Born on July 29, 1964 in Natchez, Mississippi, Keith Woodside was a schoolboy star at Vidalia High School in Louisiana where he gained over 2,000 yards rushing as a senior and scored 28 touchdowns. He was recruited by several large programs but was persuaded by Coach Jackie Sherrill to play college ball at Texas A&M. At A&M, he broke his foot as a sophomore and was red-shirted. He recovered to perform well as a junior and senior and cumulated over 1,700 rushing yards and over 1,100 receiving yards at College Station.
Green Bay drafted him in the third round in 1988, and he spent his entire four-year tenure under Coach Lindy Infante. Woodside never carried the ball more than 84 times in any one season, but he did catch 39 passes as a rookie and 59 in his second season as a reliable outlet for the offense. His reception totals for his last two years dropped into the twenties, and his touchdown production went from five as a rookie to one each other season.
Keith was dealt to the Cowboys in 1992, but couldn’t agree on money and then tried out with Dolphins but didn’t stick. He spent two seasons in Canada with Winnipeg and finished his pro career with the CFL’s Birmingham Barracudas in 1995. He later went into the packaging industry.
Now ex-Packer Corey Linsley turns 30 today after seven solid years as the starting center for Green Bay. He started all 99 games he appeared in for the Pack, missing 13 games due to injuries. A fifth-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2014, he was given short-shift by scouts because his arms weren’t the proper length for an NFL center, but he was a reliable, steady performer in Green Bay whose work culminated in his receiving All-Pro notice last year for the first time. He then parlayed that into a five-year $62.5-million contact with the Chargers. His career was reminiscent of Scott Wells, who switched from guard to center in 2006 and started there for six seasons until going to his first Pro Bowl in 2011. At which time, the 31-year-old Wells signed a big contract with the Rams as a free agent and retired three years later.
The Packers have had a nearly unbroken string of solid centers for the past 100 years, starting with Jug Earp in 1924 and extending through Linsley.
Center
Years
All-Pro
Pro Bowl
Packer HoF
HoF
Jug Earp
1924-32
1
Yes
Boob Darling
1927-31
Nate Barragar
1931-32, 1934-35
4
Yes
George Svendsen
1935-37, 1940-41
Yes
Bud Svendsen
1937, 1939
Yes
Charley Brock
1939-47
5
2
Yes
All Decade 40s
Jay Rhodemyre
1948-49, 1951-52
1
Jim Ringo
1953-63
6
7
Yes
Yes; All Decade 60s
Ken Bowman
1964-73
Yes
Bill Curry
1965-66
Larry McCarren
1973-84
1
2
Yes
Mark Cannon
1984-88
James Campen
1989-93
1
Frank Winters
1992-2002
1
1
Yes
Mike Flanagan
1998-2005
1
Scott Wells
2006-11
1
Corey Linsley
2014-20
1
These are the main names. I have left out short-termers like Ookie Miller, Art Bultman, Trapper Stephenson, Evan Dietrich-Smith and Jeff Saturday. With this track record, I am confident center will not be a problem for the 2021 Packers.
1998 demonstrated the dangers of relying too heavily on one running back after Dorsey Levens went down to injury early in the season. Mike Holmgren’s final season at the helm was a step down from the previous two years, as the Pack finished second in the Central Division with an 11-5 record, including two beatings administered by the 15-1 Vikings powered by rookie Randy Moss. Green Bay scored 408 points (6th) and allowed 319 (dropping to 11th). They were 7-1 at home and 4-4 on the road, as well as 1-2 against winning teams, 3-1 against .500 ones and 7-2 against losers.
Ron Wolf patched the running game with midseason pick up Darick Holmes after Raymont Harris and Travis Jervey both failed to adequately replace the injured Levens who returned for the last three games of the season. Levens then looked to be his old self in the postseason tangle with the 49ers, but San Francisco won that game on a last second touchdown pass to Terrell Owens that Darren Sharper failed to defense. That winning drive should have ended a few plays earlier when Jerry Rice fumbled but the officials ruled him down. There was no replay to correct the error, and Holmgren lost to his former team for the first time in six tries. Soon after he was off to Seattle to flounder as a GM but continue to flourish at coaching.
Brett Favre completed 63% of his passes for 4,212 yards, 31 touchdowns and 23 interceptions, averaging 7.6 yards per pass. Backup Doug Pederson was 14 of 24 passing. Darrick Holmes led the team with 386 yards rushing, followed by Levens at 378, Jervey at 325 and Harris at 228.
Antonio Freeman caught 84 passes for a league-leading 1,424 yards and 14 touchdowns. Mark Chmura added 47 grabs, while Robert Brooks dropped to 31, the same total as newcomer Bill Schroeder. Ryan Longwell scored 128 points and return man Roell Preston scored on a 71-yard punt return and kick returns of 100 and 101 yards.
On defense, Tyrone Williams picked off five passes, and Reggie White garnered 16 sacks, followed by rookie Vonnie Holiday and Keith McKenzie who each had eight. White was named Defensive Player of the Year, but the 37-year-old faded badly as the year went on, tallying only two sacks in the last six games.
White, Freeman, Preston and Leroy Butler all were named All-Pro. White, Freeman, Preston, Butler and Chmura each were selected for the Pro Bowl. Top pick Vonnie Holiday and Supplemental second round pick Mike Wahle were the most significant rookies.
Once he dug in, Francis Louis Earp, was tough to move. He was born on July 22, 1897 and grew up in Monmouth, Illinois, a town of under 10,000 residents at the time. Although he was distantly related to legendary law man Wyatt Earp, Francis was rooted. He went to Monmouth High in town and then continued his education at Monmouth College, a small Presbyterian school in the community. From there, he branched out to begin his pro football career with the Rock Island Independents, 39 miles away. Two games into his second season in Rock Island, Earp was involved in a salary dispute with management and was released. When Curly Lambeau made Jug an offer, he couldn’t refuse; he jumped to Green Bay and spent the rest of his life there.
Earp was often spelled “Earpe,” and he was known as “Jug” or sometimes “Jugger.” Both were short for “Juggernaut” because at 235 pounds he was a large and powerful force in the middle of the line. For 11 years, he was the bedrock of the line for the Packers and helped them develop from a good club into three-time champions from 1929 through 1931. Jug played some at tackle early in his career but spent most of his time at center, where he received All-Pro notice in 1929 and was sometimes credited with originating the one-hand center snap. His one-on-one duels with Bear center George Trafton were such annual battles of scrappy intensity that unfounded stories were repeated that he and Trafton would begin every game by spitting tobacco juice in each other’s eyes.
In addition to his time with Rock Island, Earp also appeared in one game for Frankford in 1925 and three for the New York Yankees in 1927 (along with teammate Verne Lewellen). In both cases, the Packer schedule was completed, so Jug got to earn a little extra money in December. Teammate Mike Michalske once said of Earp, “He was a great harmonizer. He was so happy and satisfied himself that he spread the morale and, in defeat, he was never beaten. In later years when the younger players would come to camp, he would wean and nurse them. He was so unlike many of us who didn’t want any young guy taking our job. Maybe Jug felt more secure than the rest of us, but he did a lot of that sideline coaching to help the young fellows.”
The Jugger retired after the 1932 season. At first, he sold cars. Eventually he joined the Office of Price Administration during World War II and was head of operations for all of Wisconsin by 1946. In 1950, he came back to the Packers as their publicity director even though he had never written a press release in his life. He served in that capacity for four years during Gene Ronzani’s tenure as coach before leaving to go back into sales, employing his natural gift for gab. He once recalled, “People still like to talk about the Packers, and I like to talk about them, too.” He spent a dozen years with the M and M Container Corporation of Marinette prior to his death. Always popular with the fans, he died on January 8, 1969 at age 71 in Green Bay. He was survived by his wife and two daughters. A year later, he was inducted as a charter member of the Packer Hall of Fame in 1970.
The defending champion Packers were confident when they returned to training camp in 1997. Safety Leroy Butler was talking of the team going 16-0, and back-to-back titles would cement the team’s claim of being something very special. After a devastating loss to the underdog Broncos in the Super Bowl, though, GM Ron Wolf memorably described that championship aura to “a fart in the wind.”
1997 was an odd year, with two of its three losses going to losing teams. The first in Philadelphia in week two came down to a missed 28-yard field goal with 15 seconds left. The second was 41-38 loss to the 0-10 Colts in week eleven, which seemed to straighten out the overconfident Packers who then whipped Dallas 45-17 a week later. They won the last five games of the season, just like in ’96. After dispatching Tampa and San Francisco in the playoffs, though, they lost to an 11-point underdog in the Super Bowl, and that hurt.
The team lost Sean Jones and Keith Jackson to retirement and Desmond Howard and Edgar Bennett to free agency, but went 13-3, scoring 422 points (2nd) and giving up 282 (5th). They were 8-0 at home and 5-3 on the road; 7-1 against winning teams and 6-2 versus losers.
Brett Favre shared his third straight MVP award with Detroit’s Barry Sanders who ran for over 2,000 yards in ’97. Favre completed 59% of his passes for 3,867 yards, 35 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He averaged 7.5 yards per pass. Backup Steve Bono completed five of 10 passes.
Dorsey Levens had a career year as the feature back. He gained 1,435 yards rushing, averaging 4.4 yards per rush, caught 53 passes and scored 12 touchdowns. Favre was the team’s second leading rusher with 187 yards.
The Packers had a pair of 1,000-yard pass catchers with Antonio Freeman, 81 catches for 1,243 yards and seven scores, and Robert Brooks, 60 catches for 1,010 yards and 12 scores. Mark Chmura added 38 receptions. Rookie kicker Ryan Longwell scored 120 points.
On defense, Leroy Butler nabbed five interceptions and reserve safety Mike Prior took four. Reggie White recorded 11 sacks, while fellow linemen Santana Dotson and Gabe Wilkins each had 5.5.
Favre, Butler and kicking teams’ star Travis Jervey were each named All-Pro, while White and Doug Evans received second team notice. Favre, Levens, Chmura, White and Butler all were picked for the Pro Bowl. Top rookies were first round tackle Ross Verba and second round safety Darren Sharper, as well as the free agent kicker Longwell.
“The Lombardi Trophy is coming home!” It’s always good to remember a Super Bowl winning season. Green Bay had a year for the ages in 1996, going 13-3 and finishing first in points scored (456) and allowed (210). They were 8-0 at home and 5-3 on the road. They were 8-0 against losing teams and 5-3 against all others.
Ron Wolf sensed how close the team was and loaded up on useful free agents: safety Eugene Robinson, defensive tackle Santana Dotson, kick returner Desmond Howard, wideout Don Beebe and linebacker Ron Cox. And then in midseason, he grabbed wideout Andre Rison and veteran tackle Bruce Wilkerson as the boat began to rock with injuries and two straight losses after an 8-1 start. After those losses to Kansas City and Dallas, Green Bay won its last five regular season games and all three postseason matches (against the 49ers and Panthers at home and the Patriots in the Super Bowl) to garner its first championship in 29 years.
Brett Favre won a second consecutive MVP award by completing 59.9% of his passes for 3,899 yards, 39 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, averaging 7.2 yards per pass. Backup Jim McMahon threw four passes.
Edgar Bennett led with 899 yards rushing and upped his average to four yards per carry. He was supported by Dorsey Levens’ 566 yards and 4.7 average. Both caught 31 passes, with fullback William Henderson adding 27 grabs.
When Robert Brooks went down to a knee injury in midseason, Antonio Freeman stepped up as the number one weapon, catching 56 passes for 933 yards and nine scores, despite suffering a broken arm himself. Tight end Keith Jackson added 40 catches and 10 touchdowns. Desmond Howard ignited the return game scoring on three punt returns in the regular season and averaging 15 yards per return. He then added a punt return TD against the 49ers in the playoffs and the clinching kickoff return TD in the Super Bowl. Chris Jacke led in points with 114.
Safety Eugene Robinson picked off six passes, while Leroy Butler and Doug Evans each grabbed five. Reggie White had 8.5 sacks, and Butler had 6.5. Favre, Butler and Howard were All-Pros, with White gaining second team status. Favre, Butler, White, Jackson and Frank Winters all were named to the Pro Bowl. The rookie class was disappointing, aside from third round pick Tyrone Williams who stepped right in at cornerback. The best two players from that draft, center Mike Flanagan (round 3) and guard Marco Rivera (round 6), would not contribute for a few years.
Born on July 15, 1922 in Lake Village, Arkansas, Bob Forte was a fiery, versatile player for seven seasons in Green Bay. He attended the University of Arkansas from 1940-42 and was drafted by the Packers in the 11th round in 1943. However, his calling at that point was with the Army, where he served from 1943-45.
At the end of the war, Forte joined the Packers in 1946 as two-way right halfback who was known for his blocking on offense and tackling on defense. In the last four years of the Forties, he gained 318 yards rushing, caught 22 passes for three scores, completed four of 10 passes and intercepted 18 passes, including nine in 1947, with a 68-yard pick-six.
With the institution of free substitution, two-platoon football in 1950, the six-foot, 200-pound Forte was moved to left linebacker, although he did turn up on offense occasionally, completing four of four passes for 28 yards. Bob was then recalled to the service in 1951 for the Korean War, but returned to Green Bay in ’52, when he was named team captain. Forte is sometimes given credit for nicknaming fellow Arkansan Dave Hanner “Hawg.” He finished his career in 1953 and moved to the broadcast booth for a few years on Packer radio.
Forte then worked in trade relations for Miller Brewing for several years before joining an outdoor advertising firm in 1963. He remained active in the community, giving talks and supporting youth sports. In 1973 he was part of the third class for the Packer Hall of Fame, being inducted with Charley Brock, Larry Craig, Ted Fritsch, Tony Canadeo, Baby Ray, Dick Wildung, Andy Uram, Bob Monnett and Whitey Woodin–most of whom were once his teammates. He died on March 12, 1996 in Plano, Texas and was survived by two sons.
The Packer rebirth really began to flower in 1995 when the team won its first division title since 1972, even though it came down to Steeler receiver Yancey Thigpen dropping a pass in the end zone in the closing seconds of the season finale against Pittsburgh. And then the team made a step forward in the playoffs as well–stomping Atlanta at home and smoking the defending championb49ers in San Francisco before losing once again to the Cowboys in Dallas in the NFC title game.
Green Bay scored 404 points (sixth) and allowed 314 (fourth). They were 4-2 against winners, 1-1 against .500 teams and 6-2 against losers. They were 7-1 at home and 4-4 on the road. The Pack did lose Sterling Sharpe to injury and Bryce Paup to free agency–with Paup going on to be named Defensive Player of the Year in Buffalo–but Brett Favre won the first of his three straight MVP awards to make up for it.
Favre was 11-5, starting all the games as usual. He completed 63% of his passes for a league-leading 4,413 yards and 38 touchdowns. He averaged 7.7 yards per pass and threw just 13 interceptions. Ty Detmer got to throw 16 passes, Jim McMahon one and the regrettable T.J. Rubley six, including a disastrous interception against the Vikings.
Edgar Bennett ran for 1,067 yards on a 3.4-yard average and caught 61 passes. Favre was the second leading ground gainer with 180 yards. Dorsey Levens ran for just 120 yards but caught 48 passes. Robert Brooks stepped up to nab 102 passes for 1,497 yards and 13 touchdowns, including a 99-yarder against the Bears. Tight end Mark Chmura added 54, while late-signing Keith Jackson chipped in with 13 and a presence in the postseason. Veteran Mark Ingram was the second wideout with 39 receptions. Chris Jacke led in points with 94.
On defense, Leroy Butler had five interceptions, while Reggie White recorded 12 sacks and Sean Jones nine.
Favre and White were named All-Pro, while Favre, White and Chmura were selected for the Pro Bowl. Top rookies included first round pick cornerback Craig Newsome, third rounders William Henderson, Brian Williams and Antonio Freeman, fifth rounder Travis Jervey and seventh rounder Adam Timmerman. Aaron Taylor, from the ’94 draft, and free agent Bernardo Harris were also notable first-year men.
The Hall of Fame inducted Henry Jordan posthumously.
Cecil Isbell, born on July 11, 1915 in Houston, Texas, was included on the list of 38 finalists for the Centennial Class of the Hall of Fame in 2020, an attempt to bring recognition to old timers who may have been passed over unjustly up till now. Isbell is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame since 1967 and received All-America notice at Purdue as a tailback before being drafted first by the Packers in 1938. So how good was he?
Single wing tailback Sammy Baugh came into the league in 1937 and left 16 years later as a Hall of Fame quarterback. Sid Luckman joined the Chicago Bears in 1939 to become the first modern T formation quarterback and retired in 1950 as a future Hall of Famer. Cecil Isbell was the Packers number one draft choice in 1938 and may have been the best of the three great contemporary passers but quit playing after only five years. A comparison of the passing statistics for each passer over the years that Isbell was active is enlightening:
Games
Att.
Comp.
%
Yards
YPA
TD
Int
Int%
Baugh (38-42)
51
819
465
56.8%
5,494
6.71
48
60
7.3
Isbell (38-42)
54
818
411
50.2%
5,945
7.27
61
52
2.9
Luckman (39-42)
44
380
196
51.6%
3,782
9.95
28
32
8.4
or if we make the comparison between the passers’ first five years in the league:
Games
Att.
Comp.
%
Yards
YPA
TD
Int
Int%
Baugh (37-41)
51
765
414
54.10%
5,097
6.66
40
57
7.5
Isbell (38-42)
54
818
411
50.20%
5,945
7.27
61
52
2.9
Luckman (39-43)
54
583
306
52.50%
5,976
10.25
56
44
7.5
This comparison reveals many things. Sammy Baugh threw a lot of short passes and was picked off a fair amount. Sid Luckman was running a passing offense that the rest of the league could not comprehend; his yards-per-attempt figure is eye-popping. The Bears did not throw a lot but had a lot of long gainers through the air. Overall, Isbell compares very well to both Hall of Famers. His yards per attempt figure is excellent, he threw the most touchdown passes and had the lowest interception percentage by far. Luckman’s career yards per attempt number would drop to 8.42, still second all-time to Otto Graham; Baugh’s number would rise to 7.31 by the end of his career. Baugh was also a league leading punter and a notable defensive back who intercepted 9 passes through 1942. Luckman picked off 10 and was punting for a 40+ average in those years although that average would drop over time. Isbell also had 9 interceptions on defense but was not much of a punter. However, he rushed for 1,522 yards on 422 attempts in his brief career. Baugh rushed for 172 yards in that period, and Luckman’s total was negative yardage.
The above numbers indicate that Curly Lambeau was not off-base when he said that Isbell was the best passer he ever saw, “Isbell was the master at any range. He could throw soft passes, bullet passes, or feathery lobs. He was the best with Sid Luckman of the Bears a close second and Sammy Baugh of the Redskins a long third. Luckman wasn’t as versatile and Baugh couldn’t compare on the long ones.” Unlike the other two, however, he never got to play quarterback in the T formation. As a triple threat tailback, he would get tackled on every play whether he was involved in it or not. Baugh himself has spoken on how the T extended his career.
Furthermore, Isbell was as fine a passer as there was in the league despite being severely limited by a chronically bad shoulder. Cecil had dislocated his left shoulder several times in college, so he started wearing a chain that went from his arm to his torso to keep him from raising his arm too high and damaging the shoulder. “Sure it hampered me some. When I was punting, I couldn’t extend my left arm all the way out, so I had to learn to drop the ball one-handed. And I played defense all the time–we didn’t have two platoons then–and it wasn’t good for tackling. Not that it was so tender, but because it hindered the grasp. My reach didn’t have the range it would have had. The other thing was when I was carrying the ball. I couldn’t stiff arm with my left–not effectively anyway.”
Isbell joined the Packers after leading the College All Stars to a 28-16 victory over Sammy Baugh’s Redskins in 1938. The Packers already had an All-Pro tailback in Arnie Herber, but Isbell was so talented that the two generally would alternate for Cecil’s first three years in the league. Sometimes both would play at the same time and occasionally even would throw passes to each other. Slow-footed Herber caught two touchdown passes from Cecil in 1938. Most of the touchdown passes, though, went to Don Hutson. Isbell proved a worthy successor to Herber in getting the ball to Hutson, and the two would enjoy remarkable success together and become good friends.
Isbell’s longest touchdown pass was for 92 yards to Hutson in the league All Star game for 1939. His shortest touchdown went to Hutson for four inches in 1942, a season in which Don caught 17 touchdowns and Cecil threw 24. The 24 would stand as a team record until 1983 when Lynn Dickey bested it. From 1940 through 1942, Cecil threw a touchdown pass in 23 straight games, a record that Johnny Unitas would break in 1958 enroute to an ultimate total of 47 straight.
The Packers played post-season football in three of Isbell’s five years. They lost the title game to the Giants in his rookie year and lost a divisional playoff to the Bears in 1941, but in 1939 they won it all. In his five years in the NFL, Cecil Isbell twice was All-Pro and three times was second team All-Pro. He played in four of the five All Star games of the time–once as a member of the 1939 champion Packers and three times as a member of the league All Stars.
However, Isbell said that he had seen Lambeau go up to loyal veterans like Arnie Herber and Hank Bruder and tell them they were through, and he determined that would never happen to him. He would quit on his own time. When his alma mater offered him a coaching job at a pay cut in 1943, he took it so we will never know what he would have accomplished had he stayed a pro longer. He was head coach for three years at Purdue before moving on to coach the Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference for a few years. He held a few assistant coaching jobs (including working under Lambeau again on the Chicago Cardinal staff) before leaving football for business in the mid-1950s. He was elected to the Packer Hall of Fame in 1972. He died on June 23, 1985 in Hammond, Indiana and is little remembered, but deserves better.
Ron Wolf’s final draft for the Packers in 2000 yielded five long-term starters: tight end Bubba Franks in round one, tackle Chad Clifton in round two, pass rusher Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila in round five, tackle Mark Tauscher in round seven and Ohio State linebacker Na’il Diggs in round four. Diggs was born on July 8, 1978 in Phoenix, Arizona and grew up in California before heading to the Midwest for college and then being drafted by Green Bay.
It may be damning with faint praise to say that Na’il Diggs was the best linebacker the Packers had during the first half of the ‘00 decade; the linebacking corps was pretty thin in that period. Still, it’s accurate. Diggs was a good, not great, player for Green Bay. Na’il moved into the starting lineup as a rookie as a strongside backer. He would start on that side in 2000, 2001 and 2005, while from 2002-04 he started on the weakside.
Against the run, the 6’4” 240-pound Diggs was a physical hitter, but dropping into coverage, he was a bit out of his element. That made him a two-down player beginning in 2003. The team experimented with making him a pass rusher in 2004, but that did not work out. Overall, four times he led the team in stuffs and accumulated seven sacks, four interceptions, 27 passes defensed, four fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles in his time in Green Bay. He signed with the Panthers in 2006 and started there for four seasons before moving on to the Rams in 2010 and then finishing his career with the Chargers in 2011. He was a solid player who had a 12-year NFL career.
packers past perfect 