1976 NFL Draft was televised? Started by evan

[oldecapecod11]

1976 NFL Draft was televised?
Started by evan, Mar 10 2014 10:17 AM

Archive

12 replies to this topic

#1 evan
PFRA Member
Posted 10 March 2014 - 10:17 AM
In the Sept. 12, 1976 issue of Tom Harmon's Football Today newspaper, page 9 under "Pro/File" there is an item that says:

"An interesting (or boring) program note: Channel 44 in Boston televised the NFL draft for a total of 9 1/2 hours on the first day of the draft last April."

My questions to the Forum are:

1. Can anyone confirm that the 1976 draft was televised? It's a pretty straightforward fact to get wrong, but you never know. So just wondering if anyone from Boston might remember this?

2. Can anyone provide a jpeg of a listing in a TV section from a Boston newspaper (I know some of you have deep Internet research resources) from April 8, 1976 to show the draft was scheduled to be televised?

3. If this is true, was this the first televised NFL draft? The other earliest televised NFL draft I'm aware of was the 1981 draft, whose first round was on YouTube for a while.

4. Any details on what the broadcast looked like from 1976 (were there any interviews with players, coaches, personnel directors, fans, highlight clips of the players?) I imagine it must have been pretty bare bones but I wonder.

Thanks!

#2 Mark L. Ford
Administrators
Posted 10 March 2014 - 10:50 AM
It would have been unusual, though not necessarily out of the question. Channel 44 was Boston's PBS station, and April 8 was a Thursday, and it would have required getting a television feed from New York. I suppose that they might have pre-empted their regular morning and afternoon fare (Sesame Street and the like) for live coverage of the NFL draft, but it would strike me as a strange programming choice. On the other hand, I can't think of a reason that Tom Harmon would have had a reason to be mistaken, unless he got the information second-hand.

#3 Kelly1105
PFRA Member
Posted 10 March 2014 - 11:00 AM

#4 oldecapecod 11
PFRA Member
Location:Cape Haze Florida
Posted 10 March 2014 - 01:21 PM
At this moment, waiting for a call back from Amy. Will advise.

But, for the record:

http://www.wgbh.org/about/contact.cfm

is a page for the submission of a written request.

#5 oldecapecod 11
PFRA Member
Posted 10 March 2014 - 01:23 PM
Or, the media library number is: 1 617 300 3100

#6 Jeremy Crowhurst
PFRA Member
If someone was sufficiently dedicated, don't most major libraries keep big city newspapers on a microfiche reader, where you could check the t.v. listings for a particular day? Here in Vancouver we have a large number of U.S. papers -- San Fran, L.A., Seattle (obviously), NY Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and some others, though I don't think the Boston Globe is among them

#7 oldecapecod 11
PFRA Member
Posted 10 March 2014 - 02:49 PM
Jeremy
Today, 01:52 PM
"If someone..."

I believe the New York Public Library in Albany has micro of most major newspapers in the world. At one time, they would send as many as five reels to your nearest Library or the Library you selected and used to make the request. The option was for the member's benefit. It was smart to use a Library with the best available reader. I have see some readers in a few libraries that are pretty beat up.
You had to use the reels AT THE LIBRARY and could not remove them.

I do not think they send to a local LDS with a Genealogy section.

So, Jeffrey's words of "sufficiently dedicated" apply here as well.

(The MAIN New York City site will send throughout the State of NY - or did. I do not think it loaned out of state?)

PS Just in case this is read by other non-Genius Card qualifiers like myself, that is Albany, New York - not Georgia or any of the other 22 Albanies throughout the United States of America [to the best of my knowledge.]) And, although it may have a rather new microfiche reader, the Albany, Oklahoma Library frequently closes if someone borrows the book. Population is 122 and the Howard Johnson has only two flavors.

#8 BD Sullivan
Forum Visitors
Posted 10 March 2014 - 04:14 PM
I was skeptical at first, but a check of the Boston Herald does confirm that they aired coverage of the draft (simply titled "The Day of the Draft") from 9:30-5:00, hosted by John Carlson and Upton Bell, with the first half-hour serving as a preview. That night at 8:00, they had a two-hour review, which included fans calling in. Couldn't find any review of the program.

#9 evan
PFRA Member
Posted 10 March 2014 - 05:20 PM
Wow, so it actually happened! That's a serious amount of coverage. Now I'm dying to know what the broadcast looked like, and if any clips or footage still exist. I'll see if anyone gets back to oldecapecod from his inquiry, otherwise I'll try calling there in a few days.

Anybody know of any earlier TV comprehensive draft coverage? And if not, I wonder what the backstory was of why this PBS station took this step back in 1976.

Thanks for all the great research so far, if there are any other tidbits or info anyone discovers about this, I'm sure it would be of interest to the Forum.

#10 oldecapecod 11
PFRA Member
Posted 10 March 2014 - 05:34 PM
My call was returned and the fact that the draft was televised was confirmed; however, additional details may be available from their Media Library.
I have called that number at least on the quarter hour since my last post and it is constantly busy. It is after five in Florida now so I will stop until tomorrow.
Maybe someone will have better luck? I might try again after 7:00 pm. Sometimes, those people are working to prep research for a late-night show?

Anyway: Media Library - 1 617 300 3100

Don't forget to try the LINK in the post above and submit a written request. (I cannot cut and paste or I would be happy to list it again.)

#11 evan
PFRA Member
Posted 10 March 2014 - 09:12 PM
Thanks oldecapecod, great work! Apparently this was not well-known. In this article (http://news.google.c...pg=6746,5843745) it states that ESPN covering the NFL Draft in 1980 was the first time it would be covered live. Oddly, Upton Bell was part of that coverage too.

#12 Reaser
PFRA Member
Posted 10 March 2014 - 09:28 PM
Nice find, Evan! Good work getting on it to confirm, Phil.

Always cool to find/learn new information.

#13 oldecapecod 11
PFRA Member
Posted 11 March 2014 - 01:58 AM
Evan
Yesterday, 09:12 PM
"Thanks..."

"The Tuscaloosa News" item appeared next to an exciting photo of a near-teen who had just killed his first turkey.
On the facing page there were two fish stories.
Kinda makes you wonder?

And... Upton Bell was trying to carve a career in the media - especially as a TV "personality." He did well for a while and then he was paired with Katie Couric for coverage of a Boston Marathon. (I think their man in the street was Larry Rawson?) Anyway, Upton seemed awestruck and fumbled and mumbled through most of the 3-or-so hours and couldn't take his eyes off Katie. She breezed right along most of the time as though he was not even there. It might have been a Rubicon event for Upton - the beginning of the end of his media career. He did a late-night Sports segment for a while with one of the 11:00 pm News broadcasts and was seldom seen on a weekly basis again. He may have reappeared when soccer came to Boston. I think he did.
Hey! At least when he was the Patriots' GM, no one swung a helmet at his head like Matt Millen did at Pat Sullivan. The interesting part of that scene was that Pat was practically surrounded by Patriots, none of whom offered either assistance or resistance and a couple even appeared to get out of the way. Millen missed - just as he missed later in his attempt at a GM spot.