University before finishing at Southwestern University after joining the Marines. The 6’1” 235-pound tackle was selected by the Chicago Cardinals in the 14th round of the 1945 NFL draft and mustered out of the service that year. The Packers signed him before the second game of the season, and Bubo Barnett appeared in two games in October and two in November. Barnett signed his contract early for the 1946 season but appeared only in the disappointing 30-7 opening day loss to the Bears before being waived by Curly Lambeau. He returned to Texas following his five-game NFL career and would pass away at age 77 on July 18, 1998 in Nacogdoches County.
Walter “Tillie” Voss was born in Detroit on March 28, 1897 and was a storied four-sport athlete at his hometown University of Detroit, captaining the football and basketball teams in 1917 while also excelling at track and baseball. The 6’3” 200-pound Voss then spent the entire decade of the 1920s playing both professional football and basketball in several cities.
He began his professional football career with the Detroit Tigers in 1921, scoring one of their two touchdowns and kicking both their extra points for the 1-5-1 team. Once they disbanded, Voss caught on with Buffalo All-Stars for their final four games of the ’21 season. He then played with Akron and Rock Island in 1922, Toledo in ’23, the Packers in ’24, the Detroit Panthers in ’25, the Giants in ’26, the Bears in 1927 and ’28 and finished his career with Buffalo and Dayton in 1929. He played for ten franchises in nine seasons. In pro basketball in that time, he played for teams in Detroit, Fort Wayne and Chicago.
Voss is said to be the first player to play for both the Packers and Bears. He had his longest stay in Chicago (two years) but had his best year in Green Bay. Not only did the end catch five touchdown passes as a Packer (out of seven for his career), but he also was named All-Pro. In the November 23, 1924 Packers-Bears match in Wrigley Field, Tillie and Bear end Duke Hanny got into a fist fight at the end of the first half and both were tossed from the game. It is claimed that this marked the first player ejections in NFL history, but that would be difficult to prove definitively.
Tillie, who also played tackle at times, received some All-Pro notice for 1922, ’23 and ’25 as well. He died at age 78 on December 14, 1975, survived by his wife and daughter.
Born in Park Falls, Wisconsin on March 25, 1960, David Greenwood excelled as a safety and punter for the University of Wisconsin in the early 1980s. The 6’3” 210-pounder was known for his hitting and blitzing, although he lacked great speed. In 1983, he was drafted in the eighth round by New Orleans and by the Michigan Panthers of the fledgling USFL.
Greenwood signed with the Panthers and spent two seasons in Michigan before the team moved to Oakland in spring ’85. He was named All-USFL in both 1983 and 1985. After the league folded, Greenwood’s rights were dealt to Tampa for a third-round pick. David picked off five passes for the Bucs in fall ’85, but then was cut the following preseason. Forrest Gregg signed him for the Packers, and Greenwood appeared in nine games in Green Bay in 1986. The next season, he spent on injured reserve before being cut in 1988. Greenwood finished his career with two games for the Raiders in 1988.
The Packers ascended to mediocrity in 1981, nearly making the playoffs with their 8-8 record. Their offense improved to 14th by scoring 324 points, but the defense allowed 361, 20th in the league. They were 5-3 against losing teams and 3-5 against the rest, 4-4 both at home and on the road. They started the season 2-6 and lost Eddie Lee Ivery in game one, but then won six of seven games to reach the season finale with an 8-7 record. A victory over the Jets and the team would sneak into the playoffs with a 9-7 record. Of course, the Jets whipped the Pack 28-3, and Starr’s team went home for the winter again.
The draft was a disaster that year, as well. Starr chose weak-armed California quarterback Rich Campbell with his top pick and left Ronnie Lott there for the 49ers to grab. Then in round two he selected tight end Gary Lewis, who turned out to be a remarkable kick blocker, but not much of a receiver. Round three brought punter bust Ray Stachowicz and then came a couple of so-so defensive linemen, Rich Turner and Byron Braggs. A team that needed an influx of talent did not get it.
Lynn Dickey missed three games due to injury and finished 6-7 as a starter, completing 57% of his passes for 2,593 yards, 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Relief pitcher David Whitehurst was 2-1 as a starter and threw for 792 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
Gerry Ellis led the squad with 860 yards rushing and caught 65 passes, second best on the club. James Lofton led all receivers with 71 catches for 1,294 yards and eight scores. Paul Coffman added 55 grabs, and John Jefferson, acquired from San Diego in week four, nabbed 39. Veteran kicker Jan Stenerud converted 22 of 24 field goals and scored a team-high 101 points.
On defense cornerback Mark Lee, who also returned a punt 94 yards for a touchdown, and Maurice Harvey led with six interceptions each. Ezra Johnson had 4.5 sacks, while Mike Butler and Mike Douglass each chipped in four.
Lofton, again, was the team’s sole All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection. However, Larry McCarren, Butler, Douglass and Stenerud all garnered some All-Conference honors. Lombardi-era Packers Willie Davis and Jim Ringo were both elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Custom Cards of Butler and Douglass are colorized.
A new decade just meant more losing in Green Bay in 1980. Fittingly, first round draft choice Bruce Clark from Penn State spurned the Packers for Canadian football. However, the draft did turn up a couple good players in second first rounder George Cumby and second rounder Mark Lee.
The season began with an unlikely victory over the Bears in overtime when Alan Page blocked Chester Marcol’s field goal attempt, only to have the ball bounce back into the arms of the startled, bespectacled Marcol, who plod down the sidelines untouched 35 yards for the winning touchdown. The veteran Marcol would be gone for good by week six, when his replacement, Tom Birney, shanked a 24-yard attempt at regulation’s end in an overtime tie with the Buccaneers.
The Pack was 2-6 against winning teams and 3-4-1 against losers. They were 4-4 at home and 1-6-1 on the road. Their 5-10-1 record was, if anything, a best-case scenario for a team that finished 28th in scoring and 22nd in points allowed.
Lynn Dickey, in his first 16-game season at age 31, completed 58% of his passes for 3,529 yards, 15 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. Behind him, David Whitehurst, Bill Troup and Steve Pisarkiewicz added four interceptions.
Eddie Lee Ivery returned from injury and led the team with 831 yards rushing, while adding 50 receptions out of the backfield. Backfield mate Gerry Ellis ran for 545 yards and caught 48 passes. James Lofton led the team with 71 receptions for 1,226 yards and four scores. Paul Coffman added 42 catches. Marcol scored 19 points in five games; Birney scored 32 in seven games; and late season veteran pickup Jan Stenerud scored 12 in the final four games. Ellis led the team with 48 points.
On defense, Johnnie Gray nabbed five interceptions, while Ezra Johnson and Mike Butler tied with nine sacks a piece. Lofton was the team’s sole All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection. In the best news of the year, Herb Adderley was elected to the Hall of Fame.
Custom cards of Cumby, Whitehurst, Pisarkiewicz, Birney, Johnson and Butler are all colorized.
Born on March 18, 1901 in New York City, George Vergara began his college career nearby at Fordham before transferring to Notre Dame where the 6’1” 200-pound end became part of the Seven Mules who blocked for the celebrated Four Horsemen backfield in 1922 and ’23. Newspaper reports say he tried out for the independent Louisville Colonels in June 1925, and these reports also claim that Vergara played for the Packers in their 1924 finale against the Racine Legion, but there is no record of that happening.
Vergara did join the Packers in 1925 and was a regular at right end that season. He injured his arm against the Bears on November 22 and missed the next game against Pottsville, four days later on Thanksgiving. He returned for the last two games of the season but reinjured his shoulder in the finale against Providence.
Newspapers also report that Vergara was to join a travelling team of Notre Dame All-Stars with Jim Crowley and Fred Larson on December 25 for a post season tour, but Vergara’s New York Times obituary states that injuries ended his NFL career after just one season.
Vergara did team up again with Crowley for a successful career in insurance, while also spending two decades as a college football referee. During the War, he served as a Lieutenant in the Naval Air Force Physical Fitness Program.
With the advent of the All-America Football Conference in 1946, in which Crowley was heavily involved, George began officiating pro football games, even handling a couple of the AAFC title matches. He also officiated some NFL games in 1950, but then became more involved in local politics.
George served as a New Rochelle City Councilman from 1947-55 and again from 1962-66. In between, he was elected mayor and served one term from 1956-60 as an independent. He was also president of the Westchester Football Officials Association for local high school games and for the Touchdown Club of Manhattan. He died at age 81 of Alzheimer’s Disease in Montrose, New York on August 13, 1982.
Born in Oakland, California on March 16, 1942, MacArthur Lane cleared his own path in life. After graduating high school, he spent three years as a mechanic in a machine shop before attending Merritt Junior College to get his grades up. In 1965, he won a scholarship to Utah State University and played linebacker as a sophomore. Converted to running back as a junior, the 6’1” 220-pound Lane was a powerhouse who was drafted by the Cardinals with the 13th overall pick in the 1968 NFL draft.
The Cards kept him on the bench for two seasons behind Johnny Roland, Willis Crenshaw and Cyd Edwards. Finally, in his third season, the 28-year-old running back broke into the starting lineup and gained 977 yards and scored 13 touchdowns in 1970. However, bitter contract negotiations led to a down season in ’71 when he dropped to 592 yards rushing and was suspended for the season finale when he called the team owner cheap.
After gaining 1,736 yards in four years in St. Louis, Lane was traded to the Packers in 1972 for versatile Donny Anderson. Lane and John Brockington formed the ultimate power running duo that season, with Mac gaining 821 yards rushing and leading the team in receptions with 26. He was renowned not only for his running, but also for his blocking, catching and leadership on the division champion Pack that year. In the next two seasons, though, the team declined, and Lane’s rushing average dipped from 4.6 to 3.1 to 2.6. New coach Bart Starr dealt him to the Chiefs for a third-round draft pick who turned out to be cornerback Mike McCoy.
Lane spent four seasons in Kansas City and he became more of a receiving specialist, catching 130 balls in four years and leading the NFL with 66 receptions in 1976. After retiring in 1979, Lane did some coaching in the CFL and USFL before leaving the game entirely. Altogether he gained 4,656 yards rushing (1,711 in Green Bay) and caught 287 passes (87 in Green Bay) for 2,786 more yards. He died in Oakland at age 77 on May 4, 2019, survived by his wife of over 50 years and two daughters.
If you can’t say anything nice about a decade, then it’s better to say nothing at all. Well, the Fifties were worse with just one winning season and no division titles. The Seventies’ Packers did have two winning seasons and won the Central Division in 1972. The defense did rank in the top 10 in fewest points four times, but the best the offense could do was 11th in ’72 with a rumbling ground attack that masked a horrid passing offense. As the chart below shows, The Pack was ranked tenth in the NFC for the decade. If we add in the AFC, which after all won eight Super Bowls between the Steelers, Dolphins, Raiders and Colts, Green Bay drops to 22 of 28 with only the Jets and Bills from that conference falling lower.
NFC
Cowboys (2)
105
39
0
0.729
Vikings
99
43
2
0.694
Rams
98
42
4
0.694
Redskins
91
52
1
0.635
Cardinals
69
71
4
0.493
Lions
66
75
3
0.469
Falcons
60
81
3
0.427
49ers
60
82
2
0.424
Bears
60
83
1
0.42
Packers
57
82
5
0.413
Eagles
56
84
4
0.403
Giants
50
93
1
0.351
Saints
42
98
4
0.306
Bucs
17
43
0
0.283
David Whitehurst led the passers by completing 53% of his passes for 4,974 yards 21 touchdowns and 42 interceptions. He was followed by Lynn Dickey (49.5% 3,596/17/32), John Hadl (52.1% 3,167/9/29) Scott Hunter (44% 2,904/15/30) and Jerry Tagge (48.4% 1,583/3/17). As starters, Whitehurst was 14-19-1, Dickey 7-15, Hadl 7-12, Hunter 15-11-3 and Tagge 6-6.
John Brockington led the rushers with 5,024 yards gained, an average of 3.9 and 29 touchdowns. Barty Smith gained 1,911 yards, MacArthur Lane 1,711 and Terdell Middleton 1,708. Brockington exceeded 1,000 yards three times and Middleton once.
Rich McGeorge was the top pass catcher with 175 receptions for 2,370 yards and 13 touchdowns. Running backs Brockington and Smith caught 138 and 120 passes respectively. The three top wideouts were Ken Payne with 103 catches for 1,395 yards and five scores, James Lofton with 100 catches for 1,786 yards and 10 scores (in two seasons) and Carroll Dale with 96 receptions for 1,729 yards and seven TDs.
Chester Marcol led all scorers with 502 points, followed by Brockington’s 192. Steve Odom returned two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns, while Dave Hampton returned two kickoffs and Jon Staggers two punts for scores.
On defense Willie Buchanon nabbed 21 interceptions followed by Ken Ellis with 20 and Johnnie Gray with 14. Clarence Williams racked up 43 sacks, followed by Alden Roche with 31.5, Ezra Johnson with 26.5, Dave Roller with 23 and Dave Pureifory with 22.5. (Webster and Turney data)
Gale Gillingham was named All-Pro four times followed by Brockington, Ellis and Marcol at twice each. Willie Wood, Ted Hendricks, Fred Carr and Willie Buchanon each were named once.
For the Pro Bowl, Gillingham was selected four times, Brockington Carr and Buchanon thrice and Marcol and Ellis twice each. Carroll Dale, Wood, Bob Brown, Jim Carter Ted Hendricks, Steve Odom James Lofton, Ezra Johnson and Terdell Middleton all were picked once.
Custom cards of Gillingham, Buchanon, Brown, Carter and Whitehurst are colorized.
Two former Kentucky Wildcats who had brief stops in Green Bay during their pro careers were born on this day. While one was featured on a 1950 Bowman card, neither was ever featured as a Packer on a card. Guard Washington Serini was born in Tuckahoe, New York on March 11, 1922 and joined the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 1948. He spent four seasons in Chicago and received some All-Pro notice in both first and second NFL seasons.
However, on September 29, 1952, the day after the season opening Bear-Packer clash, the 29-year old Serini was waived and claimed by the Packers, whose coach Gene Ronzani was eager to bring any former Bear to Wisconsin. Wash, who had played with Packer center Jay Rhodemyre at Kentucky, played in the remaining 11 games of the year to finish his pro football career. He died on June 21, 1994 at age 72 in Highland, New York.
6’3” 260-pound defensive tackle Don King was born on March 11, 1929 in McBee, South Carolina. He also was an undrafted free agent who played collegiately at Kentucky. However, before signing with the Browns in 1954, King honed his skills by playing three years for the Paris Island Marines. He appeared in nine games for the champion Browns in his rookie year. He then migrated to Ottawa to play Canadian football in 1955. Paul Brown traded King and another former Wildcat, guard Gene Donaldson, to the Packers for a fifth round draft pick on April 29, 1956.
King appeared in six games for the Packers in the first half of the season before being released on November 5, the day after Green Bay lost to Cleveland. Claimed by the Eagles he played three games for Philadelphia and disappeared from pro football until 1960. With the formation of the Denver Broncos in the new American Football League that year, King returned to football. He played all 14 games for the Broncos that season, even intercepting two passes and then retired. He died on April 15, 2014 at age 85 in Savannah, Georgia.
Right before this past Christmas on December 22, former Packer punter Ron Widby passed away at age 75. I decided to honor him on his birthday, born this day in 1945. The 6’4” 210-pound Knoxville-native was a legendary sports star in Tennessee. At the state university, Widby lettered three years in football and basketball, as well as one year in baseball and one in golf. The SEC Basketball Player of the Year in 1967, Ron was drafted by both the Chicago Bulls of the NBA and the New Orleans Buccaneers of the ABA.
Widby was also drafted by the fledgling New Orleans Saints that same year but was beaten out by undrafted free agent Tom McNeill. Signed by the Dallas Cowboys, he was assigned to Oklahoma City of the Continental Football League to get some seasoning. Turning to the court, Ron appeared in 20 games for the ABA’s Bucs that year, averaging 2.9 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game as a forward. Led by Larry Brown, Doug Moe, Jimmy Jones and Widby’s Vol teammate Red Robbins, the Bucs reached the ABA finals that first season.
Ron gave up basketball and made the Cowboys in 1968. He spent four seasons as the Dallas punter and made the Pro Bowl and won a Super Bowl ring in 1971. The following season Tom Landry decided to keep third round selection Marv Bateman as the team’s punter because he could also kick off. Dallas traded Widby and kick returner Ike Thomas to Green Bay for a second-round pick who would turn out to be Golden Richards.
Ron averaged 42.8 yards per punt over the next two seasons before rupturing a spinal disc late 1973. He missed all of the ’74 season and then was cut by new coach Bart Starr on July 18, 1975. Bad punting ensued in Green Bay. Widby later worked as a club golf pro in Texas and was elected to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the University of Tennessee Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
Custom cards in the style of Topps and Sunoco Stamps.
packers past perfect 