ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Jim Hart was undrafted out of Southern Illinois “The Harvard of the Midwest” but went on to play 19 years at QB in St. Louis and Washington.
Leading the “Cardiac Cards” of the 70s, he was a 4X Pro Bowler, NFC Offensive Player of the Year in 1974 and NFL Man of the Year in 1975.
When he retired, only Johnny Unitas and Fran Tarkenton had thrown for more yards and he was 10th all-time in touchdown passes. His 23 career game winning drives is on par with Hall of Famers YA Tittle, Ken Stabler, Dan Fouts and Terry Bradshaw.
After his playing days he was a successful restaurateur, broadcaster and was Athletic Director at his alma mater, SIU.
He was enshrined in the Cardinals Ring of Honor in 2017
2:47 – “My friend. My mentor. My Quarterback.”
Tom’s boyhood idol (and former boss) Jim Hart joins the final episode of Season 1 to talk about #17, acting in the movie Paper Lion, wearing Billy Kilmer’s #17 in Washington, practicing on Thanksgiving Day and much more.
17:47 – “Let’s start with football in honor of Jim Hart.”
We lead off with football which includes Braylon Edwards, Jake Delhomme and Dave Krieg along with Red Badgo, Charlie Ward, Billy Kilmer and Dandy Don Meredith. Contenders are Jim Hart, Doug Williams and Harold Carmichael.
25:44 – “See if you can figure out which is one of my all-time favorite players.”
Keith Hernandez, Dizzy Dean and Scott Rolen topline the list with nods to Mickey Rivers, Oscar Gamble, Dock Ellis, Mark Grace and others.
33:34 – “Let’s get to basketball.”
Handsome SOB Rick Fox is a sentimental favorite while lesser-known players like Jim Pollard, Don Barksdale and Gene Conley take Honorable Mention. Mullin and Havlicek make strong cases as Contenders.
40:48 – “First Wendel Clark.”
Three hockey guys. Wendel Clark, Rod Brind’Amour and Jarri Kurri. David Pearson also gets a shout out in NASCAR (again).
42:27 – “The great Hollywood icon.”
Our last Screen Stars lines up thusly:
- Steve Carlson as Steve Hanson in Slap Shot (1977)
- Alan Alda as George Plimpton in Paper Lion (1968)
- Jim Hart as Jim Hart in Paper Lion (1968)
- Charlton Heston as Cat Catlan in Number One (1969)
- Matt Stone as Doug Remer in BASEketball (1998)
- Sylvester Stallone (car) as Joe Tanto in Driven (2001)
44:33 – “A freak injury sustained during a coin toss.”
Derrick Rose Award
- Denny McLain
Hall of Shame
- Bob Ojeda
- Turk Edwards
- Plaxico "Cheddar Plax" Burress
50:15 – “Why not just totally change our format completely?”
Top current #17’s (now by sport)
- Football – Philip Rivers
- Hockey – Ilya Kovalchuk
- Baseball – Kris Bryant
- Basketball – Dennie Schroder
53:16 – “Back and to the left.”
The Hall of Fame list for #17:
- John Havlicek
- Jarri Kurri
- Dizzy Dean
- Chris Mullin
- Keith Hernandez
Our sincere thanks to everyone who listened and supported season 1. We’ll be back at a time and place of our choosing, but feel free to hit us up on the Interwebs anytime!
