A Look Back at 2016

In Mike McCarthy’s last winning season in Green Bay, the Packers rebounded to fourth in the league in scoring from 15^th with 432 points. Unfortunately, the defense slipped from 12^th to 21^st in points allowed with 388. A four-game losing streak at midseason dropped the Pack to 4-6, but the team recovered to win its last six regular season games to finish at 10-6, first in the Central Division. They were 6-2 at home and 4-4 on the road. They were 5-4 against winning teams, 1-2 versus .500 ones and 4-0 against losers.

In the postseason, the dream of running the table lived on. Green Bay smacked down the Giants 38-13 on four TD passes by Rodgers, including a 42-yarder to Randall Cobb to close the half. They then outlasted the top seeded Cowboys 34-31 in a game that was tied at 28 and then 31 with a remarkable series of field goals. Mason Crosby hit a 56 yarder at 1:33; Dan Bailey of Dallas matched with a 52 yarder with 35 seconds remaining; then Rodgers hit Jared Cook with a 36-yard laser on third down to set up Crosby’s 51-yard game-winner on the final play of the game. A week later, though, the Packers were outclassed by second-seeded Atlanta, losing 44-21 after training 24-0 at the half.

Rodgers started all 16 games and completed 65.7% of his passes for 4,428 yards, forty touchdowns and seven interceptions. He averaged 7.3 yards per pass and recorded a 104.2 passer rating. Brett Hundley completed two of ten passes for 17 yards and an interception.

After Eddie Lacy went on injured reserve with 360 yards rushing, McCarthy improvised and stuck Ty Montgomery in the backfield where he led the team with 457 yards rushing, 5.9 a clip. Rodgers added 369 yards on the ground.

Jordy Nelson returned from his ACL injury of 2015 and caught 97 passes for 1,257 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, but his yards per catch dropped 2.5 yards to 13 in a bad omen. Davante Adams matured and caught 75 passes for 997 yards and 12 scores, while Randall Cobb added 60 catches and four scores. Tight ends Jared Cook and Richard Rodgers each grabbed 30 balls. Mason Crosby led the team with 122 points

On defense, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix nabbed five interceptions. Nick Perry recorded 11 sacks, Julius Peppers 7.5 and Clay Matthews, now playing more inside linebacker, five. Rodgers, Dix, TJ Lang and David Bakhtiari were selected for the Pro Bowl, while Bakhtiari and Dix were each named second team All-Pro. Kenny Clark was the top rookie, but third rounder Kyler Fackrell and fourth rounders Dean Lowry and Blake Martinez were serviceable players.

Finally, the Hall of Fame welcomed Brett Favre and one-time Packer assistant coach Kevin Greene.

Custom cards in 1966 Philadelphia style.

Sherwood Fries

At 6’1” and 235-pounds, Sherwood Fries was a big body for his era and became known for having a big leg, having booted two 85-yard punts for Colorado A&M in a game against New Mexico in 1940. He was born in Los Angeles on November 24, 1920 and excelled at both football and the shot put in high school. At Colorado from 1939-41, he played football, pitched for the baseball team and was on the swim team. On the gridiron, he played guard, fullback and also punted.

He signed with the Packers in 1943 and appeared in five games, intercepting two passes. Before the team’s second preseason tune-up against the Steagles in Pittsburgh on September 11, he boomed a 50-yard field goal that hit the crossbar and bounced over it, drawing a cheer from the local crowd.

Curly Lambeau only used Fries as a lineman, however. The punting for the ’43 team was handled by Lou Brock and Irv Comp primarily. The placekicking was performed mostly by Don Hutson who converted all 36 extra point attempts and was three of five on field goals. Tackle Chet Adams was one of six on field goals, while Glen Sorenson and Ted Fritsch each missed a pair of three-pointers. It seems odd that Fries was never given the opportunity in a game.

Fries went into the Navy in 1944 and played for the San Diego Sailors that year. After the War, he returned to his alma mater as a swimming coach in 1948 and then later went into high school football coaching. He died at age 66 on December 9, 1986 in San Juan Capistrano, California.

Custom cards are colorized.

Trawling for Images

I always keep an eye out for fresh Packer photos and was intrigued recently by three I saw on eBay. However, they illustrate the perils of believing everything you read on the Internet.

The first was labelled 1973 Barry Smith

Clearly not Barry Smith, but this one was easy to identify as 1971 Sam Dickerson

The second was labelled 1974 Dave Mason, but if you look at this card based on a media guide photo, they are clearly not the same guy.

However, I am fairly certain that this one is draft pick Tim Alderson, who did not make the team, as depicted here in the 1973 media guide

Finally, this one was identified as 1971 Dave Conway, however, Conway was a balding kicker who looked nothing like that photo.

My guess is that the photo depicts Paul Gibson, who appeared in one game in 1972 for the wearing number 41. He was on the Taxi Squad most of the season and was tried at both wide receiver and safety. I have no record of him wearing 35, and he was the first cut in 1973 prior to the preseason games, but it looks like him to me.

Here he is from a track photo from college and from the 1973 media guide.

The seller posting these photos was going from uniform numbers, but guessed pretty badly in all three attempts.

UPDATE: My friend Bob Faber points out that the first image above is not Sam Dickerson, but instead is 5’7″ kick returner Roosevelt Van who did not make the team in 1973. Thanks for the correction, Bob.

A Look Back at 2015

With Jordy Nelson lost for the year due to a training camp ACL injury, the offense dried up in 2015, leading to a 10-6 record. The team scored more than 100 fewer points than the previous season, 368 (15^th) and gave up 322 (12^th). They were 5-3 both at home and on the road; 4-4 against winners and 6-2 against losers. The Pack began the season 6-0, sunk to 7-4, recovered to 10-4 and then limped home with closing losses to the Cardinals and Vikings.

The offense was propped up by two remarkable Hail Mary tosses with no time left by Aaron Rodgers: 61 yards to Richard Rodgers to beat the Lions and 41 yards to Jeff Janis to tie the Cardinals in the postseason. Of course in a mirror of the previous season, the defense promptly gave up the winning score in overtime in the playoff game.

Aaron Rodgers started all 16 games and completed 60.7% of his passes for 3,821 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His per pass average dropped to 6.7 and his passer rating to 92.7. Scott Tolzien completed one pass for four yards.

Eddie Lacy began his quest to eat himself out of the league and dropped to 758 yards rushing and twenty receptions. John Starks added 601 yards and 43 catches, and Rodgers picked up 344.

Randall Cobb led with 79 catches for 829 yards and six scores. Richard Rodgers scored eight times on 58 receptions. James Jones and Davante Adams each caught 50 passes, but Adams gained only 483 yards on those catches. Mason Crosby led in points with 108.

On defense, Sam Shields, Micah Hyde and rookie Damarious Randall grabbed three interceptions a piece. Julius Peppers led with 10.5 sacks, and Clay Matthews had 6.5. Josh Sitton was named second team All-Pro. Rodgers, Peppers, Matthews and Sitton were picked for the Pro Bowl. The top three draft picks Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins and Ty Montgomery all proved to be disappointments, not to mention Jake Ryan and Brett Hundley in rounds four and five. On a high note, Ron Wolf was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Custom cards in 1965 Philadelphia style.

Ken Keuper

Born on this day in 1918 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Ken Keuper is primarily remembered for a blow he struck in a heated Bear-Packer game in 1945. Keuper was a 6-foot 205-pound halfback who played mostly on defense in the pros. He attended the University of Georgia from 1939-42, where he played in the Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl, and then entered the Marine Corps.

He joined the Packers as a free agent in 1945 and appeared in 31 games over the next three seasons, starting four of them. As Cliff Christl and Gary D’Amato make clear in Mudbaths and Bloodbaths, the Packer-Bear rivalry in the postwar era was particularly brutal. On opening day of ’45 Bear tackle Lee Artoe coldcocked Larry Craig on the kickoff, and Craig’s teammates vowed to get even with Artoe, who had been tossed from the game by the officials.

Five weeks later in Wrigley Field, Artoe got his comeuppance, and Keuper was the culprit. With two minutes to play, Keuper was working a trap block on end George Wilson, but when Artoe materialized instead, Ken unloaded a forearm shiver that broke Artoe’s upper and lower jaws, his nose and knocked out 11 teeth. Keuper recalled, ”He went down like a cow in the stockyards getting hit with a mallet.” Artoe told Christl and D’Amato in 1997, “Oh boy! I can still feel it. I don’t’ know whether you would call it a cheap shot. We didn’t have facemasks. He hit me with his elbow and down I went. I tell you that was the roughest hit I ever got. Broke my jaw. Broke my teeth. Everything.” He was not thrown out of the game.

Keuper intercepted three passes in 1946 and two in ’47 but was waived in September ’48. He was claimed by the Lions but continued to work for Green Bay as a scout until Detroit traded his rights to the Giants for guard Bill Miklich in October. Ken played seven games for New York that season. On November 21, Keuper added insult to injury for his old mates during a 49-3 thrashing of the Packers when he clobbered fullback Walt Schlinkman with an elbow to the face in the first quarter. Keuper also successfully sued the Packers for $625 in back pay after leaving the team.

He retired in 1949 but did some assistant coaching at his alma mater and later for the semipro Wilmington Clippers. He pursued a career as a safety engineer and worked several years for DuPont before branching off on his own as a consultant. He died at age 78 on May 23, 1997 in Warner Robins, Georgia.

Custom cards are colorized.

A Look Back at 2014

After the disappointment of Aaron Rodgers first collarbone injury in 2013, 2014 delivered the gut punch in a year the Packers should have gone to the Super Bowl. The season was bookended by losses in Seattle on opening day and in the conference championship, the latter being a game in which the Pack led 19-7 with slightly over two minutes to play. The Seahawks then scored a touchdown, recovered the onside kick and scored again to take the lead by scoring two touchdowns in less than a minute. Rodgers led the offense to the tying field goal, but back-to-back 35-yard completions by Russell Wilson on the opening possession of overtime provided the winning points for the home team.

It was a truly promising 12-4 season in which Ted Thompson signed Julius Peppers as a free agent to bolster the pass rush, Rodgers returned to gain his second MVP and Eddie Lacy led a resurgent ground attack. The Packers were 7-2 against losing teams and 5-2 against all others. They were 8-0 at home and 4-4 on the road. Green Bay scored the most points in the NFL with 486 and gave up 348 (13^th).

Aaron Rodgers started all 16 games and completed 65.6% of his passes for 4,381 yards, 38 touchdowns and five interceptions. He averaged 8.4 yards per pass and earned a 112.2 passer rating. Backup Matt Flynn threw for 66 yards and an interception.

Eddie Lacy gained 1,139 yards on the ground, averaging 4.6 yards per carry, scoring nine times and catching 42 passes. John Starks added 323 yards and Rodgers 269. Jordy Nelson caught 98 passes for 1,519 yards and 13 scores. Randall Cobb grabbed 91 for 1,287 and 12 TDs. Rookie Davante Adams caught 38 and tight end Andrew Quarles 29. Micah Hyde scored twice on punt returns, and Mason Crosby led in points with 134.

On defense Casey Hayward and Tramon Williams paced the team with three picks a piece. Clay Matthews accumulated 11 sacks and Peppers seven. Rodgers, Nelson, Josh Sitton, John Kuhn and Morgan Burnett all were named All-Pro, with Cobb and TJ Lang gaining second team notice. Rodgers, Nelson, Cobb, Matthews and Sam Shields were selected to the Pro Bowl. In addition to second round pick Adams, the rookie class included top pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, third rounder Richard Rodgers and fifth rounder Corey Linsley.

Custom cards in revised 1964 Philadelphia style.

A Look Back at 2013

2013, Green Bay’s season of many quarterbacks, was the year in which Aaron Rodgers had his first collarbone injury. The team was 5-2 when Rodgers went down in a game with the Bears on November 4. Green Bay lost that one. Eight weeks later, after cycling through Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien and the prodigal Matt Flynn, Rodgers returned with the Packers at 7-7-1 and trailing the 8-7 Bears for the Central crown. In a back-and-forth battle, the game came down to a fourth down 48-yard touchdown pass for which Rodgers spun out of the grasp of Julius Peppers to find Randall Cobb alone with 38 seconds to play. The Packers won the crown, although neither they nor the Bears scored more points than they gave up for the season. Green Bay was eighth in scoring with 417 points, but 24^th in points allowed with 428.

In an ugly season bookended with losses to the 49ers in the opener and in the wild card round of the playoffs, the Bears rematch was the sole highlight, aside from the play of Rookie of the Year Eddie Lacy. The Packers were 0-3 against winning teams, 3-2 against .500 ones and 5-2-1 against losers. They were 4-3-1 at home and 4-4 on the road.

Aaron Rodgers was 6-3 in his starts. He completed 66.6% of his passes for 2,536 yards, 17 touchdowns and six interceptions, while averaging 8.7 yards per throw and earning a passer rating of 104.9. Seneca Wallace was injured in his only start, a loss. He completed 66.7% of his passes for 139 yards, one interception and averaged 5.8 yards per throw. Scott Tolzien went 0-1-1, completed 61.1% of his passes for 717 yards, one TD, seven interceptions and averaged eight yards per toss. Finally, Matt Flynn went 2-2, completed 61.4% of his passes for 1,146 yards, seven TDs, four interceptions and averaged 6.9 yards per throw.

Eddie Lacy gained 1,178 yards rushing, scored 11 times and caught 35 passes. John Starks chipped in with 493 yards on the ground. Jordy Nelson led all receivers with 85 catches for 1,314 yards and eight touchdowns. James Jones caught 59 passes, Jarrett Boykin 49, Andrew Quarles 32 and Randall Cobb 31. Rookie Micah Hyde had a 93-yard punt return score, while Mason Crosby led the team with 141 points.

On defense, Sam Shields picked off four passes, and Clay Matthews recorded 7.5 sacks to lead the team. Nelson was named All-Pro, and Lacy and Josh Sitton were named to the second team. Lacy also was picked for the Pro Bowl. In the draft, top pick Datone Jones was a flop, but Ted Thompson did pluck Lacy in round two, David Bakhtiari in round four and Hyde in round five. On a high note, Dave Robinson was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Custom cards in Topps style.

Norgard and O’Boyle

Two Packers from the Lambeau era share a November 3 birthday: back Harry O’Boyle and end Al Norgard. O’Boyle was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1904 and was a 5’9” 178-pound halfback who served as a sophomore reserve on the Notre Dame squad led by the Four Horseman backfield. By his senior season of 1926, Harry was an All-America for the Fighting Irish.

His coach Knute Rockne said of him: “He was what was known as a triple threat, being a good kicker, passer and runner. His chief characteristics were determination and fight, counterbalanced with smartness, intellect and headwork.”

O’Boyle joined the Packers in 1928 and appeared in 11 games, scoring 23 points on one touchdown, eight extra points and three field goals. Harry then left pro football to coach at Holy Cross from 1929-31 before returning to Green Bay in ’32. Again, he appeared in 11 games for the Pack and booted seven extra points this time. He moved on to the fledging Eagle franchise the following season, appearing in his final two professional games.

Harry got his law degree and then worked for GM from 1937-67 until retiring. When he died in a nursing home in Wheeling, Illinois on May 5, 1994, he was the oldest living Packer at age 89. He was survived by his wife of 65 years, a son, three daughters and seven grandchildren.

Al Norgard was born in 1907 at Fort Bragg, California; his father was a carpenter. After high school, he entered the Army before enrolling at Menlo Junior College in 1930. He transferred to Stanford in 1931 and played football there for three seasons, scoring the winning touchdown in the rivalry match with Cal as a senior. Stanford went to the Rose Bowl that year, but Norgard was declared ineligible the week before when it came out that he had played in a game for St. Ignatius (now the University of San Francisco) in 1929.

In January 1933, Norgard got married in Mexico to Helen Kala MacFarlane, the granddaughter and heiress to the James Campbell Hawaiian pineapple fortune. Norgard spent the 1934 season with the Packers, appearing in 10 games and catching three passes for 29 yards. He did not return in 1935 and was affiliated with the Olympic Athletic Club in San Francisco.

He and Helen adopted a child in 1940, were divorced in 1941, remarried in ’43 and divorced again in ’48. He worked as an engineering contractor in California and died at age 68 on November 20, 1975, in Monterrey, California.

Custom Cards all colorized.