Football History

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In the early storied history of the New York Football Giants, jersey number 1 has been a uniform reserved for superstars or offensive leaders. Although officially, it has been retired for a single, legendary player, Ray Flaherty, it has been donned by a handful of individuals who played various roles throughout the team's early years. Giants historian Larry Schmitt helps us look at these early Giants who wore number 1.

The New York Football Giants have over a dozen jersey numbers retired. The number 1 retired in honor of Ray Flaherty by the Giants in 1935 was the first North American professional athlete jersey to be retired.

Legacy of the New York Giants Number 1 Jersey

The Giants have had a tradition since their inception in 1925; their feature player was honored to wear number one. So, in the Giants' first season in 1925, halfback Hinkey Haines wore number one that season.

Then, in 1926, Haines switched his number to two, and the Giants gave number one to fullback Jack McBride. Jack wore Number One for the next three seasons for the Giants from 1926 to 1928, when the fullback left to play for 1 Providence. Soon afterward, New York owner Tim Mara purchased the Detroit Wolverine franchise to get Benny Friedman to be their quarterback.

He had that jersey for a few seasons, and then Ray Flaherty, who had been on the Giants in 1929 but wore number 44, and then he was on the Giants again in 1931, he wore number 6. In 1932, however, Ray Flaherty got number one and wore it until 1935, when he was the team captain and Head Coach Steve Owens's first assistant coach. In other words, Flaherty was a player-coach. So he wore the number one, and when he retired as a player in 1935, the Giants retired his number one.

However, in 1946, the franchise was unretired number one for two years and gave it to Frank Cope, a tackle who had been on the Giants.

A Legacy of Versatility and Early Growth

While the players who wore number 1 for the Giants in their early years may not be household names, their contribution to the team's history shouldn't be overlooked. They represent the franchise's period of growth and development, demonstrating the versatility required of players in the early days of professional football. From halfbacks to fullbacks, punters to defensive backs, these individuals laid the foundation for the winning tradition the Giants would later establish.

As the league evolved and positions became more specialized, the Giants transitioned from using number 1. However, the story of these early players serves as a reminder of the team's rich history and the dedication of the individuals who helped build a championship franchise.

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Calling all NFL history buffs! Take a shot at today's quick-fire trivia question and see if you're a true gridiron guru!

NFL trivia is a treasure trove of fun for football fanatics. It lets you revisit iconic moments, test your knowledge of legendary players and coaches, and unearth hidden gems of franchise history. Whether you're debating obscure stats with friends or casually dropping facts at a watch party, NFL trivia is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. It deepens your appreciation for the game's rich history and adds a layer of excitement to every matchup, making you see familiar plays with fresh eyes. So, dust off your memory bank and get ready to have some fun – NFL trivia is the perfect way to celebrate your love for the gridiron!

Leave your answer in the comments below and let's see if you know your NFL history!

The National Football League, a bastion of American sports culture, has witnessed the rise and reign of numerous formidable teams. Each team has left an indelible mark on the history of the sport, combining skill, strategy, and sometimes sheer will to dominate the gridiron. This exploration delves into the lore of the NFL's most successful franchises, tracing their triumphs and the iconic moments that have captivated fans worldwide.

Photo by Adrian Curiel on Unsplash | AD

-The Dynasties of Dominance

The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots stand as colossuses in NFL history, each boasting six Super Bowl victories. The Steelers, with their legendary "Steel Curtain" defense, captured four of their titles in the 1970s under the guidance of coach Chuck Noll and with stars like Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris. This era was marked by a defense so impervious it seemed almost a force of nature, propelling the Steelers to a level of success that was both envied and admired.

In contrast, the Patriots' success blossomed in the new millennium, with coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady forming an unparalleled quarterback-coach tandem. Their strategic prowess and late-game heroics turned the Patriots into a modern-day dynasty, exemplified by their stunning comeback from a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI, arguably the greatest Super Bowl comeback ever.

-The Innovators and the Icons

The San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s and 90s, under the leadership of coach Bill Walsh and quarterback Joe Montana, transformed offensive play with what is now known as the West Coast Offense. This strategy emphasized short, horizontal passing routes designed to replace traditional run plays, a tactic that helped them secure five Super Bowl titles. Their systematic dismantling of opponents culminated in a 55-10 thrashing of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV, a game that remains one of the most lopsided in the history of the NFL.

The Dallas Cowboys, dubbed "America's Team," enjoyed periods of supremacy in the 1970s and again in the early 1990s. Their strategic gameplay, combined with star players like Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman, brought home five Super Bowl trophies. Their ability to shine on the biggest stages has etched their name firmly in the annals of NFL greatness.

-Consistent Excellence

The Green Bay Packers have not only claimed four Super Bowl victories but also have a storied history that includes the most championships in NFL history when considering the pre-Super Bowl era. Their legacy is built on the foundations laid by coach Vince Lombardi, whose name now graces the Super Bowl trophy.

-Celebrating Greatness Across All Platforms

In an era where media and sports are increasingly intertwined, the narrative of NFL greatness is celebrated across various platforms, naturally including podcasts. These podcasts delve into the stories of all NFL teams, providing analyses that resonate with a diverse audience.

They offer a unique blend of historical context, expert commentary, and fan perspective, enhancing the appreciation of the game's rich history and the strategic intricacies that define its most successful teams. This multimedia approach not only caters to hardcore fans but also invites casual listeners to learn about the legendary dynasties that have shaped the league.

-Conclusion: The Legacy Lives On

The NFL's history is rich with stories of triumph and exceptional team success. These franchises have not just won; they have dominated for decades and left legacies that shape how the game is played today. Their successes remind us that football is more than a game—it's a narrative of perseverance, innovation, and excellence that continues to evolve with each passing season.

For fans, players, and coaches, the stories of these teams are not just tales of past glories but blueprints for future triumphs. As the NFL continues to evolve, the achievements of these teams remain the gold standard against which all others are measured.

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This video delves into the strategic trading history of the number 1 NFL Draft pick. From the early days of the draft to the present, teams have used calculated trades to build their rosters and secure future success. Join us as we unravel this practice's evolution and profound impact on the league. Whether you're a die-hard football fan or just curious about the NFL Draft's inner workings, this video will surely provide valuable insights and information. Take advantage of this fascinating journey through the history of trading the number 1 NFL Draft pick!

Get ready for a thrilling ride through the world of sports with our channel. Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe for all the latest updates. Remember, the draft is just the beginning - the real adrenaline rush starts when the trades start rolling in.

-The Value of Number One

In the world of the NFL Draft, the number 1 pick holds significant value. But over the years, teams have made bold moves by trading away this top selection.

From the early days of the NFL to the present, the trading of the number 1 pick has evolved in many ways. Teams have used this valuable asset to acquire multiple picks, star players, or future draft selections.

In some cases, teams have succeeded by trading away the number 1 pick, while others have regretted passing up on potential superstars. The risk and reward of trading the top pick have always been a hot topic of debate among fans and analysts.

Whether it's the infamous Eli Manning trade or the recent blockbuster deals involving quarterbacks, the history of trading the number 1 pick is filled with drama and excitement. Teams must carefully weigh their options and consider the long-term implications of such a decision.

As the NFL Draft continues to evolve, one thing remains certain—the trading of the number one pick will always be a captivating storyline for football fans worldwide.

-Famous Number One Draft Trades

-2023 the Chicago Bears to Carolina Panthers

The player picked at No. 1 by the Panthers: Bryce Young, QB from Alabama.

In return, the Bears received WR DJ Moore, a 2023 first-round pick (No. 9), a 2023 second-round pick (No. 61), a 2024 first-round pick, and a 2025 second-round pick.

In -2016, the Tennessee Titans traded off the honor to the Los Angeles Rams
Player picked at No. 1 by the Rams: QB Jared Goff

Titans received a 2016 first-round pick, a 2016 second-round pick, and a 2016 second-round pick and took RB Derrick Henry, a 2016 third-round pick, a 2017 first-round pick and selected WR Corey Davis, and a 2017 third-round pick.

-2001 saw the San Diego Chargers swap the selection with the Atlanta Falcons.
The player picked at No. 1 by the Falcons is QB Michael Vick from Virginia Tech.

The Chargers received WR Tim Dwight, a 2001 first-round pick, where they took RB LaDainian Tomlinson, a 2021 third-round pick, and a 2002 second-round pick.

-1997 the New York Jets sent their top selection spot to the St. Louis Rams
Player picked at No. 1 by the Rams: OT Orlando Pace

Jets received a 1997 first-round pick, 1997 third-round pick, 1997 fourth-round pick, and 1997 seventh-round pick.

-1995 had the Carolina Panthers sending the top spot to the Cincinnati Bengals
Player picked at No. 1 by Cincy: RB Ki-Jana Carter, Penn State

Panthers received a 1995 first-round pick, QB Kerry Collin) and a 1995 second-round pick, DE Shawn King.

-1991 the New England Patriots traded out to hand the slot to the Dallas Cowboys
Player picked at No. 1 by Dallas: DT Russell Maryland was in one Pro Bowl but won three Super Bowl Rings.

The Patriots received a 1991 first-round pick, a 1991 second-round pick, and three players: CB Ron Francis, LB David Howard, and LB Eugene Lockhart Jr.

-1990 the Atlanta Falcons made a deal with the Indianapolis Colts
Player picked at No. 1 by the Colts: QB Jeff George

Falcons received: OT Chris Hinton, WR Andre Rison, a 1990 fifth-round pick, and a 1991 first-round pick.

In -1984 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sent their honor to the Cincinnati Bengals, who in turn shipped it off to the New England Patriots
The player picked at No. 1 by the Pats: WR Irving Fryar

June 1983 trade: Bengals received 1984 No. 1 pick, Buccaneers received QB Jack Thompson

-1978 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded out to send their spot to the Houston Oilers
The player picked at No. 1 by the Oilers: RB Earl Campbell

Tampa Bay received TE Jimmie Giles, a 1978 first-round pick, where they took QB Doug Williams, a 1978 second-round pick, a 1979 third-round pick, and a 1979 fifth-round pick.

-1975 the Baltimore Colts swapped with the Atlanta Falcons
The player picked at No. 1 by Atlanta was QB Steve Bartkowski, who had two Pro Bowl seasons and an eleven-year NFL career.

The Colts received a 1975 first-round pick and OL George Kunz.

-1974 the Houston Oilers sent their selection placeholder to the Dallas Cowboys
The player picked at No. 1 by the Boys is DE Ed Jones, who went to three Pro Bowls and had an All-Pro season.

The Oilers received DE Tody Smith and WR Billy Parks.

The Cowboys received a 1974 No. 1 pick to get Too Tall and a 1974 third-round pick that they used to take QB Danny White.

-1968 the New York Giants danced with the Minnesota Vikings
The player picked at No. 1 by Vikes: T Ron Yary was a Hall of Fame player with 7 Pro Bowls and six All-Pro Seasons.

The Giants received QB Fran Tarkenton, who had five solid seasons in New York and then returned to the Vikings in 1972 and played seven seasons there during his second stint.

-1967 the upstart New Orleans Saints sent their NFL slot to the Baltimore Colts
Player picked at No. 1 by the Colts: DT Bubba Smith, who had two Pro Bowls and one All-Pro Season and helped the Colts win Super Bowl V

Saints received QB Gary Cuozzo.

Trading for the top spot is an exciting moment for the teams but it is quirte a gamble based on multiple variables. Will we see a trade out of the number one slot for this year's Draft? That is something we fans will have to wait and see.

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The LSU Tigers football logo history reflects the program's progression from its formative years to a modern athletic power.

Early Days (1930s-1950s):

-No official logo existed, with various emblems depicting a stylized tiger head often accompanied by the letter "L" or "LSU."

The Charging Cat (1955-1990s):

-1955: The iconic "Charging Cat" logo debuts, showcasing a fierce feline with open jaws and arched back, symbolizing the team's fighting spirit.

-1984: A modernized version emerges with smoother lines and a slightly less ferocious expression.

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Calling all football fans! Take a quick dive into the gridiron's rich past. This video packs a punch of history in under a minute, exploring the origins of the NFL and the legendary moments that shaped the game we love today. From humble beginnings to the modern marvels of the sport, get ready to be surprised and inspired!

We post these quick-hitting quiz questions quite often to keep the gridiron history alive and breathing. These tests fire up the brain cells in the football minds across the globe to help preserve the history of the game and its fantastic people.

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The Big House, as Michigan Stadium is affectionately known, has witnessed countless gridiron epics since its opening in 1927. Here are some of the biggest, most memorable football games played there:

-1942: Upsetting Notre Dame and Launching a Dynasty
With legendary coach Fritz Crisler at the helm and Tom Harmon, the "Golden Tornado," throwing touchdown passes, Michigan faced undefeated Notre Dame under the glare of national attention. The Wolverines pulled off a 35-10 victory, securing their first national championship and launching a decade of dominance.

-1950: The Snow Bowl
Blistering snow and bone-chilling winds transformed the Big House into a winter wonderland for this showdown with Ohio State. With the score tied 3-3 late in the fourth quarter, Willie Heston's iconic touchdown run through the blizzard secured a 9-3 victory and the Big Ten title for Michigan. The "Snow Bowl" stands as a testament to Wolverine resilience and the magic of college football's most unpredictable weather.

-1964: The Comeback in the Snow
Another snowy clash with the Buckeyes, this time with Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler on the sidelines. Trailing 10-0 in the third quarter, Michigan staged a furious comeback, capped by Jim Harbaugh's touchdown pass with 47 seconds left. The 10-10 tie preserved Michigan's undefeated season and cemented the rivalry's legendary intensity.

There are so many more to choose from with the rich history of this program!

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Put your knowledge to the test with this quick-fire Football History Quiz! In less than 40 seconds, you'll answer a trivia question that spans decades of the sport.

This edition challenges you to know the jersey number history of marquee players. From legendary players to iconic moments, this video will challenge your memory and leave you wanting more!

Test your gridiron history knowledge with our video about American football history

Here is a transcript of a conversation Darin had with Dr. Randall Balmer and his book Passion Plays which unveils the history of the influence of religion on football and the other North American Sports.

Darin Hayes
Welcome once again to the Pigpen, your portal to positive football history. We had a very interesting discussion that I think will commence here. We have a gentleman writing a book on a topic I don't think we've ever had here in the Pigpen: football history. His name is Dr. Randall Balmer, and he has written a book called Passion Plays. It's got a very interesting subject and a very interesting theme. I think we'll bring him in right now. Dr. Randall Balmer, welcome to the Pigpen.

Dr. Randall Balmer
Thank you, Darin. I'm happy to be here.

Darin Hayes
Well, we are sure glad to have you here, sir. Before we get into the subject of your book and its title, maybe you could tell us a little about yourself and your background, especially regarding football history.

Dr. Randall Balmer
Okay, well, I grew up as a kid loving sports, trying to play sports, and not doing all that well, I suppose, but I did my best. And so I'm a sports fan; I wouldn't say I'm one of those diehard fans I keep hearing about, but I follow it fairly regularly. And I have my sports allegiances and so forth. And that was part of my background. The immediate catalyst for this book was discovering talk radio sports talk radio in the early 1990s. I taught at Columbia University in New York when W NBC transitioned to W F A N and became a sports talk station. And I was just riveted. I was just fascinated that these hosts could sustain conversations and debates for hours and hours over whether or not Joe Torrey should have lifted the starting picture with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. And I became hooked. I loved it. The book attempts to understand why Americans have a peculiar passion for sports. I'm aware that there are sports fans elsewhere in the world, especially when the World Cup runs, comes around, and so forth. But it seems to me that we Americans are unusually dedicated to sports. And I wanted to try to understand why that is.

Darin Hayes
Well, that is a lot of truth to that. I can just raise my hand right now and say, you know, I'm, uh, I'm guilty of, of that pleasure. And, uh, you know, of course, having a podcast, you're talking about sports daily. And it is very addictive to listen to or to talk it, or just, even if you're not on the radio, just to have, have, uh, some of your friends or cohorts that you're sitting around, uh, at work or on a cup of coffee, just talking, and the subject always comes up about the latest game where some sports topic. And it's very intriguing to get into this and talk about that. First of all, I guess before we get going here, uh, maybe you could again tell us the full title of your book and where maybe people could purchase it, and we'll talk about it again at the end of the program as well.

Dr. Randall Balmer
Sure, the book is Passion Plays, How Religion Shaped Sports in North America. And it's available, I guess, wherever books are sold. Bookshop .org is a good place to buy books because it supports local booksellers, but also a local bookseller's storefront brick-and-mortar store is a good place. Amazon, of course, has it, as does Barnes and Noble, so it's widely available.

Darin Hayes
Okay, well, let's get into the topic of your book. I guess you sort of gave us your background, and I'm assuming that's probably some of the gist of why it motivated you to write this book as well.

Dr. Randall Balmer
That's right. Yes, in a way, I want to try to understand myself. Why was I so passionate about some of these sports, even though I'm maybe not quite as passionate as those who call into these programs all the time? But yes, I'm fascinated by the fact that in my field, actually my academic field, I probably should say that as well. My academic field is American religious history. So, I have studied religion in North America for a long time. What's distinctive about religion in North America is that historically, we Americans have been off the charts in terms of religious devotion and religious adherence. And I think that's begun to change. I'm one; the polling data suggests that it has begun to change over the last couple of decades. That is, religious devotion adherence and affiliation have been going down over the last several decades. And there are a lot of reasons for that. But at the same time, I think that passion for sports and devotion to sports has been rising. And I think there's probably a correlation between the two.

Darin Hayes
Well, that, you know, you've caught my ear, especially with the title. And I, when I saw this a few weeks back and, you know, cause I'm, I'm a man of faith, and I'm passionate about my faith, but I'm also passionate about my sports. So you have my, my world's colliding two things that I've always sort of considered separate and, you know, don't, don't, uh, cross the streams, uh, you hear to say, but, uh, you know that you are sort of bringing those worlds together and we're very interested in hearing how, how those two merge.

Dr. Randall Balmer
Yeah, what happens? First, I will focus on North America's four major team sports: baseball, football, hockey, and basketball. All four of those sports developed, for the most part, roughly from the middle of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. By the middle of the 20th century, those sports had more or less assumed their current form. However, as these sports developed in the 19th century, they developed against the background of the Industrial Revolution. And what's happening in America, North America, more generally, is that men, in particular, are beginning to work outside the home and the farm. They're no longer engaging in subsistence living. They're beginning to work in factories, textile mills, etc. Many of them also work in sedentary office jobs. So, there's a great deal of concern in the Anglo-American world, both in North America and Britain, that men are becoming too passive. That is, they're becoming, they're not getting outside enough. They're not engaging in athletics. They're becoming weak and even "sisified." And several religious leaders are noticing that. And they, very cleverly, I think, try to combine religion, Protestantism, with athleticism. They came up with a movement known to historians as muscular Christianity. That is to say that we want to appeal to men to be athletes, virile, and in the churches. One of the complaints is that the women have been in charge of the church work for a long time. And we must find a way to lure men back to the faith and the churches. Part of the strategy for doing that was to combine religion with sports or athletic endeavors. Probably the best example of that institutionally would be the YMCA, the Young Men's Christian Association, which provided both religion and YMCA were quite religious. They're not less so today, but in the beginning, that was at the core of the YMCA, to combine religion with recreation. For example, it's no accident that basketball was invented by a Presbyterian minister at the YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts, today, of course, Springfield College. His instructor charged him with inventing a game that would occupy young men between baseball and football seasons. So it had to be played indoors, in a very confined space. And, of course, I argue in the book that basketball is a symbolic metaphor for urban life. That is when Americans were flocking to the cities in large numbers in the 1890s when basketball was invented; James Naismith came up with a game that, in many ways, replicates urban life. That is, it is the challenge of maneuvering in a very constricted space without impeding the progress of others, much like walking down Fifth Avenue at lunchtime, Michigan Avenue at rush hour, or Times Square in the evening. And so basketball becomes a metaphor for urban life. As African Americans began to move into northern cities, including Manhattan, including New York City, after the turn of the 20th century, they began to gravitate to YMCAs, which is when they learned basketball and then played it and began to excel at it. So again, I'm not sure where your question got me to this point. So, I need to retrace my steps a little bit.

Darin Hayes
No, you know, you're you're you're laying out the groundwork and telling it very well. So the YMCA sort of that catalyst or that meeting place of religion and sports, that's their vehicle, I guess, to portray what you're saying, you know, during the Industrial Revolution to bring men into getting a little bit fitter. We probably need some revival to this day with the video games going on with our children, everything, too. But, interestingly, you talked about Dr. Smith in Springfield YMCA and, you know, because also one of his students and also want to believe one of the first participants in his basketball game was a young man named Amos Alonzo Stagg, who had quite a bit of the foundation of early football. So it's interesting that you are bringing those two. You have two major sports that are sort of sprouting from that one YMCA building.

Dr. Randall Balmer
Yes, Nate Smith and Ayman Solonzo Staggs were teammates on the football team at the YMCA training school. They were undersized compared to the other football powerhouses at that time, which were Yale, Princeton, Harvard, and the Ivy League schools. The football team at the Springfield School came to be known as Staggs Stubby Christians.

Darin Hayes
Well, I'm sure they could have been called worse, I'm sure. So, well, I expect they probably were very interesting. Okay. So, I mean, I liked the metaphor, how you say that with a basketball sort of being that, you know, going through without getting each other's way and avoiding each other, and that's a very interesting insight.

Dr. Randall Balmer
Well, I want to talk about football in particular. So, let me talk about that as well. Sure. Football, of course, evolved from really two games, rugby and what we know today as soccer. These are also, in their early days, known as mob games. And in fact, all of these games are mob games in that you have a lot of participants. Sometimes, you don't even have delimited fields. And so everybody is just kind of crowding on this onto the field. However, one of the common characteristics in the evolution of these four major team sports is moving from mob games to a more regulated field and rules that govern behaviors. So for example, with football, one of the major points in the evolution of football is when Walter Camp, who's usually called the father of American football, finally persuaded other schools, meaning Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, and others, to reduce the number of players on a team from 15 to 11. He also disliked the rugby scrum. So he got rid of that in favor of a line of scrimmage. And so that's why we have a line of scrimmage in football. And he did that in part to try to mitigate some of the violence associated with rugby. However, I'm not sure that worked all that well because, with the line of scrimmage, the lineman can get a head of steam before they run into the other players. But in particular, he wanted to introduce strategy into the football game.
What's important to remember about the game of football in terms of its history is that football is more or less the current form in which we know it was developed by the sons, brothers, and nephews of Union Army soldiers in the Civil War. So, it developed at Northeastern schools, such as Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and so forth, as well as Penn, in the years after the Civil War. Football is the quintessential war game because it involves the conquest and the defense of territory, much like the battle at Gettysburg, Antietam in the Civil War, or Manassas or Bull Run. These are all battlefields. Again, this is how you determine the winner or survivor in these battlefields who could take the most territory from the opponent. So football is a war game. In the early years, there are all sorts of quotes in the book about this; the war imagery and language used to describe football are just all over the place.
Another characteristic of football, as we know very well, is violence. You have violence in hockey, of course, when you have the fights. But violence in football is scripted into the game itself. So you have a lot of violence, which is part of the reason it's attractive to a lot of Americans. We are a violent society; I think we have to come to terms with that. And football, in many ways, is the quintessential Central American game because because of its violence. So football is war, and we see that to get today. You're watching a football game, and the announcer refers to the quarterback as the field general or the quarterback is launching long bombs or bullet passes. They talk about trench warfare, that is, between the offensive line and the defensive line, much like you would use in military language and other terminology in football, training camp, and scouting. These are all military terms that apply to the game of football.

Darin Hayes
That's, I've never really thought about that way, but you are right. And we, you know, often we hear announced or saying, you know, the, the battle of these two teams on the field or, you know, and it's the strategy, a lot of it, you know, you're trying to outflank your opponent just as you would a platoon in, in battle in a war. So that's a very, very interesting insight.

Dr. Randall Balmer
The other thing is that as the strategies on the battlefield have changed over the 20th century, so have football strategies. That is to say, in the early years of football, it was a running game for the most part. And, you know, you had trench warfare just like you would have in World War I. Beginning in the 1940s and 1950s with the Korean War and the Vietnam War, that's also the time that you had much more passing in professional and college football. So, as warfare strategies changed over the 20th century, football strategies changed in the same direction.

Darin Hayes
We are going more to an aerial game, with aerial attacks in both instances. That is a very, very, very good insight.

Dr. Randall Balmer
And you used the term aerial attack again just now, which is military language.

Darin Hayes
Yeah, you're right. Wow. I guess I've never thought too much about the correlations between them, but I think you definitely are on to something. Doctor, so you, religious part, you said, you know, it started at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Now, how does religion still affect the games of sports, particularly football, to this day?

Dr. Randall Balmer
Yeah, I think it is in many ways. And I wanted to go into the book, I wanted to go deeper into this, but you have these kinds of surface similarities. For example, you have sacred space, right? For religion, it's the holy city of Mecca, or a cathedral or a synagogue. In sports, you've got Fenway Park, or Wrigley Field, or Lambeau Field, or the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, particularly places that have more historical meaning, more history to them; you have this sort of sense of sacrality in those places. You have rituals, you know; as a football fan, there are certain rituals, such as the national anthem, for example, the players running onto the field amidst all sorts of pyrotechnics with fire and smoke and so forth. Well, in religion, you've got a liturgical procession that begins worship with the bishops and the acolytes and the priests processing, along with the choir, and very often with incense, smoke coming along with them, very similar to what you have in a football game. You have authority, you have a sacred text, you have the Bible or the Quran or whatever it might be. For sports, it's a rule book. And everybody agrees on these premises that this is how the game is supposed to be played. You have authorities: head coach, bishop, cardinal, and priest, and ultimate authority would be the Pope, for example, or the commissioner in baseball. And you even have saints. Certainly, you have saints within religion. But for sports, the saints are the members of the halls of fame because they're the ones who are exemplary and have excelled over the rest of us. So you have those kind of commonalities as well. But again, as I, in the book, I wanted to go a little bit deeper than that and say, look, there are instances in the development of these sports where people with religious convictions were part of the evolution of these sports but also brought those values to each sport.

Darin Hayes
Okay. So, if you take that further, the crowds, fans, and stands would be the congregations. Is that the correct correlation?

Dr. Randall Balmer
Yeah, absolutely. One of the best examples of that is hockey. I think it is because hockey is Canada's game, as we know it. What's interesting about hockey is that it emerges out of lacrosse. Lacrosse is the immediate predecessor to hockey. In lacrosse, there was a big effort in 1867, the year of the Canadian Confederation. That's when Canada became a country rather than a British part of the Commonwealth. There was an attempt in 1867 to designate lacrosse as the real national game of Canada. So you have that connection, and I was going to make another point, but I forgot whatever it was about that, so maybe I'll circle back to it. I apologize.

Darin Hayes
Oh, that's not a problem at all. Okay. So you, you, I mean, you got my wheels spinning here. So you've got, uh, you know, the fans that are, are, are passionate about their teams, just like, uh, you know, parishioners are, are passionate about theirs, their faith and practicing their faith and talking about their faith and, uh, you know, spreading they're, trying to spread their faith onto others and, uh, join the congregation. So I guess that would be like bandwagoning, uh, you know, that we have in sports, so very interesting.

Dr. Randall Balmer
Yeah, and I did remember your comment; it reminded me of the point I was trying to make. So, hockey being Canada's game, the real congregation nationally is telecast every Saturday night during the hockey season, called hockey night in Canada. And you know, it's a kind of call to worship work for Canadians to gather around their television and watch two hockey games as part of their coming together. And that, again, speaks to the need for community. That is, we're looking for some sort of attachment to others. At one time, and it still does for a lot of people, religion was that place of congregation or place of attachment. I think now, more and more, it's tribal loyalties to teams. I mentioned in the book I have a friend here in town who said, in our conversation, that if I'm filling my car with gas at the station, gas station, and a pickup truck comes up alongside me with a New England Patriots bumper sticker, we immediately have something to talk about. Even though we might be very different regarding our socioeconomic background or class, we may have politics utterly opposed to one another. But being Patriots fans, we have that commonality; we have that bond that eludes us, I think, in many other areas of American life.

Darin Hayes
You're right. I guess even if you're the opposition, after this past Sunday and last evening, I'm a Steelers fan, apologetically. And after that, even if I saw a Patriots fan or a Browns fan right now after losing to him, there's still a commonality of discussion that you could have about the game. Maybe it's the opposing sides of an opinion, but you know, you still have a bond between that game and the ritual of the game. Yes, exactly.

Dr. Randall Balmer
you do

Darin Hayes
Well, very interesting. Now, how about, I guess, if we stay in the realm of professional football, you know, Sundays sort of being that holy day where most of the games are played and, you know, it's football Sunday. Is that another one of the correlations that you make?

Dr. Randall Balmer
Yeah, it is. And I think that also provides a way of understanding how we've moved away from organized faith to athletics. Of course, in the early days of each of these sports, there were strict Sabbatarian laws, that is to say, that these games could not be played on Sundays because this was the day for church. You know what happens, of course, is that the owners, in particular, push for the repeal of those laws for their own economic interest and well-being. I use an example in the book of East Lake Community Church, which is in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington. Seattle is in the Pacific time zone, and Sunday morning worship was at ten o'clock, as it is for many other religious groups in America. Well, when the Seahawks were playing in the Eastern time zone against the Bills, the Steelers, the Giants, or whomever, the Dolphins, for that matter. The game time, one o ''o'clock Eastern, is exactly ten o 'o'clock Pacific time. So what are you going to do? And what they did, as is true of many religious groups, was they canceled their ten o ''o'clock Sunday morning worship service and rescheduled it for five o ''o'clock on Sunday afternoon after the games were over. So that's an indication of who is determining or dictating the schedule. And these days, athletic events seem to be taking precedence over religious gatherings.

Darin Hayes
It's interesting, and I'm sure that when they developed Sunday night football, it put another angst into their schedule.

Dr. Randall Balmer
I expected it. I hadn't thought about that, yes, but I expect so.

Darin Hayes
Well, very interesting. Now, how does, with all this going on, and you know, I know they're working around schedules for worship services. Now, is there anything else that religion is doing to embrace or to repel, you know, some of their parishioners and the faithful from going, you know, over the edge and being a total fanatic, and be, you know, stay a fanatic towards their religion. Are there some measures being taken?

Dr. Randall Balmer
That's a good question. I'm not aware of anything. I think many religious leaders are just kind of throwing up their hands and saying, we can't compete. We can't compete with this. It's a major cultural force for so many people that if we try to stand against or denounce it, we'll lose credibility with our followers. And we simply can't compete. Again, like this church out in Washington. And again, that's not an unusual story. A lot of places of worship have made those sorts of concessions. And I think the other way you see this sort of accommodating is that the muscular Christianity movement, which I mentioned earlier, but you also have, for example, among Roman Catholics, the CYO, the Catholic Youth Organization that begins, I believe in the 1920s, don't hold me to that, in Chicago. Again, it provides athletics for young Catholics to participate in this muscular Christian movement. Even among Jews, the young men's Hebrew associations were trying to, in effect, replicate the YMCAs, also offering recreation along with religious instruction. And by the way, this goes way back, and I don't spend much time with this in the book. Still, I do mention it: way back to the ancient Greeks, the ancient gymnasiums that were founded in ancient Greece were a place of athletic pursuits and competition, but also a place where people came to discuss ideas, whether religious or philosophical. It was a place where both the mind and the spirit, as well as the body, were exercised. So this has a long history, even dating back long before muscular Christianity emerged.

Darin Hayes
Okay, now you just brought the, I'm picturing like the Roman Colosseum and I believe I've seen photographs or maybe I've read it where they had statues of the gods that they believed in incorporated into the design or maybe in the arches or something of the Colosseum. Is that what you're also talking about with the Greek arenas?

Dr. Randall Balmer
Yes, I think that would be an example of that sort of thing, but you know that, and the Greeks had this idea. I don't want to get philosophical here because I'm not a philosopher, but Aristotle's Nicomachean ethics argued that individuals can develop virtues within themselves by practicing being virtuous. So, similarly to an athlete, a placekicker becomes a good place kicker by kicking the ball by being a placekicker over and over again. You're building this muscle memory and so forth. And so, the cultivation of virtues was intertwined with athletic development in ancient Greece.

Darin Hayes
Okay, I guess it may be the epitome that comes to my mind today. I think it's probably accidental that this happened, but at the University of Notre Dame, you know, the football field, I believe the one end zone looks at a building with a picture of Jesus with his hands up. They've deemed him touchdown Jesus, who affectionately called around them.

Dr. Randall Balmer
Exactly. And it looks right over the football stadium. Yes, I've been there. It's quite remarkable.

Darin Hayes
Like I said, it might be somewhat accidental, but I'm not sure how exactly that whole thing came about. It's a fact of life in the world of football today. Well, Doctor, I appreciate you coming. This is very intriguing. Now, I guess you said something early on in our discussion about how the mid-century, the 1950s, culminated in where we got to modern athletics and modern sports with the big four. Now, I'm assuming this was a gradual, I guess, competition, maybe for lack of a better word, between, you know, religion and athleticism leading up to that. So, there was some point where they were probably fairly equal. Would that be like the World War II era between World War I and World War II?

Dr. Randall Balmer
Yeah, it probably would be the zenith for American religious affiliation. Religious life was probably in the 1950s in the Cold War era. And I think it's only really been in the last several decades that that's begun, again, to shift more in the direction of athleticism. And again, I, you know, I, I'm not suggesting that the two are mutually exclusive. I mean, a lot of people attend church and then head off to the stadium for force for a Sunday afternoon, watching a baseball game, or whatever, whatever it might be. But it is striking me that the level of religious adherence has dropped rather dramatically over the last several decades, and at the same time, athletic passion, I think, has increased.

Darin Hayes
Yeah, I definitely agree with you. I'm not saying it on an individual basis, but if you're looking at it from 50,000 feet and, you know, studying everything, you're absolutely right. The trends are sort of going in opposite directions, but the similarities are uncanny. I'm glad that you pointed those out and let us know about them. Why don't you let us know again what title your book is and where people can find it again?

Dr. Randall Balmer
It's called Passion Plays, How Religion Shapes Sports in North America. It's available, should be available in local bookstores, but also bookshop .com, I'm sorry, bookshop.org, Amazon.com, of course, Barnes and Noble, and other places as well. I should say that we've been talking about a lot of the elements of this book, but I also try to look into the symbolism surrounding each book. I'm sorry, each team sports. We also already talked about basketball as an urban game. We talked about football as a military game. Hockey is Canada's game for all sorts of very interesting reasons. Baseball is the quintessential immigrant game because it's the only game where the defense controls the ball. And it's the object of the offensive player, the batter, to disrupt the defense's control of the ball. He's outnumbered nine to one, just like the immigrant coming into the country at that time, who was very much outnumbered in his attempts to make a place in American society. And as he looked out into that hostile territory from the batter's box, he saw three islands of safety out there in that hostile territory. And the greatest triumph for the immigrant, as for the batter, is to return home. Therefore, homecoming is a very important part of baseball. And it's also true that immigrants and outsiders have always excelled at the game of baseball. In the 19th century, it would be immigrants from Germany, Italy, or from Scandinavia. Later on, of course, it's African -Americans who finally broke the color barrier with Jackie Robinson in 1947. And more recently, of course, as you know, a lot of players are coming from the Caribbean, particularly the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, and now Asia. So it's immigrants who have always excelled in this game of baseball, and the game of baseball itself really replicates the immigrant experience.

Darin Hayes
Well, Doctor, you have a very interesting lens and are very philosophical. It's very, very intriguing. So, folks, I greatly suggest that you get a copy of Doctor Randall's book. Randall Balmer's book is here. Make sure you read this. It's a very compelling and interesting subject matter indeed. Doctor, do you have any before we let you go? Do you have any social media or websites or anything that you'd like people to know about so they can follow what you have going on?

Dr. Randall Balmer
Yes, I do. I have a website. It's www.randlebalmer. I'll try to keep it up. I'm not really good at keeping up on this sort of thing, but I'll try to do that. But the book is listed there.

Darin Hayes
Okay. And folks, if you're driving the car or don't have a pencil or pen, don't worry about it; we're going to put it in the show notes of this podcast. You can also find it on pigskindispatch.com for later reference so you can get connected to Dr. Balmer's information and to his book. And Dr. Rainer Balmer, thank you very much for joining us today and telling us about this very interesting discussion and for recording it in your very interesting book.

Dr. Randall Balmer 
Thank you, Darin. It's been my pleasure.

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