COURTSIDE WEATHER🥶/SPORTS🏈/HISTORY📗: -3 F FOR CHIEFS V. DOLPHINS PLAYOFF IN KC TONIGHT — That’s Not Even Close To The Coldest Playoff Game Ever, The 1967 “Ice Bowl!”

Green Bay Packer QB Bart Starr (15) sneaks in the winning touchdown as Packers beat Cowboys 21-17 in the “Ice Bowl” on Dec. 31, 1967. The coldest NFL Playoff game — by far!

Photo: PackersNews.com

COURTSIDE WEATHER🥶/SPORTS🏈/HISTORY📗: -3 F FOR CHIEFS V. DOLPHINS PLAYOFF IN KC TONIGHT — That’s Not Even Close To The Coldest Playoff Game Ever, The 1967 “Ice Bowl!”

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Special to Courtside Sports

Jan. 13, 2023

Alexandria, VA. When the Kansas City Chiefs take the Arrowhead Stadium field for their home playoff game against the Miami Dolphins in a few hours, it’s already being advertised as one of the coldest NFL playoff games in history. (Thanks to ethically-challenged fat-cat execs at NBC Universal, you’ll only be able to see the TV game if you subscribe to their streaming service, Peacock. But, media greed is another story.) For Fox Sports’s rundown of the coldest playoff games in history, see https://apple.news/AeZJd_34gSMyMhei2REuS1g.

Weather forecasts say the actual temperature could be as low as -3 F with a windchill of -13. But, that would be “Balmy Days” compared with the December 31, 1967, 1:00 PM CST kickoff of the NFL playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys (coached by the great Tom Landry) at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The actual temperature at kickoff was listed at -13 F. Although “wind chill” hadn’t yet become a craze, it has been calculated at -48 F.

According to participants, the temperature and wind chill actually fell during the game. “Minus-15 and minus-55 chill factor — the only time I’ve ever been exposed to that, and I don’t care that if it’s the last time,” according to Packer wide receiver Carroll Dale (3 catches, 43 yards.)

Here are two outstanding accounts of the details of the Packers’ 21-17 victory on their way to winning their (and the NFL’s) second Super Bowl: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/12/26/tales-from-the-cold-ice-bowl-still-chills-50-years-later/108919986/; https://tremlettonsport.wordpress.com/2018/07/24/untold-stories-the-1967-ice-bowl/. (Unfortunately, the otherwise excellent USA Today article will require you to navigate around some totally annoying pop up ads by Equifax.) Before the days of streaming shenanigans, CBS provided live network coverage with its team of Ray Scott, Jack Buck, Pat Summerall, Frank Gifford, and Tom Brookshier.

Behind Hall of Fame QB Bart Starr and legendary Head Coach Vince Lombardi the Packers were actually able to move the ball through the air in the first half, taking a 14-0 lead and going into the frigid halftime up 14-10.

But, it was a different story in the second half, with the Cowboy defense holding the Packers scoreless on 10 straight possessions, while taking a 17-14 lead. When the Pack took over on their own 32 yard line late in the 4th quarter, with 4:50 to go, a long cold winter in Green Bay was definitely on the dimming horizon.

Starr led the team to a first down and goal at the one with time running down. After two failed Donny Anderson runs, the Packers called their final timeout with :16 to go. That led to one of the most famous plays in NFL history — one that in the end defined Lombardi, Starr, guard Jerry Kramer, and the Packers.

I was watching the game at home in Wauwatosa, WI with my family on our 13” GE color tv. As my brother, Jim, likes to remind me, it was about this moment that, as the youngest driver, he was “designated” to take our grandmother home and, therefore, missed what came next.

Most of us were expecting a pass. Even if incomplete, it would stop the clock for a “chip shot” field goal on fourth down to likely send the game into sudden death overtime.

But, Starr fooled everyone by calling his own number. Going over a slight opening created by Jerry Kramer’s iconic block on 6’6” 260 pound Cowboy defensive tackle Jethro Pugh, Starr knifed into the end zone for what proved to be the deciding score. The extra point by Don Chandler was good, and the Packers led 21-17 with 13 seconds left.

That’s where most accounts of the game end. But, as Jim reminded me, “Many of us recall the Starr QB sneak as the final play but actually there were 13 seconds left and the Packers had to kick off and defend a couple of plays.”

Despite the treacherous weather, almost all of the then approximately 51,000 seats at Lambeau were filled with hardy fans, and few left before the final whistle blew. (The inoperability of metal whistles during the Ice Bowl actually resulted in the NFL’s decision to permanently switch to plastic whistles.)

Ironically, Bart Starr was known for his passing, leadership, and “on field smarts,” but definitely NOT for his running. The one-yard winning TD that day at Lambeau was his only rush of the day (he also got sacked eight times for losses of 76 yards by Dallas’s “Doomsday Defense,” and lost a fumble resulting in the Cowboys’ first touchdown).

The Ice Bowl cemented the legend of Lombardi, Starr, and the 1960’s Packers. But, it also gave rise to some myths.

Myth #1: The Packers’ Invincibility in Frozen Games. Not surprisingly, as described in the Fox Sports article linked above, the Packers have participated in three of the seven coldest NFL Playoff games. But, the Ice Bowl remains their only victory. They lost to the Giants 23-20 in 2007 in Brett Farve’s last game as a Packer. They also lost to the San Francisco 23-20 in 2013 during the Aaron Rodgers era.

Myth #2: The Packers Are Dominant In Lambeau Playoff Games: As I noted in a previous blog post, even with Rodgers and Farve, the Pack won only one Super Bowl in 21st Century, in 2010. https://immigrationcourtside.com/2024/01/08/🏈-sports-on-to-dallas-with-love❤️-pack-down-rival-bears-17-9-clinch-playoff-slot-as-qb-stars-jones-runs-defense-hangs-tough/. That year they were the last seed (#6) and got the Lombardi Trophy by winning 4 playoff games on the road.

Although they have had other chances at Lambeau playoff games since 2000, they never have never been able to duplicate their winning trip to the 2011 Super Bowl where they bested Pittsburgh. Interestingly, and perhaps fortuitously for Packers fans, this year’s Jordan Love led playoff team resembles the 2010 squad.

They have the worst seed (now #7), thereby eliminating any possibility of another game at Lambeau. Like the 2010 team, they are heavy underdogs who had to win out over the last few games of the season to even make the playoffs.

Myth #3: The Packers have “owned” the Cowboys in the Playoffs. Significantly, the Pack won the first two playoff meetings, in 1966 and 1967, on their way to their first two Super Bowl Championships. And, they have won the last two memorable playoff games with the Cowboys, played in 2015 (26-21) and 2017 (34-31).

But, in between, the Cowboys won four straight (1983, 1994, 1995, 1996). Indeed, when the Packers won their lone Super Bowl under Farve, 1997, they did not face Dallas in the playoffs.

So, actually, the Packers and the Cowboys are 4-4 in playoff games with Dallas strongly favored in tomorrow afternoon’s late matchup on Fox.

Which leads me to my final point. In an era of “enlightenment,” when player health and fan safety are supposed to be paramount, why not postpone tonight’s KC-Miami matchup to more suitable weather when the players can perform somewhere near their best and the fans can actually enjoy the game rather than just having to survive it?

After all, the competition is about football, NOT attempting to set coldness records or “out ice the Ice Bowl.” In an unusual burst of rationality, tomorrow’s untenable showdown between Pittsburgh and Buffalo at the latter’s snow-bound home has been postponed at the request of NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, due to public safety concerns.

If tonight’s Chiefs v. Dolphins contest is marred on or off the field by a preventable weather-related injury or fan problems, authorities in Kansas City and the NFL might wish that they had acted with more common sense and prudence. I’m sure that those of us Packer fans who remember watching the Ice Bowl in the comfort of home enjoyed the game more than the players or, for that matter, the 51,000 freezing fans!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

01-13-24

🏈 “SEASON OF LOVE” ABOUT TO UNFOLD IN GREEN BAY — Can 4th Year Pro With Only a Few Regular Season Passes (Even Fewer Meaningful Ones) Take The Pack To the Same Heights As His Two Hall-of-Fame Predecessors? — While Some Are Doubters, Favorable Schedule & Weak Division Could Give Pack a Realistic Chance At Playoff Return!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/23/jordan-love-packers-aaron-rodgers/

Adam Kilgore reports for WashPost:

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Their season ended in January with a frail whimper and the sour departure of a quarterback both legendary and malcontent. They handed their offense to a passer whose last victory as a starter came in 2019 over New Mexico. Their wide receivers room could be confused for a day care. The Green Bay Packers possess the outward signs of a franchise in reset. Internally, they dismiss a rebuild as preposterous, not even an option. They do not play in Future Championship Equity City. Lambeau Field resides in Titletown.

“All people see is the ‘G’ on the helmet, and they expect you to win,” Coach Matt LaFleur said. “That’s the reality of this league. You can either run from it, or you embrace it.”

LaFleur spoke sitting on a couch in his new office inside the new wing of the Packers’ facility, so fresh you can still smell the construction while walking the halls. It is an apt setting from which to launch Green Bay’s first season in three decades with a quarterback other than Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers, two men now facing the roughly equivalent challenges of beating a lawsuit in Mississippi and trying to win with the New York Jets.

The Packers are running toward Year 1 of the Jordan Love era anticipating immediate results — a hope that is more realistic than outlandish. Rodgers’s exit cast a long shadow, but the shade has obscured a roster with requisite talent to win an unsettled division in the weaker conference.

“There are a lot of unknowns with our team, but I think that’s also exciting,” LaFleur said. “With no expectations, there’s no limitations.”

He learned football on YouTube in Africa. Can he make an NFL roster?

The Packers have a defense stocked with eight first-round draft picks, unapologetic belief in Love and a collective desire to prove there is life after Rodgers, whose age-related decline, cantankerousness and thumb injury last year leave Love a lower bar to clear than Rodgers’s résumé would suggest — a mandate that comes from their home city.

. . . .

*******************

Read the full report at the above link.

Only time will tell. JLove just hasn’t had enough meaningful snaps to have a good handle on what he can do over a full season.

He has a good arm and runs much better than Rodgers did at the end of his Packer career. But, we can all think of QBs with those qualities and stellar collegiate careers who never made much of a mark at the next level. Also, as a cautionary note, NFL QBs who try to do too much with their feet often end up with careers shortened by debilitating injuries (“RG III” of Washington is a recent example who comes to mind).

Also, success ultimately depends on the team. Last year, in addition to Rodgers’s sometimes struggles, there were plenty of dropped balls, inability to get separation, failure to open holes, sacks allowed, lousy tackling, and defensive lapses at particularly inopportune times.

My favorite line in Kilgore’s article described former Packer great QBs Brett Farve and Aaron Rodgers, respectively, as “two men now facing the roughly equivalent challenges of beating a lawsuit in Mississippi and trying to win with the New York Jets.”

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever, and Go Pack!

PWS

08-25-23

🏈 SPORTS: BREAKING! — END OF AN ERA! — Aaron Rodgers To Leave Pack, Will Play For Jets This Fall! — Future Hall-of-Famer Leaves After 15 Years, 1 Super Bowl Ring, 4 MVP Awards, & A Host Of Records!

Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

https://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2023/03/15/packers-quarterback-aaron-rodgers-plans-on-playing-for-new-york-jets-next-season-pat-mcafee-show/69980713007/

GREEN BAY – The Aaron Rodgers Era in Green Bay is almost over.

A new era for the four-time MVP will begin in New York soon.

Rodgers confirmed it all Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” telling the host that after long contemplation and a meeting with Jets officials last week, he decided on Friday “to play and to play for the New York Jets.”

However, Rodgers said that no deal has been made and that the Packers are the ones holding up a trade and not him as has been speculated on social media and some news reports. He said he is ready to get back to playing football but remains in limbo until the trade goes through.

“I haven’t been holding things up at this point, it’s been compensation that the Packers are trying to get for me and are kind of digging their heels in,” Rodgers said. “So, I would just think it is interesting at this point. The whole picture.”

Rodgers went on to say he is coming to grips with the fact that his 18 years with the Packers franchise is coming to an end and that it is because the Packers want to move on without him. He said he won’t be bitter about the way things were handled, but he can’t completely move on because the trade has not been made.

. . . .

“You know, my side, love and appreciation and gratitude for everything that Green Bay has done for me. Love, so much love and gratitude and just heart open for the Packer fans and what it meant to be their quarterback, and also the reality of the situation,” he said. “Like, it is what it is; Packers would like to move on.”

. . . .

Rodgers said he went into his four-day darkness retreat 90% sure he would retire, but upon completion he heard the Packers were shopping him in trade talk. He said he was told after the season to take his time to make a decision whether he wants to play and wished the Packers had told him they didn’t want him anymore and wanted Jordan Love to be their quarterback.

He said he would have been happy with that.

“They’re ready to move on,” Rodgers said. “Jordan is going to be a great player. He’s a great kid. He’s got a bright future. I have so many great friends on that team and will be friends with. Fact of the matter is you have an aging face of the franchise that it’s time to do right by.”

. . . .

Packers’ trade of another future Hall of Fame quarterback harkens back to 2008

The Packers are following a familiar game plan for transitioning from a Hall of Famer to a young, first-round quarterback.

Three years after Rodgers was drafted in the first round of the 2005 draft, the Packers made their plans to succeed the retired Brett Favre with the guy they had been grooming for the job. When Favre decided he didn’t want to retire, the Packers stood with their decision to move on to Rodgers and traded Favre to the Jets.

Now, it’s Rodgers’ turn to leave the smallest market in the NFL for its biggest.

The Packers, according to multiple sources, were ready to move on from Rodgers as early as the end of last season when they felt they underachieved offensively. Rodgers failed to throw for a 300-yard game all season and couldn’t will the team into the playoffs despite needing only a victory at home against Detroit in Week 18.

The Packers had gone all in on 2022, setting an NFL record by guaranteeing all $150 million of Rodgers’ three-year contract extension, betting on him returning to the form that had earned him MVP honors in ’20 and ’21.

But the Packers finished 8-9 and general manager Brian Gutekunst saw enough improvement from Love in practice and a relief appearance against the Philadelphia Eagles to think he was ready to replace Rodgers.

Transitioning to Jordan Love may not go smoothly

The Packers were 6-10 when Rodgers took over in ’08. However, they made the postseason the following year and won the Super Bowl in ’10.

Love is entering his fourth season and the Packers now have every reason to exercise his fifth-year option before the May deadline. It will guarantee Love $20.2 million in ’24, but this season he will play for the $2,298,652 base salary in his rookie contract.

Though Love has three years under his belt, he has started only one game, played 157 snaps and thrown 83 passes. The Packers aren’t expecting him to win an MVP in his first year as a starter and know there may be growing pains.

More:If Jordan Love is the Packers’ next starting quarterback, his supporting cast will play a pivotal role

Dougherty: Matt LaFleur puts himself on the line bringing back Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry

“I think the one thing you see in this league, it’s very rarely are guys shot out of a cannon winning-wise,” Gutekunst said during the week of the NFL scouting combine. “There’s some great play, there’s instances you see flashes, but I think it takes most of these quarterbacks a little time to learn how to win.

“And it’s one thing to play well and make throws and, make plays, but then it’s another thing to lead your team to wins. And I think that takes time, but you don’t get a lot of that in this league. But certainly with any new quarterback that’s playing for the first time you’re gonna need some of that.”

**********************

Read the complete article at the link.

“AR” gave us Packer fans lots of thrills (and a few chills) over 15 years. I was fortunate enough to see him play three times in person at Lambeau! It seemed that things just were’t “clicking” for the Pack and Rodgers last year. Also, they can’t keep Love on the bench forever. And, AR’s “off the field antics” had become somewhat distracting. So, the move isn’t surprising.

We’ll see if AR has another Super Bowl season in him with the somewhat hapless Jets, who haven’t been there since they won with Joe Namath when I was in college.

Meanwhile we’ll also see whether Jordan Love can follow in the footsteps of Hall of Famers Bart Starr, Brett Farve, and AR. Big shoes to fill, for sure!

Thanks for the memories, and all the best to AR!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

03-15-23

🏈G.O.A.T.-BUTTED AGAIN — Pack Season Dissolves In NFC Championship Again As Tom Brady Takes Them Apart For The Second Time!

😢

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Courtside Sports Exclusive

Jan. 24, 2021. Last year it was the SF 49ers. This year it was Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs. Either way it was a big disappointment. Both times, the Pack relaid their “regular season egg” at the worst possible time — in the NFC Championship game.

After an MVP-worthy season, Aaron Rodgers and the Pack lost again to Tom Brady and the Bucs 31-26. To make it worse, it was at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The Pack never led in the game.

The “duel” between AR and Brady was really all about the latter. Brady was better! He simply “fried” the Green Bay defense in the first half. The “back breaker” actually came near the end of the first half when Brady threw a TD pass to Scotty Miller on an inexcusable (almost absurd) defensive breakdown by the Pack with one second left on the clock.

The Pack made a game of it in the second half. But, Brady was just better. Although he threw three interceptions, he outplayed Rodgers when it counted.

Indeed, Rodgers and the Pack “O” managed only a paltry 6 points off the three Brady turnovers. By contrast, the Bucs turned two Pack turnovers (one on a rare Rodgers interception) into 14 points. That essentially was the ballgame.

The previously stout Packer offensive line wilted under relentless pressure from the Bucs pass rush, just as they had in the regular season meeting. That left Rodgers clearly uncomfortable and running for his life for most off the game. However, he failed to show his usual “escapability.”

Meanwhile, for the most part, the Pack pass rush failed to put much pressure on Brady, allowing him to operate in his “comfort zone.” That was true particularly in the first half when he simply made the Pack defense look foolish on the way to a 21-10 halftime lead that proved insurmountable.

It didn’t help that on the first Pack possession of the second half, an Aaron Jones fumble (forcing him to leave the game with an injury) turned into a virtually uncontested TD. A Brady TD pass to a wide-open receiver put the Pack in a three-score hole from which there was no recovery.

Rodgers probably left at least one TD on the table when he threw an ill-advised incomplete pass inside the ten rather than running for yardage and a possible TD. Matt LaFleur was out-coached by Bruce Arians, going to his first Super Bowl. LaFleur made a bizarre choice to kick a FG rather than going for a tying TD on what proved to be the Pack’s last possession.

But, in the end it was all about Tom Brady, the greatest of all time! He showed that those who said that it was the Patriots’ “system” had it all wrong. He took a team noted for its hapless failures to the Super Bowl in his first season!

AR Is one of the best ever QBs, the likely MVP for the third time, and a “first ballot” Hall of Famer. But, nobody can deny that Brady is the GOAT!

For the Pack, another great season! Didn’t quite get it done. But, next year is a new beginning, and another chance to reach the Super Bowl with a great coach, spectacular QB, and a great supporting cast. Thanks for a great and entertaining season!

Go Pack Go!

Wait till next year!

And, of course, congrats to Tom Brady 🌟 and the Bucs🏴‍☠️!

PWS

01-24-21

🏈PACKERS’ “GOLDEN BOY” (& SOMETIMES “BAD BOY”) DIES AT 84! — Paul Hornung Was One Of NFL’s “Greatest Ever” All-Around Offensive Stars!

https://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2020/11/13/do-not-publish-test-packers-great-paul-hornung-obit-xx-do-not-publish/503716002/

Pete Dougherty writes in the Green Bay Press Gazette:

Paul Hornung was a Vince Lombardi favorite and maybe the most important player on the famed coach’s early championship teams with the Green Bay Packers.

Lombardi loved Hornung for his versatile skill set and clutch play as the featured left halfback in the Packers’ offense, as well as for his fun-loving off-field persona that helped get Hornung the nickname “Golden Boy.”

Hornung, who also won the 1956 Heisman Trophy, died Friday in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky at age 84 after a long battle with dementia, the Louisville Sports Commission announced.

“The Green Bay Packers Family today is mourning the loss of Paul Hornung,” Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy said in a statement. “Paul was one of our special alumni whose mere presence in Lambeau Field electrified the crowd during his returns. His performances in big games were unparalleled and over time were appreciated by generations of Packers fans. He played a key role in four of Vince Lombardi’s championship teams of the 1960s.

“With Paul’s passing, we are deeply saddened that we continue to lose our greats from the Lombardi era, a run of unprecedented success in the National Football League.

“We extend our deepest condolences to Paul’s wife, Angela, and his family and friends.”

Though Hornung never put up big rushing numbers in the NFL – his single-season high for rushing was only 681 yards – he filled the key position in Lombardi’s offense as a runner in the famed Lombardi sweep and option passer. He was a big back (6-feet-2 and 215 pounds) with a nose for the goal line and for much of his career also was the Packers’ kicker.

His 176 points in the 12-game 1960 season was an NFL record that stood until 2006, 29 years after the league had moved to a 16-game schedule. He was voted the NFL’s most-valuable player that season.

Hornung also was voted a member of the NFL’s all-decade team of the 1960s and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986 after a nine-year career that ended in 1966. But perhaps the greatest tribute to him came from Lombardi himself in his two-volume book, “Vince Lombardi on Football,” which was published in 1973.

RELATED: Packers should retire Paul Hornung’s number

“Paul may have been the best all-around back ever to play football,” Lombardi wrote.

. . . .

******************

Read the full obit at the link. More pictures of Paul’s career are also available on the link.

The man could run, catch, pass, and kick! Along with quarterback Bart Starr and running back Jim Taylor, Paul was part of probably the greatest Hall of Fame backfield ever!

His colorful off-field exploits included a one year suspension (along with the Lions’ Alex Karras) for betting on games; a stint as a “Marlboro Man” (obviously before such ads were banned); service in the U.S. Army (he got leave to play in the 1961 NFL Championship game — he scored a then-record 19 points); and numerous curfew violations.

I remember watching on B&W TV when Hornung broke the NFL scoring record on his way setting a new mark that stood for decades in a 1960 rout (41-13) of George Halas’s hated Chicago Bears in Chicago. One reason why the record stood so long, even when NFL seasons were expanded from 12 to 14 and then 16 games, was that Hornung was perhaps the last player to score touchdowns by running and catching passes while also kicking field goals and extra points that season. Hard to imagine in this age of specialization! And, I might add that the Packers scored lots of points that season!

Here’s a video clip from that famous game. The Pack are in dressed in their white away uniforms and Hornung is #5:

https://youtu.be/zPpgjhO6biY

R.I.P., Paul. Trust that you have finally made it to a place without curfews!

PWS

11-13-20

🏈R.I.P. HERB ADDERLEY 1939 – 2020 — Packer Hall Of Fame Cornerback Played On Six NFL Championship Teams!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/herb-adderley-hall-of-fame-cornerback-with-lombardis-packers-dies-at-81/2020/10/31/dd78834e-1af3-11eb-82db-60b15c874105_story.html

By Associated Press

October 31 at 11:29 AM ET

Herb Adderley, a Hall of Fame cornerback who was a part of a record six championship teams with the Green Packers and Dallas Cowboys, has died. He was 81.

His death was confirmed by the Packers, but details on the date, place and cause of death were not disclosed.

Mr. Adderley played in four of the first six Super Bowls and won five NFL championships with Green Bay and one with Dallas during his 12-year career. But he was always a Packer at heart.

“I’m the only man with a Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl ring who doesn’t wear it. I’m a Green Bay Packer,” he said in the book “Distant Replay,” a memoir by former Packers teammate Jerry Kramer.

Along with former Packer teammates Fuzzy Thurston and Forrest Gregg, Mr. Adderley was one of four players in pro football history to play on six championship teams. Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the other. Mr. Adderley was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

Bart Starr, the Hall of Fame quarterback and a former Packers teammate, once called Mr. Adderley the “greatest cornerback to ever play the game.”

. . . .

**********************

Read the full obit at the link.

What a graceful, thrilling, clutch player! And, he could return kicks!

Like many of the Packers from the “Lombardi Era” he went on to do other worthwhile things after retirement.

PWS

11-03-20

PACKERS: R.I.P. WILLIE DAVIS (1934-2020) — Hall of Fame Defender From Lombardi Era Went On To Successful Business Career!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/willie-davis-hall-of-fame-defensive-end-for-green-bay-packers-of-the-1960s-dies-at-85/2020/04/15/0ab063d0-7f41-11ea-8013-1b6da0e4a2b7_story.html

From the WashPost:

By Matt Schudel

April 15 at 10:43 PM ET

Willie Davis, a Hall of Fame defensive end and a team captain for Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers in the 1960s, when he helped lead his team to the first two Super Bowl championships, died April 15 at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 85.

The Packers announced his death, noting that his wife said he had been treated for kidney failure.

Mr. Davis played 10 years for the Packers, joining the team in 1960 and becoming a stalwart defensive performer at left end. He was one of the leading disciples of Lombardi, an intense taskmaster and perfectionist who is considered one of football’s greatest coaches.

“Perfection is not attainable,” Lombardi said, in one of many maxims attributed to him. “But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

Throughout most of the 1960s, the Packers reached a level of excellence that few teams in any sport have equaled, winning five National Football League championships in seven years. In January 1967, the Packers met the Kansas City Chiefs of the rival American Football League in the inaugural Super Bowl, winning 35-10. The next year, in Super Bowl II, the Packers beat the Oakland Raiders, 33-14. The Super Bowl trophy is named for Lombardi.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Mr. Davis led Green Bay’s pass rush in both games, and as the team’s defensive captain he was, in effect, Lombardi’s alter ego on the field.

“He told us this was a way of life, a game of survival, a test of manhood,” Mr. Davis told author David Maraniss for his 1999 biography of Lombardi, “When Pride Still Mattered.”

Steady, smart and seemingly indestructible, Mr. Davis did not miss a game during his 12-year NFL career. He never gave up on a play and often chased down runners on the opposite side of the field.

Before his Super Bowl heroics, Mr. Davis forced what Green Bay fans call the “million-dollar fumble” during a game against the Baltimore Colts late in the 1966 season. With the Colts driving for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas dropped back to pass, then tucked the ball under his arm and ran toward the goal line.

Mr. Davis caught him from behind on a muddy field and jarred the ball loose. Linebacker Dave Robinson recovered the fumble, and the Packers held on for a 14-10 victory. They then beat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL championship game before going on to the first Super Bowl.

“As a pass rusher, he was so quick off the ball,” Robinson said of Mr. Davis in an interview with Packers.com. “He was a good run player, too. He was so strong in the chest, he could hit the tackle and control them. Throw them or drive them.”

Mr. Davis played his first two NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns, doubling as an offensive tackle and defensive end. Admiring his ability, Lombardi acquired him in a trade before the 1960 season, making him a full-time defensive player.

“In Willie Davis we got a great one,” Lombardi said in 1962.

During the team’s grueling preseason drills, Lombardi was known for loudly criticizing some players and quietly encouraging others, depending on what he thought was the best motivational tool in the moment. One year, after ripping another player, he unexpectedly turned on Mr. Davis, who was never unprepared for practice or a game.

The next morning, Mr. Davis asked Lombardi for an explanation.

“He said, ‘I’ve got to prove nobody’s beyond chewing out,’ ” Mr. Davis recalled to sportswriter W.C. Heinz for the book “Once They Heard the Cheers.” “I said, ‘Yeah, coach, but give me some warning.’”

Mr. Davis was a five-time all-pro and still holds the Packers record for recovered fumbles, with 21. Sacks of opposing quarterbacks were not an official statistic when he played, but historians have credited him with more than 100 during his career. He brought a tenacity to the game that made him, according to NFL Films, one of 100 greatest players in pro football history.

He was the leader of a defensive unit filled with Hall of Fame players, including defensive tackle Henry Jordan, linebackers Robinson and Ray Nitschke and defensive backs Herb Adderley and Willie Wood, who died in February.

Former Packers center Bill Curry called Mr. Davis, in an NFL Films documentary, “the finest combination of leader and player that I ever saw.”

[[Willie Wood, Hall of Fame defensive back for Vince Lombardi’s Packers, dies at 83]]

Beyond the field, Mr. Davis served as a leader for other African American players in the NFL and, as Lombardi instilled, a force for team unity on the Packers. As a white player from Georgia, Curry had not been on an integrated team until he joined the Packers in 1965.

Mr. Davis “didn’t just help me to play in the NFL for 10 years,” Curry said, “he changed my life because I was never able to look at another human being in the same way I had.”

William Delford Davis was born July 24, 1934, in Lisbon, La. He was 8 when his parents separated, and he moved with his mother and two younger siblings to Texarkana, Ark. His mother was a cook at a country club.

Mr. Davis earned a scholarship to the historically black Grambling State University in Louisiana, where his coach was Eddie Robinson, who prepared dozens of players for pro careers and was the first college football coach to win 400 games.

After graduating in 1956, Mr. Davis served two years in the Army before joining the Browns in 1958. While playing in the NFL, he also received a master of business administration degree in 1968 from the University of Chicago. He retired from the Packers at the end of the 1969 season and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

Mr. Davis was a football broadcaster for NBC in the 1970s and turned down several coaching offers. He operated a prosperous beer distributorship in Los Angeles before selling the business in 1989.

He was a key figure in planning the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and was reportedly recruited to run for mayor of the city. He later owned several radio stations and was on the boards of the Packers and several companies and founded a charitable foundation in Lombardi’s name.

His marriages to Ann McCullom and Andrea Erickson ended in divorce; survivors include his wife, the former Carol Dyrek; and two children from his first marriage.

In his business office, Mr. Davis kept pictures of his Packers championship teams and a framed portrait of Lombardi.

“There are days when I wake up and I don’t feel like getting up and crawling into the office,” he told Heinz in the 1970s. “I say to myself that I own the Willie Davis Distributing Company, and today I’m going to exercise my prerogative and not go in. Then I think, ‘What would Lombardi do?’ I get up and out of bed.”

********************

Willie’s spectacular defense was a treat to watch during the years of Packers’ dominance of the NFL. Seemed like he was always there with the clutch tackle or big fumble recovery when it was most needed. And, like many on Lombardi’s Packers, he went on to success in other fields after retiring from football.

PWS

04-17-20

IN MEMORIAM: BART STARR (1934 – 2019): Packer All-Time Great Was A Winner On & Off The Field — Fierce Competitor, One Of The Most “Cerebral” NFL QBs Ever, Remembered As Respectful, Humble, Generous!

https://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2019/05/26/bart-starr-green-bay-packers-quarterback-dies-obit/513133002/

Pete Dougherty reports for the Green Bay Press Gazette:

The quarterback who guided the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships and was as popular as any figure in franchise history has died.

Bart Starr, who served as the extension of coach Vince Lombardi on the field during the Packers’ glory days of the 1960s, has died, his family said Sunday in a statement. He was 85.

Starr’s health had been in decline since he suffered a mini-stroke while giving a speech in Madison in 2012. After suffering another stroke, a heart attack and multiple seizures in 2014, he underwent stem cell treatments in 2015 and ’16 and rebounded to some degree.

“We are saddened to note the passing of our husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Bart Starr,” the family statement said. “He battled with courage and determination to transcend the serious stroke he suffered in September 2014, but his most recent illness was too much to overcome.

“While he may always be best known for his success as the Packers quarterback for 16 years, his true legacy will always be the respectful manner in which he treated every person he met, his humble demeanor, and his generous spirit.

Next Slide

“Our family wishes to thank the thousands of friends and fans who have enriched his life – and therefore our lives – for so many decades and especially during the past five years. Each letter, text, phone call, and personal visit inspired him and filled him with joy.

“His love for all of humanity is well known, and his affection toward the residents of Alabama and of Wisconsin filled him with gratitude. He had hoped to make one last trip to Green Bay to watch the Packers this fall, but he shall forever be there in spirit.”

Starr’s place in Packers lore is cemented by his role in Lombardi’s 1960s Packers dynasty, which remains the most successful seven-year stretch in NFL history with five titles, including wins in the first two Super Bowls.

“The Packers Family was saddened today to learn of the passing of Bart Starr,” Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy said in a statement. “A champion on and off the field, Bart epitomized class and was beloved by generations of Packers fans. A clutch player who led his team to five NFL titles, Bart could still fill Lambeau Field with electricity decades later during his many visits. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Cherry and the entire Starr family.”

RELATED: The Ice Bowl and beyond: Packers legend Bart Starr’s six greatest games

RELATED: Bart Starr legend grew from humble beginnings

He is most famous for leading the legendary drive and scoring the touchdown on the iconic play in Packers history, the quarterback sneak against Dallas that won the Ice Bowl in 1967.

The Ice Bowl drive and sneak were the culmination of the Lombardi-era Packers’ will to win, toughness and discipline that Starr embodied as quarterback of those teams.

Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr donated his Super Bowl II championship ring and other items to the Hall of Fame during, what his family says, was his last trip to Green Bay on Oct. 23, 2017. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

“That’s the sign of a champion,” Cowboys tackle Ralph Neely told the Green Bay Press-Gazette after the Ice Bowl. “They needed a score, and Starr got it for them.”

Starr’s jersey No. 15 is one of only six numbers retired in Packers history.

. . . .

****************************************

Go to the link for the complete article with more pictures and videos of Starr’s fabled career.

Growing up in Milwaukee, I was fortunate to see Starr and the Lombardi-era Pack play “live” on several occasions. In those days, unlike now, the Packers played three “home” games at Milwaukee County Stadium. While we didn’t have season tickets, my parents had a few friends who did, so occasionally two tickets would come our way.

While Starr’s most famous play was the successful quarterback sneak against the Cowboys in the “Ice Bowl,” he was also noted for crossing up defenses on third down plays. I remember sitting with my Dad, feet freezing, at County Stadium for a late season game between the Pack and the Cleveland Browns, who at that time had “all world” running back Jim Brown and a stout defense.

The Pack had a third and one in their own territory in tight game. In those days, most offenses were focused on running, rather than the wide-open pass-oriented game of today. That was particularly true of the Pack under Lombardi. “Grind it out” and punish your opponents with tough physical play was more or less the “Lombardi culture.” With future Hall of Fame running backs Jimmy Taylor and Paul Hornung, and one of the premier offensive lines ever, everyone in the stadium, including the Browns, expected a run up the middle or maybe one of the famous “Packer Sweeps” with “pulling guards” leading the way for Taylor or Hornung.

Starr changed the play at the line. On the a snap, he took three streps back and hit his receiver (probably Boyd Dowler, but perhaps Max McGee) with a strike resulting in an untouched trip down the field into the end zone. Classic Starr! It changed the momentum of the game, allowing the Pack eventually to prevail.

I think Starr’s relationship with the legendary Vince Lombardi was the key to Packer success. While Lombardi was undoubtedly a coaching “genius,” he also was a “larger than life figure” who “sucked the air” out of any room he was in. Additionally, he was known for being rather frank and brutal in assessing failures to perform up to his high expectations.

I doubt that most of today’s “top tier” quarterbacks could have existed in Lombardi’s system. And, without somebody like Starr, who understood the “big picture” of what Lombardi was doing, and always delivered under pressure, I don’t think Lombardi and the Pack could have reached the heights of football dominance in the 1960’s as they did.

R.I.P Bart! Thanks for the memories, the excitement, and the inspiration of a life well-lived.

PWS

05-26-19

I also highly recommend ESPN’s Ian O’Connor’s moving tribute to Starr “The Toughest Football Player Who Ever Lived” that shows how Starr’s greatness went far beyond statistics and on field successes. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/26826288/bart-starr-was-toughest-football-player-ever-lived

PWS

05-26-19

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY: NFL HISTORY: PACKER GREAT RG JERRY KRAMER ENTERS PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME! — Threw Perhaps Most Famous Block In NFL History, Leading B. Starr’s “Sneak” Into End Zone For Victory In 1967 “Ice Bowl!” — Vince Didn’t Even Have That Play In The Book!

Kramer # 64 In Foreground Leads Way As Pack Vanquish Dallas Cowboys 21-17 on Dec. 31, 1967 For NFL Title — “Icebowl” Was Played In -13 Temperature In Green Bay!

Bottom right– Jerry Kramer, aged 82, as he looks today, 51 years after the Icebowl!

From Today’s Green Bay Press Gazette, Pete Dougherty reporting:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2018/02/03/long-wait-over-packers-jerry-kramer-voted-into-hall-fame/1089232001/

“MINNEAPOLIS – Jerry Kramer finally made it.

In his 11th time as a finalist, the former Green Bay Packers guard was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Kramer needed 80 percent of the vote from the 47 voters who were in attendance, which meant that no more than nine could vote against him. The Hall doesn’t reveal the vote totals, but Kramer hit the requisite 80 percent.

According to Hall protocol, after the vote was completed Saturday afternoon, David Baker, the president of the Hall of Fame, visited the hotel where the nominees were staying and notified each individually whether he was in.

“I said that (knock on the door) is it,” Kramer said. “And the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen (Baker), the big hunk down here at the end was standing there with the cameras and stuff behind him. I was over the top. It was something I was afraid to believe in, I was afraid to hope for. So I kept trying to keep those emotions out there somewhere. But hey, I’m here and I’m part of the group. Thank you very much.”

The other members of the 2018 class were fellow senior finalist Robert Brazile, and contributors candidate Bobby Beathard, as well as five modern-era candidates: Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Brian Dawkins, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens.

KRAMER: ‘Somebody helped me’ on legendary Ice Bowl block

DOUGHERTY: It’s now or never for Jerry Kramer’s Hall of Fame hopes

RELATED: The Ice Bowl, 50 years later: An oral history

Kramer, 82, becomes the 13th member of the Packers’ dynasty in the 1960s that won five NFL championships in seven years to be voted into the Hall. The others are coach Vince Lombardi, fullback Jim Taylor, tackle Forrest Gregg, quarterback Bart Starr, linebacker Ray Nitschke, cornerback Herb Adderley, defensive end Willie Davis, center Jim Ringo, running back Paul Hornung, safety Willie Wood, defensive tackle Henry Jordan and linebacker Dave Robinson.

Kramer said he had dinner with Robinson on Friday night, just as they had dinner the night before Robinson was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2013. And Taylor was with him Saturday.

Packers coach Vince Lombardi is carried off the field by Jerry Kramer after Green Bay defeats the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II on Jan. 14, 1968. (Photo: Associated Press)

“I miss ’em,” Kramer said of his other Hall of Fame teammates. “But I wish they were here, I wish we had an opportunity to be here together. Bart has been sensational in writing letters and doing all sorts of things, and Hornung has been sticking up for me for 20 years. So many of the guys, Willie D (Davis) is a great pal, and Robbie (i.e., Robinson) and Wood and Adderley and so many of the guys in, and (Nitschke) was such a great pal, Forrest Gregg … we’ve had a lot of guys, 10, 12 guys in the Hall. Jimmy is here and that’s about it, Jimmy Taylor. But I miss those guys. I’ve shared so much with them over the years and it would be nice to share this with them.”

Kramer also is the 25th Hall inductee who spent most of his career with the Packers. That’s second most in league history, behind the Chicago Bears’ 27.

It has been a long road for Kramer to get to the Hall. He was a modern-era finalist (i.e., among the final 15 candidates) nine times in the 14-year period from 1974 through ’87 but never was voted in. Modern-era players and coaches have been retired anywhere from five to 25 years.

Then in 1997, he was the seniors committee nominee (for players who have been retired for more than 25 years) but failed to reach the 80 percent threshold among the selection committee for Hall induction.

But at long last, he’s in.

“I don’t think it can get sweeter,” Kramer said. “It’s the ultimate honor in the game, in our game. It’s the top of the heap. It’s the crown of the trail of this whole process, it’s here. If you make it here you’ve made it in professional football. So whenever you’ve made it here it’s a wonderful moment and a wonderful time and a wonderful event. … I told Mr. Baker that this is it, it doesn’t get any better than this. He goes, ‘Jerry, this is just the beginning.’ So I can’t wait to see how it turns out.”

Kramer is tied for fourth on the list of most times being a finalist before induction. Lynn Swann was a finalist 14 times before he was voted in, followed by Carl Eller (13) and Hornung (12).

Kramer joined the Packers as a fourth-round draft pick out of Idaho in 1958, the year before Lombardi took over as coach. He started all 12 games as a rookie and then when Lombardi took over became a key player as a pulling guard in the coach’s famed sweep.

Kramer achieved his greatest fame for his block on the Dallas Cowboys’ Jethro Pugh that helped open the way for Starr’s game-winning touchdown on a quarterback sneak in the Ice Bowl for the 1967 NFL championship. It’s perhaps the most famous block in NFL history.

Former Green Bay Packers guard Jerry Kramer shares memories from the Ice Bowl, which was played 50 years ago on Dec. 31, 1967. USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Kramer played all of his 11 seasons with the Packers. Along with being named to the league’s 50th anniversary team, he also was on the NFL’s all-decade team for the ‘60s. He was named first-team all-pro five times (1960, ’62, ’63, ’66 and ’67) and went to three Pro Bowls (’62, ’63 and ’67).

Besides playing right guard, Kramer doubled as the Packers’ kicker for parts or all of the 1962, ’63 and ’69 seasons.

In ’62 he made 81.8 percent of his field-goal attempts (9-for-11) and finished fourth in the league in scoring (91 points). Then in the Packers’ 16-7 win over the New York Giants in the NFL championship game that season, he scored 10 points (three field goals and an extra point).

This was almost surely the last time Kramer would get a shot at the Hall. Because he has been retired from the NFL for more than 25 years, he could become a nominee only through the seniors committee, and this year was his second time making it through as the senior candidate.

He was only the fourth nominee to twice come through the committee, and with many deserving seniors candidates in wait, there was no chance he’d get a third shot. So this essentially was his last opportunity to receive pro football’s highest individual honor.

Kramer and the rest of the Class of 2018 will be inducted Aug. 4 in Canton, Ohio.

Aaron Nagler of USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin contributed.”

********************************************

Man, I remember the “Icebowl” as if it were yesterday! I was home from college, following the first semester of my Sophomore year at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. I was preparing to leave right after the New Year for a “Semester Abroad” program at the Lawrence Campus in Bonnigheim, Germany! A rather big deal since I had never before flown in an airplane, anywhere!

Our whole family was crowded around the 13″ GE color TV in our living-room on Revere Avenue in Wauwatosa, WI. Since there were only a few seconds left in the game, and the Pack had no timeouts left, I thought they would probably kick a field goal to send the game into overtime, or throw a short pass that if incomplete would have stopped the clock for a last second field goal (or course, a “sack” by the Cowboys would have ended the game.) I’ve watched lots of Packer games, but the Icebowl was probably the best victory ever!

Later in January, we listened on Armed Forces Radio in our dorm in Germany as the Packers beat the Raiders in the”Superbowl II.” Sort of anti-climactic after the “Icebowl!”

As noted in the article, Kramer is the 13th player from the “Lombardi Era” Packers to enter the Hall of Fame, and the 25th Packer overall!

Although, sadly, the Pack aren’t in this year’s Superbowl, there are still some Packer connections. Of course the “Lombardi Trophy,” awarded to the winner is named for legendary Green Bay Coach Vince Lombardi.

And, the Philadelphia Eagles’ Coach Doug Pederson, played a number of seasons as backup QB to recent Packer Hall of Fame QB Brett Farve. Of course, the backup job to Farve didn’t involve much “real game action,” since Farve was in the midst of a NFL record 297 consecutive starts as QB. However, Pederson appears to have been a “good learner” from a coaching and strategy standpoint. Apparently, those years of “holding the clipboard” behind Farve paid off. Big time!

PWS

02-04–18

COURTSIDE WEATHER🥶/SPORTS🏈/HISTORY📗: -3 F FOR CHIEFS V. DOLPHINS PLAYOFF IN KC TONIGHT — That’s Not Even Close To The Coldest Playoff Game Ever, The 1967 “Ice Bowl!”

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Special to Courtside Sports

Jan. 13, 2023

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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Adam Kilgore reports for WashPost:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever, and Go Pack!

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Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

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By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Courtside Sports Exclusive

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What a graceful, thrilling, clutch player! And, he could return kicks!

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Kramer # 64 In Foreground Leads Way As Pack Vanquish Dallas Cowboys 21-17 on Dec. 31, 1967 For NFL Title — “Icebowl” Was Played In -13 Temperature In Green Bay!

Bottom right– Jerry Kramer, aged 82, as he looks today, 51 years after the Icebowl!

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