough schedule, which is good too because when you get into the playoffs you know you deserve to get there. So the season schedule wise is going to be tough and if we can stay away from injuries, I think we have a good good year mainly because the attitude is so good right now. One more question. What can the Cowboys do to improve as far as the draft and so on? Well, I'm not sure, you know, Ralph nearly retired. We could probably use some more depth in our offensive line. Rayfield is coming back after an injury and hopefully he can come back. But the Cowboys will draft the best athlete available whether it's a quarter back or a half back or a defensive end or usually we help ourselves in the free Asian area. And some of the lower drafts as far as specialty teams and this is always a good thing if you get some good young aggressive guys that can help you on a specialty team. I don't see any rookies moving in any starting jobs from this year's draft like Doris did last year.

Okay, Tinker, you've got a new coach now in New Orleans. What about Dick Nolan? Well, I think Dick's a great coach. He proved out in San Francisco. He's out there about six or seven years and did a good job out there. And of course, he got the axe like a lot of coaches get if you lose a couple of years, you know, they ship you out. But he was an assistant this past year with us and I liked him real well. And it was a person he talked to you a lot and so said with you real well. And I think he'll he'll do a good job down there. I hated to see angstram get fired. I think I thought I think it was a great coach for us. And I thought he was going to help our team a lot. But I think Dick can come in and do a great job for us and hopefully we'll have a better season than we've had in the last two years. I've been there. A lot of people think there were some extenuating circumstances that led to angstram leaving in New Orleans. There's some behind the scenes, things going on or was it just the on the field type of record that the Saints have had.

Well, I don't know what's kind of hard to say. You know, a lot of there've been a lot of coaches in New Orleans and a lot of them haven't been around long and and I don't think about what I could see. I didn't think that John Meekam the owner and angstram got along that well together and it could really function together as a team like we were doing. And I just know just by what I've seen there that Hank and John just didn't get along that well. I think that maybe that's one of the reasons that he's not there now. How does Dick Nolan differ from angstram as a coach? Well, he's not the quiet. I don't think the flamboyant type of person. He's not the type of guy. I don't think it's going to go out and dress like Hank's Ram does and and an act like Hank does. Hank's just the type of guy that he's a great promoter, a great organizer. And I'm sure that Dick is the same way, but he's not in the same. It doesn't do it the same way because you know, Hank just he's just a different type person. He goes. He's just a type of first class guy that he's just going to go out and he's going to dress a certain way and he's going to look better than any other coaching NFL is going to look on on Sunday.

And he's just that type of guy. I just don't think Dick is that type of guy. He's more the I think lower key type coach, but I think Hank is just a really high key coach. Saints also lost another assistant that went to Cleveland. Sam Ritigliano. He's pretty highly regarded. Is he not? Well, Sam is a great guy. He was my receiver coach for two years and I was very close to him. I'd go in and you could go in and talk to him about anything, not just football, but any problem you'd have. You could go in and talk to Sam. And and he was just a super guy. I hated seeing Leave New Orleans, but I'm happy for him that he got the job in Cleveland. I know that he's a type of coach, so they're a great job for him. If you talk with Greg Pruitt, any about Sam coming up there? No, I haven't seen Greg at all. Of course, I guess he's been busy with the superstars and other things. If I haven't seen Greg since last year, so I haven't had a chance to talk to him.

How do you think the Saints will be this coming year now under a new coach? Well, I don't it's always hard to say. You never know. You know, you're having or surrounded by all new coaches. And it's going to be different, of course. And you know, hopefully we can get everything together. We have we have the players that had the potential to do well. And we have the team right now. And we're surrounded with great players that we can have a winning season. And I think that's what everybody's looking for in New Orleans because they haven't ever had one. They've had a 500 season and never a winning season. And I think that we have the people to do it with if we can just get together as a team and do it. Well, right now, it's really kind of hard to say. I'm coming off knee surgery and missed the whole year and working hard on that trying to get back in shape. And, you know, things are going well for me before I got hurt. I started all preseason and was leading the team in receptions when I got hurt. So, things are going well when I got hurt. So, you know, I think that they know what I can do for them.

And so, I think I can go back and get started and job back if everything goes well. My leg comes out in good shape. The injury bug too. How do things look for it? Well, I look real good if I don't have the injury bug anymore. Really, that's the best way to put it. If I don't get hurt again and stay healthy, it's possible. I really have a good chance of playing some football, some good football. Okay, tell us about your injury and what it's done and what you've been doing. Well, first of all, I had surgery again last August on my knee and it was the injury that I'd received my senior year in football here at OU, 1976 season. And it's the injury that hurt during the middle of the year and I went on with it and played with it hurt. Parts look because doctors felt like it wasn't hurt that bad. But anyway, at the end of the year in February, after the season was over in February, I had surgery on my knee. But anyway, I had to have it done over again in August to repair the total damage. And so, that's kind of been a story for me this past years just trying to get that knee well underneath me.

It's going on real well now. So, you know, I'm just looking for the best out of that. What's it like in New York, not only with the team, with the city, the whole whole surrounding up there? Well, the New York Giants are actually located in New Jersey now. They built them a new stadium out in the Netherlands, New Jersey. So, they're located there and all our players, we live in New Jersey. But it's about 10 or 15 minutes from New York City and we do get to go in there. As far as the surrounding, it's totally different atmosphere and I've ever been used to. It's got a lot to offer, but it's also got a lot of distracting things too. But I really believe that New York City will be the best place to play in the United States if you can ever get on a good winning football club and do well there. And I believe there will be a lot of benefits for a player there and a lot of opportunities there for someone. So, assuming that you come back from surgery and so on, how do you think that you will fit in as far as a second year man who really missed this first season?

Well, first of all, I will be a second year man, but I'll be a rookie, actually. In all perspective, that's what I'll be as a rookie. In fact, the Giants have just switched over their offensive line coach to make a change, so they'll have a new one and I'm going to have to go up this Sunday to New York, stay for two to three weeks and then I'll probably have to go back two to three weeks after that, stay for two to three more weeks. And I'm just doing that to get the feel of the coach and for him to get the feel of me and to try to learn some of the techniques and everything that goes on. There's so much to learn and pro football especially in offensive line because first of all, that's the hardest position that you can play as far as technique wise and everything. And offensive line probably will spend more time than anybody else on the field and in meeting rooms and everything. And especially for me coming from all you or a wishbone offense, I have an awful lot to learn.

The Giants last year were kind of a surprise team. People were really pleased and thought the Giants came on at the end and the memorable game against the Bears and so on. How do things look next year? Well, I think things look pretty well. The Giants did play fairly well at the end year. I think a lot of the credit can be given to the defense, the Giants had because they do have a very good defense. Of course, everybody else and National Football League has pretty good defense too, but it's a giant strength in their offense and get some consistency out of them and the defense continue to play they will. I think they can look forward to a good season next year considering the fact that they've got a new scheduling system and the Giants will be playing the people in their division. And they'll be playing some of the teams with comparable, comparable records to what the Giants had last year. So it should be a good year for them next year. People with your announcement today, and first of all, I guess the real question is, why did you do it?

Well, it's been a decision. It's been weighing on my mind a little bit. I'm not getting any younger and I want to have the opportunity to get out into another profession and find out if I can do it. While my age is not a great factor and to be very frank about it, if I can't handle it, that still gives me an opportunity to come back into coaching possibly someday. And I think that coaching is still a young man's game and I'm not getting any younger and I had this rare opportunity so I'm going to take it. What kind of a thing are you going to be doing now? Well, it's going to be a public relations director for a safe-like glass company. It has a group of glass factories and glass companies all across the United States and I'm going to represent them. Have any regrets about leaving OU particularly at the time possibly going out as a winner? Is a blessing? Maybe not. What about that? Well, I always was going to go out of the winner and I don't know probably if we'd had a bad defensive team and a bad season, I'd want to stay and redeem myself. But I certainly have regrets and I'm in love with the University of Oklahoma. It's provided me with such wonderful memories and wonderful opportunities.

No other coach could have ever asked for more and they'll always be some sooner than me wherever I go. Any time I hear a boomer sooner, I guarantee I would be the first guy to stand up. This must have been pretty hard for you. How did the process go as far as deciding to do this? Has it been a long thing coming or what? Well, it's been a two-month deal and he just kept airing down and airing down until spring practice and I just couldn't go into spring practice and to pry out our players of a guy that wasn't going to be coaching them. I didn't think they deserved that. I owe them so much and so finally he got down the post-time and I had to do it right now. Okay, did you just now recently decide or had you decided and just been putting off announcing it or what? Well, I decided about ten days ago and I just finally said that's it and it's been a tough decision. So now you'll be leaving Norman and going to Wichita. Do you think that you might ever get back in coaching? You say you could be young enough to get back in it possibly.

Of course, but welcome to show that. Well, I think Buds Gray example follows and for me to say no, never would be ridiculous. I have no idea. I've got to find out what's out there in another world that I've never been part of. They tell me that Lee's really due to turn colors in the fall and I've never seen that. So there's a side of this world that I'm going to probably have to find out if I can live in and I'm excited about it. What do you have left to do? When we went a ball game like that, we didn't deserve mistakes, mistakes, penalties, fumbles, mistakes, penalties, fumbles, execution, the worst. It was an abortion. I'm embarrassed, our total football teams embarrassed and I think they know how I feel about where we are right now. But here again, I'm happy of the win. I couldn't approach it this way if we'd lost. We won. We still have a good football team.

It's evident to me today I look around here. The scores around the country. Same thing happens at other places this time of the year. If it happened, I'm glad Vanderbilt is off our schedule. I told Fred, take those people and go back to SEC. I wish you the best luck in the world. Vanderbilt. Deserve the win to ball game. They were without question. It played well enough to win it. I don't know if they made a mistake. I just don't know. They didn't have the turnovers, the penalties, mistakes until the last fourth quarter and all of a sudden, instead of them going ahead, two plays later, we scored touchdown. You talk about a luck. Jay Jimerson, I gave him a game ball. Here's the runner in bill. You have to have a runner on the corner and run this offense. Both quarterbacks out, lot can't go. Blevin's cut cramps. Jay was able to good enough, have enough ability to come in and make a take a drive into score. Our people are dying. I stood on the sidelines and just sweat, just poured off. I imagine I lost seven pounds just standing out there. Our football team is exhausted. It's so as Vanderbilt. Just embarrassed.

I don't know if we can hold on a football. We can't eat catching onside. Get into our guts. No, it's coming. We don't deserve to didn't deserve the win, but I'm happy we did. We got to go to work and we got to do a hell of a lot of work. Here's a Bush stadium. We got with us a young man for normal local homer here for reporting their football game. Let me ask you a question now since you're here watching baseball. Do you compare baseball to football and if so, which one you like best? I like baseball best, but there's a little difference in number of players and so on. They look different out there. Oh, absolutely. Baseball players are the guys who set around with their names on and stand around and catch a ball with all the reaction happening within one. What do they call it? One second flat, right? All the reaction take place. Now baseball to play it every day and becomes a game and baseball plays once a week that become an event. And based on the event versus a game, people have the tickets to compare the two sports. What is your views? My views.

I'd like to ask you what you think about Ty Cobb's record. One of those. It's always going to get back around to that. Ty Cobb, Ty Cobb record. Yeah, Ty Cobb. That's the man who set the record who had a very fine career and it's an honor to be thought of in the same breath over the Ty Cobb on the base path. When do you think you'll do it? You want to set a date or anything? Oh, no. I can't set a date because there's a for people who are looking for sensationalism. I'm a guy who has to go out there and do his job and based on those challenge of the moment. I really don't know when to take place, but we all have calculated and guess about when it's going to take place. I would imagine sometime next month, which would be July. I'd like to do it here. Well, I'd like to do it anywhere right now because it's getting a little difficult now for me as a performance to be able to go out every day and to put your ability at a high peak out there on the field. Certainly, somewhere along the line, your ability to run going to be on a collision course with your knowledge of the game.

It's just one of those type things where you go from day to day and from year to year and perhaps sometime this year would take place. You've been rested a lot more this year, do you like that? That's a tough question. I'm a professional athlete who feel that he still can put his talent on display. By the same token, I do not make out the lineup in that kind of bit. Certainly, our team been successful based on the way we've been playing in and out of lineup and based on the success, I have to accept it as it is. You're originally going to be a player coach. What happened? Well, they asked me if I wanted to be a player coach. I said, yes, and I changed my mind before the season started. And that's what happened. I think because of the free will to change your mind. How long will Lou Brock be around 3,000 hits? No, I like to think of Sasha Page who was going strong at 65. I think I can go to 65. What do you think about this cardinal team this year? They got a very fine ball club and I keep using the word they because I only make reference today when I talk about a young guy who is really finally to put it together, put it all together.

And you come out with the whole thing together and you put it to cover over some of the veteran ball players. And then you got a ball club that is capable of holding its own on any condition. We want scaring about in this league, but we won't be frightened out of the cells either. What do you think about the other teams, particularly the Cubs at this time? Well, they are number one, simply because they've been winning. And the only way you get there, you got to win. And certainly they put it all together at this stage of the game. You don't know how far they can go during the course of the year, but it's going to be interesting. I think the fans are going to have to come out and watch the Cubs play now baseball rather than start projecting what they're going to do during the rest of the year. Same as our team here, you've got a fine ball club that's really playing good baseball. And just hope the fans can enjoy it as it is rather than projecting and saying this is going to happen, that is going to happen. Because we don't know. Nobody can predict the future.

Get a good outfield here at St. Louis. Bacon right gone. You spent some time with him. What do you think about Bacon now being with Philadelphia? Bacon is going to be one of your top ball players talent was in a national league in baseball. This kid has everything. He spent his paid his dues, so to speak. He spent three years and now his feed is on the ground. And I think Bacon is well on his way to become. To become and what people thought he could become. That was an outstanding ball player in a superstar. It's just a happy ball club. You've got the bullpen out there that likes to work a lot. And some of them are a little bit worried maybe that they won't get to work as much as they would like. Well, that's not their decision to make. When the opportunity come, most important thing for athletes to be is to be ready. When preparation meet the opportunity, they call it luck. So let's just hope that they stay down there and gripe all the time. And eventually when they do get any become lucky. So I think those are the kind of thing that a race on happiness and distinction and what have you on a ball club. Because certainly there's not going to be 25 guys who's going to concur with everything that goes on on the field and off the field.

It'll be a little while before you hang it up, but will Lou Brock be around in that coach broadcaster? You've got a lot of business interest too. Well, I'm going to come down watching football down in the big eight and see the Suners. I had the Suners that I get there the quickest I would leave, but they took it. Yeah, I'm going to enjoy baseball. I enjoy offseason activities that I find myself involved in. And at the same time, I'm a professional athlete with a lot of enthusiasm left. And as long as I can maintain that, I think I can make a contribution to the game. We'd love to have you down at the University of Oklahoma come and see some football games. I'll be down to watching a couple of games this year, I'll make sure. It's Bob Starr's country. Oh, absolutely. Bob often talk about Dave Reed and I know he can't play football, but Bob Starr maybe can.