On September 11—the day after the 1989 NFL regular season began—Richard Harris of Nightline called just before 11:00 A.M. and informed me that our program had been bumped because anchor Ted Koppel had arranged to interview Russian leader Boris Yeltsin.
Then, at 7:05 that night, Tracy Day, a Nightline producer, called and said that our program was on again, adding that the Yeltsin interview had been canceled. "Yeltsin's drunk, and they can't sober him up," she told me, adding that the other two guests were Warren Welsh and Michael Roxborough.
A chauffeur in a black, stretch limo picked me up at my home and drove downtown to ABC's Washington bureau. After the make‑up process, I was then taken into a small studio adjacent to the control room. It was the set for David Brinkley's Sunday morning talk show.
There were five people in the room, including a cameraman and an assistant director who was responsible for counting down the seconds before we went on the air. The camera was about eight to ten feet in front of me at eye level. I was instructed to look straight into it and not move my eyes. I saw myself briefly on a monitor, but the image was only in black and white. Because it was a distraction, I asked that it be turned off. My thinning hair seemed a little awry, and so I combed it without a mirror—wishing I had not done so after I did.
Everything I heard came through an earpiece. I spoke into a small microphone clasped to the lapel of my suit jacket. During a quick sound check, I joked briefly with Welsh in New York and Roxborough in Las Vegas, wondering out loud whether the Giants‑Redskins game had been fixed. All three of us, who knew each other, laughed, but we were clearly nervous.
Then, the game was turned off, and Nightline's taped background report on gambling and the NFL began. On the filmed portion of the program, correspondent Dave Marash was seen walking through the Stardust Sports Book. After that, he showed his taped interviews with Roxborough, former NFL Security chief Bill Hundley, Warren Welsh, and then me.
Marash also interviewed Lem Banker, who spelled out the details of the two Minnesota Vikings' games against the Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after eight to ten players were stricken with food poisoning. Agreeing that the incident should have been, but was not, placed on the NFL's weekly injury and illness reports released to the wire services, Welsh spoke for the league, saying that he did not believe anything nefarious had happened.
After the taped segment, it was our turn. Jeff Greenfield, who was filling in for Ted Koppel, introduced us in alphabetical order. I was first followed by Roxborough, and Welsh.
Then, there was a cut to a commercial.
When we returned, I went on auto‑pilot. After a quick exchange between Greenfield and Welsh, Greenfield asked me a question. Completely ignoring what he had asked, I ran down the key points I had really come there to say about the NFL and the Mafia. When Greenfield repeated the question, I answered it directly.
After that, I just reacted and tried to keep Welsh on the defensive by attacking the NFL team owners. Throughout the program, I kept thinking that being on with two men I liked and respected—Roxborough and Welsh—was to my disadvantage, because I didn't want to go for their throats.
According to the official Nightline transcript, a brief exchange was precipitated after I claimed that there was evidence that no fewer than 70 NFL games had been fixed:
Greenfield: I can't forbear from picking up on the point you [Moldea] said earlier. Are you talking about games that have been fixed within recent history, recent NFL history, last 10 years or so?
Moldea: I'm saying that the last games I have where there's allegations of fixed games were 10 years ago. There were eight games that were allegedly fixed by two referees who were paid $100,000 each for each game by a New York Mafia guy, and their job was to basically make sure that that Mafia guy covered the spread.
Greenfield: Mr. Welsh, quickly, what do you have to say about those allegations? Have you looked at Mr. Moldea's book? Can you respond to them?
Welsh: I have, and I would like to say that in contact with law enforcement sources, that the informant that Mr. Moldea refers to is termed a "pathological liar" by the FBI.
Moldea: Well, the IRS has a different feeling about him, Warren, and basically they viewed him as being credible, and that—the IRS believed that the investigation itself concluded that the games were indeed fixed. They had the information in advance of the games on those eight fixed games.
During a discussion about the state of Oregon's recent legalization of an NFL sports lottery, the debate became even more contentious.
Roxborough: Sports betting is growing tremendously, and not just in Nevada, all over, and it's good, low‑cost entertainment, and that's the main reason it's growing.
Moldea: Low‑cost entertainment? I look at the situation in Oregon right now, Roxy, and the only thing I respect about the Oregon betting lottery is the fact that you're setting the line—a man I trust, a man I admire, a man who I know is honest is going to be setting the line. But, basically, what's going to—
Greenfield: Could I interrupt, Dan? [I want to] explain that Oregon has begun a system where a bettor can go to his local grocery store and bet the spread, pick a number of teams and whether they'll beat the spread, put down a buck or ten or 20, I guess. . . . I just wanted to clear that up. Some of our audience may not be into this pastime, but go ahead.
Roxborough: It started this weekend. It was very successful. And it's one‑dollar to twenty‑dollar bets. And I call that entertainment. In fact, I call that better entertainment than going to movies these days.
Greenfield: Dan?
Moldea: Well, that may be true. What I'm afraid of is that Oregon is going to end up educating the public as to how to gamble, how to use the point spread, and everyone's going to realize that Oregon is taking a huge skim of the handle—the total pool of bets. And what the public is going to realize within a few weeks is they can get a bigger bang for their buck from Charlie the Bookie, the friendly local bookmaker at the corner bar who's going to be making them put up $11 to win $10—and is only going to be taking a ten percent commission on the losing bets he books.
Roxborough: But see, Dan, that's not always true, Dan. First of all, the Oregon odds are pretty good, and, in fact, as parley cards go, some of the odds are much higher than illegal bookmakers. And, also, where should the money go? Should it go to an illegal bookmaker to buy a new Cadillac, or should it go to fund the intercollegiate and athletic sports in Oregon, like it does with the lottery up there?
Greenfield: If I may . . .
Moldea: Well, what . . .
Greenfield: I'd like to . . .
Moldea: Excuse me. What I'm saying is that, Roxy, the Oregon lottery is going to cause a proliferation of illegal bookmaking and organized crime activity. And I think in recent cases, the evidence is clear on that.
Greenfield: Can I bring, please . . . I'd like to bring Warren Welsh, who represents the league, into this. Mr. Welsh, your league was very down on this idea of Oregon's, right?
Welsh: We certainly were. And our premise is: why use the National Football League to promote betting? We just don't like it. We certainly encourage new fans to come our way, but we certainly don't need new bettors.
Moldea: Warren, why didn't you file a lawsuit against Oregon before they started taking your product and selling it? I mean, why didn't the NFL file suit, as they did in Delaware back in 1976 when Delaware had their own disastrous lottery? Why isn't the NFL taking some legal action? And I don't think you've taken any legal action against Kentucky, which is going to have its own NFL lottery next month.
Welsh: Our lawyers are continuing to review this case, and we have many options open to us.