Another installment of this National Chicle treatment of the first Packer team to win a championship game…
All custom cards are colorized.
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Jim Temp
Today in 1933, Packer lifer Jim Temp was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Temp attended the state university from 1952-55 and is a member of the Badgers’ Athletic Hall of Fame. In his four years at Madison, Jim batted .303 as the first baseman and eventual team captain of the baseball team. He even was offered a professional baseball contract by the St. Louis Cardinals organization. However, he was also a football star. As a sophomore, he started at end for the Wisconsin Rose Bowl team and was voted Wisconsin Athlete of the Year in 1955.
That same year, Jim was selected in the second round of the NFL draft by Green Bay and started in the College All-Star Game. His pro career was postponed for two years while he served in the Army, but Temp joined the Packers in 1957 and was a regular for the next three seasons, starting 20 of 36 games in that time. With the acquisition of Willie Davis in 1960, Jim was relegated to the role of a reserve and a member of the kicking teams.
One coach’s comment quoted in Launching the Glory Years by Len Wagner seems apt:
Takes fakes. Good pursuit. Good speed. 100 percent boy and very serious about the game. Will play hurt, which is important. Probably a good third end.
In the November 13, 1960 game against the expansion Cowboys, Temp suffered a dislocated shoulder that ended his season. John Miller was activated from the taxi squad to replace him. Jim reported to training camp in 1961, but in the final preseason game against the Redskins on September 9, he reinjured his shoulder and then retired two days later.
He went on to become very successful in the insurance business and in community service. His fundraising efforts for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay resulted in a residence hall on that campus being named in his honor. He was tapped to join the Packers’ Board of Directors in 1987 and served as a member of the team’s seven-man Executive Committee from 1993-2004. Packer CEO Bob Harlan noted that he sought out Temp because, “He was a player in the league, had deep roots in Wisconsin and was highly successful in business and involved in the community.”
Jim died on November 25, 2012 at age 79 while watching a football game. He was survived by his wife, four daughters, 13 grandchildren and one great grandchild after a life well lived.
Custom cards 1-4 and 6 are colorized.
A Scoring Record for the Golden Boy
On October 8, 1961, the Packers tore into their Western Division rival Baltimore Colts for a 45-7 victory in City Stadium. The victory kept Green Bay abreast of San Francisco at the top of the division after four weeks with a 3-1 record. While the game was a total team victory, Paul Hornung set a team record for scoring that day that still stands 58 years later.
Hornung began the scoring in the first quarter with a 54-yard touchdown run. Paul’s extra point gave Green Bay a 7-0 lead. After Lenny Moore tied the score in the second quarter, Hornung and the Packers countered with a Hornung 38-yard field goal and a Hornung 1-yard plunge to take a 17-7 half time lead.
In the third quarter, Hornung broadened the margin with an 8-yard touchdown reception from Bart Starr and another 1-yard touchdown plunge. Green Bay finished the rout in the fourth quarter with a 72-yard punt return by Willie Wood and a 3-yard touchdown gallop by Jim Taylor.
All told, Hornung scored four touchdowns and kicked six extra points and one field goal for 33 points, two points more than the previous team mark of 31 set by Don Hutson on October 7, 1945. Hutson scored 29 of those points in the second quarter, still the team record for points in one period.
Paul led all rushers with 11 carries for 111 yards and caught 3 passes for 28 more yards. Green Bay ran for 211 yards and passed for 157, while Baltimore ran for 153 and threw for 147. However, Colt quarterbacks tossed six interceptions, with Johnny Unitas guilty of five and former Packer Lamar McHan 1.
Hutson custom card is colorized.
A Card for Everyone: Alex Wizbicki
Alex Wizbicki was born on October 6, 1921, 17 days before the Packers first-ever NFL game in which they beat the Minneapolis Marines 7-6. Before he died last December 3, he was the oldest living former Packer at age 97.
Raised in Brooklyn, Wizbicki won a football scholarship to Holy Cross in 1941, but left after his freshman year to join the Marines. In World War II, he rose to the rank of Sergeant and won the Bronze Star for bravery in the South Pacific. Returning to the States, he earned a degree in education from Dartmouth and entered pro football as a defensive back for the Buffalo Bills of the All-America Football Conference in 1947. Appearing in 34 games over three seasons, Alex intercepted four passes, ran the ball 14 times for 34 yards and returned kicks and punts. In 1947, he returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
When the AAFC merged into the NFL in 1950, Alex was drafted by the Browns, but was cut on July 31. Later that week, he signed with the Packers to reunite with two fellow former Bills: Al Baldwin and Carl Schuette.
The 5’11” 190-pound Wizbicki was a regular in the Packer defensive backfield that season, picking off two passes and recovering two fumbles. He stayed around town and played on the Pack’s basketball team that winter before moving back to Brooklyn. Alex returned for training camp in 1951, but was cut on September 25, a week before the season was to start. Two defensive backs obtained from Cleveland, Ace Loomis and Dom Moselle, replaced Wizbicki and Wally Dreyer in the Green Bay secondary that year.
Alex got on with his life as a wine salesman, living in Lodi, California, Shorewood, Wisconsin, and finally Superior, Wisconsin, where his daughter settled. He was married for 56 years, until his wife Mary’s death in 2004. He was survived by his daughter, two grandchildren and one great grandson.
Both 1950 custom cards are colorized.
Review: The People’s Team: An Illustrated History of the Green Bay Packers
Due out on October 8, this team history is something special. Here is how I reviewed it for Library Journal:
Beech, Mark. The People’s Team: An Illustrated History of the Green Bay Packers.
Houghton Mifflin. 416p. $35. ISBN: 978-1-3284-6013-4.
The Green Bay Packers hail from the smallest city to front a major league sports team in the U.S., and the franchise is the only publicly-owned sports entity as well. Befitting this 13-time NFL champion’s unique story and structure, this illustrated history celebrates the team’s 100th anniversary in an exceptional manner. Most illustrated team histories include a perfunctory, anecdotal narrative of the team and its notable players and coaches. However, the text here provides much more extensive background on the town itself, aims to dispel untrue popular yarns via thorough research and is written with great skill and attention to detail. While the author covers the team’s on-field performance and profiles many of the Hall of Famers and other prominent players and coaches in his telling, he also includes the stories of executive committee members, local figures and fans who have played noteworthy roles in the team’s survival through several periodic existential crises to continue to thrive in today’s NFL. Since Packer fans are franchise stockholders, ownership and community issues are of strong significance and are stressed in this essential and attractive team history
VERDICT: The Packers have a national following and a history unlike any other team. This beautiful book chronicles that tale exceedingly well and will be in demand.
Packers Top Rookie: 2018
22 Rookies played for the Packers in 2018. Nine were draftees and 13 were free agents. Louisville cornerback Jaire Alexander was the team’s first round selection and was followed by a second corner, Josh Jackson of Iowa, in round two. Vanderbilt linebacker Oren Burks came in round three, Missouri receiver J’Mon Moore in round four, Alabama punter J.K Scott and South Florida wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling in round five, Notre Dame wide receiver Equanimeous Brown in round six and Cal defensive end James Looney and Mississippi State long snapper Hunter Bradley in the seventh and final round.
Free agents included runners Lavon Coleman and Tra Carson, receiver Allen Lazard, tight end Robert Tonyan, tackle Alex Light, defensive end Fadol Brown, nose tackle Tyler Lancaster, linebacker James Crawford, cornerback Tony Brown and safety Raven Greene. Defensive backs Will Redmond and Natrell Jamerson were originally drafted by the 49ers and Saints respectively before signing on in Green Bay. Wide receiver Jake Kumerow was a member of the Packers’ 2017 practice squad.
Of the free agents, the biggest contributors were Kumerow who started two of the five games in which he appeared, Greene who appeared in eight games, Tony Brown who played in 11 and started three and Lancaster who suited up 12 times with five starts. Of the draftees, all but Looney saw significant action. Scott and Bradley became kicking team regulars. Burks showed some potential as an inside linebacker. The three lanky wide receivers nabbed in the middle rounds struggled and drew the ire of Aaron Rodgers, but Valdes-Scantling caught 38 passes, and both he and Brown averaged better than 15 yards per reception, with Brown making great strides at season’s end. Second round pick Josh Jackson did show some promise with 10 passes defensed, but he also led the team in penalties and penalty yardage and thrashed about in man coverage. He does have the talent to improve, though.
Jaire Alexander, however, proved to be the real deal at cornerback. He made just one interception, but led the team with 11 passes broken up, recovered two fumbles, garnered .5 sack and made three tackles for losses. He made the league’s All-Rookie team at corner and has a spectacular upside; Jaire Alexander was the Packers top rookie in 2018.
Bo and Buckets
On this day in Packer history Bo and Buckets stood out.
In 1929, fullback Bo Molenda led the Packers 23-0 home whipping of the Bears by picking off three Chicago passes and gaining 78 yards on 20 carries, including a 10-yard touchdown romp. Molenda actually intercepted a fourth Bear aerial, but that one was negated by a Packer offsides penalty. Lavvie Dilweg and Jug Earpe also intercepted passes that day. Bo caught a pass from Johnny Blood for another 15-yard gain in week two of the Packers first championship season.
In 1940, popular veteran guard Charles “Buckets” Goldenberg received an automobile from his fans during halftime of a Packer 29-6 triumph over the Chicago Cardinals in Milwaukee. Goldenberg was a product of West High in Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin and his big day was noted in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:
And Charles ain’t-we-proud-of Buckets-day Goldenberg justified the faith of Milwaukee and Green Bay supporters who were responsible for his being presented with an automobile. It was Buckets’ day, according to the ping worn by his boosters, but for a short time between halves when the automobile was being presented, it looked as if Gov. Julius Heil has misread the advance publicity. The governor, it appears, is not a great favorite with football fans. He managed his benediction of Buckets only after hecklers tired of giving him the Wisconsin version of a Bronx cheer. On the other hand, Mayor Carl Zeidler of Milwaukee brought down the house with applause. It was Ziedler who made the actual presentation to Buckets. In 1924 Ziedler was a center on the Milwaukee West Division high school football team. The following year Buckets was the same school’s grid idol. Zeidler was hurt playing in his senior year in high school so he passed up the sport when he entered Marquette university. Concentrating on other talents, he is the extremely popular chief executive of a large city at the age of 32
Custom cards are colorized.
