Executive Carmen Policy was an NFL trailblazer who was team president when the San Francisco 49ers were winning Super Bowls and was part of the expansion Cleveland Browns upon their return to the league in 2000. In this interview, Policy talks about making a decision to keep his grandson out of playing football, the dangers of head trauma for kids playing sports, and how new equipment and rules in high school sports help keep athletes safer.
Sam Smith, author of the New York Times best seller The Jordan Rules talks about his book, Hard Labor: The Battle That Birthed the Billion-Dollar NBA, which details exactly how and why the NBA, and NBA players, make so much money. Smith explains the significance of the historic Oscar Robertson v. National Basketball Association lawsuit that allowed players free agency for the first time.
In this episode of Sports Byline, Ron Barr talks to the directors of the film Battle of the Sexes, a film based on the historic tennis match of 1973 between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, starring Steve Carell and Emma Stone. Directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton discuss the technical difficulties of making a great sports movie and the lesser known backstories of King and Riggs.
In this Sports Byline interview, Ron Barr talks to Cam Perron, who developed an interest in the Negro League baseball players when he was just 12 years old. Perron has since been chronicling his research on the players and the league, and was featured on HBO's Real Sports. Perron shares stories from the Negro League players he's become close with in his research and gives insight into this overlooked part of baseball history.
In this interview, Ron Barr talks to Pierre Turgeon, 19 season NHL center and the 34th player in NHL history to score 500 goals. Turgeon reminisces about growing up 7 hours north of Montreal, learning English, and Canada's 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships bench-clearing brawl with the Soviet Union.
One of the last living Negro American League players, Gilbert Black of the Indianapolis Clowns talks about growing up in NYC and sneaking into the Polo Grounds to watch baseball games as a child. Black recalls the segregation and discrimination he and other black baseball players faced in the major leagues, including being made to sleep outside on a porch at training camp with the Atlanta Braves.
Buz McKim, NASCAR Hall of Fame historian, NASCAR sign painter, and author talks about growing up in racing culture and how he ended up designing the paint jobs of two Daytona 500 winners. McKim explains the process of finding interesting pieces for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and some of the exhibits he's worked on.
All-Pro linebacker Otis Wilson of the Chicago Bears talks about his 9 NFL seasons, 8 with the Chicago Bears, and the successes-and pranks-of the famous 1985 Super Bowl winning Bears team, including the filming of the Super Bowl Shuffle. Wilson is the author of the autobiography If These Walls Could Talk: Chicago Bears.
Morten Andersen, a Pro Football Hall Of Fame placekicker, played for 25 seasons with the Saints, Falcons, Giants, Chiefs and Vikings. He talks about what it takes to be a great athlete over a long period of time. Andersen, who was born in Denmark, tells how he had never kicked a football until age 17 when he came to America as an exchange student and how it felt to hear he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Paul Beston, author of The Boxing Kings: When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring talks about his book and the history of America's fascination with heavyweight champs. His book focuses on the history of boxing in America through the careers of John L. Sullivan, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Lewis, Rocky Marciano, Mohamad Ali and Mike Tyson; iconic figures that had the ability to appeal to people beyond the ring.
Erik Malinowski, author of the insightful book about how the Golden State Warriors utilize technology and analytics in basketball, "Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History," talks about what it takes to compete in the modern NBA.
David West, a power forward who played 15 years in the NBA with the Warriors, Spurs, Pacers and the Hornets/Pelicans, and won an NBA Championship with the Golden State Warriors, talks about his influential coach, playing college ball for Xavier, and the two instrumental coaches he's played for in the NBA, Gregg Popovich of the Spurs and Steve Kerr of the Warriors. West touches on how he uses basketball as a medium to reach and influence young people.
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