Interference

How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football

By: Dan E. Moldea

Narrated by: Andrew Ingalls

A shocking expos of widespread corruption and mob influence throughout the National Football League - on the field, in the owners' boxes, and in the corporate suites

According to investigative journalist Dan E. Moldea, for decades the National Football League has had a strong and unspoken understanding with a dangerous institution: Organized crime. In his classic expos, Interference, Moldea bares the dark, sordid underbelly of America's favorite professional team sport, revealing a nest of corruption that the league has largely ignored since its inception.

Based on intensive research and in-depth interviews with coaches, players, mobsters, bookies, gamblers, referees, and league officials - including some of the sport's all-time greats - the author's shocking allegations suggest that the betting line is firmly in the hands of the mob, who occasionally manipulate the on-field action for maximum profit. Interference chronicles a long-standing history of gambling, drugs, and extortion, of point-shaving and game-fixing, and reveals the eye-opening truth about numerous gridiron contests where the final results were determined even before the kickoff.

Moldea exposes the mob connections of many of the team owners and their startling complicity in illegal gambling operations, while showing how NFL internal security has managed to quash nearly every investigation into illegality and corruption within the professional football world before it could get off the ground. Provocative, disturbing, and controversial, Interference is a must-listen for football fans and detractors alike, offering indisputable proof that what's really happening on the field, in the locker room, and behind the scenes is a whole different ball game.

©1989 Dan E. Moldea (P)2014 Audible Inc.

An Education

This book sheds light on the history of the NFL and its owners. As a football fan, I have a better appreciation (so to speak) of how the world of sports gambling helped build the popularity of the game. An enlightening book by a courageous author. Thank you, Audible, for making this available.

eye opening

Good listen. Easy listen. Eye opening how many football players know gamblers. I suspect some players were on the take. sad reality is money talks.

The history of crime and football

This work was originally published in 1989, and yet, it is still spot on. Ever wonder if a NFL game you were watching might have been fixed? Or if a wide received dropped a pass on purpose, or ever wondered why a defender simply didn't make the tackle? Investigative journalist[ Dan Moldea traces the routes of professional football and the influences of organized crime through the history of the league. Simply put, there has always been a tie between the NFL and organized crime. Let's start from the beginning:

- Tim Mara pays $500 for the New York Giants in 1925, despite never watching a football game. Mara worked with one of crime boss Arnold Rothstein's associates. Rothstein allegedly fixed the 1919 World Series.
- In 1933, race track owner Charles Bidwill purchased the Cardinals for $2,000.
- In July 1933, Art Rooney, who owned a race track, purchased the Pittsburgh franchise. Rooney was known to be a heavy gambler.
- Shortly thereafter, Rooney's gambling friend Bert Bell bought the Philadelphia Eagles for $4,000.
- George Richards purchased the Portsmouth Spartans in 1934, before moving the team to Detroit and adopting the Lions team name. Richards was believed to have bet $50,000 on a football game. He was forced to sell his team in 1940 when it was learned he was paying college players to play for his team.
- Known gambler George Preston Marshall became the owner of the Washington Redskins.
- Mickie McBride, the founder of the Cleveland Browns, had ties to organized crime.
- In 1953, Saul Silberman of the Cleveland Browns was forced to sell the team for his gambling activities.
- Moldea exams the cloudy business dealings of Clint Murchison, the founder of the Dallas Cowboys, who would eventually go bankrupt.
- Leonard Tose, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, would lose his fortune gambling.
- Art Modell, who purchased the Browns in 1961, had ties to casinos and bookmakers. He also was a partner in a horse racing stable.
- Ralph Wilson, the owner of the Buffalo Bills, owned a stable of Thoroughbreds.
- Carroll Rosenbloom was the owner of the Baltimore Colts, before trading the franchise for the Los Angeles Rams in 1972. Moldea chronicles an alleged one million dollar wager he made on an NFL game. Rosenbloom was the Colts owner when the team was upset by Joe Namath's New York Jets, who entered the contest as seventeen point underdogs. There are many, including "Bubba" Smith, who believed the game may have been fixed to give the AFL team credibility in the league after the merger. Rosenbloom drown in 1979 under suspicious circumstances, leading many to believe he met with foul play.
- The DeBartolos assumed ownership of the San Francisco 49ers in 1977, and the author details the ties to top organized crime figures.

The author also focuses on the players involved in gambling activities, such as Alex Karras and Paul Hornung, both would be suspended by the NFL for one year. The IRS investigated Len Dawson, and believed he had a secret bank account set up to receive bribes. Some believed Dawson was providing insider information to bookmakers. Dawson also submitted himself to a polygraph test. During the late 1960's, many gambling books took Chiefs games off their boards due to the teams erratic play. Bobby Layne was accused on shaving points, fixing games, and even betting against his own team.

Additionally, "Interference" provides details on:

- The history of gambling on football, and the introduction to point spreads, and the rise of sports betting in Las Vegas
- The 1963 NFL betting scandal
- The super bowl ticket scalping episode involving the Los Angeles Rams
- The rise of gambling influencer Jimmy "The Greek" Synder, who received a presidential pardon from Gerald Ford
- The Saints hiring a dentist with organized crime ties
- The cozy relationship between Raiders owner Al Davis and mob figure Allen Glick.
- Questionable referee calls
- The PBS Frontline report that upset the NFL
- Joe Namath's Upper East Side nightclub called Bachelors III
- The Reagan administration's decision to focus on street crime, rather than on organized crime

Moldea's research is meticulous, as he interviewed hundreds of subjects in the know for this book. Highly recommended.

No opinion

I'm afraid to submit a response. I might get sued. People have a right to their opinion one way or the other. That's where this author lost credibility.