Interference Read Free Page B

approached by Donald Dawson, the Detroit gambler who was later linked in a federal probe with Len Dawson, who was no relation. Recalling the incident, which he did not report to the NFL, Lane says, “Don told me, ‘Quarterbacks do a lot of betting themselves. Did you know that?’ I said [laughing], ‘Get out of here.’ He said, ‘You know it can be done, Night Train. You’re the only man betweenthe goalpost and a receiver. You can slip and fall and let the guy score.’”
    When I asked Lane whether Don Dawson was really suggesting that he throw a game, Lane replied that that was clearly his impression. He added that he had known Dawson for years and worked for his cousin, a Detroit car dealer, during the offseason. Lane also said that Dawson talked about the other players with whom he did business—a fact confirmed by agents for the FBI, the U.S. Strike Forces Against Organized Crime, and the IRS, among other federal agencies.
    Don Dawson admitted to me that he had made that statement to Lane, whom he described as “a good friend of mine.” Dawson says, “I’m sure I said that to him. Not that I was trying to bribe him, but he was probably trying to feel me out, too. Over the years, there were a lot of players I bet for, but they weren’t necessarily doing any business [participating in a fix]. But some of them were prepared to do it. They came to me. I was a wealthy guy. I had money. The players weren’t making any money. The owners were making all the money.”
    Former all-pro defensive back Bernie Parrish, an author of a 1971 book critical of the NFL and whose playing career spanned from 1959 to 1966, told me, “Sure, there were players who participated in shaving points in games and that sort of thing. Yeah, I played in them. But I always heard about it after the game was over.”
    Don Dawson confessed to me that during the 1950s and 1960s he had been personally involved in the fixing of no fewer than thirty-two NFL games.
    That was the fear during the 1980s when, according to law-enforcement officials, no fewer than nine NFL teams—the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Redskins—found themselves the targets of investigations in which players had been allegedly given drugs by gamblers who were looking for an on-field edge. And, particularly in 1988, numerous other NFL teams found their players being disciplined by the league for using, buying, and/or selling drugs, which along with gambling are the two most lucrative enterprises of organized crime.
    Don Dawson’s shocking admission is a first. No one has ever stepped forward and claimed to have actually been involved infixed games. Although such charges have occasionally been made through the years of the NFL’s existence, they have traditionally been hard to prove. “They are cases where it’s difficult to discover hard evidence as to who is involved,” says Brian Gettings, a former Strike Force attorney in Miami who was responsible for prosecuting Gilbert Lee Beckley, the Mafia’s onetime top layoff bookmaker. “You have to have an individual directly involved in the sports bribe or the fix to get a successful prosecution. And that is quite difficult.”
    Marty Kane, one of Beckley’s top associates, told me, “If I wanted to fix a game, there’re three players I’d get: the quarterback, the offensive center, and a defensive back. Then I would bet as much money as I could. I would have beards. I would have people all over the country trying to bet for me on this game.”
    Oddsmaker Bobby Martin remembers, “There were a lot of fixed games during the 1950s, but there’s nothing like that anymore. Years ago, players bet, mostly on their own teams. They’d say, ‘Oh, I see we’re six-point