Welcome! And thank you for joining us today on the Heroes and Icons podcast.
I am your host, Greg Randolph. Please find me on Twitter or the X as it’s called now at @HeroesIconsPod to get updates for great shows like this and others. If you’re enjoying the show please share it with a friend. Thank you in advance for doing so.
We have a very special guest today. If you are a football fan, especially of the NFL and the Miami Dolphins, this gentleman needs no introduction. He was drafted in 1964 by San Diego in the 14th round of the AFL Draft and by Philadelphia in the 13th round of the NFL Draft from Los Angeles State. He started his pro football career as a defensive end with the San Diego Chargers in 1965. During his 3rd season with San Diego he was cut and then signed with the Buffalo Bills, where he played 5 seasons at defensive end, offensive tackle and center. He retired after the 1971 season with the Bills. Then the Miami Dolphins traded for his rights and Dolphins coaches Don Shula and Monte Clark were able to convince him to unretire. He served as the team’s long snapper and was the backup to future Hall of Fame center Jim Langer that year for the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, who completed a PERFECT 17-0 season by defeating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII. He played 12 AFL NFL and WFL seasons and finished his NFL football career in 1974 with the New York Jets. He also played parts of two seasons with the World Football League’s Jacksonville Sharks and Jacksonville Express. After his football playing days were done he enjoyed a very successful career in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the real estate and appraisal industry.
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Listen to the full podcast by clicking the button below. Partial transcript follows:
GR: What are a couple of life lessons that only football can teach?
HK: You can't get in there and shortcut. You can't shortcut.
GR: Right.
HK: You know, when the whistle blows there ain't no faking it on Sunday afternoon.
GR: That's right.
HK: It ain't no reruns. It all comes out right there.
GR: Yep.
HK: So, you can be as prepared as you want to be and you can do all this, but when that whistle blows, that's it. Yeah. And you can't cheat.
GR: Right.
HK: You can forget about cheating. I mean, if you think you can cheat your way through, you're a fool. And so that's really a good, uh, one of the best lessons I've ever learned, I guess. Come from Coach Shula. And this pretty much sums me up from where I am. My basic philosophy is that.
HK: We went to play Oakland in Oakland in 1973. We had a 19-game winning streak on the line. You know, and at that time, John Madden was the coach and all that stuff. Kenny Stabler was the coach. Anyway, Oakland was a great football team. We get out to Oakland and we, for a Saturday workout, play on Sunday. We got out there and they were doing some work on the visitor's locker room. So, we had to dress in Oakland's locker room, which Oakland had, they worked out earlier that morning.
GR: Okay.
HK: So, we're in there and Csonka, the guy who dressed in his locker, left his game plan, Oakland's game plan in his locker.
GR: Right.
HK: People don't understand what a game plan is. It's like a battle plan.
GR: Right.
HK: You know where they're going to be, you know where they're coming at you, you know where they're hiding, you know, you got to help it up, you know, it really enhances everything. So Csonka could give it to our offensive line coach, Monte Clark said, look, give this to the old man and see, you know, I'm not, I didn't even see it. It was here. So, they beat us 12 to 7.
GR: Right.
HK: So, we're on the airplane coming back. And he said, Monte, did you give that to the Coach Shula, he said, yeah. He said, what’d he do with it? He said, he threw it in the waste can. He said, if we can't beat them fair, we can't beat them.
GR: That's right.
HK: That's pretty much, that's one story that's exactly, and it wouldn't make no difference whether it was the Super Bowl or whether it was an exhibition game. He'd do the same thing. That's why, I mean, you can't cheat. If you're gonna win, you can forget about cheating. You might think you can cheat, but it's gonna come out sooner or later.
GR: That's right. That's right. It always does.
HK: That's the biggest, that's one of the biggest things I learned. There's no easy way out.
Yeah, you gotta, you gotta do it the right way. You gotta put in the work. That's right. You gotta put in the work. You gotta put in the effort. And, that's pretty much the way I've been all my life. Yes, sir. Learned that from a cut from my high school coach, as a matter of fact.
GR: That served you well.
