When quarterback Bart Starr of the Green Bay Packers went back to pass, more often than not, the two bookend offensive tackles who were protecting him were right tackle Forrest Gregg and left tackle Bob Skoronski. It’s amazing to know that all three of those players were selected in the 1956 NFL draft by the Packers, thanks to the great work of Jack Vainisi.
Verne Lewellen was the general manager of the Packers during that time, but it was Vainisi who did all the scouting for the players that the Packers selected. This 1956 draft class also included defensive back Hank Gremminger, who had a 10-year career in Green Bay, in which he started nine of those years, at either cornerback or safety.
Gregg was selected in Round 2 out of SMU. Skoronski was selected in Round 5 out of Indiana. Gremminger was selected in Round 7 out of Baylor. Starr was selected in Round 17 out of Alabama.
This excellent draft class included two players (Starr and Gregg) who would both be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977, plus had another player in Skoronski, who normally got the best blocking grades from the coaches each game. To me, this class is second only to the 1958 draft class of the Packers, which included three players who would later get busts in Canton. Jimmy Taylor in 1976, Ray Nitschke in 1978 and Jerry Kramer in 2018. That class also brought talented linebacker Dan Currie to the Packers. In addition, the Packers also drafted guard Ken Gray in ’58 as well, but Gray was cut and went on to have a very good career with the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals.
Let’s take a closer look at the Class of 1956, shall we?
Starr’s career did not exactly get off to a great start. In fact, after the Packers hired Vince Lombardi to be come head coach and general manager in 1959, one of his first moves was to trade for quarterback Lamar McHan, as Lombardi did not have a lot of confidence in Starr. If one looks at how Starr performed in 1958, one can see why Lombardi traded for McHan. For the ’58 season, Starr threw just three touchdown passes versus 12 interceptions for 875 yards. Starr’s passer rating was just 41.2.
But Starr slowly but surely won Lombardi’s confidence, as well as that of his teammates. Jerry Kramer told me about the moment he believed that Starr showed everyone that he the man to lead the Packers.
“We were playing the Chicago Bears,” Kramer said. “Bill George was their middle linebacker at the time. On a deep pass attempt, George thought he would try to intimidate Bart.
“Bill took about a five-yard run and he gave Bart a forearm right in the mouth. George timed it perfectly and put Bart right on his behind. He also cut Bart badly, from his lip all the way to his nose. After that, George said, ‘That ought to take care of you Starr, you pussy.’ Bart snapped right back at George and said, ‘F— you, Bill George, we’re coming after you.’
“My jaw dropped after that exchange, as I was shocked. Meanwhile Bart was bleeding profusely. I told Bart that he better go to the sideline and get sewn up. Bart replied, ‘Shut up and get in the huddle.’
“Bart took us down the field in seven or eight plays and we scored. That series of plays really solidified Bart as our leader and we never looked back.”
Starr truly became the leader of the Pack, as the team won five NFL titles in seven years, which included the first two Super Bowls. Starr was the MVP in both Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II.
No. 15’s leading the Packers to multiple NFL titles in the postseason should not surprise anyone, based on his performance. In fact, Starr is the highest-rated quarterback in NFL postseason history with a 104.8 mark.
Starr led the Packers to a 9-1 record in ten games. Starr threw 15 touchdown passes versus just three picks for 1,753 yards in those 10 games.
Starr’s most famous play in the postseason was his quarterback sneak in the closing seconds of the 1967 NFL Championship Game versus the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field.
That game is better known as the “Ice Bowl”, because it was extremely cold that day in Green Bay, as the game-time temperature was 13 degrees below zero. If you added the wind, it was bone-chillingly cold, as there was a minus-48-degree wind chill for the game. But when it counted most, with 16 seconds to go and no timeouts, Starr followed a classic block by Kramer on defensive tackle Jethro Pugh, with help from center Ken Bowman, as he shuffled happily into the end zone, scoring the winning touchdown in a 21-17 victory.
Only Kramer knew that Starr would be carrying the football on the 31 Wedge play, instead of fullback Chuck Mercein.
Starr wasn’t bad in the regular season either, as he led the Packers to a 94-57-6 record in the games he started. Starr also won three passing titles and was the NFL MVP in 1966.
Overall, Starr threw 152 touchdown passes versus 138 interceptions for 24,718 yards in his career.
Gregg played 14 years with the Packers and was considered the best right tackle in the NFL when he played. But No. 75 was versatile as well, as he moved to right guard in 1961, when Kramer broke his ankle midway through the season. The Packers would go on an win their first NFL championship under Lombardi in ’61.
Gregg hauled in many honors due to his great play throughout his career. No. 75 was named to nine Pro Bowl teams and was named First-Team All-Pro seven times.
Gregg also played on six NFL championship teams, five with the Green Bay Packers (1961, 1962, 1965, 1966 & 1967) and one in his final year in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys (1971).
Kramer played next to Gregg at right guard for his entire career in Green Bay. Kramer reflected about the play of Gregg over that time.
“Great consistency,” Kramer said. “I was on the same wavelength as Forrest. Our whole offensive line was really.
“For instance, sometimes a linebacker would look like he was about to shoot through the gap between us. I would say, ‘Forrest’, and he knew immediately I would pick up the guy. Or perhaps Forrest would say, ‘Jerry’, and he would pick up the guy instead.”
When Kramer co-authored Instant Replay along with the late, great Dick Schaap, Gregg gave Kramer some nice kudos about the book.
Gregg and his roommate, Gale Gillingham, were visiting Kramer in his room in training camp in 1968. They began talking about the book, when Gregg offered up an observation as retold by Kramer.
“That damn book. Everywhere I go, people want to know about that book”, Gregg said. “I’m getting sick and tired of that damn book. But I’ll tell you one thing Jerry, you were dead-honest.”
Kramer said that was probably the nicest compliment he ever had about the book. Coming from someone like Gregg made it extra special. Gregg was right there with Kramer during the legendary ’67 season.
When it came to playing the right tackle position, Gregg was a true technician according to Kramer.
“Forrest was a position player,” Kramer said. “He wasn’t a guy who was going to knock you down particularly. But he was always in position. He would work himself to the side that he needed to be on and he would keep the defensive player away from the action.
“I can’t recall Forrest ever making a mistake. He was just very consistent and he played at a very high-level all the time.”
Speaking of being consistent, Skoronski was definitely that at left tackle, even though he didn’t get the notoriety of his other teammates on the offensive line, like Gregg, Kramer, Ringo and Fuzzy Thurston. No. 76 was never named All-Pro and went to only one Pro Bowl, but he was certainly appreciated by his coaches and teammates.
In 1964, the season after the Packers traded All-Pro center Jim Ringo, Skoronski moved over to that position for some time, while the Packers were grooming the rookie Bowman to play center.
Kramer talked to me about the play that epitomizes the mindset of Skoronski as a player. The play also occurred during the “Ice Bowl” during that epic 12-play drive to win the game.
Late in the drive, there was a key play when the Packers had the ball at the 11 of the Cowboys on 1st down. Starr called a give play to Mercein. For that particular play to be successful, a couple of things had to happen. On the play, the left guard Gillingham pulled right. The Packers were hoping that defensive tackle Bob Lilly would vacate his position and follow Gillingham. That indeed happened.
But Skoronski would also need to make a key block on defensive end George Andrie to give Mercein a hole to run through.
Kramer talked about that play to me.
“On that play, if Bob didn’t block [George] Andrie on that play, Mercein would get killed,” Kramer said. “It was a very difficult block, too. So Bart looked at “Ski” and asked if he could make that block before the play. And “Ski” simply said, ‘Call it, on two.’
Mercein picked up eight yards on the play, and the Packers now had the ball at the 3-yard line of the Cowboys.
“That was a huge play,” Kramer said. “I also loved Bob’s answer when Bart asked him if he could make the block. It was an absolute answer. It wasn’t a ‘Gee, I think I can.’ Or ‘Gee, I’ll give it my best shot.’ Instead it was a definite and resounding yes.
“There was absolute confidence from Ski about making that block. It was, ‘You can count on me.’ And Bob didn’t fail us.”
Kramer also remembers a dinner when No. 64 was the emcee. Kramer introduced Skoronski at the event.
“I said that Bob was probably the best lineman on the team,” Kramer said. “Ski got the best grades from the coaches. I also said that Bob was a hell of a football player. I mentioned that he was also our captain. I also talked about the “Ice Bowl” play. I just gave him a very nice introduction.
“Later, after Bob spoke, he came up to me and said, ‘Jerry, that was really a beautiful introduction. That was really nice. I really appreciate that. You meant it, didn’t you?’
“Can you imagine hearing that? Ski was always a bit suspicious when he was complimented. But for those of us who played with him, Ski was most definitely appreciated.”
Another player who was appreciated was Gremminger, who wore No. 46. Gremminger was part of three NFL title teams (1961, 1962 & 1965) in Green Bay.
Gremminger played cornerback in his first six years in Green Bay and then played safety in his last four years in Titletown.
In those 10 years, Gremminger picked off 29 passes for 421 yards. The former Baylor Bear also recovered seven fumbles. Gremminger also scored a touchdown when he returned a blocked field goal for a score versus the Minnesota Vikings in 1963.
Bottom line, without a doubt in my mind, the 1956 draft class of the Packers was the second-best draft class in franchise history. Second only to the phenomenal 1958 draft class.
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