Let’s face it. Even today’s hard-core football fan might be hard-pressed to remember Ron McDole, who plied his trade in the trenches first in the American Football League and later in the National Football League during the early 1960s to late 1970s. While the man nicknamed the Dancing Bear didn’t make the Hall of Fame, his career evokes a different era in the sport and was marked by some notable high points. For example, he played defensive end for the AFL’s Buffalo Bills during a 17-game stretch when they did not allow opponents a rushing touchdown, and his 12 career interceptions remain a pro record for a player at his position. Oh, and McDole managed to play on three championship teams during 18 pro seasons, two with Buffalo and one as a member of the Washington Redskins.
Here’s an excerpt from The Dancing Bear:
“When I first got traded from Buffalo to the Washington Redskins, I didn’t know what to expect down there. My friend Jack Kemp, our former quarterback on the Bills, had been elected to Congress, and he filled me in on the area, mentioned some things to me about the city and stuff like that. I thought Washington would be a political town, which it was, but I also thought that the Washington fans would not be the same type of fans as the ones we had in Buffalo. I figured the Washington fans would be standoffish, and not nearly as dedicated as the Bills’ fans. The people in Buffalo were so involved. I’d go into a drugstore or a grocery store and I knew the little old lady behind the counter would chew me out if I’d missed a tackle or got blocked on a big play, because Buffalo fans knew everything about the game. They knew who was pulling, who was trapped, who screwed things up. In Washington, I didn’t think it would be anything like that. Well … it was. The Washington fans were just as knowledgeable, and they knew what was going on. Maybe they drove nicer cars than the fans up in Buffalo, but they were great fans. I never expected that.”