Behind Tha Mike Podcast

The NFL‘s popularity is not due just to the season itself, but it's off-season. Our near year round attention to the NFL combine, the draft, and off-season moves is directly due to the foresight of a Hall of Fame coach, who's trade of their best player turned them into a dynasty.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Entering the NFL draft every team has needs and they do their best to try and fulfill them. Whether you are a dynasty or a team trying to have a winning season, in the words of ESPN 30 for 30 narrator and actor Tom Selleck, “There comes a time after every draft when names on a page become careers on a field, and teams must face the consequences of their choices.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's almost time for the NFL draft once again, ladies and gentlemen, and we should all know by now we have no idea how selections and signings will pan out. In 1974, the Pittsburgh Steelers may had been on the rise, and Chuck Noll, his staff of coaches and scouts were no different from those of today. They didn't always agree on who to pick, especially when when you have selected players, as Noll put it,  that were supposedly too small, slow, and skinny.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I had never heard the name Wilmeth Sidat-Singh before this past weekend. His story is amazing but tragically short. The first black star athlete at Syracuse, he's one of few to have their jersey retired. This is why… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know how we tell our kids to 'go to school and get your degree', especially with athletes because you never know how long it's gonna last. For some, it takes them on a path of greatness no one saw coming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part of the dark side of NFL history is the reason why it is full of firsts… And in this case, lasts! The NFL that we watch and enjoy today would be unrecognizable if certain mindsets had not changed and certain people had their way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Of all the African-American pioneers to play quarterback in NFL history, one persevered on all levels to become one of the greatest of all time. Warren Moon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we congratulate the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles, we take a look back at the franchises' past championships and Super Bowl appearances in a long form rundown to close the 2024 NFL season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we continue revisiting past Super Bowl rematches, David slays Goliath twice, the coach that just can't get over the hump, and the franchise that saw the beginning and end of the greatest Dynasty in NFL history.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ninth rematch in Super Bowl history will take place on next Sunday as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles meet for the second time in three years. Today is part one of two as we review some of the stories in and around the previous eight games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The conference championship games are now set, and Jayden Daniels has the Washington Commanders in the NFC title game for the first time in more than 30 years. In my search for my next show, I ran up on the fact that Daniels is only the sixth rookie to accomplish this. The five guys before him didn't fair so well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was nice of Saquon Barkley to sit during the final week of the regular season, a little over 100 yards away from Eric Dickerson's all time single season of record of 2105 yards. Still, Barkley became the ninth running back in NFL history to eclipse the 2000 yard mark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase made history this season by becoming only the fifth wide receiver since the 1970 merger to win the triple crown in the Super Bowl era. Key phrase being, Super Bowl era… There have been others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Christmas day, Lamar Jackson broke Michael Vick's all-time rushing yardage record of 6,109 against the Houston Texans. We take a look at the history of the dual threat quarterback in pro football. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're down to the last three weeks of the season with teams fighting for playoff positioning, or, just to get in the door. There was a time when there were no playoffs and a champion was simply crowned. What happened? Well, it all started with Curly Lambeau… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travis Hunter of Colorado became the 89th recipient of the Heisman Trophy this past Saturday. Hunter has made it known he wants to play both sides of the ball in the NFL, and tonight, we look at the NFL's history of players who played multiple positions, and a little bit more. Some of which I had no idea! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2024 Detroit Lions are the best team in the NFC with a 12–1 record if not the best team in football. We take a look back to the last time the Motor City was championship worthy in a remastered version of an earlier show, revisiting the Lions of the 1950s and the supposed curse of Bobby Layne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We close our series with two of the greatest head coaches of all time. One, a pioneer of the league while the other was the ultimate innovator. Their roots lead to multiple championships, 15 current head coaches, and seven Hall of Famer's…with one on the way. Part four of Family Trees! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The old AFL played a very vital role in shaping the way the game is played today, and we have two franchises to thank for that…the LA Chargers and the Oakland Raiders. Also, how one coaches' old habits actually opened the door for the Pittsburgh Steelers Dynasty of the 70s. Part three of Family Trees! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apparently, the NFC East is responsible for a number of our current NFL head coaches. And that coaching tree, which traces all the way back to 1926, is directly responsible for ending the AFC's 13 year Super Bowl drought. Part two of Family Trees! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With all the movement in the coaching realm today, it's not hard to see where most head coaches come from. Know this, head coaches and assistants got their start somewhere, and sometimes it traces all the way back to NFL legends. Take a four-part journey with me to find out how the coaches of today are connected to some of the greatest head coaches in NFL history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coaches get fired early and some right on time. I've always asked myself if Hall of Fame head coaches were coaching today, how fast would they been fired because of early failures and impatience of ownership? The stories of those who were fired early, and the benefits of those who stayed. Part deaux that asks the question “to fire or not to fire?“ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the aftermath of what happened with former Jets head coach Robert Salah, I know there are some coaches that get fired too early and some right on time. I've always asked myself if Hall of Fame head coaches were coaching today, how fast would they been fired because of early failures and impatience? The stories of those who were fired early, and the benefits of those who stayed. Part one that asks the question “to fire or not to fire?“ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Future Hall of Fame QB Patrick Mahomes is having the worst statistical season of his career, yet his team is undefeated. If the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl, he wouldn't be the first quarterback to play this bad and still win. It has happened before.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Instead of wealth and politics, Bert Bell's choice of a football life lead him to being an owner, the second commissioner in NFL history, then induction into the pro football Hall of Fame.  The proof would be his poetic end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are paths that are chosen for us, and there are those who choose their own. Burt Bell‘s choice was a life of football, one that would lead him to Hall of Fame. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the New York Giants celebrate 100 years this season, we take a look back at the origins of this proud franchise that began with a poor kid from the Lower East side of Manhattan that knew nothing about football. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Pete Rozelle became commissioner of the NFL in 1960, he would take the league to a level it had never seen before. Thing is, he wasn't even a candidate! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Facenda is one of the main reasons I love the history of pro football. But, I wanted to know more about his background, including the details on his famous meeting between he and Ed Sabol that would lead to him becoming “the voice” of NFL films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There once was a man who had an eye and mind for entertainment that would help the NFL innovate and grow through ideas that are still used to this day. Too bad his mindset and behavior got his name erased from the very existence of the team he founded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Kansas City Chiefs are kicking off the 2024 NFL season going for a 3 Peat. Who wouldn't? Many have tried, all have failed in the Super Bowl era, but, two franchises actually pulled it off pre-Super Bowl…kinda. Take a walk through NFL history with me to see what happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The NFL preseason began with the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio which was the home of the first back to back champions in NFL history, the Canton Bulldogs. How does a team loaded with Hall of Famers go from champions to non-existence in 3 years? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Denver Broncos' 5 division titles in 7 years + 3 Super Bowl appearances = 0 titles. John Elway's squad learned how to do math in the 1990s which culminated in a storybook ending for the Hall of Fame quarterback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The NFL MVP award is the most biased award in all of sports. Only three times in its official history has a player outside of a quarterback or running back ever won it, and one winner is still unbelievable! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two brothers born and raised in Chicago. Each worked for rival NFL teams. One would hoist the Lombardi trophy while the other was responsible for the man whom the trophy is named for. Jack & Jerry Vainisi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nobody's perfect, and that goes for some of the greatest coaches of all time. They all believe they know best, especially the ones that want complete control of their franchise. It doesn't always end well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drafting is an inexact science, and nothing is guaranteed. Caleb Williams could change the Chicago Bears' failures at the quarterback position, but when you look at their franchise history? It will take more than that.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There was a time when champions won with multiple HBCU players on their roster, and no one had more than the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We run down a Super Bowl that was won on a play named after cartoon legends, and we reminisce about some of the greatest stories in Super Bowl history! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the history of the Super Bowl, quarterbacks that have reached the big game, win or lose, you have no idea what their careers were going to be. Sometimes we ought to just enjoy the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a long time since the Detroit Lions played in the NFC Championship Game…and even longer since they've won a championship. Today is a reminder of just how good they were in their early history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two of footballs greatest coaches of all time, Nick Saban retires, Bill Belichick and the Patriots part ways. Both gone within days of each other. We take a quick look back at their careers and their time together with the Cleveland Browns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Super Wildcard weekend is now over, and we must remember teams with a bye & home-field advantage don't always win it all. A team from the first weekend has a chance at the trophy too… Just ask the 1980 Oakland Raiders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is nothing new under the sun! Like that team that wins so much, but always comes up short in the playoffs? Sometimes they finally break through! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before there was Brady, Manning, Montana, Unitas, or Graham, there was Samuel Adrian Baugh, a quarterback that did more than just throw a football.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2023 Cleveland Browns have won 6 of 8 games decided by four points or fewer! This has conjured up old memories of the Kardiac Kids, the 1980 Cleveland Browns, who had a similar season… And maybe, just maybe should've kicked the ball in the playoffs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us know the Pittsburgh Steelers' history by two things. One, the dynasty of the 70s, and two the 40 years of losing. The question I wanted answered, was “What happened? Why were they so bad?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some teams move into existing venues, max them out, and then they may get something new. For some cities, whether they want an NFL team or not, building a franchise a new stadium doesn't guarantee they will stay… But if they don't, they will go. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One minute you're sharing a stadium with major & minor league baseball, dressing in a high school locker room. The next? You finally get a home of your own. This is part II of our discussion of historic stadiums of the NFL! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Think about your favorite team and where they play…or played. The stadium. How historic or iconic is or was it? Welcome to the first of a three part series exploring the most historic stadiums in NFL history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the greatest players and coaches in NFL history may or may not have passed on great genes to their sons. In some cases the sons were better than the fathers! We celebrate Thanksgiving this year honoring great football families! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices