One of my favorites from when I grew up died yesterday, Herb Adderley. If you search this site you will find posts I wrote on him previously. He was the best cornerback the Packers have ever had and could have played in any era. He could cover (tightly), he could tackle (ferociously) and when he got his hands on the ball, he knew how to get to the end zone. It’s a sad day, but here’s a celebration of a great Hall of Famer in custom cards:
Custom cards 1, 3, 6, 7, 8 9 and 11 are colorized.
Recently, I came across an interesting piece on Don Hutson in the Sporting News from October 22, 1942. Written by Ollie Kuechle of the Milwaukee Journal, the article profiles Hutson in the midst of his greatest season, one in which he would catch 74 passes for 1,211 yards and 17 touchdowns. While much of it is familiar and at least partially apocryphal, there are two short sections that deal with strategic issues that provide a little light on the greatest receiver of the first 50 years of the NFL.
The first section deals with the importance of timing to the routes run by Hutson and how he and Cecil Isbell stay in sync:
The second section of interest outlines the two defensive approaches taken by opponents facing Don:
As I wrote in Pioneer Football Coaches, Steve Owen’s New York Giants were the most effective at controlling the “Alabama Antelope” by using the second method. Mel Hein, the best linebacker in the game would take on Hutson short and force him toward the sideline to limit his field and then skilled defensive back Hank Soar would take him deep.
All Custom cards are colorized.
Eight games into Vince Lombardi’s second season in Green Bay, the two-time champion Baltimore Colts led the West with a 6-2 record, followed by the Packers at 5-3, the 49ers at 4-4, the Bears at 4-3-1 and the Lions at 3-5. Green Bay had dropped its opener behind Bart Starr, so Lamar McHan piloted the team for the next four weeks, bringing four straight wins. However, McHan’s passing was shaky, and Starr bailed out the Pack in week five with a game-winning drive against the Steelers to win back the starting job. Although, a 1-3 stint under Starr left Green Bay with a 5-4 record, Bart then led the team to three straight road wins to end the season at 8-4.
Meanwhile, the vaunted Colts lost the balance in their offense when Alan Ameche went down to injury. A team that averaged 30 points per game in the first eight weeks, dropped to 12.5 for the last four weeks, all losses. One of those losses was to San Francisco who unveiled their new Shotgun formation in Baltimore. A week later, they lost to Detroit on a 65-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game. The 49ers 3-1 and Lions 4-0 end runs lead to the two tying for second with 7-5 marks. The Colts were 6-6, and the Bears 1-3 close out left them at 5-7-1. The Packers had won their first divisional crown since 1944, going 4-2 at home, away, versus losing teams and all others.
In the title game against the underdog 10-2 Philadelphia Eagles on Monday December 26, Green Bay lost a winnable game 17-13 and vowed never to lose in the postseason again. Lombardi followed through on that pledge.
Starr led the passers by completing 57% of his tosses for 1,358 yards four TDs and eight interceptions. McHan completed just 36% of his passes for 517 yards, three scores and five interceptions. Starr averaged 7.9 yards per pass, while McHan averaged just 5.7. Paul Horning threw for 116 yards and two touchdowns on halfback option plays.
Jim Taylor became the second Packer to gain 1,000 yards in a season by rushing for 1,101 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Hornung chipped in 671 yards and 13 scores. Paul was also third on the team in receptions with 28 with two more touchdowns. Max McGee led the team with 38 catches for 787 yards and four TDs, while Boyd Dowler caught 30 passes and two touchdowns, including one for 91 yards in the season finale against the Rams. Hornung set an NFL record for points scored with 176, a mark that would last for 46 years.
Jesse Whittenton nabbed six interceptions to lead the team, and the team as a whole increased in this category from 14 in 1959 to 22 in ’60. Henry Jordan led Green Bay with 7.5 sacks and Willie Davis added another 5.5.
Lombardi acquired two more Hall of Famers this year: Willie Davis came from Cleveland for little used end A.D. Williams and undrafted rookie Willie Wood was signed as a free agent. Hornung was named All-Pro along with center Jim Ringo, guard Jerry Kramer, tackle Forrest Gregg, defensive tackle Henry Jordan and linebacker Bill Forester. Taylor and Whittenton received second team notice. Hornung, Ringo, Gregg, Jordan, Forester and Dan Currie all were selected for the Pro Bowl.
McHan, Gregg, Ringo and Forester custom cards are colorized.
In their worst decade, the Packers were still better than the Chicago Cardinals and the defunct AAFC Colts (1-11) and Dallas Texans (1-11), although the defunct New York Yanks (8-14-2) had a slightly better winning percentage. It was ugly.
Browns (3) 88-33-2 .742
Giants (1) 76-41-3 .646
Bears 70-48-2 .592
Lions (3) 68-48-4 .583
Rams (1) 68-49-3 .579
49ers 63-54-3 .538
Colts (2) 41-42-1 .494
Steelers 54-63-3 .463
Eagles 51-64-5 .446
Redskins 47-70-3 .404
Packers 39-79-2 .333
Cardinals 33-84-3 .288
Tobin Rote was the leading passer, completing 826 of 1,854 passes (44.6%) for 11,535 yards, 89 TDs and 119 interceptions. Babe Parilli added 3,983 yards, 31 scores and 61 interceptions, while Bart Starr contributed 3,661 yards, 19 touchdowns and 32 picks.
Rote also led the team in rushing with 2,205 yards and a 5.3 average. Howie Ferguson gained 2,120 for a 3.9 average, and Breezy Reid chipped in 1,964 yards and a 4.3 average.
Billy Howton was the most prolific receiver with 303 catches for 5,581 yards and 43 scores. Max McGee caught 121 passes and 22 scores, Gary Knafelc caught 117 with 21 six-pointers and Bob Mann had 109 catches and 17 TDs.
Bobby Dillon nabbed 52 interceptions, but no other Packer pilfered more than 16. Fred Cone scored 455 points, followed by Howton’s 258.
Bobby Dillon was named All-Pro seven times, Howton four and Roger Zatkoff three, while Clayton Tonnemaker, Tobin Rote and Jim Ringo won the honor twice each. 10 other Packers received All-Pro notice once. Howton and Zatkoff each went to four Pro Bowls; Ringo and John Martinkovic went to three each; and Billy Grimes, Dave Hanner and Tonnemaker each went twice. 10 other Packers went to one Pro Bowl.
All custom cards colorized aside from Starr, Ferguson, McGee, Knafelc and Hanner.
And the clouds parted, revealing not only a bright sun but also a vibrant rainbow on which happy unicorns pranced freely to announce the arrival of Saint Vince to Green Bay in 1959. Not quite, but close. New York’s offensive coach came west on the heels of the Giants losing the first Sudden Death Overtime Championship game in NFL history and created an instant winner.
Lombardi inherited seven future Hall of Famers and acquired two more with Henry Jordan and Emlen Tunnell. He focused and improved the ample talent already on hand and supplemented that with some astute trades that shored up weak areas such as the defensive line and secondary. Voila, the 1959 Packers went 7-5, scoring 248 points (eighth in the league) and allowing 246 (sixth). It was the Packers first winning season and the first in which they scored more than they gave up since 1947. That’s a long dry spell. They were 4-1 against losing teams and 3-4 against winning ones; 4-2 at home and 3-3 on the road.
Lamar McHan began the season as starter and led the team to a 3-0 start, but after four straight losses, Bart Starr got a chance and went 4-1 to close out the year. McHan completed 44.4% of his passes for 805 yards, eight TDs and nine interceptions, while Starr completed 52% for 972 yards, six scores and seven interceptions.
Paul Hornung also threw for two TDs on halfback option plays. He led the Pack in rushing with 681 yards and scored seven times, followed by Jim Taylor’s 452 yards and six touchdowns. Hornung also led the NFL in scoring for the first time with 94 points.
Rookie of the Year Boyd Dowler led the Packers with 32 catches, but Max McGee caught 30 for 695 yards and five TDs. Gary Knafelc chipped in another 27 grabs in a balanced allotment of passes. No Packer had more than two interceptions, but the team would up its turnover creation in future years. Blitzing linebacker Bill Forester led the team with 7.5 sacks, according to the Webster/Turney data. Rookie Bill Butler scored on a 61-yard punt return against the Bears. Jim Ringo was named All-Pro, while Forrest Gregg, Bobby Dillon, Bill Forester and Hornung all received second team notice. Ringo, Hornung, Gregg, Forester and Emlen Tunnell all were selected to the Pro Bowl as the team’s worst decade ended on a high note.
Custom cards of Starr, Hornung, Ringo, Forester and Tunnell are colorized.
When the Professional Football Researchers Association convened in Green Bay for their 2016 conference, one of the best speakers was 84-year-old Zeke Bratkowski, who lucidly spun a series of amusing stories for a rapt audience. Zeke passed away last November, but today would have been his 89th birthday and a good occasion to remember him.
Bratkowski was born on October 20, 1931 in Danville, Illinois and attended the University of Georgia, where he twice led the SEC in passing and also led the nation in punting. The Bears selected him as a red shirt selection in the second round of the 1953 draft, and Zeke joined the Bears in 1954 for one season, sharing the starting job with George Blanda. Bratkowski went into the Air Force in 1955, and when he returned to Chicago in 1957, he battled Ed Brown for the starting QB position for the next four years, with Blanda serving almost exclusively as placekicker.
Before being traded to the Rams in 1961, Zeke compiled an 11-5 record as a starter in Chicago with 3,639 yards passing, but his TD-INT ratio was a pathetic 24-58. In Los Angeles, he was the primary starter for two seasons before Roman Gabriel took over in ’63, with Bratkowski being shipped to Green Bay at midseason. In LA, he was a dreadful 3-21 as the starter on a poor football team that was badly coached, and he tossed 35 interceptions to 20 TDs, while throwing for 3,539 yards.
With the Packers under Lombardi, though, Zeke found his niche as Bart Starr’s backup, roommate and film study buddy. He was still prone to interceptions, but to a lesser degree. He improved his completion percentage to 52.9%, his yards per attempt to 7.6 and threw for 3,147 yards. As a sometime starter, his record was 4-4-1: 2-1-1 during the 1965-67 championship run. He also took over for an injured Starr in several games and led the Pack to a 6-3 mark in those contests. Of highest significance for his relief work, he led Green Bay over arch rival Baltimore in the 1965 regular season, the 1965 postseason and the 1966 regular season. As a Packer, he led two fourth quarter comebacks and four game-winning drives.
Bratkowski came out of retirement in 1971 and started one last game under Dan Devine, but then devoted himself entirely to coaching. After 15 years as an NFL player, Zeke added on a quarter century as an assistant coach with the Packers, Bears, Colts, Jets, Browns and Eagles before retiring in 1995. His son Bob carried on the family tradition as an assistant coach in college and the pros for nearly 40 years. Zeke was an essential part of Vince Lombardi’s threepeat and was inducted into the Packer Hall of Fame in 1989.
Custom cards in Philadelphia styles.
Boyd Dowler turns 83 today. I have written about him before, but how about a few statistical notes on one of the most studious of Lombardi’s Packers. When he retired, Boyd was second in catches (448) and yards (6,918) to Don Hutson in Green Bay history and fourth in touchdown receptions (40). He has since dropped to sixth in yards, eighth in catches and 13th in touchdowns.
He was Bart Starr’s favorite receiver, catching 28 of Bart’s 152 regular season touchdown passes and five of Bart’s 15 postseason scores. Max McGee was second with 25 and four respectively. For Green Bay’s run-oriented attack, the 6’5” 225-pound receiver was a consistent threat catching between 29 (when injured in 1966) and 54 (1967) catches each year. We remember him for his big catches: a 91-yarder in the 1960 title clincher against the Rams, two scores in the Ice Bowl and a 62-yarder in Super Bowl II.
He was the offensive Rookie of the Year in 1959 and was named to two Pro Bowls, but no All-Pro teams. So it was a surprise that he was picked for the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1960s as a flanker. The team’s two split ends were Del Shofner and Charley Taylor, and the other flanker was Gary Collins. Shofner was a spectacular deep threat in the early ‘60s, Taylor fashioned a Hall of Fame career across the ‘60s and ‘70s, while Collins caught 63 touchdown passes during the decade despite catching just 290 passes. Left out were two Hall of Fame deep threats: Bobby Mitchell, 470 catches and 58 scores in the Sixties and Tommy McDonald, 410 catches and 62 scores in the period. What the voters must have recognized was that Dowler performed on a team that threw the ball less than the teams his rivals did. He was a terrific all-around team player who always knew his assignment, could get free deep, had good hands and was a ready blocker, even stepping in at tight end on some occasions.
1961, 1963, 1965 and 1966 custom cards are colorized.
The Packers have employed seven quarterbacks who were once first round draft picks of another team. Unfortunately, it has never worked out well for Green Bay or the travelling signal callers.
Bobby Garrett (1953 top overall pick) was obtained from Cleveland in a deal for Babe Parilli in 1954, but was later sent back to the Browns in another deal involving Parilli after throwing for 143 yards and one interception in Green Bay.
Lamar McHan (1955 second overall pick) was acquired from the Cardinals by Vince Lombardi in 1959 and went 7-4 as a starter but only completed 40% of his passes before being sent on to Baltimore in 1961.
John Hadl (1962 tenth overall pick of the Lions, but signed with AFL Chargers) was a 34-year-old 13-year veteran when Dan Devine shipped a raft of top draft choices to Los Angeles for his weary arm in 1974. Two years later, He was packaged to the Oilers in the Lynn Dickey deal.
Jack Concannon (1965 first overall pick of the AFL Patriots, but signed with Eagles) was on his third of an eventual four NFL teams when the Devine obtained him from the Bears in 1974. He moved on to the Lions a year later.
Steve Pisarkiewicz (the 19th overall pick of 1977) flopped with the Cardinals and appeared in one game, his last in the NFL, for the 1980 Packers.
Jim McMahon (the fifth overall pick of 1982) reached his sixth and final NFL stop at age 36 when his one-time college position coach, Mike Holmgren, signed him as Brett Favre’s back up for two seasons in 1995.
Rick Mirer (the second overall pick of 1993) obtained his release from the Bears, his second NFL team, to sign on as a backup to Brett Favre in 1998. He never appeared in a game and was dealt to the Jets in ’99 for some old sweat socks.
Six other former first rounders came to training camp with the Packers but never played for the team
Marc Wilson: 15th overall pick of 1980, Raiders.
Ken O’Brien: 24th overall pick of 1983, Jets.
David Klingler: sixth overall pick of 1992, Bengals.
Tim Couch: first overall pick of 1999, Browns.
Akili Smith: third overall pick of 1999, Bengals. Vince Young: third overall pick of 2006, Titans.
Garrett and McHan custom cards are colorized.
Fittingly, the Packers worst year came in its worst decade. Thankfully, it presaged the team’s greatest decade in its first 100 years. But the 1958 Pack was an awful team that was coached in an inept and desultory manner by longtime assistant coach Scooter McLean, who perfectly illustrated the Peter Principle of a man rising to his own level of incompetence. Green Bay achieved a 1-10-1 record by scoring the fewest points (193) in the NFL, while allowing the most (382), an average score of 32-16. They finished 1-2-1 against losing teams and 0-8 against all others. At home, they went 1-4-1, but lost all six road games.
And it could have been worse. Their lone victory over the Eagles was clinched in the closing minute by recovering an onside kick. Their tie with the Lions relied on a Detroit missed extra point, two fourth quarter Lion turnovers at the Green Bay 10-yard line and a 15-yard missed field goal.
The quarterbacking was split between Bart Starr, 0-6-1 as a starter, and Babe Parilli, 1-3 as a starter. Joe Francis also started one game, a loss. Starr threw for 875 yards, three touchdowns and 12 interceptions; Parilli 1,068 yards, 10 touchdowns and 13 interceptions; and Francis 175 yards, two scores and two picks.
Paul Hornung led the team with 310 yards rushing, followed by Howie Ferguson’s 268. Max McGee grabbed 37 passes for 655 yards and seven TDs, while Billy Howton closed his Packer career with 36 receptions and two scores. Hornung also led the team in scoring with 67 points. Bobby Dillon pilfered six passes and returned them for 137 yards, including a touchdown against the Bears. The one positive thing for which the season is remembered was the NFL draft: All-Pro Dan Currie in round one, and then Hall of Famers in rounds two through four, respectively Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke and Jerry Kramer.
Custom Cards colorized aside from howton and CAS Nitschke.
This season will always be thought of fondly for the triumphant opening of new City Stadium, eventually renamed Lambeau Field, on September 29 when returning quarterback Babe Parilli threw a fourth quarter TD pass to Gary Knafelc to give the Packers a come-from-behind 21-17 win over the Bears in front of a sell-out crowd that included Commissioner Bert Bell, actor James Arness and Vice President Richard Nixon. Despite the immediate success and the promise of future glory, 1957 was a disaster on the field. Liz Blackbourn swung a major deal to fix the leaky offensive line by swapping Tobin Rote to Detroit for linemen Norm Masters, Jim Salsbury and Ollie Spencer as well as halfback Don McIlhenny. However, the Packers finished 3-9 in Blackbourn’s final year, going 2-4 on the road, 1-5 at home, 1-5 versus winning teams, 1-1 versus losing ones and 1-2 against those with .500 records. They finished ninth in scoring with 218 points and last in points allowed with 311.
Parilli was brought back from Cleveland, but completed just 38% of his passes for 669 yards, four touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while second-year-man Bart Starr led the team by completing 54% of his passes for 1,489 yards, eight TDs and ten interceptions. Don McIlhenny led the team with 384 yards rushing, topping the total of 319 by the top pick in the ’57 draft, Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung.
Billy Howton caught 38 passes for 727 yards and five touchdowns and was followed by first round pick Ron Kramer, who played slot back and grabbed 28 passes for 337 yards. Fred Cone led the team with 74 points. Bobby Dillon and rookie Johnny Symank each picked off nine enemy aerials. Dillon returned his for 180 yards, including a 55-yard score against the Rams, while Symank tallied 198 return yards.
Dillon, Howton and center Jim Ringo were named All-Pro, and all three were selected for the Pro Bowl as well.
All custom cards are colorized.
packers past perfect 