A crazy clip from a 1989 Pat Sajak Show interview is making the rounds on social media, bringing up some seriously wild claims about the NFL. Back then, author Don Moldea dropped a bombshell, saying in his book *Interference: How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football* that “no fewer than 70” NFL games had been fixed. Yeah, you read that right. Seventy games. That’s a whole lotta questionable outcomes, and it’s making us all wonder what the heck was really going on behind the scenes back then.
Owners, Bookies, and Quarterbacks: The Alleged Web of Corruption
Moldea didn’t just stop at game fixing. During that nearly eight-minute interview, he laid out some even more startling accusations. He claimed that “no fewer than 26” past and present team owners had documented ties to either the gambling community or organized crime. Talk about shady business! And if that wasn’t enough, Moldea’s book was apparently backed up by a bookmaker named Don Dawson, who straight-up admitted to participating in the fixing of “no fewer than 32” games himself. Dawson even spilled the tea on how it went down, telling Moldea that he rigged final scores by working directly with the quarterback. Imagine that kind of betrayal at the heart of the game.
The Suppressed Truth: Referees and FBI Investigations
The claims from Moldea’s book get even deeper. He stated that his book names specific players involved in fixing games. Even more shocking, it identifies eight specific 1979 games that were allegedly fixed by two referees. Those refs, according to Moldea, were later investigated by none other than the FBI and the IRS. So how did all this stuff stay under wraps for so long if the feds were involved? Moldea had an answer for that too, claiming that “no fewer than 50 legitimate investigations of corruption” were just flat-out suppressed. It makes you think about all the games we watched, all the heartbreaks and celebrations, and wonder if some of it was just… pre-determined.
It’s wild to see these kinds of old claims resurface now. It’s a reminder that sometimes the stories from the past are just as explosive as anything happening on the field today, and they can totally make you question everything you thought you knew about the league.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pro Football Talk.
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