Remembering Smiley

With Memorial Day being tomorrow, it seems appropriate to remember the one Packer who gave his life for his country, Howard “Smiley” Johnson.

Johnson was born on September 22, 1916 in Nashville, Tennessee, but grew up in an orphanage in Clarksville. His athletic prowess took him to the University of Georgia where he starred at guard for three years. Curly Lambeau signed him as an undrafted free agent in 1940, and Smiley showed great potential learning from Packer mainstays Buckets Goldenberg, Pete Tinsley and Russ Letlow in 1940 and ’41.

Johnson, who did not drink, smoke or swear and who read the Bible every day, joined the Marines after Pearl Harbor. He rose in the ranks to second lieutenant during the War and won his first Silver Star during the battle for Saipan in 1944. On the first day of the campaign for Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, Johnson was hit with artillery shell shrapnel. When medics approached him, Smiley waved them off to care for four of his men who were also hit. Johnson died before they could return for him. He was awarded a second Silver Star that day.

Smiley had married his childhood sweetheart Marie Jackson in 1940. When he died at age 28, he was survived by her and their one-year-old daughter Jennie. His remains were buried in Hawaii.

Custom cards are colorized.

Graham Harrell

Graham Harrell was born on May 22, 1985, in Brownwood, Texas. He grew up as the son of a coach and quarterbacked a state championship at Ennis High School under his dad. Harrell enrolled at Texas Tech and started at quarterback from 2006-08 under Coach Mike Leach. Leach’s pass happy “Air Raid” offense featured Harrell throwing to future NFL receivers Michael Crabtree and Danny Amendola, and Tech went 28-11 in those three seasons with Harrell at QB.

Harrell won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award and the Sammy Baugh Trophy as a senior, as well as being named Player of the Year by the Sporting News. However, the 6’2” 217-pound signal caller was ignored in the NFL draft. He had a tryout with Cleveland but was cut and briefly signed with Saskatchewan of the CFL in 2009 before being released.

Green Bay brought Harrell in for the 2010 season, and Graham won a Super Bowl ring as Aaron Rodgers’ backup. Harrell spent two more seasons behind Rodgers. In 2012, he appeared in four games and completed two of four passes, but is most remembered for fumbling the first snap he took when he stepped in for Rodgers with the Packers at the Saints two-yard line. Although the Saints snagged that turnover, the Packers did win the game.

In 2013, Harrell spent time with the Jets in preseason, but his playing career ended. He quickly moved into college coaching in 2014 and has served as offensive coordinator for three different schools in the past seven years. He is currently at West Virginia.

Custom cards in different styles.

Craig Hentrich Turns 51 This Week

At Notre Dame, Craig Hentrich scored 294 points as the Fighting Irish placekicker and averaged 44.1 yards per punt over his four years in South Bend. Drafted by the Jets in the eighth round of the 1993 draft, he was cut before the season in favor of punter Louie Aguiar. Ron Wolf signed Hentrich for the practice squad that year, and Craig beat out Bryan Wagner as the Packer punter in 1994.

Over his four-year Packer tenure, the 6’3” 200-pound Hentrich was noted for his big leg and the long hang times of his punts. In his first three seasons, he also was very effective at dropping punts inside the 20-yard line and avoiding touchbacks. In 1997, the touchbacks increased, but he was still a very effective punter.

Hentrich had additional value as the team’s kickoff specialist since the Packer placekicker, Chris Jacke, struggled with kickoffs. Still, Ron Wolf was reluctant to pay too much for a punter, so Hentrich signed with Tennessee as the league’s first million dollar a year punter. He was replaced in Green Bay by Sean Landeta in 1998, and then the aforementioned Louie Aguiar in 1999 before Josh Bidwell took the job in 2000. Wolf later admitted not re-signing Hentrich was one of his biggest regrets in Green Bay. Hentrich would spend 12 years with the Titans, make All-Pro in 1998 and the Pro Bowl in 1998 and 2003.

(adapted from Green Bay Gold)

Custom cards in a variety of styles.

Favre’s Backups

Ron Wolf came up with a number NFL quarterbacks to ride the pine behind the indestructible Brett Favre. While none were at Favre’s level, many would have been decent replacements had they had to step in.

Warner custom card is colorized.

Rodgers Backups

As annoying as Aaron Rodgers can be and as disappointing as his postseason adventures have largely proven, one might note that the alternatives are more reminiscent of the long dead spell from 1968-91 as these custom cards make clear.