Meet the Voices Behind Unvarnished Football
If football has a royal family, Upton Bell was raised in the throne room. He didn’t just study the history of the NFL; he lived it at the kitchen table alongside the architects of the modern game. As the son of legendary Commissioner Bert Bell—the man who gave us the NFL Draft, overtime, and the two-minute warning—Upton’s education was unparalleled.
He carried that legacy into the front office, serving as Director of Player Personnel for the Baltimore Colts under Don Shula, where he built the roster that won Super Bowl V. Later, as General Manager of the Patriots, he famously rebranded the “Boston” franchise into the New England Patriots we know today.
Upton remains the “insider’s insider,” currently writing for Clark Judge’s Talk of Fame. He watches the NFL from his own multi-screen command center, tracking every scheme in real-time. For the die-hard fan, Upton offers more than just commentary; he provides a masterclass.
If Upton Bell is football royalty, Michael Jackson helps keep the crown jewels. One of the game’s premier oral historians, Jackson doesn’t just recap highlights; he preserves football’s golden eras by sitting down with the men who built the league. His acclaimed work, The Game Before the Money, serves as a definitive archive of the sport, featuring intimate interviews with 40 legends like Bart Starr, Don Maynard, and Frank Gifford.
From his film documentary covering the “Luv Ya Blue” Houston Oilers to the rich legacy of HBCU football, Jackson uncovers the game’s true cultural heartbeat.
He spent years on the radio calling high school play-by-play and anchoring citywide postgame coverage in Central Texas, where every snap counts under the Friday Night Lights.
Unvanished Football provides what surface-level “hot takes” and “Hollywood gossip” sports talk simply can’t match. Upton and Michael don’t just call the action; they explain the internal, on-the-field strategies and history behind it. Pairing Michael’s storytelling with Upton’s insider perspective, you’re not just listening to a podcast—you’re sitting in on a meeting of the football minds.