Packers by the Numbers Update: #72

72 was established as a tackle’s number right from the start in Green Bay, with Royal Kahler first wearing it in 1942. 17 of the 25 Packers to wear the number have played tackle, either offensive or defensive. Kahler was followed by three tackles in the Lambeau era: Forrest McPherson (1943-45), Solon Barnett (1946) and Jim Kekeris (1948).

Defensive tackle Tom Johnson was the first modern player to wear 72, and he has been followed by three other defensive tackles, nine offensive tackles, four defensive ends, two guards, one center and one linebacker.

DT: Tom Johnson (1952), Jerry Helluin (1954-57), J.D. Kimmell (1958) and Kit Lathrop (1979-80).

T: John Miller (1960), Steve Wright (1964-67), Dick Himes (1968-77), Brad Oates (1981), Tom Neville (1986-88), Steve Gabbard (1991), Harvey Salem (1992), Earl Dotson (1993-2002) and Brian Bedell (2004).

DE: Ben Davidson (1961), Greg Boyd (1983), Warren Bone (1987r) and Mark Hall (1989-90).

G: Dick Afflis (1953) and Jason Spitz (2006-10).

C: Garth Gerhart (2014).

LB: Todd Auer (1987r).

There have been short gaps when the number was not worn from 1949-51, 2011-13 and 2015-18. Two solid offensive tackles, Dick Himes and Earl Dotson, both wore the number for the longest stretch–ten years each. Three other Packer 72’s were notable in other fields. Dick Afflis became famous as wrestler Dick the Bruiser, Ben Davidson worked as an actor after finishing his playing career with the Raiders and Steve Wright wrote a funny book of his football career called I’d Rather Be Wright.

 

 

 

 

First four custom cards, plus Himes, are colorized.

Curly’s Successor

Gene Ronzani played and coached under one legend in Chicago, George Halas, and replaced another, Curly Lambeau, in Green Bay. Born on March 28, 1909 in the town of Iron Mountain in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Ronzani went to college in Wisconsin at Marquette where he was the first athlete to win nine letters from 1930-1932. Ronzani played basketball and track, but starred on the gridiron as an All-American back. Halas signed Gene for the Bears in 1933 and he was a steady performer for Chicago over the next six years. In 1939, he retired from playing to become head coach of the Newark Bears, Chicago’s farm team. From 1939-1941, he led Newark to a 14-13-2 record. Newark shut down for the War, and Gene was recalled to Chicago as a player in 1944 and 1945. After the War, the Bears reconstituted their farm team in Akron in 1946, again with Ronzani in charge. Akron finished the year 8-3, and Gene moved back to Chicago as an assistant coach for the next three years.

When the Packers ousted Lambeau in 1950, they turned to their chief rival, the Bears for his replacement. Ronzani was a highly respected assistant in the league, and he hired a coaching staff of all former Bears. His biggest legacy in Green Bay, though, was the hiring of Chicago native Jack Vainisi as talent scout. Vainisi’s drafts ultimately would provide Vince Lombardi with a nearly ready made championship team when he was named head coach at the end of the decade. Ronzani was not so fortunate.

The Packers were a very weak team in 1950, and Gene’s efforts to rebuild the talent base were only partially successful. When he was fired with two games to play in 1953, he told the Chicago Tribune, “If I was the cause of our failure, they now can prove it. I’m glad to be out of it.” He added, “All one has to do is compare us man for man with other teams to discover it is not a great club. Maybe next year or the year after, with a few additions, it will be.” Being more specific, he noted, “We have no powerful fullback, no real break away runners in the backfield and lack experience in some spots. Also the Packers are not a big team. It is, however, a much better team than the one I took over in 1950.”

Hall of Fame halfback Tony Canadeo told Richard Whittingham for What a Game They Played, “Ronzani knew a helluva lot about football. He was trying desperately to rebuild the football team and that was a pretty tough job.” He tried to be innovative by installing a precursor to the Shotgun offense for running quarterback Tobin Rote. The Packers ran the ball just 47.8% of the time under Ronzani, 11% below the league average at the time. The team was outscored 29.3 points per game to 20.9 and went just 14-31-1 for Gene.

Ronzani also brought the first black players to Green Bay, with end Bob Mann being the very first in 1950, and changed the team colors from blue and gold to green and gold, a change that remains in place to this day. The team’s poor record in conjunction with coaching turnover and some player dissension led to his firing after a dismal Thanksgiving loss to Detroit in 1953 that involved a second half collapse. Gene spent 1954 as the Steelers’ backfield coach and then got out of coaching. Iron Mountain had a Gene Ronzani Day in 1969 to celebrate their favorite son; he died six years later.

(Adapted from NFL Head Coaches.)

 

 

Custom cards are colorized.

John Roach Turns 86

The only 6’4” professional quarterbacks to come before John Roach were Glenn Dobbs and Joe Gasparella in the 1940s. However, Dobbs was mostly a single-wing tailback and played solely in the All-America Football Conference, and Gasparella played for the single-wing Steelers mostly as a blocking back. Roach, a former defensive back, was drafted in the third round in 1956 by the Cardinals. After spending 1957 and ’58 in the military, he then was breaking new ground in the NFL when he first got to play some quarterback in 1959. John was joined on the Cardinals the following year by 6’4” George Izo from Notre Dame, but Roach was the team’s starter.

After throwing 19 interceptions in 10 starts in 1960, Roach was traded to the Browns during training camp in 1961 and then traded to the Packers a few weeks later. John collected two championship rings in the next two years while throwing just 16 passes as Bart Starr’s backup. When Starr went down to injury in 1963, Roach stepped in and led the Packers’ run-heavy offense to three straight wins, but then stumbled against the Bears in late November in the game that cost Green Bay a chance at three straight titles. Roach completed just 45% of his passes and tossed twice as many interceptions as touchdowns (8-4) that season.

With Vince Lombardi acquiring Zeke Bratkowski from the Rams while Starr was hurt, Roach became expendable. Roach was traded to his hometown, Dallas, the next year, and he got to start four games for the 1964 Cowboys when Don Meredith was out with knee problems, but lost all four games to close an unremarkable career as a gangly, inaccurate bomber prone to making mistakes, although his won-lost record in Green Bay was 3-1.

(Adapted from The Quarterback Abstract)

 

 

 

Last 3 custom cards are colorized.

Packers by the Numbers Update: #71

71 was not worn in Green Bay until 1955 when defensive tackle Bill Lucky, a fifth round draft pick out of Baylor, stuck with the team for one season. Since then, the number has been worn consistently with just two three-year gaps (1988-90 and 2016-18).

It has been worn by six defensive tackles, three defensive ends, one linebacker, seven offensive tackles and three guards.

DT: Bill Lucky (1955), Tom Finnin (1957), Lloyd Voss (1964-65), Mark Shumate (1985), Jeff Drost (1987r), Gilbert Brown (1993) and Santana Dotson (1996-2001).

DE: Mike Bassinger (1974), Mike Fanucci (1974) and Kurt Ploeger (1986).

LB: Bill Forester (1959-63).

T: Francis Peay (1968-72), Kent Brantstetter (1973), Boyd Jones (1984), Scott Jones (1991), Cecil Gray (1997), Gary Brown (1994-95) and Kevin Barry (2002-05).

G: Mel Jackson (1976-80), Arland Thompson (1981) and Josh Sitton (2008-15).

The most notable 71 in Green Bay was Bubba Forester, All-Pro captain of the defense for Vince Lombardi’s first two championship teams. He switched from 69 when Lombardi took over in 1959 and is a member of the team’s hall of fame. Santana Dotson was another fine championship player who wore the number.

More recently, another All-Pro, Josh Sitton, made 71 his own for eight seasons, the longest period that any Packer wore the number.

 

 

 

Forester custom card is colorized.

Junior Coffey

Running back Junior Coffey turns 77 today. Coffey was with the team for just one season but did earn a championship ring in Green Bay. He was born and raised in Texas, where he was a star schoolboy athlete who dreamt of playing for one of the state schools in the Southwest Conference. However, the SWC had yet to integrate its sports teams, so Junior left Texas for the University of Washington.

As a Husky, Coffey led the team in rushing in both 1962 and ’64. In 1963, his season was interrupted by a foot injury, but he did manage to return to play in the 1964 Rose Bowl, where Washington lost 17-7 to an Illinois team powered by Dick Butkus and Jim Grabowski.

While at Washington, Coffey developed an interest in horse racing and hoped to be drafted by Pittsburgh because Steeler owner Art Rooney had race horses, according to a 2002 San Francisco Chronicle article. Instead, Coffey was selected by Green Bay in the seventh round of the 1965 draft. He and Fellow rookie Bill Curry played in the College All-Star Game before reporting to Vince Lombardi.

Although Coffey and Curry would have some success in the league, the other three Green Bay rookies (Dennis Claridge, Bud Marshall and Allen Jacobs) did not. The 1965 Packers, nonetheless, won the NFL title, and then Claridge and Coffey were both taken by the Atlanta Falcons in the expansion draft.

Coffey who had carried the ball just three times for 12 yards as a rookie, got a chance to play with the Falcons and led them in rushing with 722 yards in both 1966 and ’67 before suffering a knee injury in ’68.  Junior finished his NFL career with the Giants in 1971 and then became a horse trainer and fashioned a long successful career with the equine set.

 

Philadelphia custom card is colorized.

Whatchamacallit Offense

With the Packers having lost to the Bears 18 of the last 24 meetings, Coach Gene Ronzani tried a new approach on opening day 1951. He unveiled the DF, or Double Flanker, Formation. In this clip from Art Daley’s column on the Tuesday following that game entitled, “Packers ‘Earn’ Three TD’s on Whatchamacallit Offense,” that surprise offense is described.

So essentially the DF was a variation of a spread offense. The Milwaukee Journal game story breathlessly reports that Green Bay threw the ball on 63% of its offensive snaps and that 10 different receivers caught balls. Bobby Thomason completed 16 of 28 passes for 177 yards and two scores, while Tobin Rote completed six of 10 for 61 yards. Unfortunately, in the game, Chicago got off to a 17-0 lead in the first half and were never challenged. Green Bay lost 31-20, with a Jack Cloud touchdown in the closing minutes making the final score closer than the game really was. Daley mentioned the DF a few days later in the lead in to the next game against the Steelers, but never again as the offense seems to have been dropped after just one game.

 

 

All custom cards except Thomason are colorized,

Buddha

On March 17, 1933 Tom Bettis was born in Chicago. As the Packers’ top draft pick in 1955, fifth overall, the Purdue All-America ostensibly was selected to replace retiring middleman Clayton Tonnemaker, but instead played his first three years as an outside linebacker. Playing on the outside did not go to Tom’s strengths. Coach Blackbourn publicly expressed his disappointment in Bettis’ play in October of 1955. Two years later, Chuck Johnson opined in the Milwaukee Journal that Bettis was finally living up to his potential.

Bettis switched to the middle in 1958 and held on to his job for most of the next three years despite the presence of a young Ray Nitschke during that time. When Vince Lombardi arrived in 1959, Tom’s career took a leap forward. Under Lombardi’s orders, the 6’2” Bettis dropped from 245 to 220 and had his finest season in 1959. He told the Milwaukee Sentinel, “We found with conditioning and enthusiasm we could win.”

Tom was a solid run stuffer, good leader and trusted signal caller; he was known as “Buddha” on the team. Defensive Coach Phil Bengtson once said of Bettis, “he substitutes quickness for size and, of course, he hits with great authority.” In 1961, Bettis had a knee operation in the preseason and no longer could hold off Nitschke’s superior size, range and playmaking ability; he lost his starting job in Lombardi’s first championship year. In the offseason, Bettis had an altercation with Lombardi over his demoted status and demanded a trade.

Lombardi traded him to Pittsburgh in 1962, but a year later Bettis returned to his native Chicago where his knowledge of the Packers played an integral role in the Bears knocking off the Pack twice that season en route to the 1963 NFL championship. Tom retired following that game, but returned to the game as a defensive coach with the Chiefs in 1966. However, his inside knowledge of the Packers could not help Kansas City upend Green Bay in Super Bowl I that season.

Bettis remained with the Chiefs for over a decade. He took over as interim head coach of the team in 1977 and beat the Packers in his debut on November 6. That would prove to be his only victory as a head coach. Fired at the end of the year, Bettis spent the next 17 years as a defensive assistant on a series of NFL teams before retiring in 1995. As a player, he was smart and solid, particularly against the run. He passed away in 2015 at the age of 81.

(Adapted from Green Bay Gold)

 

 

 

 

First four and last custom cards are colorized.

Packers by the Numbers Update: #70

There is no record of 70 having been worn during the Curly Lambeau era in Green Bay. The first Packer to wear 70 was tackle Steve Dowden in 1952. Since then, it has been worn by seven other tackles, six guards, four defensive tackles, two defensive ends and a linebacker.

T: Steve Dowden (1952), Dick WIldung (1953), Art Hunter (1954), Lee Nystrom (1974) Ernie McMillan (1975), Steve Collier (1987), Tyson Walker (2006) and Alex Light (2018).

G: Ron Sams (1983), Keith Uecker (1984-85, 1987-88, 1990-91), Chris Hope (1994), Joe Andruzzi (1998-99) Adrian Klemm (2005) and T.J. Lang (2009-16).

DT: Don King (1956), Rich Marshall (1965), Leon Crenshaw (1968) and Rich Moore (1969-70).

DE: Bob Barber (1976-79) and David Grant (1993).

LB: Paul Rudzinski (1980).

Draft bust Rich Moore was the first to wear the number for more than a season. Bob Barber upped that to four years and Keith Uecker to six before T.J. Lang made the number his own in his eight years as a Pro Bowl level player. Dick Wildung is the only member of the team’s hall of fame to wear 70. The longest gaps in service stretched from 1957-64 and 2000-04.

 

 

 

 

Dowden, McMillan and Barber custom cards are colorized.

Chris Jacke

March 12 marks the 53^rd birthday of Chris Jacke, a sixth round pick out of Texas-El Paso in 1989, who gave the Packers eight solid seasons of consistent placekicking before leaving as a free agent in the wake of the Super Bowl championship season of 1996. He left just three points shy of Don Hutson’s traditional team scoring mark of 823 points.

Parenthetically, when I went to check this stat at the Pro Football Reference site, I was surprised to see Hutson listed with 825 total points. PFR has added a safety from 1937 to his scoring tally. When you go to the Green Bay Press Gazette game account of the Packers 14-2 loss to the Bears on September 19, 1937 in Green Bay, it indeed notes the Packers lone score came when Hutson blocked a punt by Sam Francis, with the punt rolling out of the end zone untouched. Perhaps points were not awarded to punt blockers at the time, but it seems to be an oversight.

As for Jacke, his overall field goal accuracy mark of 77.2 was above average for his time, and he was generally cool in the clutch. Three times he scored more than 100 points and twice earned All-Pro recognition. On kicks over 40 yards, Jacke was successful 64.8%. Unexpectedly, his percentage from over 50 yards (65.4%) was slightly higher than from 40-49 yards (64.5%).

Two kickers who have followed Jacke in Green Bay, Ryan Longwell and Mason Crosby, both exceeded Hutson’s point total and have ratcheted up the field goal percentage even higher. Longwell was successful on 81.6% of field goal attempts and 69.2% of those over 40 yards. Crosby has hit on 80.4% overall and 65.9% of those over 40 yards. Crosby’s big leg encouraged the Packers to attempt many more field goals from 50 yards and well beyond, although those lengthy attempts have lowered his overall numbers a bit.

 

Hutson custom card is colorized.

Buckets

Charles (Buckets) Goldenberg was considered one of the top lineman in the league during his career, twice receiving All-Pro notice and later being named to the NFL’s All-1930s team. He also was one of the team’s most popular figures for years after his career ended.  Born in Odessa in the Ukraine on March 10, 1910, Buckets and his family emigrated to the U.S. when he was four.  Goldenberg grew up in Milwaukee and was an All City halfback in high school where he inherited his older brother’s posterior-inspired nickname “Buckets.”  At the University of Wisconsin he starred both in the line and the backfield, and Curly Lambeau signed him to a pro contract in 1933.  He spent the next 13 years in a Packer uniform mostly as either number 44 or 43.

Lambeau originally employed Buckets mostly as a single-wing quarterback, better described as a blocking back, for his first few years.  He led the league in touchdowns with seven as a rookie, but in his backfield years he only carried the ball 108 times and caught 11 passes.  Almost half of his carries came in his rookie year when he backed up Hinkle at fullback, but he was the starting blocking back on the 1936 champions.  At 5’10” and 220 pounds, he had the body of a 1930s lineman, and Mike Michalske helped convince Lambeau to convert Buckets to guard where he spent the last two thirds of his career.  As an offensive and defensive guard as well as linebacker he was known as a flattening lead blocker on offense and a tenacious tackler on defense.  Despite his talent and popularity, Lambeau actually traded him and Swede Johnston to Pittsburgh for Pat McCarty and Ray King in 1938 when Johnny Blood became coach of the Steelers.  Fortunately for all in Green Bay, the deal fell through when Buckets retired rather than report to Pittsburgh.  He returned to Packers for two more championship runs. Had World War II not occurred, though, it is doubtful his career would have lasted as long.  With so many of the young and able in the military, league rosters were filled with the old and damaged.  Goldenberg tried to enlist in the army, but he was rejected because his knees were so bad.

In his off-seasons, Goldenberg was a professional wrestler for many years until the travel became too much of a drain on his family life, so he opened a restaurant in Milwaukee in 1941.  His restaurant was very successful for decades and featured several large photographs of Packer players in action.  Like many former players of his time, he continued as a fan of the team in his retirement and regularly attended all Packer games in Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago. In many ways, he was similar to another guard known more for his nickname than his given name, Fuzzy Thurston. Buckets also served on the Packers Board of Directors from 1953 till the year before he died, 1985.  He was inducted in the Packers Hall of Fame in 1971 and was named “Outstanding Jewish Athlete of All Time” by the Green Bay B’nai B’rith lodge in 1969.

(adapted from Packers by the Numbers)

 

 

 

 

Custom cards are colorized.