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Yet another obscurity
on the man's resume, Bill hosted this weekly interview program featuring
NFL players and coaches during the 1964 season.
In 1964, professional football on television was already a weekend staple, but not nearly the behemoth it would eventually become. Keep in mind that this was still three years before the first Super Bowl, and even a season before NFL Films started recording and preserving everything in sight. Bill's interview series appears in only three local listings that we've learned about (so far). Since they appear on different networks and at different times, the logical conclusion is that this was a syndicated show provided to local stations to plug holes in their weekend lineups. It also appears that stations weren't even bound to air the show each week, using it on an as-needed basis. The earliest listing is in the Doylestown (PA) Daily Intelligencer for September 26. It shows channel 10, the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia, airing NFL Pro Football Special (in lieu of the blacked-out Eagles game) with the following description: Each week host Bill Cullen meets a circle of football professionals. The pro star panel is led by the Giants head coach Allie Sherman. This week's panel: Tommy Mason, Vikings; Jack Pardee, Rams; Paul Hornung, Packers; Dick Modzelewski, Browns; Joe Schmidt, Lions. The next listing is for is for November 11. The regional TV Guide says WHEN-TV 5 (CBS) in Syracuse, New York aired what it identified as Pro Football Discussion. Among the guests that day were Jim Brown of the Browns and Jerry Kramer of the Packers. The final listing is from December 19, which incidentally was a Saturday. According to another TV Guide, WEWS-TV 5 (ABC) in Cleveland aired NFL Special. According to the listing, Bill Cullen interviews Willie Wood (Green Bay Packers), Johnny Unitas (Baltimore Colts) and Sonny Randle (Minnesota Vikings). That's all we have. If it truly was weekly, there may have been as many as 14 episodes produced. We are grateful to Tim Lones (who first uncovered this forgotten gem), Jimmy Owen and Mike Burger for locating the three episode listings that give us everything we know about this show. VIDEO
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