For the third installment of the color version of the 1961 Lake-to-Lake card set, two colorizations are done from card scans (Thurston and Carpenter), two from scans from game programs (Nitschke and Iman) and five from publicity shots (Hanner, Bettis, Gregg, Skoronski and Dowler).
All custom cards colorized.
The defending champion Packers began the 1966 season by playing their chief rivals from the previous season. In a special Saturday night NFL opening game, Green Bay dispatched the Baltimore Colts 24-3 on the strength of two pick sixes off Colt QB Johnny Unitas. Eight days later, Green Bay traveled to Cleveland to take on the defending Eastern champion Browns on September 18.
The Browns took a 17-7 halftime lead, with the one Green Bay score coming on a fourth-and-one play-action flare pass to Paul Hornung that went for a 44-yard touchdown. The Packers then drew closer with a Jim Taylor touchdown run in the third quarter. After Cleveland extended its lead to 20-14 with a Lou Groza field goal in the fourth quarter, Bart Starr led the Pack on a nine-minute 85-yard drive that culminated with a second Jim Taylor touchdown with 2:45 remaining to take a 21-20 lead.
That winning touchdown came on a fourth-and-eight from the nine when Starr, finding no one open in the end zone, checked down to Taylor in the flat, and the rugged fullback broke three tackles on his way to paydirt. Starr always made good use of his backs in the passing game, and this season Taylor actually led the team with 41 receptions.
Custom cards in Philadelphia style.
Just 17 Packers have worn number 48, and there have been six gaps of at least four years in which no one wore the number in Green Bay (1950-53, 1961-69, 1980-86, 1988-94, 1999-2003 and 2007-14).
Hall of Famer Clarke Hinkle wore the number first in 1934. He was followed by center Frank Butler (1935-36), center Ookie Miller (1938), end Harry Jacunski (1939-44), fullback Don Perkins (1945), halfback Bob Nussbaumer (1946) and end Ted Cook (1948-49) in the Lambeau Era.
In the two-platoon era, the number has been worn by three defensive backs, five runners, one wideout, one tight end and one linebacker.
DB: Jim Psaltis (1954), Dick Pesonen (1960) and Ken Ellis (1970-75).
RB: Al Carmichael (1955-58), Nate Simpson (1977-79), Dorsy Levens (1994), Jim Kitts (1998) and Vonta Leach (2004-06).
WR: Lee Morris (1987r).
TE: Mike Bartrum (1995).
LB: Joe Thomas (2015-17).
In addition to Hinkle, four members of the Packer Hall of Fame wore 48: Harry Jacunski, Al Carmichael, Ken Ellis and Dorsey Levens. Ellis and Jacunski both wore it for six years, and Ellis wore it best.
All custom cards aside from Ellis are colorized.
Field goals played a prominent role in two Packer opening day victories over Chicago teams on September 13. In 1936, the Packers hosted the Chicago Cardinals and found themselves in a struggle despite outgaining Chicago by nearly 100 yards from scrimmage. Green Bay trailed 7-0 at the half before tying the game on their second possession of the third quarter. Halfback Bobby Monnett returned a Cardinal punt to the Chicago 27. Arnie Herber missed on three straight passes, but interference was called on the Cardinals on the last one and that moved the ball to the two. George Sauer blasted in for the touchdown two plays later.
From this point, Green Bay met with continual frustration. The next time the Packers had the ball, they drove to the Cardinal eight, but Ade Schwammel’s 17-yard field goal attempt was blocked. The Packers then drove to the Chicago eight again, but Herber’s pass in the end zone was picked off.
In the fourth quarter, Green Bay drove to the Cardinal 20, but Schwammel’s 27-yard field goal attempt again was blocked. Finally, a 45 yard drive to the Chicago 15 was successfully culminated by a 23-yard field goal by Ernie Smith to notch a 10-7 victory. The Packers would finish 10-1-1 that year and win the title, while the obstinate Cardinals could attain only a 3-8-1 record.
Opening day 28 years later on September 13, 1964 marked the return of the Golden Boy, Paul Hornung, from his one-year gambling suspension. It would prove to be his best performance of the season. He and Jim Taylor combined for over 150 yards rushing, with Paul gaining 77 on 15 carries. He also booted three field goals in five attempts, much better than his full season record of 12 in 38 tries.
Green Bay easily upended the Bears 23-12, but the most memorable play of the game was Hornung’s 52-yard field goal to end the first half–a career long for him. What was most remarkable about it was Vince Lombardi invoking a little-used rule for that field goal. The rule allowed for a free kick following a fair catch of a punt. Since the fair catch was in the closing seconds of the half, the Bears were not allowed to lineup to defend the attempt, and Hornung nailed the unmolested placement to give the Packers a 17-3 halftime lead.
Four years later, the Bears would get revenge by employing their own invocation of the free kick rule to beat the Packers 13-10 on a 43-yard Mac Percival free kick with 26 seconds to play on November 3, 1968.
All 1936 custom cards are colorized.
Continuing with the next nine cards in the Lake-to-Lake set, four of these are colorized from scans of the Lake cards themselves (Hornung, Cvercko, Taylor and Symank), while the rest are from scans of the original publicity shots. Cvercko, like Jim Temp from the previous blog entry, was a member of the 1960 Packers, but did not make the 1961 championship squad.
Custom cards are colorized.
Today one of the Gold Dust Twins, Jim Grabowski, turns 74. Grabowski and and fellow “Twin” Donny Anderson were part of the last graduating class to take full advantage of the NFL-AFL bidding war for college seniors in 1966. They wrangled a combined $1-million package from Vince Lombardi–Anderson scoring $600K and Grabowski $400. Vince saw them as able replacements for aging stars Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor, but it never quite worked out that way.
Jim was named MVP of the Rose Bowl for Illinois in 1964 as a sophomore and then gained over 1,000 yards as both a junior and senior. A two-time All-America, he set a new career rushing record for the Illini with 2,878 yards
Grabowski became Green Bay’s starting fullback in 1967 after Jim Taylor left to sign with the Saints. While he did not get off to a blazing start, he did show promise and gained 125 yards against the Giants in week six. Unfortunately, he tore up his knee two weeks later against the Colts and was never the same runner again.
In five seasons in Green Bay, Grabowski only accumulated 1,582 yards rushing and finished his NFL tenure with one season with the Bears for whom he gained 149 yards. Not only did he gain 1,100 fewer yards in the NFL than in college, his sophomore total of 616 yards rushing exceeded his highest single season in the pros by nearly 100 yards.
Grabowski later returned to Champaign to provide color to Illini football broadcasts for 26 years. He retired in 2007.
Custom cards in topps and Philadelphia and Nu-Card styles.
Continuing with the trend of relatively unpopular numbers in the upper 40s, 47 has been worn by 21 Packers, including four members of the team’s Hall of Fame: Milt Gantenbein, Hank Bruder, John Martinkovic and Jesse Whittenton. All-Pro cornerback Whittenton wore it longest (seven years) and best.
End Milt Gantenbein wore the number first in Green Bay in 1933. He was followed by back Hank Bruder (1934), end Al Rose (1935-36), tackle Lou Gordon (1937), tackle Paul Berezney (1942-44) and tackle Paul Lipscomb (1945-49).
In the post-Lambeau era, 47 has been worn by a motley of positions–one tackle, one defensive end, one runner, one wide receiver, one tight end, one linebacker and nine defensive backs.
T: Len Szafaryn (1950).
DE: John Martinkovic (1951).
RB: Dom Moselle (1952).
DB: Val Joe Walker (1953-56), Jesse Whittenton (1958-64), Gordon Rule (1968-69), David Petway (1981), Jim Bob Morris (1987), Roland Mitchell (1991-94), Tyrone Bell (1999), Atari Bigby (2005), Matt Giordano (2009).
TE: Scott Galbraith (1998).
LB: Jake Ryan (2015-17).
There have been five gaps of at least four years when the number was worn by no Packer: 1938-41, 1973-80, 1982-86, 1994-2004 and 2010-14.
All custom cards aside from Whittenton, Rule and Mitchell are colorized.
