John McClain | Part One

John McClain, Pro Football Hall of Fame sports writer, joins the pod to share on-hand stories of sports movie sets and how none of his 53-year career has felt like work. 2:15 John elaborates on the remarkable impact of the late Jamey Rootes, former Houston Texans President and bestselling author of The Winning Game Plan. 4:27 After retirement from the Houston Chronicle, John goes off on his wild vast involvement in radio and continued work as an NFL writing stalwart. 6:04 John explains his start in writing in at the Waco Tribune-Herald under the late Dave Campbell during his junior year at Baylor University which led to covering the Houston Aeros (WHA) hockey team featuring Gordie Howe, followed by an amazing 40+ year run of beat writing for the Houston Oilers and Houston Texans, along with decades of sports radio. 11:29 John gets into his keen interest and involvement with sports documentaries and films, beginning with the upcoming doc on the Phillips family (Bum, Wade and Wes) who are a three-generation coaching family. 15:54 John shares how he provided rich insight as a sports writer for movies like The Rookie (2002), Invincible (2006) and the remake of The Longest Yard (2005). 33:00 John provides his thoughts on the difference between professional athletes and actors in sports films and how many actors are very passionate about sports and vice versa. 36:28 John sheds light on how America’s pastime went from baseball and college football to NFL football in 1958 when the Johnny Unitas-led Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium in 1958. Outside Your Lane is a podcast on the ground-up climb of sports, available on Apple and Spotify. Luke Borek Osicka is a sports management student with a background as a singer-songwriter. Pod intro: “Prayer” by Psalm/Trees. To connect, send an email at [email protected] or a message at https://www.linkedin.com/in/osicka.