Ed Podolak story in SI
- Thread starter Colonel Homer
- Start date
Good article, thanks for sharing. If I recall correctly Ed was also a friend of Hunter S. Thompson.
Great story from a true character. I remember watching that KC playoff game. It seemed like every time that Podolak touched the ball, something good happened. He almost singlehandedly carried that team that day. One of the most astounding individual efforts I’ve ever seen in sports.
Had the opportunity to "socialize" with Ed on a couple occasions. A character for sure, and a really good guy.
Probably the first NFL game I watched from start to finish, on a 24" Zenith console color TV, the first color TV I ever saw in someone's home. I was 9 years old, at my paternal grandmother's house in Storm Lake IA (only time we ever visited them - my father was funny that way).
I remember my grandma's floral couch with the protective vinyl protect-o-plate, and her vicious toy poodle to this day.
I remember Curt Gowdy and Al DiRogatis on the call, as they usually did when it came to late afternoon AFC games back then. I remember old Memorial Stadium...one of those old multi-purpose stadiums where the seating wasn't symmetrical with the field all the way around.
Both teams by the end looked like punch-drunk fighters too tired to put the other out of their misery. I remember Miami's TE, Marv Fleming having a particularly clutch game, and Nick Buonticonti making the tackle seemingly every KC play. Then a Jake Scott pick stopping a KC drive in OT causing my grandma to swear the one and only time I heard her do that. Then a Larry Czonka run that set up the winning FG by Garo Yepremium.
Poor Jan Stenerud...he never did live that game down, especially the chip shot late in regulation. My best friend still refers to him as Jan f'n Stenerud.
But Eddie was indeed incredible, and my love for the Chiefs was born out of his performance.
I remember my grandma's floral couch with the protective vinyl protect-o-plate, and her vicious toy poodle to this day.
I remember Curt Gowdy and Al DiRogatis on the call, as they usually did when it came to late afternoon AFC games back then. I remember old Memorial Stadium...one of those old multi-purpose stadiums where the seating wasn't symmetrical with the field all the way around.
Both teams by the end looked like punch-drunk fighters too tired to put the other out of their misery. I remember Miami's TE, Marv Fleming having a particularly clutch game, and Nick Buonticonti making the tackle seemingly every KC play. Then a Jake Scott pick stopping a KC drive in OT causing my grandma to swear the one and only time I heard her do that. Then a Larry Czonka run that set up the winning FG by Garo Yepremium.
Poor Jan Stenerud...he never did live that game down, especially the chip shot late in regulation. My best friend still refers to him as Jan f'n Stenerud.
But Eddie was indeed incredible, and my love for the Chiefs was born out of his performance.
I remember running into Ed shortly after reading an article about Hunter's funeral and it had mentioned numerous attendees(including Ed). I asked Podolak about Thompson and he smiled and said "Hunter was a nut!"
My dad and I became Chiefs fans the day Eddie joined them. And that playoff game was one of the most amazing efforts you have every seen. Eddie's always a Hawkeye.
I was 10 and remember the game. I believe we had not upgraded to a color tv yet. Have knocked down a few with Eddie over the years.
Eddie was my first true Hawkeye hero. I became a Chiefs fan when he joined them. I was in junior high and had forgotten about the missed field goals.
What a truly outstanding performance! Curt Gowdy, who broadcast the game on NBC later called it the single greatest performance he had ever seen.
The loss was heartbreaking.
What a truly outstanding performance! Curt Gowdy, who broadcast the game on NBC later called it the single greatest performance he had ever seen.
The loss was heartbreaking.
Hunter S. Thompson was certainly a nut and also a gifted writer. Lov his stuff. Can you imagine partying with him, Podolak and Bufeett back in the day?
That had to have been something. I believe Warren Zevon was part of Hunter's entourage also.
As well as Johnny Depp who with a canon shot Thompson's ashes into the atmosphere at the service on Woody Creek road.
The afternoon after he shot himself I was skiing out of a backcountry hut and my friend almost got us arrested by the sheriff deputies at the house. He was wanting his picture taken at the road to the house entrance. Thompson was great friends with the Pitkin County sheriff.
