Ep 40: 1948 NFL Championship – The Cornerstone of Super Bowl Sunday

The Game Before the Money: Oral History of Pro and College Football

Upton Bell shares his memories of attending the 1948 NFL Championship Game with his father, NFL commissioner Bert Bell, in this episode of The Game before the Money Podcast. This episode also includes an interview clip from Al Wistert, a Philadelphia Eagles lineman and 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist. The 1948 NFL Championship Game was the first televised NFL Championship Game and laid the foundation for what has become Super Bowl Sunday. Hear how Bert Bell’s foresight helped grow the NFL’s future through the powerful new technology of television.

The 1948 NFL Championship Game featured a rematch of the previous year’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals). The teams played in a blizzard and battled both the elements and their opponents. Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren nearly missed the game because of the weather before scoring the game’s winning touchdown, powered by perhaps one of the greatest blocks in NFL history.

You will also learn how both teams utilized versions of modern NFL offenses rather than the “three yards and a cloud of dust” adjective that is often erroneously used to describe the era.

Episodes of The Game before the Money Podcast are released each week, except for certain episodes that take about two weeks to create. The show is produced and hosted by Jackson Michael, author of The Game before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Many episodes feature interviews with pro and college football legends. Learn more at https://TheGameBeforeTheMoney.com.