The official publication of Run to Win happened less than two weeks ago, and I’m pleased to announce that the book which I wrote with Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer is off to a great start.
We had two book-signing events this past week, one at the Green Bay Packers Pro Shop inside the Lambeau Field Atrium and the other was a combination Q & A/book-signing at both NŌ STUDIOS and Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee.
We also had a very nice crowd for the event at NŌ STUDIOS on September 29, which was covered by WISN Channel 12 in Milwaukee. The Sports Director for Channel 12, Dario Melendez, moderated the Q & A session at NŌ STUDIOS, plus Dario interviewed both Jerry and I there. We want to thank Oscar winner John Ridley and his sister Lisa Caesar for allowing us to use their wonderful venue for this event.
Afterwords, we headed to the nearby Best Place, where we continued signing books. The Best Place also offered beer and other adult beverages to the crowd, which also included 150 brats, which were donated by Johnsonville. Speaking of wonderful venues, Best Place offered a superb atmosphere to continue the evening. Jim Haertel and his staff at Best Place treated Jerry and I like royalty, plus gave us and others a tour of the iconic Pabst Brewery.
The wonderful evening at both NŌ STUDIOS and Best Place was set up by producer, author and attorney Chris Olsen. The copies of Run to Win for people to buy and get signed were provided by Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee.
Besides the book-signing events, Jerry and I were also on a number of radio shows promoting the book, plus Rich Ryman of the Green Bay Press-Gazette put out a very nice article about Run to Win, which appeared in all the Gannett publications in Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Jerry and I are very proud of this book, in which we were able to get some assistance from some very notable people. Jeremy Schaap wrote the foreword for the book, while Rick Gosselin, a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a key member of the Seniors Committee, wrote the introduction.
Plus, Run to Win had a number of blurbs and praises from outstanding individuals like David Maraniss, Mark Murphy, Bud Selig, David Baker, Vince Lombardi Jr, Bart Starr Jr. and the late, great Paul Hornung. Other former members of the Packers also offered their kind thoughts, and this group includes Aaron Rodgers, LeRoy Butler and Gilbert Brown.
The book chronicles the start of Kramer’s career in Green Bay in 1958 and his entire career with the Packers, in which he was part of five NFL championship teams and two Super Bowl-winning teams under head coach Vince Lombardi. This also includes being on a squad which won three straight NFL titles (1965, 1966 & 1967) in the playoff era, which has never been duplicated before or since.
The book also entails chapters about Coach Lombardi, Bart Starr, Willie Davis, Paul Hornung, Ray Nitschke, Max McGee, Fuzzy Thurston, Boyd Dowler, Emlen Tunnell, Dave Robinson, Don Chandler, Jim Taylor, Henry Jordan, Lee Roy Caffey, Doug Hart, Zeke Bratkowski, Carroll Dale, Ron Kramer, Forrest Gregg, Herb Adderley, Gale Gillingham, Jim Ringo, Bob Skoronski, Willie Wood, Dan Currie, Tommy Joe Crutcher, Ron Kostelnik, Elijah Pitts, Donny Anderson, Jim Grabowski, Chuck Mercein and Don Horn.
Run to Win also devotes a chapter to Jerry’s very close friend, the late, great Dick Schaap.
Plus, the book also includes a chapter on the five toughest defensive tackles Jerry had to face in his NFL career.
Run to Win also describes the 44-year wait Kramer had to go through before he was rightfully enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The book also includes how Jerry used controlled anger when he played, which led to five First-Team All-Pro honors, as well as three Pro Bowl berths. Jerry was also named to the NFL All-Decade Team of the 1960s.
In addition, there is a chapter about Jerry’s encounters with celebrities, which later led to an opportunity for Kramer when he was offered the lead role in one of top-grossing films of 1973.
Bottom line, Run to Win has this and much more, which also includes a number of never-before-seen items that Jerry has never written about in his four previous books (Instant Replay, Farewell to Football, Lombardi: Winning is the Only Thing and Distant Replay). By the way, three of the four books were bestsellers and Instant Replay went all the way to No. 1 on the bestsellers list.
Run to Win can be ordered at places like Triumph Books (our publisher), Amazon, Walmart, Target, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee and the Packers Pro Shop.
I’m very pleased to announce that Run to Win is now available on a pre-sale basis. You can order this book that I wrote with Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer of the Green Bay Packers at a number of online sites. You can order the book at Triumph Books, which happens to be our publisher. Triumph Books is the No. 1 sports publishing company in the country. You can also order the book at online outlets like Amazon and Walmart.
Run to Win will be available in bookstores on September 19.
This is the first book written about Jerry since 1985, when Jerry and the late, great Dick Schaap put out Distant Replay. Of the four books that Jerry put out, three became bestsellers. Instant Replay went all the way to No. 1. This book will cover Jerry’s career with the Green Bay Packers, which will include the fantastic draft class that Jerry was part of in 1958, which was a key component in helping the Pack to win the NFL championships in 1961 and 1962.
The book will also delve into Jerry’s remarkable comeback in 1965 after have nine medical procedures due to intestinal issues, which caused him to miss most of the 1964 season. In addition, the book will cover the unprecedented three straight NFL championships that the Packers won from 1965 through 1967. That will include a very insightful view of the “Ice Bowl”, also known as the 1967 NFL championship game. Plus, the book will entail the real reason Jerry retired, which is different than the official statement put out by the Packers. In the book, Jerry will add some very perceptive and illuminating commentary about Vince Lombardi, as well as his opinions about a number of his teammates, which will include all of the players who later were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The foreword for the book was written by Jeremy Schaap of ESPN, who is Dick’s son. Jeremy is a 13-time Emmy Award winner and a NYT bestselling author. Jeremy was named after Jerry and is also the godson of Jerry.
The introduction was penned by Rick Gosselin of the Talk of Fame Network. Rick also is a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is on the Seniors Committee. Rick played a big role in helping Jerry get a bust in Canton in 2018. Rick was one of Jerry’s presenters to the full Hall of Fame Selection Committee, along with Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
A number of notable people will add insightful commentary about Jerry. This list includes teammates such as Paul Hornung, Boyd Dowler, Dave Robinson, Donny Anderson, Jim Grabowski, Chuck Mercein and Don Horn. Others will also add complimentary comments about No. 64. This includes David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Mark Murphy, the President & CEO of the Packers, David Baker, the former President of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Tommy Lee Jones, Academy Award-winning actor, Aaron Rodgers, Vince Lombardi Jr., Bart Starr Jr., Gilbert Brown and LeRoy Butler.
The list of teammates written about in this book include Hornung, Dowler, Robinson, Anderson, Grabowski, Mercein, Horn, Emlen Tunnell, Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderley, Willie Davis, Jim Ringo, Willie Wood, Henry Jordan, Bobby Dillon, Fuzzy Thurston, Max McGee, Ron Kramer, Gale Gillingham, Don Chandler, Dan Currie, Bob Skoronski, Doug Hart, Carroll Dale, Tommy Joe Crutcher, Lee Roy Caffey, Ron Kostelnik, Zeke Bratkowski, Elijah Pitts, Ken Bowman and Travis Williams.
The book will also cover the frustrating 44-year period in which Jerry had to wait for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, even with Jerry being named as the only guard on the first team of the NFL 50th Anniversary Team in 1969. Jerry was also on the first team of the NFL All-Decade Team of the 1960s. Jerry came close on several occasions, as he was a finalist in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1997 (as a senior nominee), but he never received the necessary votes to get a bust in Canton. That all changed in 2018. Before he was inducted, Jerry received over 30 endorsements from peers/players who had already been enshrined in Canton.
In addition, the book will cover the charities that Jerry has supported throughout the years. One is the Boys & Girls Club of Door County. During the 13 years of the celebrity golf outings since Jerry became involved, the Club has raised $1,300,000. Jerry has also been involved with National Child Identification Program (NCIDP) for seven years.
Also, the book will also have Jerry reminiscing about getting together with celebrities like Johnny Carson, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Lee Marvin and Kirk Douglas. Speaking of Hollywood, Jerry got to be good friends with Richard Zanuck and David Brown, who produced films like Jaws and The Sting. The two of them offered Jerry the lead role in one of the top-grossing films in 1973 that they produced. Jerry turned down that offer, which is pretty ironic, knowing that his two biggest competitors in the NFL, Merlin Olsen and Alex Karras, later went on to become successful actors.
The book will also touch on the recent documentary put out about Jerry’s life, called You Can If You Will: The Jerry Kramer Story. The film was released in 2021 and I was a supervising producer for that film, which was directed by award-winning filmmaker Glenn Aveni.
Additionally, members of the Kramer family will also honor Jerry with their reflections about him.
Bottom line, the hope is that Run to Win is received with as much pleasure as Jerry and I had, as we embarked on this very enjoyable journey.
Back in late July, I wrote that Jerry Kramer and I had reached an agreement with Triumph Books to publish our upcoming book tentatively titled Run to Win and that it would be published in 2023. Triumph Books is the nation’s leading sports book publisher and are based out of Chicago.
I recently was told that the book can be pre-ordered sometime in March. The book itself will go to print on May 1. The book’s on-sale date is September 19, which falls at the beginning of the 2023 NFL season.
Run to Win will be the first book written about Jerry since 1985, when Jerry and Dick Schaap put out Distant Replay. Of the four books that Jerry put out, three became bestsellers. Instant Replay went all the way to No. 1. This book will cover Jerry’s career with the Green Bay Packers, which will include the fantastic draft class Jerry was part of in 1958, which was a key component in helping the Pack to win the NFL championships in 1961 and 1962. The book will also delve into Jerry’s remarkable comeback in 1965 after have nine medical procedures due to intestinal issues, which caused him to miss most of the 1964 season. In addition, the book will cover the unprecedented three straight NFL championships that the Packers won from 1965 through 1967. That will include a very insightful view of the “Ice Bowl”, also known as the 1967 NFL championship game. Plus, the book will entail the real reason Jerry retired, which is different than the official statement put out by the Packers. In the book, Jerry will add some very perceptive and illuminating commentary about Vince Lombardi, as well as his opinions about a number of his teammates, which will include all of the players who later were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The foreword for the book was written by Jeremy Schaap of ESPN, who is Dick’s son. Jeremy is a 13-time Emmy Award winner and a NYT bestselling author. Jeremy was named after Jerry and is also the godson of Jerry.
The introduction was penned by Rick Gosselin of the Talk of Fame Network. Rick also is a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is on the Seniors Committee. Rick played a big role in helping Jerry get a bust in Canton in 2018. Rick was one of Jerry’s presenters to the full Hall of Fame Selection Committee, along with Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
A number of people will add insightful commentary about Jerry. This list includes Paul Hornung, Boyd Dowler, Dave Robinson, Donny Anderson, Jim Grabowski, Chuck Mercein, Don Horn, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss, Mark Murphy, Aaron Rodgers, Vince Lombardi Jr., Bart Starr Jr., Gilbert Brown and LeRoy Butler.
The list of teammates written about in this book include Hornung, Dowler, Robinson, Anderson, Grabowski, Mercein, Horn, Emlen Tunnell, Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderley, Willie Davis, Jim Ringo, Willie Wood, Henry Jordan, Bobby Dillon, Fuzzy Thurston, Max McGee, Ron Kramer, Gale Gillingham, Don Chandler, Dan Currie, Bob Skoronski, Doug Hart, Carroll Dale, Tommy Joe Crutcher, Lee Roy Caffey, Ron Kostelnik, Zeke Bratkowski and Elijah Pitts.
The book will also cover the frustrating 44-year period in which Jerry had to wait for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, even with Jerry being named as the only guard on the first team of the NFL 50th Anniversary Team in 1969. Jerry was also on the first team of the NFL All-Decade Team of the 1960s. Jerry came close on several occasions, as he was a finalist in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1997 (as a senior nominee), but he never received the necessary votes to get a bust in Canton. That all changed in 2018. Before he was inducted, Jerry received over 30 endorsements from peers/players who had already been enshrined in Canton. Many of those endorsements will be in the book.
Photo by John Biever
The book will also get readers caught up regarding Jerry’s family life, since it’s been 37 years since his last book. Plus, the book will cover Jerry’s athletic career before he began playing in the NFL.
In addition, the book will cover the charities that Jerry has supported throughout the years. One is Gridiron Greats, an organization that he originally founded. Another is the Boys & Girls Club of Door County. During the 13 years of the celebrity golf outings since Jerry became involved, the Club has raised $1,300,000. Jerry has also been involved with National Child Identification Program (NCIDP) for seven years. Plus, Jerry has also been very interested in stem cell therapy. I wrote a four-part series about that a few years ago, some of which will be in the book.
In addition, the book will also have Jerry reminiscing about getting together with celebrities like Johnny Carson, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Lee Marvin and Kirk Douglas. Speaking of Hollywood, Jerry got to be good friends with Richard Zanuck and David Brown, who produced films like Jaws and The Sting. The two of them offered Jerry the lead role in one of the top-grossing films in 1973 that they produced. Jerry turned down that offer, which is pretty ironic, knowing that his two biggest competitors in the NFL, Merlin Olsen and Alex Karras, later went on to become successful actors.
The book will also touch on the recent documentary put out about Jerry’s life, called You Can If You Will: The Jerry Kramer Story. The film was released in 2021 and I was a supervising producer for that film, which was directed by award-winning filmmaker Glenn Aveni.
Bottom line, Jerry and I hope that Run to Win is received with as much enjoyment as we had while putting this book together.
I am very pleased to announce that Jerry Kramer and I have reached an agreement with Triumph Books to publish our upcoming book. The book is tentatively titled “Run to Win”, which is expected to be published in 2023. Triumph Books is the nation’s leading sports book publisher and are based out of Chicago.
This book has been in the works for a while now, but the biggest task was finding the right publisher. We are very pleased with the partnership we have achieved with Triumph Books.
This will be the first book about Jerry Kramer since 1985, when Jerry and Dick Schaap put out Distant Replay. Of the four books that Jerry put out, three became bestsellers. Instant Replay went all the way to No. 1. This book will cover Jerry’s career with the Green Bay Packers, which will include the fantastic draft class Jerry was part of in 1958, which was a key component in helping the Pack to win the NFL championships in 1961 and 1962. The book will also delve into Jerry’s remarkable comeback in 1965 after have nine medical procedures due to intestinal issues, which caused him to miss most of the 1964 season. In addition, the book will cover the unprecedented three straight NFL championships that the Packers won from 1965 through 1967. That will include a very insightful view of the “Ice Bowl”, also known as the 1967 NFL championship game. Plus, the book will entail the real reason Jerry retired, which is different than the official statement put out by the Packers. In the book, Jerry will add some very perceptive and illuminating commentary about Vince Lombardi, as well as his opinions about a number of his teammates, which will include all of the players who later were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In addition, several of Jerry’s teammates will add their thoughts about playing with No. 64.
The book will also cover the frustrating 44-year period in which Jerry had to wait for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, even with Jerry being named as the only guard on the first team of the NFL 50th Anniversary Team in 1969. Jerry was also on the first team of the NFL All-Decade Team of the 1960s. Jerry came close on several occasions, as he was a finalist in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1997 (as a senior nominee), but he never received the necessary votes to get a bust in Canton. That all changed in 2018. Before he was inducted, Jerry received over 30 endorsements from peers/players who had already been enshrined in Canton. Many of those endorsements will be in the book.
The book will also get readers caught up regarding Jerry’s family life, since it’s been 37 years since his last book. Plus, the book will cover Jerry’s athletic career before he began playing in the NFL, including his time as a member of the Idaho Vandals.
In addition, the book will cover the charities that Jerry has supported throughout the years. One is Gridiron Greats, an organization that he originally founded. Another is the Boys & Girls Club of Door County. During the 13 years of the celebrity golf outings since Jerry became involved, the Club has raised $1,300,000. Jerry has also been very interested in stem cell therapy. I wrote a four-part series about that a few years ago, some of which will be in the book.
In addition, the book will also have Jerry reminiscing about getting together with celebrities like Johnny Carson, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Lee Marvin and Kirk Douglas. Speaking of Hollywood, Jerry got to be good friends with Richard Zanuck and David Brown, who produced films like Jaws and The Sting. The two of them offered Jerry the lead role in one of the top-grossing films in 1973 that they produced. Jerry turned down that offer, which is pretty ironic, knowing that his two biggest competitors in the NFL, Merlin Olsen and Alex Karras, later went on to become successful actors.
The book will also touch on the recent documentary put out about Jerry’s life, called You Can If You Will: The Jerry Kramer Story. The film was released in 2021 and the Packers are selling the DVD/Blu-Ray copies of the film in their Pro Shop.
Bottom line, I am very excited about writing this book with Jerry and we are both extremely elated about our partnership with Triumph Books.
I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the 1960s. My love of sports, especially football and baseball, came from my dad, who would educate me about the history of teams like the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Braves and the Wisconsin Badgers. In terms of being a fan of the Packers, the decade of the ’60s was incredible.
The Packers under head coach Vince Lombardi would win five NFL championships in seven years, which included victories in the first two Super Bowl games. Plus, the Packers also won three straight NFL titles from 1965 through 1967 and that feat has never been duplicated since the NFL went to a playoff format in 1933.
My favorite player on the Packers was quarterback Bart Starr. He, along with Hank Aaron of the Braves, were definitely on the top of my pedestal in terms of looking up to professional athletes. I loved all the Packers on offense, which included halfback Paul Hornung, fullback Jim Taylor, flanker Boyd Dowler and end Max McGee. Dad told me that the success that those four great players had stemmed from the exceptional offensive line play that the Packers had during that period.
Dad told me games were won in the trenches and to watch players like right tackle Forrest Gregg, right guard Jerry Kramer, center Jim Ringo, left guard Fuzzy Thurston and left tackle Bob Skoronski. Never was that more clear than during the 1967 NFL championship game, better known as the “Ice Bowl” game. The weather on that day would have been nice for a polar bear to take a stroll, but was not exactly a great environment for football.
One never knows what will happen in the region where the Fox River connects to the bay off Lake Michigan late in the year. And on December 31, 1967, the region was given the coldest and most frigid day since they first started documenting weather conditions in Green Bay.
For the NFL title game between the Dallas Cowboys and Packers, it was shocking to find out that the game-time temperature was -13°. If you add in the wind throughout the game, the temperature plummeted to -50°.
The game came down to one big play with 16 seconds to go, after halfback Donny Anderson failed to score on two running attempts.
After conferring with Lombardi on the sideline after the final timeout of the Packers, Starr called a 31-wedge play in the huddle, which calls for the fullback to get the ball. However, unknown to anyone in the huddle, except for Kramer, Starr decided to keep the ball himself due to the slippery conditions near the goal line.
That wedge play was called earlier in the week when the team was studying the defensive tendencies of the Cowboys. Kramer actually suggested the play to Lombardi.
“Jethro [Pugh] was high, and I actually suggested that play on Thursday when we were studying short-yardage films,” Kramer said. “I said we could wedge Pugh if we had to. And Coach Lombardi said, ‘What?’ And I said that we can wedge Pugh if we have to. So we ran the film back three or four times, and coach says, ‘That’s right. Put in a wedge on Pugh.’
So after Starr called the play with just seconds to go in the game, what was going through Kramer’s mind?
“Responsibility. I mean I had suggested the play on Thursday. It seemed like the play was squarely on my shoulders,” Kramer said. “I knew I had to perform. I knew that to be successful as a blocker that I had to keep my head up and my eyes open.
“And also put my face into the chest of the defensive tackle [Pugh]. That is not the easiest thing to do, but it’s the safest and the surest way to make a block. I felt great personal responsibility to the team on that block. When I came off the ball, I was on fire.”
That great period by the Packers in the 1960s always brings back fantastic memories for me. That was fortified by the book that Kramer and the late, great Dick Schaap put out called, Instant Replay in 1968. Talk about a literary masterpiece. I still read that book every year come training camp time. Speaking of Schaap, his son Jeremy adds his voice to the film. Jeremy is in fact, named after Jerry, plus Jerry is the godfather of Jeremy because of his close friendship with Dick.
Little did I know that I would one day become friends with Kramer. Talk about feeling like a kid in a candy store. Plus, like Schaap did four times, I’m currently working on a book with Jerry.
Like myself, Glenn Aveni also grew up in Milwaukee. And like me, on the northwest side of Cream City. Glenn was also a huge fan of the Packers and he too was able to become friends with Kramer.
That all led to the collaboration of the film You Can If You Will: The Jerry Kramer Story, which was released earlier this year. The documentary was directed by the award-winning Aveni, who also brought me on board to be a supervising producer for the film.
Talk about a great partnership. I can see why Glenn has such a decorated career in the film industry. Speaking of partnerships, the Green Bay Packers have also partnered with us, as they are selling the DVD/Blu-Ray of the film at the Packers Pro Shop, plus streamed the documentary earlier this year.
In addition, the film premiered at the Marcus Bay Port Cinema on October 2nd, which is near Lambeau Field. There, folks got to see the full-length version of the film, which is 87 minutes long. Previous to that, the movie had been shown on the Packers television network on stations throughout Wisconsin, but that version was less than one hour.
Which leads us to the Milwaukee premiere of You Can If You Will: The Jerry Kramer Story on November 13th (3:00 pm and 8:00 pm) at the Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall, which is in the Marcus Performing Arts Center.
The film includes appearances by Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Bart Starr Jr., the late great Paul Hornung, Boyd Dowler, Dave Robinson, Donny Anderson, Carroll Dale, Jim Grabowski, Chuck Mercein, Don Horn and Gilbert Brown. Plus, Pro Football Hall of Famer James Lofton adds some commentary, as do other folks who have busts in Canton, like Ron Wolf, Franco Harris, Tom Mack, Joe Delamielleure, “Mean” Joe Green, Bill Polian and Robert Brazile.
The president of the Packers, Mark Murphy is also in the film, as are Jerry’s children…Tony, Diana, Dan, Alicia and Matt, who speak of their admiration for their father. Jerry’s sister Carol also shares some nice memories about their childhood.
Bottom line, it’s amazing that two guys who grew up on the northwest side of Milwaukee in the 1960s during the heyday of the Packers under Coach Lombardi, were somehow put in position to make this epic film about about not only one of the greatest offensive guards in NFL history, but also one of the finest human beings both Glenn and I have ever met.
Yes, I’m talking about Gerald Louis Kramer. Please join us on Saturday to see a film about Jerry’s life that will truly inspire you!
It’s taken over two years, but the documentary highlighting the amazing life of Jerry Kramer is finished. There have been some bumps and hurdles over that time, including the COVID-19 pandemic, but the film is done and is already getting epic reviews from those who have seen it.
I was honored to take part in this great undertaking as a supervising producer after being introduced to award-winning filmmaker Glenn Aveni, who directed and helped write this documentary.
The people who add their commentary in the film are a Who’s Who list of prominent people. For instance, Bart Starr Jr., Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers all add some insightful discussion about Jerry. We came close to adding two more very significant voices to this group. Glenn and I had set up an interview with both Bart Starr and Zeke Bratkowski at Zeke’s home in Florida’s panhandle in 2019. Unfortunately, Bart’s health situation worsened and he passed away before we could do the interview. About six months later, his best friend Zeke also passed away.
Plus there are many other legendary sports icons in this movie. People like the late, great Paul Hornung. Other teammates of Jerry’s who add their commentary in the film include Hall of Famer Dave Robinson, as well as Boyd Dowler, Carroll Dale, Chuck Mercein, Donny Anderson, Don Horn and Jim Grabowski. Other former Green Bay greats also add some great analysis about Jerry, which include stars like Gilbert Brown and Hall of Famer James Lofton.
The president of the Packers, Mark Murphy, also lends his voice in this film. As does the former general manager of the team, Ron Wolf.
Also in the documentary is David Baker, the president and executive director for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The two men who made the presentations for Jerry to all of the voters for the Hall of Fame are also in this film. They are Rick Gosselin and Pete Dougherty.
There was nobody more important in Jerry’s literary career than his very good friend Dick Schaap. That part of Jerry’s life, as well as some other excellent assessment about Jerry was added by Jeremy Schaap, Dick’s son. Jeremy is named after Jerry, plus Jerry is the godfather of Jeremy.
Plus there a number of Pro Football Hall of Fame members who also add some insightful recognition about Jerry. This includes Franco Harris, Tom Mack, Joe Delamielleure, “Mean” Joe Green, Bill Polian and Robert Brazile. Also in the documentary is the vice president of the Chicago Bears, Brian McCaskey.
In addition, five of Jerry’s children…Tony, Diana, Dan, Alicia and Matt, speak of their admiration for their father. Jerry’s sister Carol also shares some nice memories about their childhood.
Three of the executive producers of the film, Herb Kohler, Lonnie Stephenson and Kenny Hansmire, also add some commentary in the documentary.
Jerry was also able to share some great memories with some of his buddies from Sandpoint High School.
I talked to Aveni about the film recently and he was very thankful for all the help he received along the way.
“The whole film has been a pleasurable experience,” Aveni said. “We have had tremendous support. First and foremost, the Green Bay Packers. The Packers have been outstanding in wanting to be involved with us, from Mark Murphy on down, including his whole team and also Craig Benzel (vice president of sales and business development) who have been very supportive. Then inevitably, they decided they would help in distribution for us.”
“They will be handling the digital streaming on their platform for the feature-like version and it will be there exclusively. They are also going to handle sales of digital downloads, physical DVDs and Blu-Ray copies at the Packers Pro Shop at Lambeau.”
The film goes back to Jerry’s childhood growing up in Sandpoint, Idaho. It captures Jerry’s time in high school and also at the University of Idaho. Then there was the 11 wonderful years Jerry spent in Green Bay playing under Vince Lombardi. Jerry was part of a team which won five NFL championships in seven years, which included the first two Super Bowls. Plus, the Packers won three straight NFL titles (1965, 1966 & 1967), which is something that has never been duplicated in the playoff era of the NFL which started in 1933.
The signature moment of the time under Coach Lombardi was the victory in the “Ice Bowl”, aka the 1967 NFL title game. That game included the signature drive in the Lombardi era, as well as the signature play, Starr’s quarterback sneak. Jerry played a big role in all those memorable moments.
That period was an unforgettable time in Jerry’s life. He was part of a great collection of individuals, who excelled on the playing field and also in life in general, thanks to the coaching and teaching of Coach Lombardi.
The documentary also delves into Jerry’s literary career and then the long 44-year journey that Jerry took on his way to enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
One day, Jerry can look back on all of the wonderful achievements he has accomplished in his life.
“I know I’ll go home and go fishing one of these days,” Jerry says in the film. “And sit out on the water and remember the days and some of the moments and some of the players and some of the guys. I think I just need to be alone and be out in the bushes somewhere and think about it for a while. But it’s been all I dreamed it could be and more. It’s just been more that I ever hoped it would be.”
With the 2021 NFL draft just two weeks away, I want to write about one of the players that the Green Bay Packers selected in the 1961 NFL draft. That player was drafted in the 13th round out of a small college in Arkansas called Philander Smith. That player’s name was running back Elijah Pitts.
Pitts was part of a draft class which included Hall of Fame cornerback Herb Adderley who was selected in Round 1, as well defensive tackle Ron Kostelnik, who was drafted in Round 2. And in the next round after Pitts was selected, the Packers drafted LB Nelson Toburen in Round 14.
Going into the ’61 draft, the Packers already had Paul Hornung and Tom Moore at the top of their halfback depth chart. Adderley had played halfback at Michigan State and Pitts also played that position at Philander Smith, so something had to give.
The Packers ended up first moving Adderley to flanker and then towards the end of the year to cornerback. It obviously was a wise decision that both Vince Lombardi and Phil Bengtson made, as Adderley became one of the very best corners to ever play the game.
In his rookie year, Pitts played in all 14 games and actually started a game, as he rushed for 75 yards on 23 carries and scored a touchdown. Hornung led the NFL in scoring for the third year in a row, plus rushed for 671 yards and had eight rushing touchdowns. No. 5 also caught 15 passes for 145 yards and two more scores. Hornung was later named the NFL MVP in ’61. Moore rushed for 302 yards and a score, plus had caught eight passes for 41 yards and another score.
The Packers would go on and win the 1961 NFL title at new City Stadium in Green Bay, as Hornung scored 19 points for the Pack, as Green Bay defeated the New York Giants 37-0. Hornung almost didn’t play in that championship game due to Army duty, but thanks to the friendship between Lombardi and President John F. Kennedy, he was given a pass to play.
In 1962, Pitts got some more playing time, as Hornung injured a knee and only played in nine games. Fullback Jim Taylor led the Packers in rushing with 1,474 yards and 19 touchdowns. No. 31 was later named NFL MVP in 1962. Moore led the halfbacks with 377 yards and seven scores, while Hornung rushed for 219 yards and five touchdowns. Pitts chipped in with 110 rushing yards and two scores.
In ’62, Pitts also returned punts at times and had seven returns for 17 yards, as Willie Wood was the main return man for the Pack. But in the 1962 title game against the New York Giants again, this time at Yankee Stadium, Pitts had a key 36-yard punt return in the 4th quarter to help set up Jerry Kramer for another field goal attempt to pad the 13-7 lead the Packers had at the time. Kramer missed that 40-yard attempt in a swirling wind, but later connected on 30-yard attempt in that same direction to make the score 16-7 and the Packers were NFL champions again for the second straight year.
In 1963, there was a major change for the Packers as they attempted to win their third straight NFL title. They would have to do it without Hornung, who was suspended along with Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions for the season for gambling. That also meant more time at halfback for Pitts.
Moore became the lead halfback in Hornung’s absence, as No. 25 gained 658 yards and scored six touchdowns. Pitts added 254 yards rushing and had five rushing touchdowns himself. Moore and Pitts also combined for 32 receptions for 291 yards and three more scores. Pitts also continued to return punts along with Wood, as No. 22 returned seven for 60 yards. But between the absence of Hornung, a broken hand which caused quarterback Bart Starr to miss four games and the exceptional play by the Chicago Bears, the Packers fell just short in winning the NFL title again in 1963. Green Bay finished 11-2-1, but Chicago was even better at 11-1-2, as da Bears ended up winning the NFL crown by beating the G-Men from New York.
Hornung was back for the Packers in 1964, but there were major changes along the offensive line, as center Jim Ringo had been traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for linebacker Lee Roy Caffey and a 1965 1st round draft which would be used to select Donny Anderson. In addition to that change, right guard Jerry Kramer missed almost the entire season with intestinal issues. Left tackle Bob Skoronski moved over to play center for some games, while Norm Masters filled his spot at left tackle, plus Dan Grimm filled in for Kramer at right guard.
The Packers finished second in the Western Conference again in 1964, as the kicking game of the Packers was a big reason why, as Hornung was just 12-of-38 in connecting on field goal attempts. The Packers lost two close games to the Western Conference champion Baltimore Colts due in part to the kicking woes. Bottom line, if the Packers had beaten the Colts in those two games, Green Bay wins the Western Conference.
With the return of Hornung, Pitts again was relegated to being the third option at halfback behind Hornung and Moore. Hornung rushed for 415 yards and five scores, while Moore ran for 371 yards and two touchdowns. Pitts chipped in with 127 rushing yards and one score. Pitts continued to return punts in tandem with Wood and returned seven for 191 yards, which included a 65-yard touchdown scamper.
In 1965, the Packers were determined to get back to the status of being champion. The rushing game struggled for most of the year, but when it counted in the postseason, the ground game clicked like it did in the early ’60s in Green Bay. Taylor only rushed for 734 yards, which was the first time he hadn’t eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark since 1959. Pitts remained as the No. 3 halfback behind Hornung and Moore, but when he got an opportunity, he found a way to find pay dirt. Hornung rushed for just 219 yards, but had five scores, while Moore only had 124 yards rushing and no scores. Pitts rushed for 122 yards, but he did also have four rushing touchdowns.
In the 1965 NFL title game at Lambeau Field against the Cleveland Browns, Taylor and Hornung ran like it was 1961 again, as combined they rushed for 201 yards. The “Golden Boy” rushed for 105 yards and a score, as the Packers were NFL champs again, as they beat the Browns 23-12.
The situation for Pitts at halfback would be quite different in 1966, as Lombardi had traded Moore to the Los Angeles Rams and now had Anderson, who Lombardi had drafted in 1965 with a future pick in the 1st round. Hornung started the year as the lead halfback again, but as the season wore on, the neck/shoulder issues he had only allowed No. 5 to play in nine games and start six of them.
With Hornung relegated to the sideline due to his injury, Pitts became the main halfback for the Packers in 1966. No. 22 gained 393 yards and scored seven touchdowns. Hornung rushed for 200 yards and had two scores, while Anderson had 104 yards on the ground and had two scores.
Plus, Anderson took away the job Pitts had in returning punts with Wood, especially after No. 44 returned a punt for 77 yards and a TD in a game against the Atlanta Falcons in a game I attended at County Stadium in Milwaukee.
Bottom line, Starr was the difference for the Packers on offense in ’66, as he was named NFL MVP in ’66.
The Packers once again returned to the 1966 NFL title game, this time against the Dallas Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl. Pitts came up big in that game, as he rushed for 66 yards on just 12 carries, plus caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Starr, who threw for 304 yards and four TD passes in the game. For the second straight year, the Packers were NFL champs and had won their fourth NFL title in six years. But another test was still awaiting the Pack. That would be Super Bowl I, when the NFL champion Packers would be facing the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs for the bragging rights in Pro Football.
Starr was just phenomenal in the game, as he was named MVP in the 35-10 win by the Pack. Split end Max McGee also had a big game, as No. 85 caught seven passes for 138 yards and two scores. Guess who else scored two TDs for the Packers that day? That would be Mr. Pitts, who had two rushing touchdowns, as he rushed for 45 yards on 11 carries.
In 1967, things would really be different for the Packers in terms of their offensive backfield. Taylor played out his option and signed with the New Orleans Saints which netted the Packers a 1st round pick in the 1968 NFL draft, while Hornung was nabbed by the Saints in the expansion draft. Hornung would end up retiring due to his neck/shoulder woes.
That meant the starting backfield for the Packers in 1967 would be Jim Grabowski at fullback and Pitts at halfback. The two would be backed up by Ben Wilson and Anderson, as the Packers tried for their third straight NFL title, a feat that had never been done in NFL history since the playoff era started in 1933.
Both Grabowski (466 rushing yards and two TDs) and Pitts (247 rushing yards and six TDs) were having strong years, when both were basically lost for the season in Week 8 against the Baltimore Colts at Memorial Stadium. Pitts was definitely lost for the year with a ruptured Achilles tendon, while Grabowski suffered a knee injury that kept him out for the entire year except four carries against the Bears in Week 11.
It was at that point that Lombardi added Chuck Mercein to add to the depth chart at fullback, while Anderson became the starter at halfback with rookie Travis Williams backing him up. Even with all the changes at running back for the Packers in 1967, the team finished second in the NFL in rushing. Better than that, the team indeed won their third straight NFL title by beating the Cowboys again in the 1967 NFL championship game at Lambeau Field, better known as the “Ice Bowl”, plus won their second straight Super Bowl, by beating the Oakland Raiders 33-14.
In 1968, Lombardi resigned as head coach and was general manager only for the team, as Bengtson became the head coach. Pitts, along with Williams, became backups to Anderson at halfback. The same routine occurred in 1969, when Pitts backed up both Anderson and Williams. In ’68 and ’69, Pitts combined to rush for 398 yards and two scores.
In 1970, Pitts, along with Caffey and center Bob Hyland, were traded to the Bears for a 1st round draft pick. Pitts was later released by the Bears and picked up by two teams (the Saints and the Rams) in 1970. All told, Pitts rushed for 104 yards in eight games combined for both teams.
In 1971, the new head coach and general manager of the Packers, Dan Devine, picked up Pitts to play for the Pack in ’71. But No. 22 did not carry the ball once for the Packers that year and only returned kicks for Green Bay that year. After the season was over, Pitts retired and started scouting for the Packers, which he did for two seasons.
In 1974, Pitts was hired to coach running backs with the Rams in 1974. That led to a long assistant coaching career in the NFL, similar to what both Boyd Dowler and Zeke Bratkowski did after their playing careers ended, as Pitts coached for 23 years as an assistant, which concluded with Elijah being the assistant head coach of the Buffalo Bills when they went to four straight Super Bowls in the early 1990s.
In 1997, while Pitts was still coaching in Buffalo, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. That dreaded disease took the life of Pitts just nine months later at the young age of 60.
Now you know the history of Pitts as a NFL player and coach. But I want to you to know more about Elijah. Which is why I wanted to talk with both Kramer and Anderson about their time with Pitts.
Let’s start with No. 64.
“Elijah was probably one of the sweetest, gentlest, most thoughtful players on the team,” Kramer said. “He really had a nice comfortable way about him. He had a great voice and a great smile. I remember that smile as much as anything.”
No. 44 concurred.
“Elijah was a perfect gentleman,” Anderson said. “I could understand why he was there in Green Bay for so long. Elijah was pretty quiet guy. He didn’t have a lot to say, but he was pretty funny when he would say things. He was just a sweet guy. And he was my friend. I was his friend too, even though we fought for the same position.”
Kramer talked about the running style of Pitts.
“I tried to get on his ass a little bit about the way he would go by Fuzzy and me on the sweep,” Kramer said. “And Elijah would go, ‘Okay Jerry, okay.’ But later he would do the same thing and run by us. I think it was more of an instinctive way to run by Elijah. He had great talent and speed. But he wasn’t used to waiting for his blockers while he ran. He was the type of back who wanted to go for as much as he could get, as quick as he could get it.”
Anderson mentioned that he and Pitts had similar styles.
“Elijah was different than Hornung in terms of power and speed,” Anderson said. “I was like him, in terms of being light-legged and fast. Elijah could block a lot better than I could though.”
Anderson also mentioned another story about the way he and Pitts ran.
“Elijah and I were similar in the way we ran, as we didn’t raise our feet very high,” Anderson said. “So anytime we played a stadium that had high grass, that could be a deterrent for us, as we would sometimes stumble. In fact, Vince asked me why Elijah and I stumbled at times running. I told him that the grass was too high, like at County Stadium in Milwaukee. Both Elijah and I had problems there, as did Bob Jeter. After that, Vince made sure the grass was mowed in either Green Bay or Milwaukee for Elijah and I.”
Kramer summarized the way Pitts was when they played together.
“There were quite a few things that were impressive about Elijah,” Kramer said. “There was his smile and his singing, but there was more than that. Elijah just had a happy way in the manner he conducted himself. Always smiling and happy and just a very pleasant guy to be around.”
Since the National Football League (NFL) first started in 1920, then under the name the American Professional Football Association (APFA), there has been only one team in league history who have won the championship of the league three consecutive times.
That team is the Green Bay Packers. And they have done it twice. Once before the NFL playoff era started in 1933 and once afterward. Under head coach Curly Lambeau, the Packers won three straight NFL titles in 1929, 1930 and 1931, when the league champions were crowned due to their league record. Those great teams of the Packers were led by players like Lavvie Dilweg, Red Dunn, Verne Lewellen, Jug Earp and Johnny “Blood” McNally.
But starting in 1933, the NFL champion was determined by the ultimate winner in the postseason. That means the playoff system has been in place for 87 years now. And only one team has won three straight NFL titles during that time. And that was the Green Bay Packers who played under head coach Vince Lombardi. The Pack won NFL championships in 1965, 1966 and 1967. Many of the players who played on those teams had a chance to win three in a row once before, as the Packers won the NFL title in both 1961 and 1962, before falling just short in 1963.
The period in which the Packers won three titles in a row happened right smack dab in the middle of the merger between the NFL and the AFL. Which means, besides winning three straight NFL championships in a row, the Packers also had to play the AFL champion after the 1966 and 1967 seasons. That game became known as the Super Bowl. The Packers won both Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II, as quarterback Bart Starr was the MVP of both of those games.
I wanted to talk with some players who were on those Green Bay teams which won three titles in a row and I was fortunate to be able to talk with three of those players. Those three very talented players are right guard Jerry Kramer, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, split end Boyd Dowler, who like Kramer was on the NFL 50th Anniversary Team and flanker Carroll Dale, who became the deep threat for Starr and the Packers when he joined the team in 1965.
The Packers came close to winning three NFL titles in a row earlier in the Lombardi era. Had the Packers won the 1960 NFL title game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Franklin Field, it would have been the first of three straight championships, because the Packers won the 1961 NFL title game 37-0 against the New York Giants at new City Stadium (now Lambeau Field) and also the 1962 NFL title game against the G-Men again by a score of 16-7 at Yankee Stadium.
The Packers came close to beating the Eagles in the 1960 championship game, as they lost 17-13 when fullback Jim Taylor was tackled on the final play of the game at the Philadelphia 8 by middle linebacker Chuck Bednarek. Green Bay had outgained Philadelphia in the game and had squandered away some early points in the game by going for it on 4th down twice and didn’t succeed either time.
But it was the words of Coach Lombardi after the game that made Kramer a believer of what his coach was trying to accomplish in Green Bay.
“After the game, Coach Lombardi didn’t get into the locker room until 15 minutes later than the rest of us,” Kramer said. “He was talking to the media or whatever. I remember him getting on a trunk in the middle of the locker room and tells everyone to bring it up to listen to him. We were all still angry and frustrated and Coach knew that and understood that. When everyone was around him, Coach Lombardi says, ‘All right. This year we played in the championship game. Next year we will win the championship game.’ I made up my mind at that moment to buy in with what he was preaching. Up until then, I wasn’t sure. But I was all in after that talk.”
Plus, had the Packers won the NFL title in 1963, that also would have meant three straight NFL titles, after winning in ’61 and ’62. But even though the Packers finished 11-2-1 that year, the Chicago Bears were 11-1-2 and ending up winning the NFL championship that year.
The Packers finished second in the Western Conference again in 1964 and Kramer missed most of the season due to intestinal issues. Kramer just hoped he could resume his NFL career in 1965 and winning another championship was secondary in his thinking.
“I came out of the Mayo Clinic late in ’64 and I had dropped a lot of weight and now had a colostomy. I got as low as 179 pounds. A while after that, Doc Brault talked me into another operation because I wasn’t getting better. I didn’t show up the first and second time the operation was scheduled. Finally, the third time I did. Doc found the splinters which had been lodged in me for 11 years. He also reversed my colostomy. I believe my last procedure with Doc Brault was in March or April of 1965. A month or so later, I went to see Coach Lombardi.
“So when I went to talk with Coach Lombardi about playing, he said, ‘Jerry, we can’t count on you this year. I just want you to go home and we’ll take care of your salary and your hospital bills.’ I told Lombardi that I really wanted to play. I knew that I had already missed most of the ’64 season and if I missed the ’65 season, I would probably never get a chance to play again. I told him emphatically that I would not go home and that I wanted to play. We went back and forth about this for about 35 or 40 minutes. Finally Lombardi says, ‘Okay, I’m going to put you with the defense.’ I said, great. I always wanted to play defense anyway. But the main thing is that allowed me to get on the field at least.”
Kramer found out however that his task of getting in football shape would be very, very difficult.
“We always used to take three laps around the field to start practice. I ran a half of a lap and my lungs seized up. I just couldn’t breathe or get any air. Don Chandler came up to me and asked, ‘What’s wrong, pal?’
“I told Don that I can’t breathe. Don told me that, ‘Between the two of us, we would do what one of the players does in terms of an exercise. If you can only do a half of a lap, I’ll do the other two and half laps.’
“So Don worked out besides me for the next month and we did just that. If the team did 50 sit ups and I could only do 10, Don would do the other 40. If the team did 50 side-saddle hops and I could only do 15, Don would do the other 35. So Don kept me in the game and kept me from being embarrassed. That kept me from feeling like a jerk in front of a bunch of world-class athletes. So by doing that procedure with Don, I gradually was able to do more and after a month I was able to do all of the exercises.
“I gained about 15 pounds. I knew that the colostomy was reattached, the hernia was fixed and the intestines were okay. It was just going through the reconditioning which was so difficult. Without Don, I really doubt that I could have made it through that camp. So all the books, the three straight NFL championships, the two Super Bowls and all the great things that happened to me after that was because of my teammate.”
Going into the ’65 season, Dowler felt the team was ready for another championship run.
“Going into the 1965 season, I don’t recall anyone being negative,” Dowler said. “I think we all believed that we didn’t live up to expectations in ’63 and ’64. We need to get back on the track. And we did. I think not getting into the championship game for two years in a row was just not good enough. We were better than that. We had more focus as a team in 1965 and that carried on over through the season.”
Meanwhile, Dale was just happy to be with a team which had championship aspirations after playing with the Rams in the first part of his NFL career and the team never had a winning season.
“I spent five losing seasons with the Rams,” Dale said. “We were in the same conference as the Packers and we played them twice each year. We didn’t have a lot of success against the Packers either. To be traded to a contender, a team that had won it all in ’61 and ’62, was just fantastic. Plus, there were a couple of guys I was familiar with, as Tom Fears, who was the receivers coach with me with the Rams, was now in Green Bay, as was Zeke Bratkowski, who I had played with in Los Angeles.
“But getting traded to the Packers was a dream come true. Green Bay was perfect for me because I was a small-town boy growing up, plus playing in Blacksburg where I went to college was also small. And the fact that the team was a championship contender made it more attractive.”
Kramer, Dowler and Dale played key roles in the Packers winning the 1965 NFL title, as the Packers finished with a 10-3-1 record. The Baltimore Colts also finished 10-3-1, which set up a playoff game to see who would play the Cleveland Browns in the NFL title game.
I wrote about that controversial game back in 2016, as Bratkowski added the commentary. Zeke led the Packers to a 13-10 win in overtime.
Kramer got better as the year went on as he regained his All-Pro form, which in turn improved the team’s rushing attack, which was ranked just 10th in the NFL in ’65. But come the postseason, when Kramer was almost in peak form, the running attack blossomed. In the NFL title game against the defending NFL champion Cleveland Browns, the Packers rushed for 204 yards, as Paul Hornung rushed for 106 yards and a score and Taylor added 96 more yard toting the rock, as the Packers won 23-12 at snowy and muddy Lambeau Field.
“I remember that game against the Browns,” Kramer said. “Jimmy Brown was held to 50 yards rushing by our defense. That was a great job by Willie Davis, Ray Nitschke, Dave Robinson and company. You know, it took me a while to get my shit together in ’65 and get comfortable. And when I did, it seemed like I got going and we got going. I had my confidence back and I had my strength back. And in that game, it all came together. Fuzzy [Thurston] and I had a blast that game!”
Dowler led the Packers in receiving in 1965 with 44 receptions and four touchdowns. In the postseason during the games against the Baltimore Colts and the Browns, Dowler had 10 catches for 109 yards.
“In ’65, we started throwing the ball a little more, compared to the earlier years under Coach Lombardi,” Dowler said. “I personally had a pretty good year. I know I played in the Pro Bowl. I didn’t play in the Pro Bowl because I was voted in, I played in the Pro Bowl because Jimmy Orr pulled a muscle in the first practice for that game in Los Angeles. I was next in line in the voting, so they called me on the phone to get out there.”
Dale also had a big postseason in ’65, after having an quiet regular season, when No. 84 caught 20 passes for 382 yards and two scores. But in the games between the Colts and the Browns, Dale had five catches for a whopping 123 yards (24.6 average) and a touchdown. That TD occurred in the NFL title game against the Browns, as it was the opening score of the game when Starr hit Dale with a 47-yard pass for a touchdown.
“In the game against the Browns, I told Bart that they were playing me a little tight,” Dale said. “Of course, it had snowed that day and it was muddy. So I was trying to run a fly pattern and Bart underthrew it and I was able to come back and catch it, plus a couple of their guys slipped down and I was able to go all the way and score.”
So, after the NFL title in 1965, the Packers now had won three NFL championships in five years. That being said, 1966 would be much different, as before the season, the NFL and AFL had merged to create a championship game between the leagues that would become the Super Bowl.
As it was, the 1966 Green Bay team was probably the second best team which played under Lombardi. The 13-1 team in 1962 was the certainly the best, but the 12-2 team in 1966 came close. The two losses in the regular season were by a combined total of four points.
Starr was the NFL MVP in 1966, as he led a Green Bay offense which was ranked No. 4 in the NFL. It helped that Kramer was back to his usual form, as he was named First-Team All-Pro. Right tackle Forrest Gregg was also named First-Team All-Pro, as was Starr obviously.
The Green Bay defense was just outstanding in 1966, as it was ranked No. 1 in total defense. Several players from the great defense were also named First-Team All-Pro, which included Davis, Nitschke, Herb Adderley, Willie Wood and Lee Roy Caffey.
The Packers played the Dallas Cowboys in the 1966 NFL championship game at the Cotton Bowl. Starr was just magnificent, as No. 15 threw four touchdown passes without throwing an interception for 304 yards. One of Starr’s touchdown passes went to Dowler and another went to Dale.
“I don’t remember a hell of a lot about that game,” Kramer said. “I know that we moved up and down the field pretty well. I know Elijah [Pitts] ran the ball pretty well and Bart was phenomenal.”
The 16-yard touchdown pass that Starr threw to Dowler was controversial, because No. 86 was already two steps into the end zone when cornerback Mike Gaechter upended Dowler and flipped him high in the air and the former Colorado Buffalo landed on his shoulder.
Taylor wanted to go after Gaechter after that cheap shot, but Starr made sure that he kept No. 31 from getting a personal foul, as he and Taylor jogged to the sideline.
On the 51-yard touchdown pass to Dale, the former Virginia Tech star described what happened.
“On that play, Cornell Green flashed in front of me,” Dale said. “Bart just threw it as hard and high as he could and the trajectory of the ball just missed Cornell’s arms as he was defending and went right into my arms and it stuck.”
Starr also threw TD passes to Pitts and Max McGee, as the Packers held off the Cowboys and won 34-27, which meant the Packers would be playing the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl.
Once again, Starr had a tremendous performance, as No. 15 completed 16-of-23 passes for 250 yards and also threw two touchdown passes, as the Packers won 35-10. Starr was especially deadly on third down, as the Packers were able to convert 11-of-15 chances on that crucial down. The two TD passes that Starr threw went to McGee, who came into the game after the third play of the contest when Dowler injured his shoulder.
Even with a slight hangover and very little sleep, No. 85 had a huge game, as he had seven catches for 138 yards and two scores.
The running game of the Packers was also effective, as the running attack gained 130 yards. Pitts had two rushing touchdowns, while Taylor had one.
Going into the game, even with Lombardi telling the team not to underestimate their opponents, Kramer recalled a big laugh when the offense was watching films of the KC defense.
“I remember watching the Chiefs defense while we were watching film, and their two safeties ran into one and another. All of a sudden Max starts doing the merrie melodies and looney tunes theme song and we all cracked up.
“So we were not really prepared for that first quarter and the quality of talent that showed up for the Chiefs. You were playing against guys like Jerry Mays, Buck Buchanan, E.J. Holub, Johnny Robinson and Bobby Bell. They had a lot a lot of talent on that defense!”
Dale recalled Lombardi telling the team how important this first Super Bowl game was.
“Apparently Commissioner Rozelle had called Coach Lombardi and reminded him that he was not only representing the Green Bay Packers, but the entire NFL,” Dale said. “Coach shared that with us and told us that we had the extra pressure going into the game. He felt we would win, but we definitely had to respect Kansas City.”
But it wasn’t easy.
The Packers only led 14-10 at halftime. But things were completely different in the second half. Wood picked off a Len Dawson pass early in the third quarter and returned it 50 yards to set up a five-yard touchdown run by Pitts. The game was basically over at that point.
The victory in Super Bowl I set up the magical 1967 season for the Packers. That wonderful season was documented by Kramer in his classic book, Instant Replay, which edited by the late great Dick Schaap.
Kramer recalls that the focus of winning a third straight NFL title was talked about immediately by Lombardi at training camp in 1967.
“Without question, Coach Lombardi’s favorite topic was about winning that third NFL title in a row that year,” Kramer said. “How the team could be set apart from any other team in pro football and how people would remember that forever. He mentioned that several different times that year, including our first team meeting at training camp.
“But it was a bitch of a season for us in ’67. We had won two in a row and we weren’t sneaking up on anybody. Everybody knew our game, plus we didn’t change anything. But we wanted that third title badly.”
It was indeed a tough season for the Packers. Hornung and Taylor were gone. Starr was hampered by injuries early in the year. In Week 8 against the Colts, the Packers lost their starting running backs, Pitts and Jim Grabowski, for the season. Plus there were two excruciating last second losses to the Colts and the Rams on the road.
Yet the team overcame all of that adversity.
Just two weeks after that disheartening 27-24 loss to the Rams in Week 13 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Packers hosted the Rams at County Stadium in Milwaukee for the Western Conference title.
The theme of that game was set by Lombardi in a pregame speech.
“With Coach Lombardi, he always preached that we should have three priorities,” Dale said. “God first, our families second and the Green Bay Packers third. In a meeting before the game against the Rams, Coach was talking about St. Paul and running a race. I was the guy who ran chapel for the team and Coach asked me if I had heard that parable. Well, you only had one answer when Coach Lombardi spoke to you. You said, ‘Yes, Sir!’ So I went straight home and looked it up and found it in 1 Corinthians 9:24. St. Paul said in a race there are many runners, but only one will win the prize. So run to win. That was the theme for the game against the Rams in his pregame speech.”
The Packers started off slowly and fell behind 7-0 in that game. But from the 2nd quarter on, the Packers just dominated the game. Starr once again had a big game, as he completed 17-of-23 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown pass to Dale.
But the star of the game was halfback Travis Williams, who definitely ran to win, as he rushed for 88 yards and two rushing touchdowns, including a 46-yard scamper to tie the game in the 2nd quarter.
Kramer definitely recalls that play.
“I remember blocking on Merlin [Olsen] and he was starting to slip away to the outside in pursuit and I look outside and Travis was about even with us, but near the sideline running towards the end zone. And I knew that this play was over. He’s gone.”
On defense, the Packers just dominated the Rams and held Los Angeles to 217 total yards. The Packers sacked quarterback Roman Gabriel five times, including 3.5 sacks by defensive tackle Henry Jordan.
When the game was over, the Packers were the winners by a 28-7 score.
That victory set up the 1967 NFL title game between the Packers and Cowboys at Lambeau Field. The game is better known as the “Ice Bowl” game.
One never knows what will happen weather-wise in the region where the Fox River connects to the bay off Lake Michigan in the winter. And on December 31, 1967, the region was shocked with the coldest day in Green Bay history.
The game-time temperature was -13°. If you add in the wind throughout the game, the temperature plummeted to -50°. Nice weather if you are a polar bear. But not if you are a professional football player.
The Packers jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, thanks to two Starr touchdown passes to Dowler. Back in January, I talked to Dowler about this game and he told me about each of the touchdowns he scored.
The first touchdown came on the first drive of the game of the Packers and it was when Green Bay was on the 8-yard line of the Cowboys.
“Bart noticed that the cornerback was lined-up a couple of yards outside of me and I was in tight,” Dowler said. “So was the linebacker. Plus, Mel Renfro, who was a safety, was near the line of scrimmage near the center. So Bart calls an audible called 86, which had nothing to do with my number. 86 was a quick post or slant and it was a blitz audible when the safety was up. But Bart never once called that audible when I was in tight. He always had called it when I was split out wide.
“But he called it anyway. But the call did not throw me off, as I knew how Bart thought and was in my ninth year playing with him. So I thought to myself to just not screw up and run what Bart had called, even though I was in tight. The linebacker gave me a clean release off the line of scrimmage and I just broke inside to where Renfro should have been and Bart just threw it to me and it was an easy pitch and catch. But it was the play call that got me open. Bart sort of surprised me with the call, but when I broke wide open in the end zone, I realized it was a damn good call by Bart.”
Dowler also recalled the second touchdown, which occurred in the second quarter.
“It was third and short and Bart called the 36 pass,” Dowler said. “If Renfro was playing deep where he was supposed to be, Bart would have changed the call to a 36 run, when the fullback would run off tackle.”
On the 36 pass, Starr had two options. One, he could throw to the halfback out in the left flat or throw to the end who would run a post pattern. This play occurred when the Packers were at the 43-yard line of the Cowboys.
“On that 36 pass play, Bart first faked the handoff to Ben Wilson and then looked to pass,” Dowler said. “The wind was blowing in Bart’s face on that play. Renfro was playing up a bit and when I got by him, my heart skipped a beat because I thought Bart would overthrow me, but he laid it in there perfectly. Renfro wasn’t far behind me when I caught it and he did tackle me in the end zone.
“The bottom line is that on both of my touchdowns, the coverage problem for the Cowboys was because of where Renfro was lined up. Bart saw that and took advantage of it.”
But the Packers let the Cowboys back in the game thanks to a fumble by Starr which was returned for a TD and a fumble by Wood on a punt return which led to a field goal. The Packers were up just 14-10 at halftime. Then on the first play of the 4th quarter, halfback Dan Reeves hit flanker Lance Rentzel with a 50-yard touchdown pass on the halfback option play.
The Cowboys took the lead 17-14 and that was the score when the Packers got the ball back at their own 32 with 4:50 left in the game. Up until that point, the Packers had run 31 plays after their first two scores and had mustered a minus-nine yards.
Kramer has talked to me about that drive many times.
“I don’t think we ever considered the possibility of losing,” Kramer said. “We didn’t really acknowledge the fact that we didn’t gain any yardage in 31 plays prior to that. We knew where we were when we got in the final huddle. We knew what we had to do.
“I asked Bart about that years later, about what made him think we could go 68 yards and score a touchdown after we had made minus-nine yards on 31 plays prior to that. Bart said, ‘Jerry, I came into the huddle and started to say something. Then I looked in your eyes, I looked at Forrest’s eyes and everyone else in the huddle, and I knew I didn’t have to say anything. So all I said was, ‘Let’s go.’
Kramer said there was calm in that huddle.
“Even at that point of the game there wasn’t any panic with us,” No. 64 said. “There was a sense of urgency however. We still believed that we could do it.
“The beautiful part of that was the contribution by so many different players in that drive. Players like Chuck Mercein, Boyd Dowler and Donny Anderson.”
Indeed, except for a 13-yard pass to Dowler, it was Anderson and Mercein who accounted for most of the yardage on that drive. Mercein picked up 34 yards by himself. No. 30 hadn’t joined the Packers until midway through the ’67 season when Grabowski was hurt, but Mercein proved how valuable he was to the Packers in the postseason games against the Rams and Cowboys.
The game basically came down to one play. It was 3rd down and the Packers had the ball at the 1-yard line of the Cowboys. Green Bay was out of timeouts and there were 16 seconds left in the game. After Starr called his final timeout, he went up to Kramer and asked if he could make the wedge block on Jethro Pugh. The reason Starr asked Kramer that was because earlier in the week while watching film of the Dallas short-yardage defense, Kramer noticed the Pugh played high, as opposed to submarining like most defensive tackles do.
Starr went to the sideline and told Coach Lombardi what he was going to do. Lombardi just replied, “Then run it and let’s get the hell out of here.”
In the huddle, Starr called the 31-wedge play in which Mercein is supposed to get the ball and run through the one hole between center Ken Bowman and Kramer. But Starr indeed kept the ball himself and scored the most famous touchdown in the glorious history of the Packers.
Photo by John Biever
Starr knew exactly what he needed to do on his legendary sneak. No. 15 did not go through the 1-hole like the play was designed. Instead, he went through the 3-hole which was to Kramer’s right. Plus, as he snuck into the end zone, Starr transferred that ball from his right arm to his left. That was very important because just as Starr was crossing the goal line, linebacker Chuck Howley of the Cowboys was ripping at Starr’s empty right arm trying to force a fumble.
After the game, Kramer wanted to make sure he corrected the record about his head coach.
“After that game, I was interviewed by Tom Brookshier,” Kramer said. “There had been a negative article about Coach Lombardi that had come out recently from Esquire magazine. The article compared him to Mussolini and a pigeon walking around with his chest thrown out. It was just a hatchet job.
“Tommy asked me about Coach Lombardi. I had made up my mind previously to talk about him, as I heard that Coach’s mother was really upset with the article. She even cried over it.
“So when Tommy asked me about the coach and mentioned the criticism, I said, ‘People don’t understand Coach Lombardi. They don’t know him. But we know him. We understand him. And we love him. And this is one beautiful man.’
“And that still fits today. I still feel that same way.”
After that monumental game, Lombardi received a phone call in the locker room from his mentor Red Blaik, who taught Lombardi so much at Army. The words from Blaik to Lombardi can be read in the fantastic book, When Pride Still Mattered by David Maraniss, which to me is the greatest book ever written about Lombardi.
“Vince,” Blaik said. “A great victory, but greater were the words of Kramer, who has stilled those who are skeptical about you as a person.”
The Packers had won their third straight NFL title, but they still had to play in Super Bowl II against the Oakland Raiders.
Starr once again was MVP of that game, as threw for 202 yards and one touchdown pass. That TD pass went to Dowler on a 62-yard play-action pass. The Packers ended up winning their second straight Super Bowl by beating the Raiders 33-14.
Dowler had his best season ever in 1967 and was the go-to-guy for the Packers in the postseason, as he had three touchdown receptions.
“It was a great feeling for all of us to win three straight NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls,” Dowler said. “For me personally, the 1967 season was the best year I had in my career. And to finish that off with the two TD catches in The “Ice Bowl” and the TD catch in the Super Bowl, was definitely the highlight of my career.”
Dale had a great postseason as well in 1967, as he had 13 receptions for 196 yards and a score.
“When Coach Lombardi talked to us about Run to Win from St. Paul, it made us focus more on the task at hand. If you are going to be involved in something, just don’t be involved, be the best of what you are involved in. With us, it was winning a third straight title. Nobody had done it and we were weren’t just satisfied winning two championships in a row, we wanted a third. And we were able to achieve that goal.”
Looking back on the 100 years of history in the NFL, the play is considered one of the most iconic plays in league annals. I’m talking about Bart Starr and his surprising quarterback sneak in the closing seconds of the 1967 NFL Championship Game, better known as the “Ice Bowl” game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers at frigid Lambeau Field.
With just 16 seconds remaining in the game and with his team having no timeouts, Starr followed the classic block by right guard Jerry Kramer on defensive tackle Jethro Pugh, as he shuffled to the right of Kramer’s block and tumbled happily into the end zone, as the Packers defeated the Cowboys 21-17 to win their third straight NFL title.
Before we dissect that play and talk about the many interesting nuances about that call, let’s first look at the arctic conditions the NFL title game was being played under.
The weather in Green Bay on December 30, 1967 was fairly mild as the Cowboys worked out for a while at Lambeau Field the day before the game. The field was soft and although it was cold (high 20s and low 30s), it was not bitterly cold.
That all changed on December 31, 1967, as one never knows what will happen in the region where the Fox River connects to the bay off Lake Michigan in the winter.
Yes, when the NFL title game between the Cowboys and Packers began, the temperature was -13°. If you added in the wind throughout the game, the temperature plummeted to -50°.
Nice weather if you are a polar bear. But not if you are a professional football player. Making matters worse, as the game wore on, the field became an ice-skating rink.
In the game, the Packers jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, thanks to two Starr touchdown passes to Boyd Dowler.
The Packers also had a fantastic chance to increase their lead, when cornerback Herb Adderley picked off a pass from quarterback Don Meredith of the Cowboys and took it to the 32 yard line of the Cowboys in the second quarter. But the Packers squandered that opportunity and didn’t score.
The momentum of the game changed late in that second quarter. Starr fumbled as he was hit by defensive end Willie Townes of the Cowboys going back to pass, and the other defensive end, former Marquette star George Andrie, scooped up the ball in rumbled in for a touchdown from seven yards out with a little over four minutes to go before halftime.
Then with less than two minutes to go in the first half, Willie Wood fumbled a punt from Danny Villanueva at the 17 yard line of the Packers. That led to a 21-yard field goal by Villanueva to make the score 14-10 at halftime.
In the second half, the offense of the Packers was being throttled the defense of the Cowboys.
Things were so bad, that the Packers had had minus-nine yards in 31 plays in the second half at one point.
Then on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Cowboys took a 17-14 lead when wide receiver Lance Rentzel caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from halfback Dan Reeves.
That was the score when the Packers got the ball back on their own 32 yard line with just 4:50 left in the game.
Somehow the Packers were going to have to trudge 68 yards across the arctic-like football field to win the game.
“I don’t think we ever considered the possibility of losing,” Kramer said. “We didn’t really acknowledge the fact that we didn’t gain any yardage in 31 plays prior to that. We knew where we were when we got in the final huddle. We knew what we had to do.
“I asked Bart about that years later, about what made him think we could go 68 yards and score a touchdown after we had made minus-nine yards on 31 plays prior to that. Bart said, ‘Jerry, I came into the huddle and started to say something. Then I looked in your eyes, I looked at Forrest’s eyes and everyone else in the huddle, and I knew I didn’t have to say anything. So all I said was, ‘Let’s go.’
Kramer said there was calm in that huddle.
“Even at that point of the game there wasn’t any panic with us,” No. 64 said. “There was a sense of urgency however. We still believed that we could do it.
“The beautiful part of that was the contribution by so many different players in that drive. Players like Chuck Mercein, Boyd Dowler and Donny Anderson.”
Anderson concurred with Kramer about what needed to be on that drive.
“I recall that there was no nonsense at all on that drive,” Anderson said. “It represented the discipline that Lombardi had taught us. We knew that we had to execute and we were determined to get the job done.”
The drive started with Starr completing a swing pass to Anderson which gained six yards. On the next play, Mercein ran the ball for seven more yards off tackle to the 45-yard line and near the sideline of the Packers.
Mercein vividly recalled that moment.
“I remember that play well, as it was the our initial first down of the drive,” Mercein said. “That was a big confidence booster for me and the team. Because at that point, none of us had done anything in the second half. I’ll never forget because I kind of got shoved out of bounds right in front of the Green Bay bench. I could hear Coach Lombardi yell, ‘Atta boy, Chuck!’ That really brought my spirits up. It was wonderful.”
On the next play, Starr completed his only pass to a wide receiver in the drive, as Dowler caught a pass that gained 13 yards and another first down. Dowler ended up having to leave the game for a few plays, as he was shook up a little after his head hit the frozen turf hard after he was tackled.
Even though Dowler only caught one pass in that drive, it was his two early touchdown receptions from Starr which put the Packers in position to win the game on that drive.
After the Dowler catch, this is when Mercein and the Packers had a hiccup in the drive. Townes made another big play, as he broke through and tackled Anderson for a nine-yard loss.
Mercein explained what happened on the play.
“It was the Green Bay sweep and my responsibility was to block the defensive end there,” Mercein said. “I expected Townes to be on my outside shoulder, but he rushed inside instead, and I only was able to brush him with my left shoulder. I didn’t give him a good enough pop and he was able to get through and put us in a big hole.
I felt particularly bad about that because of my bad execution. It was the lowlight of the drive for me.”
That loss put the Packers in a second and 19 hole, but two swing passes to Anderson netted 21 yards and the Packers had a big first down. If you look at those receptions on film, you see some pretty nifty footwork by Anderson. Not easily done on a truly frozen tundra.
Anderson explained.
“I recall that I had to balance myself,” Anderson said. “Not to run like a sprinter, but to balance yourself. Be a little more flat-footed. I also figured that a quicker guy might be better off under those conditions than a heavier guy.”
It was at that point when Mercein caught a 19-yard swing pass from Starr after first conferring with No. 15.
“Sure enough, I was open just like I expected and Bart flipped the pass to me that got caught up in the wind a bit and I caught it over my outside shoulder, ” Mercein said. “I was able to outrun linebacker Dave Edwards and took the pass to the 11-yard line, plus was able to get out of bounds.”
The next play was a running play, known as a give play to Mercein.
“Bart saved that give play for the right exact time,” Mercein said. “Bart later said it was the best play call he ever made.”
On the give play, left guard Gale Gillingham pulls to the right, which then opens up a hole as defensive tackle Bob Lilly followed Gillingham down the line. Still, left tackle Bob Skoronski had to seal off defensive end George Andrie to make the play work.
“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 vividly recalls that run.
“The hole was great and I can still see that hole,” Mercein said. “I can still hear myself clomping down on the ice with the noise of my cleats hitting the ice. It was very loud. Forrest Gregg was coming down from the right tackle spot and if I could have cut, I think I could have scored.”
As it was, the Packers had a second and two from the three-yard line of the Cowboys. Anderson then took a hand off from Starr and to many it appeared that Anderson scored on the play. But the referee instead placed the ball about 18 inches from the goal line and it was first and goal.
“After the run, I’m laying across the goal line with my waist and the ball,” Anderson said. “Cornell Green of the Cowboys yelled that I scored, while Jethro Pugh told him to be quiet. The ref then picks up the ball and puts it 18 inches back from the goal line.
“Later on as we saw film of the game, Coach Lombardi said to me, ‘Young man, I think they took one away from you there.’
After two two unsuccessful running attempts by Anderson to score after that, as he slipped both times, the Packers called their final timeout. There were 16 seconds to go in the game.
This brings us to a key point of the drive just before Starr carried the ball on his own on the quarterback sneak. Kramer has maintained that he knew Starr was going to carry the football.
No. 64 even wrote about that in his classic book, Instant Replay. Kramer wrote, “In the huddle, Bart said, ‘Thirty-one wedge and I’ll carry the ball.’
The problem is that no one else in the huddle heard that from Starr. And I’ve talked to Anderson, Mercein, Dowler and Carroll Dale. They all heard Starr call the 31-wedge play, but nothing about him carrying the football by himself.
That being said, I believe I have pinpointed when Starr told Kramer he was going to carry the ball himself.
If you have ever seen A Football Life – Vince Lombardi from NFL Films, Starr and Kramer talk about what happened after No. 15 called his final timeout of the game just before the sneak.
Kramer: “We take our final timeout and Bart asked me if I could make a block.”
Starr: “Can you get your footing for one more wedge play?”
Kramer: “Yeah, I think so.”
I believe it was at this moment that Starr told Kramer, and no other player on the field, that he was going to carry the ball.
Starr then went to the sideline and told Coach Lombardi that the wedge play was still the right call, but that he would carry the ball himself because the backs were slipping.
Lombardi concurred and replied, “Then run it and let’s get the hell out of here.”
I have mentioned this possible scenario to Kramer and he thought that my take was very plausible.
I can understand the confusion about the play from Kramer’s perspective. For one thing, the crucial wedge play itself was derived from film study by Kramer.
Kramer was watching film on the Cowboys and specifically regarding how they lined up in short-yardage situations.
“Jethro [Pugh] was high, and I actually suggested that play on Thursday when we were studying short-yardage films,” Kramer said. “I said we could wedge Pugh if we had to. And Coach Lombardi said, ‘What?’ And I said that we can wedge Pugh if we have to. So we ran the film back three or four times, and coach says, ‘That’s right. Put in a wedge on Pugh.’
And little did Kramer know that the play of the game would come down to his block and the play he suggested. That’s a hell of a lot of pressure.
So when Starr called the play, first by conferring with Kramer himself, what went through the mind of No. 64?
“Responsibility. I mean I had suggested the play on Thursday. It seemed like the play was squarely on my shoulders,” Kramer said. “I knew I had to perform. I knew that to be successful as a blocker that I had to keep my head up and my eyes open.
“And also put my face into the chest of the defensive tackle [Pugh]. That is not the easiest thing to do, but it’s the safest and the surest way to make a block. I felt great personal responsibility to the team on that block. When I came off the ball, I was on fire.”
Bottom line, one can see how there might have been a little uncertainty from Kramer regarding how Starr called the 31-wedge play knowing the magnitude of the moment.
Speaking of the 31-wedge play, if run the way it is supposed to, it simply means that the 3-back (fullback) goes to the 1-hole (between the center and the right guard).
Which bring us to center Ken Bowman and the role he played on this block.
“I’ve analyzed that play a lot. “Bow” was there, there is no question about that,” Kramer said. “But when Jethro got up like I expected and then I got into him, the rest was a forgone conclusion. Jethro was then out of position and also out of the play. The play was over for him then.”
Plus, Starr did not go in between Bowman and Kramer like the play was designed. Instead, Starr shuffled to Kramer’s right and into a hole between No. 64 and right tackle Forrest Gregg.
And as I have I written about in another article, Starr’s intuitive sense of transferring the ball from his right arm to his left on the game-winning sneak was very timely and extremely important. Especially when one sees linebacker Chuck Howley ripping at Starr’s empty right arm as he crosses the goal line.
Yes, there certainly were a number of significant details about why Starr’s quarterback sneak was successful in the “Ice Bowl” game and is now considered the greatest play in the over 100-year history of the Packers.
Jim Grabowski had some nice karma going for him when he played fullback for the University of Illinois from 1963 through 1965. Grabowski created some of the good fortune himself, due to his fabulous play with the Fighting Illini.
In 1963 as a sophomore, Grabowski rushed for 616 yards and seven touchdowns, plus capped a nice season by being named the 1964 Rose Bowl MVP, as Illinois beat Washington 17-7.
In 1964 and 1965, the Chicago native was named Associated Press All-American in both seasons, as he rushed for a combined 2,262 yards and 17 touchdowns. The Chicago Taft High School alumnus also caught 15 passes in his career at Illinois for 144 yards.
Grabowski finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1965.
Because of his exploits, Grabowski, who wore No. 31 at Illinois, now is in the College Football Hall of Fame, as well as the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.
That set things up quite nicely for Grabowski, as the NFL and AFL were still battling for the rights of the best college football talent before the two leagues finally merged in 1966.
Grabowski was drafted first overall in the AFL draft by the Miami Dolphins, who were about to start their expansion season. Grabowski was also picked ninth overall in the first round of the NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers.
Grabowski explained to me how it felt to be in that enviable position.
“Yes, that was the last year of the competition between the two leagues,” Grabowski said. “It was wonderful for those players who were drafted then. Up until that time, everyone was sort of an indentured servant of the NFL.
“So I had an attorney who was my agent and our strategy was that we had to listen to both offers. Miami was a brand new team. For a little bit of trivia, the very first draft choice of the Miami Dolphins was me.
“But being drafted by the Packers was certainly a factor in their favor. I grew up in Chicago as a Bear fan and I was always aware of the Green Bay Packers. Plus on top of that, they had Vince Lombardi, the god of gods as head coach. That certainly weighed heavy in my decision.”
Grabowski told me how his contract was finalized with the Packers.
“The Packers sent a plane down to negotiate the contract with my agent and myself,” Grabowski said. ” The Packers wanted to fly us to Green Bay. As a kid then, I didn’t realize all this stuff about the best place to negotiate was on your home turf, not theirs.
“So they brought us up there and you have to remember I’m a 21 year-old kid who had not been around much and was happy to play for anything I could get. But my agent really insisted that we play this out. So he told me that no matter what Lombardi said, to not say anything except that we will get back to you.
“Well, we walk into Lombardi’s office and you see all these trophies, championships and pictures around the room. I remember walking into the office and it seemed like the biggest office that I had ever seen. We didn’t sit at his desk, we sat at what looked like a boardroom table. It was pretty impressive.
“So my agent told Lombardi that Miami offered us a wonderful contract. Coach Lombardi went right to the chase. He gave us a number and he said that only provision with that number was that he couldn’t give us anymore than anyone else.
“So he looked at me and said, ‘Son, what do you think?’ I couldn’t help but nod my head yes.”
Lombardi was going through another set of high-priced negotiations with halfback Donny Anderson of Texas Tech, who the Packers had drafted in the first round of the 1965 NFL draft as a future draft pick, which was allowed in those days.
The Packers were battling the Houston Oilers of the AFL for Anderson’s services.
In the end, Lombardi was able to snare both Grabowski and Anderson and the duo was known as the “Gold Dust Twins” because of the contracts they had signed.
The big deals that Grabowski and Anderson signed did not sit well with one player on the Packers. That would be fullback Jim Taylor. While Anderson received help and guidance from veterans Paul Hornung and Elijah Pitts, Taylor did not do the same with Grabowski.
“Jimmy was a real competitor,” Grabowski said. “And he was ticked off about the contracts that were signed by Donny and I. And I understood that. Paul was more magnanimous with Donny and Elijah was one of the best guys on that team, as he was very helpful. Jimmy and I had very few words together.”
I know from talking with Jerry Kramer that he really enjoyed his time with Grabowski and Anderson and had no ill will about the contracts that had signed. As Jerry told me once, “Donny and Jim were at the right place at the right time when they came out of college.”
Another veteran on the Packers, Henry Jordan, said this to Grabowski. “I don’t give a crap how much money you make. If you help put a few more dollars in my pocket, I’m with you!”
In his rookie season with the Packers, Grabowski did not get a lot of playing time, as he rushed 127 yards on 29 carries (a 4.4 yards-per-carry average). The game in which Grabowski first received significant playing time was against the expansion Atlanta Falcons at County Stadium in Milwaukee. I happened to be in attendance at that game.
Grabowski led the Packers in rushing that day with 52 yards on just seven carries, as the Packers blew out the Falcons 56-3. It was after that game that Taylor told the media that he was playing out his option with the Packers. That announcement did not sit well with Lombardi.
The most memorable run that Grabowski had as a rookie occurred versus the Minnesota Vikings at Metropolitan Stadium. No. 33 bounced off two groups of tacklers as he scampered 36 yards for a score. All told, Grabowski rushed for 61 yards on just seven carries in the game which was won by the Pack 28-16.
Grabowski also had a big play in the 1966 NFL title game at the Cotton Bowl versus the Dallas Cowboys. He was assisted on that big play by Green Bay’s other No. 1 pick in the 1966 NFL draft, guard Gale Gillingham, who was the 13th pick of the first round by the Pack.
After the Packers had grabbed a 7-0 lead after scoring on the opening drive that championship game, on the ensuing kickoff, Gillingham forced a fumble by Mel Renfro, which was recovered by Grabowski and returned 18 yards for another touchdown.
Grabowski recalled that moment.
“Yes, I always got a lot of crap from Gilly because he was in on that tackle,” Grabowski said. “He told me, ‘I caused the fumble and you get the glory.’ I was at the right place at the right time. Plus in that game, the difference in the game was one touchdown.
“I was thrilled. I would like to say that it was a real athletic play, but the fumble came right into my hands and what else could I do?”
The Packers won that title game 34-27, which set up a match up the first Super Bowl, when the Packers played the Kansas City Chiefs at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Packers took over the game in the second half and both Grabowski and Anderson got into the game late. Anderson rushed for 30 yards, while Grabowski ran for two, as the Packers won 35-10.
In 1967, both Taylor and Hornung were gone. The new starting backfield for the Packers that season was Grabowski at fullback and Pitts at halfback.
Grabowski got off to a great start that year, both running and catching the football. Against the Bears in Week 2, Grabowski ran for 111 yards on 32 carries and a touchdown, plus caught three passes for 26 more yards.
Grabowski remembered that game well.
“That was a real grinding game,” Grabowski said. “I had a couple carries that were called back. I ended up carrying the ball 36 times overall. I was pretty beat up after that.”
In Week 8, the Packers played the Baltimore Colts at Memorial Stadium. No. 33 was having a great year, as he was third in the NFL in rushing at the time. At that point, Grabowski had 448 yards rushing and had two TDs, plus had caught 12 passes for 171 yards and another score.
But Grabowski and the Packers were struck a cruel blow in the game, as No. 33 went out with a knee injury, while Pitts was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
The injury to Grabowski’s knee was a cartilage issue and he kept rehabbing and working to get back on the field. In fact, Grabowski was able to play in Week 11 against the Bears at Wrigley Field, as he rushed for 18 yards on four carries.
But that would be his last appearance for the Packers that season, even with his efforts to get back on the field. In fact, Grabowski was supposed to start the “Ice Bowl” game at fullback, before he re-injured the knee in pre-game workouts.
Grabowski recalled that moment.
“Yes, I was slated to start,” Grabowski said. “When I had the cartilage injury back then, and I can’t speak for what happens with an injury like that today, but then it just popped and tore everything up and the knee swelled up. So you tried to ice it up and take it easy. I hadn’t done much prior to the “Ice Bowl” for a few weeks, but I was able to practice that week. But before the game I was warming up and I was making a cut on a pass and the knee went out and I was done.”
A lot of people don’t realize that even with the injuries to Grabowski and Pitts that season, the Packers still finished second in the NFL in rushing in 1967, as Anderson and Travis Williams filled in at halfback and Ben Wilson and Chuck Mercein filled in at fullback.
Mercein was a huge factor in the “Ice Bowl”, as he was responsible for 34 of the 68 yards made on that game-winning, epic drive that the Packers made to win the game 21-17.
Mercein told me in one of our conversations that one of his proudest moments came after the game when Grabowski told him that he couldn’t have played any better at FB than Mercein did that day.
With the victory over the Cowboys, the Packers now had won their third straight NFL title and were about to win their second straight Super Bowl, as the Packers beat the Oakland Raiders 33-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
In 1968, Grabowski was once again the starting FB for the Packers and he led the team in rushing with 518 yards and also had three rushing TDs. No. 33 also had 18 catches for 210 yards and another score.
That touchdown catch came in the last game of the season, as the Packers played the Bears and Grabowski’s old teammate at Illinois, Dick Butkus. Going into the game, the Packers were 5-7-1 and were out of playoff contention behind head coach Phil Bengtson, who had taken over for Lombardi that year, as Vince was GM only.
Chicago was 7-6 going into the game and a victory would give da Bears the NFL Central title. But after a Zeke Bratkowski injury, Don Horn came into the game at quarterback for the Packers and had a big game. No. 13 threw for 187 yards and two scores and had a passer rating of 142.4 in the game, as the Packers won 28-27.
One of those TD passes was to Grabowski for 67 yards.
Needless to say, Butkus wasn’t too happy when he shook hands with his old buddy Grabowski after the game.
The knee injury that Grabowski had suffered in 1967 continued to plague him throughout the rest of his NFL career. In 1969 and 1970 combined, Grabowski rushed for 471 yards and two scores, but people weren’t aware of all the health trauma that the 6’2″, 220-pound fullback was going through.
“What most people don’t know is that in the 1968 offseason that I had a staph infection and was in the hospital for over two weeks,” Grabowski said. “The recuperative part after that took several months. I lost thirty pounds. As I look back at it, the staph infection was a very serious thing and I could have died from it.
“I don’t really talk about this too much. Then the next year the staph infection returned. I was fighting a number of setbacks with my knee over the years. You get injured, then an infection and then another infection. I’m fortunate that I made it through all that.”
In 1971, Grabowski was in training camp with the Packers under new head coach Dan Devine.
Grabowski vividly remembers what happened next.
“I went through about six or seven weeks of camp under Devine and then I was extremely happy to get out of there,” Grabowski said. “Not because of anything to do with the players or the Packers, but I believe I’m in the majority of the people who I have talked to subsequent to those years about playing for Devine.
“Just when we broke up camp, Devine didn’t have the nerve to call me into his office. He cut me, but he made Red Cochran tell me. That’s how brave he was! I told Red that I couldn’t believe that Devine didn’t have the nerve to face me one on one. I lost all respect for him then.”
Grabowski played with his hometown Bears in 1971 and rushed for 149 yards before he retired.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to continue to play after I was cut by the Packers, as I was basically running on one leg,” Grabowski said. “I was happy to play for the Bears. If you could have told a kid from Chicago that he was going to go on and play for the University of Illinois, then the Packers and end up playing for the Bears, you would say what a dream!”
After he retired from the NFL, Grabowski became a color commentator for Illinois football games and remained in that role for 26 years years before retiring in 2007.
I asked Grabowski what he was up to now.
“I’ve been retired for a number of years now,” Grabowski said. “An old friend of mine, Tom Boerwinkle, who was a center on the Chicago Bulls some years back, retired before I did and I asked Tom what it was like. And he said, ‘I can’t tell you what I’m doing, but I’m busy.’
“That has kind of been my motto. I have grandkids and I watch them do every sport that they are involved in. My wife and I stay busy. Spending time with friends and family and all that. We do a lot of traveling. We’re going to Alaska next month. We’ve been to a lot of places. I’m enjoying the fourth quarter.”
Finally, with the recent passing of Bart Starr, I had to ask Grabowski to share his thoughts about his old teammate.
“With Bart and I, it was like a general and a second lieutenant,” Grabowski said. “He was like Dwight D. Eisenhower and I was a guy with one bar on his helmet. He was the ultimate gentleman. Even in tough circumstances, he was going to treat you with kindness.
“He has always been like that. I felt a real loss when he passed. I knew he was sick and I had not talked with him since he first became sick, as I didn’t want to intrude upon his privacy. But I felt a real loss when I heard he was gone. He was the heart of the Packers. He was what it was all about.
“Thinking about him right now I’m sad that he in no longer with us. There was only one of those guys!”
greenbaybobfox.wordpress.com 