Pigskin Dispatch

About Pigskin Dispatch

The host of the podcast is Darin Hayes who hails from Northwest Pennsylvania. The area is in the center of an NFL triangle approximately 100 miles away from Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

This dynamic helped to ingrain football into the fabric of the region. Darin played football as a youth and then officiated on the high school gridiron for almost 3 decades! 

His love of the game has spurned him to promote the positive aspects of football and preserve the game’s history with this podcast and his websites PigskinDispatch.com and CleteMarxComics.com.

Darin Hayes - Pigskin Dispatch Host

I grew up in North Western PA (still live there) and my earliest memories are in the early 70’s watching Steeler’s games with my Dad and Grandfather. The ’70’s Steelers had finally given some redemption for my Dad and Gramps after the longevity of suffering through some pretty terrible Steelers seasons in an area of the country that is filled with Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills fans along with those of  the Steelers, and that was my hook for football.

I loved watching High School, college and Pro football and even played a bit as a youngster. After college I still had the bug so I got involved in officiating HS football for 27 years. While still officiating I wrote for a couple of officiating websites and really got enamoured in the history of the game and it’s rules. This led me to May of 2020 starting PigskinDispatch.com to help give recognition to the good folks of football and also to preserve the history of the game.

What This Podcast Brings to the Table

The Pigskin Daily History Dispatch Podcast takes the listener through the historical events, people, inventions and plays that had some significance to the game of football on the date discussed.

We try to cover every angle, and look in every nook and cranny to bring these yester-year gridiron nuggets from all levels of American football all over the globe to help tell the story of American football. Check out our websites PigskinDispatch.com & CleteMarxComics.com for more positive football entertainment. So hold on as we are going to go no-huddle and throw quick slants to bring you the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch Podcast!

The podcast delves into a significant yet often overlooked aspect of American football history: the introduction of chains as a means of measuring distance on the field. The discussion centers around the Crescent Athletic Club, a pioneering team in the late 19th century that is credited with utilizing chains for the first time to mark...
The 2025 College Football Playoff brackets have been officially announced, revealing a landscape fraught with both excitement and controversy. The selection process has stirred considerable debate, particularly regarding the inclusion of certain teams over others, leading us to question the criteria employed for such significant decisions. Specifically, we shall delve into the implications of Indiana’s...
The 2025 football season is shaping up to be a compelling saga of triumph and unprecedented milestones, particularly within the New England Patriots organization, which has successfully navigated the complexities of a post-Brady era. Their current standing as the number one seed in the American Football Conference is a testament to their resilience and strategic...
The Great Divide: NFL Week 13 Ends Hope and Sets Up a 60-60 Showdown The calendar turning from Thanksgiving signaled more than just the start of December; it marked the official dividing line for the 2025 NFL season. As Darin Hayes and Ed Kleese settled in for their weekly breakdown, the mood was a mix...
Sweating it Out: The Shocking Conditioning Secrets of 1923 Football We often think of football conditioning as a precise science of hydration, nutrition, and tailored strength programs. But a century ago, the rules of getting in shape were dramatically different. Darin Hayes of Pigskin Dispatch recently dove into the past with Timothy Brown of Football...
Old 98: The Golden Boy Who Fell From the Sky (Twice) In the late 1930s, the name Tom Harmon was synonymous with unstoppable American athletic prowess. The University of Michigan’s single-wing tailback, number 98, was more than just a college football player; he was a phenomenon, the “Golden Boy” of the gridiron. He shattered records,...
A Silent Thanksgiving and the Power of Nostalgia: Week 13 NFL Picks Welcome to the Pig Pen for our special Thanksgiving week edition of Big, Bold Predictions! The NFL schedule is bursting at the seams this week with games spread across four days—Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday—meaning no bye weeks and a full slate of...
The 2025 college football season has emerged as a remarkable chapter in the annals of the sport, particularly spotlighting the impressive performances of true freshman quarterbacks. We delve into the extraordinary achievements of these young signal callers, who, only recently removed from high school, are now competing at the highest collegiate level. Throughout this episode,...
Timothy P. Brown joins us to discuss a significant historical football game that took place on Thanksgiving in 1932, focusing on the remarkable achievements of Colgate University during that season. The discussion is based on Tim’s Tidbit titled: The 1932 Colgate-Brown Thanksgiving Game for the Rose Bowl The Greatest Team That Wasn’t Invited: Colgate’s Unscored-Upon...
Gridiron Time Travel: Red Grange, Ivy League Chaos, and Heisman History The week leading up to Thanksgiving 2025 was a wild blend of honoring football’s past and watching history unfold in the present. Darin Hayes of Pigskin Dispatch dives into the biggest stories from the weekend, from a 100-year-old anniversary to the emergence of a...

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