Johnny Roland: All He Does Is Win Football Games

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(Editor’s Note: This story was authored by former St. Louis Globe Democrat sports writer Rich Koster and was originally published in Sport Magazine in July 1967)

To appreciate Johnny Roland’s talent, you must be aware of his shortcomings. In a game dominated by specialists, he has no specialty. He’s not as fast as Gale Sayers, as quick as Leroy Kelly, or as powerful as Ken Willard. He’s never run a 10 second 100 and when he throws a football it frequently wobbles or floats. On the longest run of his rookie year, a mere 50 yards from scrimmage, he was hauled down from behind in the open field. He tabulated over 80 yards rushing in only one game and he average an unspectacular 3.6 yards per carry over the season.

So how did the 6-2, 215-pound Roland emerge as the NFL’s Rookie of the Year? And what made him worth a $300,000 bonus contract to the St. Louis Cardinals?

Simple. He wins football games. He wins them the way Frank Gifford used to. And Paul Hornung. With the relentlessness of that 3.6 yard average and the lighting of the big play. He succeeds with versatility. He wins with his head . . . and heart.

A confirmed non-specialist in a world of specialists, Johnny Roland has his shortcomings on the football field. He doesn’t move too fast, he can’t run over people and he throws a wobbly option pass

“Some guys in this league play three or four games a season,” suggest Abe Stuber, who excavates college material for St. Louis. “Roland has shown he plays them all. He gives 100 percent all the time.. That puts him in a different category from the others.”

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Remembering Former Big Red Broadcaster Bob Starr

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By Bob Underwood

Bob Costas called Bob Starr “the greatest football announcer I’ve ever heard.”

“He was a good baseball announcer, but a great football announcer,” Costas told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1998.

Starr was hired by KMOX radio in 1972 to become the radio voice of the Big Red and Missouri Tigers, a job he would hold until 1979. He later became the busiest broadcaster in town when he was hired by the baseball Cardinals to replace Jack Buck, who briefly left the team to host a studio show on NBC.

Bob Starr (R) and E.J. Holub pose for a photo in the Big Red booth in 1975.
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How the Big Red Helmet Cart Almost Took Out Lou Brock

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By Lori Greenstein

Long, long ago in a place called the Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium, a couple of minor miracles occurred.

Bill Bidwill bought the nifty Golf Cart shaped like a football helmet, featuring a giant Cardinal bird head decal. He strolled into our PR office, smiled and asked if I’d like to drive the new golf cart. “Heck yes!”, I said. I didn’t bother to tell him I’d never driven one before!

Bill Bidwill and family with the Big Red Helmet Cart (circa 1987)

It was parked outside the double doors separating the football and baseball offices in the stadium. He showed me how to start it, where the brake and the go pedal was. He told me to have fun.

I was terrified. What if I wrecked it? He went back into the offices and I turned the key. Off I went, at a snail’s pace to begin. Down the main concourse I went, wearing a huge smile, I am sure.

The longer I drove it, the more confidence I gained and the faster I went. That was a big stadium, with a whole lot of concrete concourses, which took me up to the top of the stadium, around it and then back down. I grew braver with each passing moment.

By the time I was coming down the last ramp, it was floored! And just as I came into view of the parking place across from the baseball home plate netting, the door opened and a young man walked into my path. I screamed “Woman at the wheel”, he turned his head, saw me and set a new land speed record to safety on the other side of the concourse, behind the net.

That was a historic moment. To this day, I maintain that the Cardinal golf cart and I scared the SPEED into LOU BROCK. It might have been about the time he started stealing bases and setting records. ‘Nuff said.

(Editor’s Note: Lori Greenstein served as the Football Cardinals Assistant Public Relations Director from 1965-1971)

Where are they Now? Former Big Red Lineman Joe Bostic

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It was sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2014, but Joe Bostic wasn’t exactly feeling the holiday spirit. He lay in a hospital bed at his home in Greensboro, N.C., unable to straighten out his legs, both of which were in braces. Double quadriceps surgery had made the former St. Louis Cardinals offensive lineman a prisoner in his own house.

While carrying a bag up some stairs, Bostic had slipped and his right quadriceps muscle had detached from the knee. When he shifted his weight to his left knee, that quadriceps also tore.

After surgery, Bostic was confined to bed for eight weeks.

“It was unbelievable,” says Bostic, who played for the Big Red from 1979-1988. “I was like, I don’t know if I can do this. I finally said, ‘God, you get me out of this bed, I’m going to keep moving. I’m not going to sit around on my rear end. I’m going to get going.

“He got me out of that bed, so I’ve been trying to keep my word.”

Joe Bostic played in 132 games in 9 seasons with the Cardinals.
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Has the Pro Football Hall of Fame Forgotten about Don Coryell?

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“Coryell was an innovator, but he was more than that. He was a coach who turned around the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Diego Chargers and made both into offensive juggernauts—not just good, but record-setting offensive teams.” – John Turney

NFL Historian John Turney of Pro Football Journal writes about how the chances of former Big Red head coach Don Coryell making the Pro Football Hall of Fame appear to be slipping.

Read Turney’s full story at SI.com here.

Historic Moments in Missouri Governor’s Cup Rivalry

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The Missouri Governor’s Cup was awarded to the winner of the annual meetings between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The first Governor’s Cup game was played two seasons after the NFL/AFL merger agreement in 1966. The contest was played on August 17, 1968, at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City in front of 47,462 fans. The Chiefs held on for a 13-10 victory.

The Chiefs pretty much dominated the Governor’s Cup series with a preseason record of 13-6-1. The Chiefs held 3-1-1 regular season advantage over the Big Red as well.

Here is a summary of the 20 preseason Missouri Governor’s Cup games played between the Chiefs and Cardinals.

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Mainichi Star Bowl: The NFL’s First Game Outside North America

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The St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers became the first teams to play an NFL game outside of North America on August 16, 1976.

The game was called the Mainichi Star Bowl and was sponsored by the Mainichi Daily News, an English-language newspaper in Tokyo. However, a lettuce farmer from California, Frank Takahashi, was the sole promoter of the game. A self-described “football nut,” Takahashi footed the entire bill for the exhibition contest.

“If we have a sellout, I will break even,” Takahashi told Doug Grow of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a 1976 interview.

Unfortunately, it was not a sellout, and Takahashi reportedly lost tens of thousands of dollars to bring the NFL to Japan.

Regarding the game, Jim Hart’s 60-yard touchdown pass to Ike Harris helped give the Cardinals a 20-10 victory. It was the second victory of the preseason for St. Louis.

The Cards and Chargers played the first NFL game outside of North America in 1976.
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Former Cardinals OL Tootie Robbins has died

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One of the mainstays of the Arizona Cardinals offensive line in the 1980s has died. According to a Facebook post by former Cardinals left tackle Luis…

Former Cardinals OL Tootie Robbins has died

Bob Reynolds and Ernie McMillan: Two Invisible Men who stand out

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(Editor’s Note: This story was featured in a 1971 edition of Pro! Magazine and written by former Los Angeles Times writer Bob Oates Jr.)

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The Gentle Heart of Larry Wilson

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(Editors Note: This was a feature in the December 17, 1972 edition of Pro! Magazine written by St. Louis Post Dispatch writer Robert Sanford. It was Larry’s last NFL game and he was featured on the cover..)

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