This podcast is part of the Sports History Network - the headquarters of sports' yesteryear.

SHOW DESCRIPTION:

These days, the New England Patriots are often thought of as one of the elite teams in the NFL. However, that hasn’t always been the case, especially during the team’s infancy, when they were a charter member of the upstart AFL and chaos and confusion often reigned. The Patriots of the 60s and early 70s were a transient team and played its home games in no less than 5 different stadiums. The Pats also cycled thru its head coaches quite frequently back then and one coach in particular is often remembered as the one who best epitomized the team’s failings during this time.

In this 4-part series, we will take a look at the team’s humble beginnings in Boston in 1960 to their first years in Foxboro. We will also do a deep dive into the timeline between 1969 – 1972 to relive some of the most shocking and bizarre events to ever impact a professional sports franchise. The Patriots: From Boston to Foxboro.

HOST - JOE SANTOS:

Joe Santos grew up in Massachusetts and is an avid football fan, with a special fondness for the NFL in the early 70s. This Week in Pro Football and NFL Game of the Week were must-see TV back in the day. And living in Massachusetts meant you saw all of the NY Giants games on tv, both home and away, as they were the de facto home team for the NFC. Due to the blackout rules at the time, only the Patriots away games were shown. Being a huge sports history fan, Joe will continue to tell the unusual stories from an era that's considered to be the golden age of pro football.

Thanksgiving Day, 1924. The recently-established tradition of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team hosting the Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions on the afternoon of the national autumnal holiday continues.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is sent to cover the Pitt-Penn State “Keystone Classic” of 1924; in so doing, he discovers a throughline of the football-on-Thanksgiving tradition going back to 1621 (okay, actually, that’s going back to 1869) and reminds us that high-level football games on Thanksgiving are nearly as old as the official Thanksgiving holiday itself.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is an audio drama podcast from Number 80 Productions and the Sports History Network.

Thanksgiving and Football (or maybe Vice Versa) script & story by Os Davis.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer stars Doug Fye, Ilona Fye, and Eric Bodwell. Thanksgiving and Football (or maybe Vice Versa) co-stars, in order of appearance, Caedmon Holland, Forrest Hartl and Wayne Brett.

Additional direction by Eric Bodwell. Sound recording and primary editing by Don McIver.

The theme song of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is “the Dayton Triangles Rag” and was arranged and performed by Bruce Smith.

Other tracks in this episode include

• “Jazz Club” by Kriss (available through fair-use agreement via FreeMusicArchive.org);

• “Litany of the Street” by Silverman Sound Studios;

• “Bimini Bay” (1921) by the Benson Orchestra of Chicago; and

• “Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer (Outro)” by David Liso of Dynamo Stairs.

Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer is produced by Os Davis and Darin Hayes. Series concept by Darrin Hayes.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer – coming soon!

Sadly, Frank Reading passed away on February 8, 2022. He was "one for the ages" and a Sports History Network "National Treasure." Frank will be missed dearly. This episode is a tribute episode put together by members of the Sports History Network.

I encourage you to stop by Frank's page on the Sports History Network to learn more about him and to also see all of the other shows Frank was on, that way you can listen to his true personality shine.

FRANK'S PAGE ON SHN WEBSITE