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.”
The Green Bay Packers lost another great member of their family on November 13, when Paul Hornung passed away. The former Notre Dame Fighting Irish star’s passing came just 15 days after another former legendary athlete of the Packers died. That player was Herb Adderley.
In fact, over just the past two years, 11 players who played under head coach Vince Lombardi in Green Bay have passed away.
The list also includes Jim Taylor, Bob Skoronski, Forrest Gregg, Bart Starr, Zeke Bratkowski, Doug Hart, Allen Brown, Willie Wood and Willie Davis.
Taylor, Gregg, Starr, Wood, Davis, Adderley and Hornung all have busts in Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
So does Lombardi.
For this story, I wanted to talk to a number of players who played with Hornung in Green Bay. Those players are Jerry Kramer, Boyd Dowler, Carroll Dale, Donny Anderson and Jim Grabowski. I also talked to Don Horn, who got to know Hornung at alumni gatherings for the Packers, plus stood near Hornung at the “Ice Bowl”, when the Lombardi received permission from Commissioner Pete Rozelle to have Hornung on the Green Bay sideline during that legendary game.
When I talked with Kramer about Hornung five years ago, Jerry believed the primary reason that Lombardi decided to come to Green Bay was the presence of Hornung on the roster.
“When you talk about Paul, you have to remember how critical he was in the decision that Coach Lombardi made to come to Green Bay,” Kramer said. “If you think back, Bart Starr was methane. He was colorless, odorless, tasteless and virtually invisible. We didn’t know who Bart was.
“Bart was competing with a few other guys like Babe Parilli, Joe Francis and Lamar McHan. Bart was back and forth the first couple of years after Lombardi became the coach.
“But I do remember Lombardi saying, ‘Hornung was going to be his Gifford.’ And remember how critical the sweep was to the Lombardi offense.
“As coach said quite often, ‘This is a play we will make go. This is a play we must make go. We will run it again and again and again.’
“So Hornung may have been the key to getting Lombardi to come to Green Bay.”
Hornung had come to Green Bay in the 1957 NFL draft as the bonus pick of that particular draft. The NFL used a bonus pick system throughout the 1950s when a given NFL team would get the No. 1 pick of the draft. A team would only be able to use the bonus pick once during that period. The Packers got their chance in 1957 and their fabulous scout Jack Vainisi instructed the general manager of the Packers then, Verne Lewellen, to select Hornung.
Hornung had won the Heisman Trophy in 1956. No. 5 is the only player to ever win that award who played on a losing team. Notre Dame was just 2-8 in 1956. But Hornung did it all for the Fighting Irish, as he led the team in rushing, passing, scoring and punting, not to mention kickoff and punt returns. If that wasn’t enough, the “Golden Boy” also led Notre Dame in passes defensed, as well as being second on the team in tackles and interceptions.
Under head coach Lisle Blackbourn in 1957 and head coach Ray “Scooter” McLean in 1958, the Packers did not utilize Hornung correctly. Sometimes No. 5 would play fullback. Other times halfback. Plus, when given a chance to pass, only completed one pass in seven attempts.
In those two years combined, Hornung only had 619 yards rushing and five touchdowns. No. 5 also caught 21 passes without a score. All told, Hornung scored 18 points in 1957 and 67 points in 1958, as in that year, Hornung kicked 11 field goals and converted 22 extra points. But the worst part was the losing. The Packers were a combined 4-19-1 in those two seasons.
Then Lombardi arrived in 1959. When Hornung and Lombardi spoke on the phone for the first time, his new head coach told his young star that he was going to be his left halfback. Or nothing at all.
And what a difference that made. Hornung became the face of the franchise over the the first three years he and Lombardi joined forces.
The primary reason? The power sweep. That play was the staple play of the Packers under Lombardi.
From 1959 through 1961, the Packers averaged 178 yards rushing per game. Taylor rushed for 2,860 yards during that time, but it was Hornung who seemed to be the biggest beneficiary of that play, as he rushed for 1,949 yards and scored 28 touchdowns.
Speaking of scoring, Hornung led the NFL in scoring for three straight years from 1959 through 1961. In 1959, No. 5 scored 94 points. In 1960, when the Packers advanced to the NFL title game for the first time under Lombardi, Hornung scored a whopping 176 points. In just 12 games! And in 1961, the year Hornung was named the NFL MVP and the Packers won their first NFL championship under Lombardi, Hornung scored 146 points.
In one of those games in 1961, Hornung scored 33 points in the 45-7 Green Bay victory over the Baltimore Colts at new City Stadium. No. 5 scored four touchdowns, kicked six extra points and one field goal.
Because of the Cold War between the United States and the then Soviet Union, a number of players from NFL teams were pressed into military duty in 1961. The Packers had three of their players pressed into service. They were Ray Nitschke, Boyd Dowler and Hornung.
As a matter of fact, at first it appeared that Hornung would not be allowed a pass from the Army to play in the 1961 NFL title game. That would have been quite an issue, had the league MVP not be allowed to play in the NFL championship game.
But thanks to the relationship that Lombardi and President John F. Kennedy had forged, Hornung was given a pass and scored 19 of the 37 points that the Packers scored in the first NFL championship game ever played in Green Bay, as the Pack whipped the New York Giants 37-0 at new City Stadium (now Lambeau Field).
I talked to Kramer again recently about Hornung. No. 64 talked about the relationship between Lombardi and Hornung.
“Coach Lombardi liked Paul, perhaps more than any other player,” Kramer said. “Almost like a son. Coach had a great affection for Paul.”
One of the reasons had to be the way Hornung would run the power sweep.
“Paul would stay behind Fuzzy [Thurston] and I on the sweep,” Kramer said. “He just knew instinctively how to use our blocks and how to fake a defender into going left or right. Paul knew the precise instance when the defender had to make a commitment, and then Paul would either step inside or outside and set the player up and go the other way. He was just sensational in doing that on a consistent basis.
“Bob, in the first three years we ran that play, we averaged 8.3 yards a carry.”
Everyone on the offensive line played a huge part in the success of the power sweep, as did the other running back and the tight end. The guards were key components, as they often would get to the second or third level with their blocks.
But two players have to be mentioned regarding the great success the power sweep had early in the Lombardi years. They were center Jim Ringo and tight end Ron Kramer.
The power sweep being run to the left was called red right 48 and if the sweep was run to the right it was called red right 49.
Both Hornung and Taylor excelled on that play running the ball, but especially Hornung. It didn’t hurt that both Hornung and Taylor were excellent blockers for one another.
Hornung also ran the red right 49 option play extremely well. On that play, Hornung would act like it was a running play and then throw an option pass.
When I talked with Dowler recently about Hornung, Boyd talked about how successful that option pass was for the Packers.
“On that play, the flanker comes in from the outside right on that play,” Dowler said. “I acted like I was going to block the safety who should be coming towards the line of scrimmage because the play looked like our power sweep. So once the safety came up, I would just turn and break out to the corner.
“Hornung would put the ball under his arm and take off like he was going to run and then he would pull up and pass. It seemed like it was easy to get open. I scored on that play a number of times.”
From 1959 through 1961, Hornung threw five touchdown passes using that play.
In one game in 1959, which was Dowler’s rookie year, No. 86 caught two touchdown passes from Hornung. It was the second to last game of the season against the Rams at the Los Angeles Coliseum. In that game, Dowler caught a 26-yards touchdown pass from Hornung in the first quarter and then a 30-yard touchdown pass from No. 5 in the second quarter, as the Pack went on to win 38-20.
Another play in which Hornung really had a lot of success was called brown right pass 36 x-post. It was a variation of the brown right run 36 when Taylor would carry the football off tackle to the left. On that play, Hornung would block the weakside linebacker.
But when the pass play was called and Starr would fake to Taylor, Hornung would fake the block on the linebacker and head outside to the flat. The split end (usually Dowler) to that side would run a post pattern on that same play. Starr would have two options as to where to throw the ball.
The 43-yard touchdown pass that Dowler scored in the “Ice Bowl” was the brown right pass 36 x-post play. But in the 1965 game against the Baltimore Colts at Memorial Stadium, Starr utilized Hornung on that play twice.
In the 1st quarter, Starr called the 36 pass play. And Hornung scored on a 50-yard touchdown pass. Then in the 4th quarter, No. 5 scored again on that play, this time from 65 yards out. It was Hornung’s fifth touchdown of the game, as the Packers won 42-27.
As glorious as Hornung’s first three seasons were under Lombardi in Green Bay, the way he finished the 1965 season and postseason was extra special.
Hornung scored the only Green Bay touchdown in the 13-10 overtime win against the Baltimore Colts at Lambeau Field in the Western Conference Championship game. No. 5 had 75 total yards in that victory.
But that was nothing compared to what Hornung did in the 1965 NFL Championship Game against the defending NFL champion Cleveland Browns the next week at Lambeau Field.
Hornung rushed for 105 yards in 18 carries and scored a touchdown. No. 5 also caught a pass for eight more yards. Taylor also had a big game, as No. 31 ran for 96 yards on 27 carries, plus caught two passes for 20 yards.
Hornung’s touchdown run was his last score in a championship game. The run by Hornung came behind one of the finest blocking sequences ever by Kramer, who pulled in front of Hornung to the left heading to the end zone. No. 64 first got to the middle linebacker of the Browns and screened him away from Hornung and then went left to seal off the cornerback to open a lane for the “Golden Boy” to score on a 13-yard jaunt.
Hornung had injury issues with the Packers starting in 1962. No. 5 injured his knee that year and [Jerry] Kramer took over the kicking duties for the Pack that season.
Hornung only started eight games in ’62 and even though he wasn’t 100 percent, No. 5 played in the 1962 NFL Championship Game and rushed for 35 yards on eight carries. Hornung also completed a 21-yard pass to Dowler in the game on the option play.
The Packers won their second straight NFL title in ’62, by beating the New York Giants again, this time by a score of 16-7 at Yankee Stadium on a very cold and blustery day. The difference in the game were the three field goals and the extra point kicked by Kramer in the contest.
In 1963, both Hornung and defensive tackle Alex Karras were suspended for the entire season by Commissioner Pete Rozelle. The Packers missed Hornung that year, even though the team finished 11-2-1, that wasn’t enough to catch the Bears, who finished 11-1-2. Chicago beat Green Bay twice that season and and went on to win the 1963 NFL title.
Hornung came back and started all 14 games in 1964, but he wasn’t the same player he was in the three-year span from 1959 though 1961. No. 5 rushed for 415 yards, but his kicking fell off badly, as he was just 12-of-38 in field goals that year. The Packers finished second again in ’64, as the Colts won the Western Conference.
In 1965, Lombardi brought in some new blood to the roster, as he traded for kicker/punter Don Chandler and flanker Carroll Dale. Both were huge additions for the team in 1965 and beyond.
Dale talked to me recently about joining the Packers in 1965 and meeting Hornung.
“When I arrived in Green Bay, my locker was right besides Hornung’s,” Dale said. “What really impressed me about Paul was besides his great athletic ability to execute run plays or pass plays, was the fact that he was always working with his teammates. Especially those who played his position.
“It was nice to see him share his experience and knowledge in terms of running, blocking and receiving. Over the two years I played with him and he had some injuries, he was almost like an assistant coach working with players. He was constantly working with the halfbacks.”
Hornung had injury issues again in ’65, this time dealing with a nerve issue in his neck/shoulder region. No. 5 started just eight games that season, but closed out the year in phenomenal fashion, with his performances versus the Colts and Browns. The victory against the Browns would be the first of three straight NFL titles by the Packers.
In 1966, as the Packers added three great rookies to their roster, halfback Donny Anderson, fullback Jim Grabowski and guard Gale Gillingham, Hornung had the neck/shoulder issues once again and only played in nine games and started six.
As Dale had mentioned earlier, Hornung tried to help Anderson as much as possible, as No. 44 explained to me recently.
“Paul was not going to be able to play much because of the injury to his neck,” Anderson said. “Elijah [Pitts] played a lot. Hornung helped me out in how best to run a pattern and learn the system that Lombardi had.
“It was a pretty simple system. It wasn’t complex at all. But there was one particular play which was called the A & B circle. And that play was primarily for the halfback or the fullback. And you would run the play from the weak side, and I played on the weak side the six years I played in Green Bay.
“Weakside was called Willie for the weakside linebacker. My job was to get in the open. Paul told me the key to the play was the middle linebacker. If you keyed on him, I could run either inside or outside. It was an excellent play. If you could beat the Willie linebacker and the Mike linebacker was gone, it was like an open field then. The play could go for 15 or 20 yards. So Hornung really helped me with that particular play.”
In 1966, Grabowski played fullback behind Taylor. And No. 33 was not getting any assistance whatsoever from No. 31.
Hornung was much different in terms of communicating with the younger players, as Grabowski told me recently.
“Paul just treated us all very well,” Grabowski said. “In ’66, Paul was hurt and didn’t play much because of the nerve problem in his shoulder. Paul was just a good guy.
“He would tell us what we should do in this situation and what we shouldn’t do. He was the voice of experience. I always appreciated him. Paul was very charismatic. He treated everyone well and he was a type of guy who everyone would flock to.”
Hornung didn’t play at all in the 1966 NFL title game or Super Bowl I. Even without Hornung, the Packers first beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-27 to win the NFL title and then the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in Super Bowl I.
In 1967, Lombardi placed Hornung’s name on the expansion list for the New Orleans Saints and the newest team in the NFL did indeed select Hornung to play for them. But because of his neck/shoulder problem, Hornung retired.
Still, Hornung would be coming back to Green Bay in late 1967 at a very opportune time. I’m talking about the week of the “Ice Bowl” game at Lambeau Field.
Lombardi petitioned Commissioner Rozelle to get permission for Hornung to be on the Green Bay bench for the game. That petition was granted. Just seeing Hornung again on the sideline of a NFL title game made the players on the Packers feel good.
When I talked to Horn recently, he remembered Hornung being around the week of that big game.
“Yes, Paul was at a couple of meetings, in the locker room and on the practice field that week,” Horn said. “I believe Coach Lombardi wanted Paul around for good luck. I mean Max [McGee] and Fuzzy were still there, so Paul’s presence was good karma. Every chance he got, Paul was socializing, as you might expect.
“On the sideline of the game, everyone was bundled up trying to stay as warm as we could. I stood pretty close to Coach Lombardi almost the entire game. Paul was nearby as well. But just to have Paul’s presence there was great. I mean, Paul was an icon. I was just a rookie. I always admired him for what he did before I got there. Having Paul there with Coach Lombardi just made everyone more confident.”
In fact, it was Hornung who gave Starr the hand warmers just before No. 15 went back to the huddle just before his legendary quarterback sneak.
In 1986, Hornung was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Speaking of the Hall of Fame, I never met Hornung in person, although I came close one time at the party the Packers threw for Kramer when he was being enshrined later that night in Canton in 2018.
As many of you know, I campaigned and promoted Jerry for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for several years. In 2012, I was talking to Jerry and I said it would be a good idea for someone like Hornung to contact the Seniors Selection Committee at the Hall of Fame, either by letter or vocally.
Jerry gave me Paul’s number. I called Paul and I asked him if he could write a letter or talk to the seniors committee on Jerry’s behalf. He said he absolutely would. And sure enough, that year he wrote a great letter to the committee.
At Jerry’s party, I saw Paul immediately. I definitely planned to talk with him. But I first talked to Dan Kramer and Rick Gosselin right after I arrived. I also talked to Jerry shortly after that. It was while I was talking to Jerry when I saw Paul leave the party.
The two phone conversations that I had with Paul told me something about the character of the man. That’s why I wanted to talk to some people who knew Hornung as a teammate and as a friend.
People like Kramer, Dowler, Dale, Anderson, Grabowski and Horn.
And there are more stories, as you might expect.
When I talked with Kramer, he mentioned that his daughter Diana called Paul a Renaissance man. A very apropos description of Hornung. Why? Because Paul was intelligent, charming, sophisticated, principled, classy and had multiple talents.
Kramer also talked to me about being with his buddy Hornung at the Kentucky Derby.
“At the Kentucky Derby, we would go down to the stables,” Kramer said. “I don’t believe everyone was allowed at the stables. Maybe just the owners. But Paul was allowed to go down there. Paul first started working at the track when he was just a kid, selling racing sheets or something like that.
“But we would go down and talk to the jockeys, talk to the owners and talk to the horse. We wanted to see if we wanted to put some money down on him. We then go up to our suite and enjoy the race. But everything was arranged by Paul. He took care of the whole package.”
Kramer also remembers how much Hornung enjoyed being with Jerry’s children.
“When I would have my children with me at some event, like maybe the Lombardi Golf Classic, Paul would sit with the kids and shoot the breeze with them. I have a number of photos of Paul with my kids.
“Paul knew how I felt about my children and he said, ‘Kramer, if I had kids as good looking as yours, I would have a dozen of them.’ Paul just enjoyed the hell about being with them.”
Anderson recalled a couple of stories about Hornung as well.
“When I was a rookie in 1966, as I had run a 9.6 100 at Texas Tech, I asked Paul one time about his best 100 time,” Anderson said. “And Paul said he ran a 10 flat. And I said, was that downhill or uphill? Paul laughed. He just had a great sense of humor.”
Anderson remembers another story when he was a rookie.
“I always got along with Jerry, Fuzzy, Max and Paul,” Anderson said. “And one time McGee asked me to go with the group to Fuzzy’s to have a few cocktails. So I get there and I asked why they had invited me, a rookie, to be with proven veterans and world champions and to have a few drinks. And McGee said, ‘That’s pretty simple. You have all the money and you can pick up the bill.’
Dowler also remembered how encouraging Hornung was with him when he first joined the team in 1959.
“Paul was always very supportive of me,” Dowler said. “He claimed to recognize that I would end up as a pretty good player. He would give me tips about running pass patterns. Sometimes we would run patterns on the same side of the field. He said the key was understanding what the defense was trying to do.
“He had a real instinctive feeling about where you needed to go to get open, based on the defense. Like I know where you are going and you know where I’m going. We worked as a combination there. We were very successful doing that.”
Dowler also talked about Hornung as never being full of himself.
“Paul didn’t act like a big shot,” Dowler said. “He was cool. He and McGee were a pretty good pair. They kind of wandered around and acted like Paul and Max. They didn’t put on any show, they just went about doing what they did.
“They were good conversationalists. They were funny. They definitely attracted people. They acted pretty natural. Paul just liked everyone.”
Grabowski recalled the same type of demeanor from Hornung.
“I don’t recall Paul ever really getting pissed off about something,” Grabowski said. “That was the way he played and also the way he was with his teammates. He just had a great attitude. Again, very charismatic.”
Dale recalls how Hornung was to be around, although he never socialized with No. 5.
“My experience with him was all very good. I mainly saw him in the locker room and on the field. I don’t know anything about his escapades,” Dale laughed. “Paul was just a great teammate.”
Horn didn’t play with Hornung, but got to know him a bit the week of the “Ice Bowl” and at alumni events.
“I got to know Paul a little bit over the years,” Horn said. “More like we were acquaintances. But I really admired him. With our last names being so close to one another, when we would get together at reunions, I would get announced first and I would get a nice courtesy applause and then when Hornung was announced, Paul would get the big roar from the crowd. We always would have some big laughs about that.
“Paul was just a great guy to be around and I only wish I could have played with him.”
The bottom line, Paul Hornung was a Hall of Famer in football and also a Hall of Famer in life. There will never be another one like him.
Rest in peace, Paul. May God bless you and your family, as well as your teammates and friends!
Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Herb Adderley passed away on October 30. Adderley’s death was yet another loss over the past two years that has seen a number of players who played with the Green Bay Packers under head coach under Vince Lombardi pass on.
Hall of Famer Jim Taylor passed away on October 13, 2018. Bob Skoronski died 12 days later.
In 2019, the Packers saw two Hall of Fame players who were in the same 1956 draft class pass away. Forrest Gregg passed away in April and Bart Starr passed on in May.
Later in November of 2019, Zeke Bratkowski, who was the capable backup to Starr at quarterback and Bart’s best friend, also passed away.
2020 has been a tough year for the Lombardi Packers. It started on New Year’s Day when Doug Hart passed on. Less than a month later, Allen Brown also passed away. A week later, Hall of Famer Willie Wood died.
In April, the captain of those great defenses in the Lombardi era, Hall of Famer Willie Davis, passed away.
And just recently, Adderley passed on.
That’s nine players in just a little over two years. And six of those players have busts in Canton, which obviously includes Adderley.
In his career, the former Michigan State Spartan star had 48 picks for 1,046 yards and seven touchdowns. 39 of those interceptions came when he was a member of the Packers. All of his touchdowns also came while he played in Green Bay.
Adderley was also a very good kickoff returner with the Packers, as he had two return touchdowns.
No. 26 finished his career in Dallas with the Cowboys in 1970, 1971 and 1972.
Adderley was part of six teams which won NFL titles and three teams which won the Super Bowl.
In 1980, Adderley was rewarded with a bust in Canton.
I talked to five of Herb’s teammates on the Packers to get their thoughts and insights about No. 26.
Boyd Dowler remembers when Adderley was drafted out of Michigan State in the first round in 1961 as a halfback and practiced on offense with the flankers most of his rookie year.
“When Herb was drafted, Coach Lombardi thought of him as a flanker,” Dowler said. “I was a starter at that position at the time and Vince thought of Herb as a wide receiver then and that’s where he played most of his rookie year.”
An injury to cornerback Hank Gremminger late in the ’61 season caused Lombardi and defensive coordinator Phil Bengtson to rethink where to play Adderley. No. 26 started the last game of the year at cornerback.
“It was in Los Angeles,” Dowler said. “I remember that very well. At one cornerback, we had Jesse Whittenton, who was All-Pro that year and went to the Pro Bowl and on the other side we had Hank Gremminger. As I recall, Gremminger must have been hurt and after Herb played that game against the Rams at corner, he came back the next year and was put at cornerback permanently.”
The Packers beat the Rams that day 24-17 and two weeks later would win their first NFL championship under Lombardi when the Packers shut out the New York Giants 37-0 at new City Stadium (now Lambeau Field).
Even when he was practicing as a flanker as a rookie, Dowler sensed that Adderley wanted to become a defensive back.
“I think Herb, all along, wanted to be a defensive player,” Dowler said. “He definitely had the temperament, the aggressive nature and the attitude of a defensive back.”
When Dowler practiced against Adderley, he knew he would be going up against great competition.
“I remember one day at training camp coming back to the huddle not having not caught the ball because Herb had batted it down,” Dowler said. “I remember saying that Herb was tough to beat. And Vince who was right there near our huddle nodded his head and said, ‘I know.’
Lombardi definitely knew.
When I talked to Jerry Kramer, he mentioned a story that he had heard from Herb about some glowing words that Lombardi told Adderley after a game.
“Herb had heard about the time Coach Lombardi had cussed me out in practice one day and then later in the locker room told me that I could be the best guard in football,” Kramer said. “Those words from Vince changed my career and made me the player I became. The same thing happened to Herb.
“Herb told me about the time when he came off the field after a game early in his career, Coach Lombardi came up to him on the field and said, ‘Herbie, you have played the finest game I have ever seen a cornerback play. Take that with you and keep ahold of it.’
“Herbie told me that for the rest of his career, he tried to play the best game a cornerback could ever play.”
Speaking of Lombardi, there was another time when a number of his players were playing golf at the Lombardi Classic to raise money for cancer research after their coach died of colon cancer in 1970.
“A bunch of us were at a bar on Wisconsin Avenue past Highway 100 after playing in the Lombardi Classic,” Kramer said. “Paul [Hornung], Max [McGee], Ron [Kramer] and Fuzzy [Thurston] were there with me.
“I looked across the bar and it was kind of dark in the bar and I saw an African American man over there, but I couldn’t clearly see who it was. I asked Fuzzy if that was Herb, and Fuzzy said no, because Herb would be with us. I told Fuzzy he was right.
“About 10 or 15 minutes later, I get a tap on my shoulder. And I turn around and it’s Herb. And he’s got his arms open. So I stood up and wrapped my arms around him and he did the same to me. And Herb says to me, ‘It’s still there JK. It’s still there.’ I told Herbie that it would always be there. It would be there forever.”
Dave Robinson played on the left side of the defense of the Packers. In front of him was Davis at left defensive end. Behind him at left cornerback was Adderley. Robinson considered Adderley the very best at his position.
“Herb Adderley was the best. You talk about shutdown cornerbacks, that’s what Herb was,” Robinson said. “He just shut people down. Herb is very proud of the fact that in the entire year of 1965, from the opening gun to the end of the season, not one receiver beat Herb for a touchdown.
“You have to remember that most quarterbacks in the NFL were righthanded, which means the those teams would load up the right side of the offense. So that meant Herb would be facing the best receiver on that team. But no receiver in that 14-game season of 1965 beat Herb for a touchdown.”
Robinson played with a lot of talented players in his 10-year career in Green Bay with the Packers and also in the two years he spent with the Washington Redskins. Robinson considers Adderley the best he ever played with.
“Herb was the most complete football player I ever played with,” Robinson said. “I played with a lot of cornerbacks, in Pro Bowls and championship games. Herb was head and shoulders above everyone else. The only one who came close to Herb was “Night Train” Lane.
“Both of them could cover very well. Both of them played the run very well. Both of them could knock you out if you were a running back. And they would. I saw Herb lay some wood on some people that was amazing. He played like a linebacker the way he could hit.”
Robinson also recalls the Herb was a leader for the Packers.
“Herb was more than just a cornerback, he was a team man,” Robinson said. “He always had a friendly thing to say and he always had a smile on his face. He would also say he was going to do something in the game and then challenge you to do something. I knew I better do what he asked me to do.”
Adderley also had a way to fire his teammates up.
“Herb was not a rah-rah guy. He would say, ‘I’m going to pick one today. Maybe two.’ Herb would lift up that whole defense, including the secondary. Willie Wood ran the secondary, but Herb was the example. Herb was the guy!”
Robinson also believes that Adderley’s presence in Dallas with the Cowboys is what finally brought them a win Super Bowl VI.
“When Herb arrived in Dallas, they couldn’t win the big one,” Robinson said. “Mel Renfro said he knew that Dallas would never win a championship until Herb got there. Herb taught them to win.”
In 1966, the Packers brought in a rookie running back by the name of Donny Anderson. Like Adderley was in 1961, Anderson was the No. 1 pick of the Packers in 1965 as a future pick.
For much of his rookie season, Anderson would return kickoffs and punts. When he returned kickoffs, he teamed with Adderley to return the kicks.
“When I was a rookie, I was put back there with Herb on kickoffs,” Anderson said. “Herb would tell me that between the goal posts if we were standing on the goal line, that anything that was to the middle or the right would be his and anything to the middle and the left would be mine.
“I said okay. I had returned kicks at Texas Tech. I recall a kickoff that was right to Herb’s goal post and he said, ‘Donny, you got it. You got it.’ That was kind of the way we started off. It wasn’t quite what he explained to me, but he later told me that it was easier to block than to return.
“You find out later on kickoffs that it’s pretty much a suicide mission, because if somebody misses one block you get clobbered pretty well. Then when Travis [Williams] came on in ’67, Herb was lucky he got off the kickoff team and Travis set all sorts of records.”
Anderson knew right away what a outstanding teammate and player Adderley was when he became a Packer in 1966.
“I always though Herb was a perfect gentleman,’ Anderson said. “He was classy and I recall that he dressed extremely well. And he played the position like it was supposed to be played. He was a running back at Michigan State and then tried out at wide receiver for a while, but when he became a cornerback, I can’t see how one could accomplish more than Herb did in his career.”
I also talked to Anderson about the many losses the the Packers family has gone through over the past two years losing nine of his teammates.
“It’s very close to all of us,” Anderson said. “Jerry and Boyd were there at the beginning. I was there six years and played most of the time in five of those years. You had a kindness and togetherness there that will never be replaced. You talked together. You practiced together. You played together.
“Coach Lombardi formed the personality of the team. We knew how great we were. That’s something in your lifetime on earth, I don’t know of anything other than your children, grandchildren and my family that can even touch that. So it’s sad. It’s very sad,”
Don Horn was able to practice against Adderley on a number of occasions, especially in 1969, when Horn started five games and won four of them.
“Herb had an uncanny knack for baiting people,” Horn said. “He would bait the quarterback and receiver. Herb did his homework and he knew how the pattern would develop and what the receiver’s tendencies were. He would act like he would play soft and then step right up and pick the ball off.”
Like Anderson, Horn knew right away what type of person Adderley was when No. 13 became a Packer in 1967.
“Herb was just a quiet leader,” Horn said. “I practiced against him a lot, especially in ’69 when Bart was hurt and I started a few games. From my perspective, I think Herb raised the bar for others in the secondary to play at a higher level. Especially Bob Jeter and Tom Brown. Herb and Willie [Wood] sort of set the bar.”
Horn was also able to reconnect with Adderley before Herb passed on.
“Herb and I stayed in touch the past few months,” Horn said. “Herb and I sort of had a special relationship. I don’t know why, but he helped me a lot. We stayed good friends over the years. About five or six months ago I reached out to him because I hadn’t heard from him in a while.
“We started some correspondence and it was really nice. The last time I was in touch with Herb was about six weeks ago. The news of his passing kind of caught me off guard.”
You can tell by the comments from Dowler, Kramer, Robinson, Anderson and Horn what a special person and player Adderley was.
Rest in peace, Herb. May God bless you and your family, as well as your close friends and former teammates.
When Willie Davis passed away on April 15, Jerry Kramer lost one of his best friends. They had a close relationship which spanned close to 60 years. A number of the great memories that the two of them had will be shared in this story.
Thanks to the heartwarming and also heartbreaking movie Brian’s Song, people became aware that Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo were the first black and white NFL players to room together. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that Willie and Jerry were the second black and white roommates in the NFL. That happened in 1968.
That strong friendship happened due to just a brief comment that Davis made to Kramer late in the 1962 season.
“We were in Los Angeles at the practice facility,” Kramer said. “We were getting to play the Rams. Back then, we always played the last two games of the season in Los Angeles and San Francisco. We had finished practice and I was getting ready to take a shower.
“So I had a towel around my waist and I was heading to the shower. Anyway, I stopped to chat with one of the guys and Willie was in that area. So I’m talking to the guy and Willie came by and said, ‘J, you had a hell of a season and I think you are going to make the All-Pro team.’ I thanked him, as it was a nice compliment. It was a big moment for me, because I had been named All-Pro once before, but you were never certain you might make it a second time.
“Willie then walked on and headed into the shower. After I finished my conversation, I went into the shower. I kept thinking to myself that was a nice thing for Willie to say to me. But I thought beyond that and I remembered that Willie had a hell of a year as well. He should have been All-Pro too. So I told him that. Willie had never made All-Pro up to that point and he was very pleased to have me say that to him. He thanked me for the compliment.
“Both of our comments were genuine too. When didn’t judge each other because of our color. We judged each other based on our contribution to the team. It was just a case of two guys playing on the same team who were making a difference and recognizing that fact.”
When the 1962 season was over, not only did the Packers win their second straight NFL title in a game in which Kramer received a game ball because of his play, but also Kramer and Davis were indeed named Associated Press first-team All-Pro along with eight of their teammates on the Packers.
In 1963, the Packers first-round draft choice was Dave Robinson out of Penn State. In his first two years in the NFL, Robinson saw spot duty at right outside linebacker and started seven games there. But in 1965, Robinson was moved over to left outside linebacker, where he would play behind Davis at left end.
Robinson commented about the left side of the Green Bay defense then.
“I want to tell you something. I felt that we had the strongest left side defense in the history of the NFL,” Robinson said. “Our leader was Willie Davis! Willie was the defensive end and I was behind him at linebacker. Behind me was Herb Adderley at cornerback. Sometimes middle linebacker Ray Nitschke would shade to the left, as did safety Willie Wood.
“That means that when we lined up in that formation, we had five players on the left side of the defense who were future Hall of Famers. Willie Wood was the one who kept the entire defense together, but it was Willie Davis who kept our left side strong. Nobody could run the same play on us twice successfully. ”
Robinson remembered a time when that happened against the Cleveland Browns.
“I remember very distinctly that we were playing Cleveland,” Robinson said. “Willie always had big games against Cleveland because they were the ones who traded him. On this one play, the tight end tried to hook me, while the tackled pulled to the outside. Willie went with the pulling tackle naturally and what happened was the Browns then brought the off guard behind him who blocked Willie in the back. It wasn’t a clip. You could do that then on a play tackle-to-tackle.
“So Willie got knocked down and Leroy Kelly gained like seven or eight yards. Willie was mad and he yelled to the Browns, “You can take that play and throw it in the shit can because it won’t work no more.’ So in the huddle, Willie tells me if they run that play again, that I have to take the tackle and the tight end, because he was going to close on that guard. I said okay. I’m thinking to myself, how can I handle two men? But you didn’t argue with the “Doctor” when he told you something.
“Sure enough, three or four plays later, they called the same play again. So Willie took one step like he was going to chase the tackle and then stopped and waited for the guard. He put the guard on the ground with a forearm and then picked up Leroy Kelly and just slammed him to the ground. And Willie says to Leroy while he was stuttering a bit, ‘I…I…I told you not to run that play no more!’
In the 1965 NFL title game at Lambeau Field against those same Browns…Davis, Robinson, Nitschke and company held the great Jim Brown to just 50 yards rushing in a game which turned out be his last ever in the NFL.
Meanwhile, the running attack of Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor combined for 201 yards and a score behind the blocking of Kramer, Fuzzy Thurston and company, as the Packers won 23-12.
Another play which involved Davis and Robinson occurred when the Packers were playing the Baltimore Colts at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore late in the 1966 season.
A win would clinch the Western Conference title for the Packers, while a win by the Colts would give them a slight chance to still win the title. Quarterback Bart Starr started the game at quarterback for the Packers, but after an injury, was replaced by the best backup quarterback in the NFL at that time, Zeke Bratkowski.
Bratkowski led the Packers to a touchdown drive in the 4th quarter which gave the Packers a 14-10 lead. But quarterback Johnny Unitas had the Colts driving late in the game and a touchdown would win the game for Baltimore.
Robinson remembered that moment well.
“Yes, Johnny had them on the move,” Robinson said. “I saw Unitas running with the ball and he looked at me and I looked at him and he tried to give a little rooster move, the old head and shoulders fake. When he did that, he held the ball away from his body a bit and I saw big Willie’s hand come out and hit right on the ball and it came out and hit the ground.
“It popped up and I picked it up. I knew all I had to do is hold on to the ball and we would win the game. I ran about five yards or so and a bunch of Colts were trying to pry the ball out of my hands before I finally went down.”
The Packers won their second straight NFL title in 1966, plus won Super Bowl I, when Davis had two sacks in the game, as Green Bay defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.
In 1967, which was Vince Lombardi’s last year as head coach of the Packers, the Packers won their third straight NFL title by beating the Dallas Cowboys in the “Ice Bowl” game, plus also won their second straight Super Bowl, as they defeated the Oakland Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II. Davis had three sacks in that game, which gave him five sacks in two Super Bowl games.
That storybook 1967 season was chronicled by Jerry in the classic book Instant Replay, which was edited by the late, great Dick Schaap.
Kramer, Davis and Robinson had put together quite a legacy for themselves up to that point going into the 1968 season.
Kramer had been named AP first-team All-Pro five times and he been on three Pro Bowl teams. Davis had been named AP first-team All-Pro five times himself, plus had been on five Pro Bowl teams. Robinson, who got his first chance to start full-time in 1965, had become part of the best group of linebackers in the NFL, along with Nitschke and Lee Roy Caffey. Robinson was named AP first-team All-Pro in 1967 and had been on the Pro Bowl teams in both 1966 and 1967.
Heading into training camp in 1968, Kramer knew he would be without his old roommate, Don Chandler, as No. 34 had retired.
“Willie and I knew that we were both in the latter portion of our careers at that point, Kramer said. “So we would talk about what happens after retirement. I asked Willie what his plans were, as he had been doing a lot of studying, because he had gotten his MBA at the University of Chicago. So we would talk about the radio business, communications and restaurant franchises.
“I mentioned to him that there was a new steak house in town and that it was a franchise and it looked pretty hot. I said that we ought to go look at it. Willie agreed to do so. I was thrilled. So we did that after practice. When we were done and heading back to the dorm, we were flapping our gums about the possibilities.
“My room was fairly close to the door and so we walked down to my room while we were still chatting. We were continuing that conversation and at some point Willie said that he better get back to his room. And I said to him why don’t you room with me or something like that. I told him that my roomy wasn’t coming back. Willie looked at me like he was considering it. He thought about it for a minute and he said, ‘Okay. Let me get my stuff.’ So that was how we became roommates. It was just casual. It wasn’t a big deal. We had a lot in common and it just made a lot of sense.”
Robinson remembered when Kramer and Davis became roommates too.
“it was a monumental moment for the team when Jerry and Willie became roommates,” Robinson said. “They were the first interracial couple so to speak in our team’s history. But you know what, the way they did it, it wasn’t a big issue. It was just two guys rooming together that got along fine.
“We never thought of them as black and white roommates. They were just two guys who get along. They were a great blend. Color never came up. It wasn’t a big issue. It could have been with somebody else, but not with Jerry and Willie.
“In fact on our team, color was never an issue. Coach Lombardi saw something in Willie. Coach wanted Willie to be the liaison between himself and the rest of the club. Primarily the black ballplayers. If anything did come up, regarding any issues for the players, trainers, equipment guys, what have you, we would go to Willie and say that this is wrong.
“After that, Willie would go to Vince and the problem was fixed quickly. And if Vince saw a problem with one of us, he would go to Willie. And Willie would call the player into his room and that matter would be settled quickly as well.”
Kramer concurred with with Robinson said.
“Willie had the respect of the players,” Kramer told me. “Not just the players of color, but all the players.
“When there was a problem when black players were having trouble getting decent housing accommodations at one time, Willie would talk to coach Lombardi about it, and then coach would chew some ass and straighten it out.”
Davis also had a great sense of humor. He told his teammates that his nickname was Dr. Feelgood. Why? Because he made women feel so good.
“Willie was always chatting with the guys,” Kramer said. “He would always get the fellas cracking up with his jokes and humor.”
Kramer retired after the 1968 season and his last game was against the Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field, while Davis retired after the 1969 season and his last game was against the St. Louis Cardinals at Lambeau Field. The common denominator in each one of those games was the performance of quarterback Don Horn.
In Jerry’s last game in 1968, when Horn came into the game for an injured Zeke Bratkowski, Kramer saw Horn and yelled, “What the hell are you in here for? Where’s Zeke?”
But Horn soon had Kramer and the other players on the Green Bay offense at ease, as No. 13 threw for 187 yards, plus had two touchdown passes without throwing a pick, as the Packers won 28-27.
In Davis’ last game in 1969, one in which Davis spoke to the crowd at Lambeau Field, Horn had a masterful performance, as he threw for 410 yards and also threw five touchdown passes, as the Packers beat the Cardinals 45-28.
Late in the game on the sideline, Davis came up to Horn laughing and said, “You stole my thunder!”
Robinson played with the Packers through the 1972 season and then was traded to the Washington Redskins where he spent the last two years of his NFL career playing under head coach George Allen.
It was in Washington when Robinson played with another Hall of Fame defensive end, Deacon Jones.
“I played behind Willie Davis for five years,” Robinson said. “And in Washington, at the end of his career, I played behind Deacon Jones. After playing with Deacon, I said to myself that he could not carry Willie’s jock strap. Now I’m not trying to say Deacon was a lousy football player, he was a great football player, but he was different from Willie.
“Deacon was the type of player who could execute. Willie was the type of player who could improvise and execute. That was a big difference. You sometimes could fool Deacon. Willie on the other hand, could sense what was coming. Both Deacon and Willie were great players, but Willie could improvise. He could analyze, improvise and then execute.”
After each of them retired, both Kramer and Davis became very close friends and were often in each other’s company.
“I was always comfortable with Willie,” Kramer said. “It didn’t matter where the hell we were. I could take him anywhere and he could take me anywhere. We were just comfortable with one another.”
One of those times occurred in 1969. But before that happened, Kramer was invited to the inaugural ball for President Richard Nixon, who had just been elected in November of 1968. Jerry was there with some friends, including former NFL player Claude Crabb, attorney John Curtin and Jay Fiondella, the owner of the famous restaurant in Santa Monica, California called Chez Jay.
Jerry’s new book Instant Replay was doing very well and was on the bestseller’s list and was No. 2 at the time. There were some photographers there and a number of people wanted to be photographed with Kramer.
“So I’m trying to be as pleasant as possible and accommodating,” Kramer said. “One of the photos was with an African American lady who was a beauty queen. She was just gorgeous. Plus she was very nice.
“So while this is going on, a photographer from Jet Magazine also took a few photos. Jay, who was standing next to the the photographer from Jet Magazine, decided to add a little spice to the evening. He told the photographer that the black lady I had just taken a picture with was my fiancée. And sure enough, the guy publishes the photos in Jet the next week.
“At the time, I was going through a divorce. So my wife was pissed, my girlfriend was pissed and I was pissed when this came out. I called a lawyer to see what we could do and the guy told me to leave it alone. That the story would go away. I was still pissed, as was the lady in the photo, but the story did go away eventually.
“But about three weeks later, I was going to be speaking at the Milwaukee Athletic Club as the Man of the Year, probably due to the book. There were going to have a dinner for me and the room held around 400 to 500 people. It had a stage and everything. Like a movie theater. So I get there early to check things out like the microphone and the setting in the room. I was there about 15 minutes doing that when Willie comes in.
“So Willie comes in the door which is quite a distance from where I was at. Willie starts laughing. He was laughing so hard he could hardly talk. He is just laughing his ass off. Finally he points at me and me and says, ‘Don’t ever let the white man say I can’t communicate. I room with the guy for a year and he’s ready to cross the road on me!’ Willie had obviously seen the photos in Jet and he was just jerking my chain.”
Yes, since they started rooming together in 1968 moving forward to when Willie passed, Jerry and Willie were very close. How close? Jerry told me that Willie was among his five closest friends in the world.
Another memory that Kramer will never forget was when he and Willie were on a fishing trip in Idaho in the Hell’s Canyon region.
“Yes, we were probably a couple hours from Boise,” Kramer said. “We went up over the mountain there over to a guide’s arrangement there with rooms, boats, fishing equipment and things. We stayed with him a couple of days and did a lot of fishing.
“One day we went about 15 miles upstream. The area was wild ass country because the river was only able to accessed by jetboat. We did a lot of lot of laughing and giggling, as we were doing something that Willie had never done. So we were fishing and Willie catches a carp. Of course they aren’t edible and they are basically a garbage fish.
“So Willie reels it in and the guide looks at it and says, ‘I’ll take care of that son of a bitch!’ He then reaches for his knife which had about an eight or nine inch blade on it and he just slits the fish from stem to stern and throws him in the water. Willie’s eyes became huge and he says, ‘J, what did that man do to that fish? What is that fish guilty of?’
“I know I was surprised, so I know Willie was. So we catch a couple more fish. Then Willie catches another carp and had it almost in the boat, but it’s hanging off his pole. The guide says once again, ‘I’ll take care of that son of a bitch!’ He reaches in a compartment in his boat and he has a 12-gauge there. In one motion he just blows the fish to hell and back with the shotgun. The empty hook and the sinker on Willie’s pole are just hanging there and Willie is just looking down at the water.
“Then Willie looks at the shotgun. Then he looks back at the water where the fish has been vaporized. Then he looks back at the gun. But we just had a great time out there and we came back to the cottage with our fish haul and Willie started cooking them. It was just a great time with a great friend!”
When Jerry would get together with Willie and his wife Carol in California, Jerry always knew he had a great setting during his visit.
“I had the Kramer suite at the Davis home in Marina del Ray,” Kramer said. “It was the big bedroom upstairs looking out at the ocean.”
Besides being teammates, plus being together on various All-Pro teams and Pro Bowl squads, Davis, Kramer and Robinson were all on the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade Team of the 1960s. The three of them were joined on that team by teammates Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Boyd Dowler, Forrest Gregg, Jim Ringo, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderley, Willie Wood and Don Chandler.
Everyone of those players I just mentioned have busts in Canton. All except for Dowler and Chandler.
Speaking of Canton, Kramer and Robinson were good luck charms to each other when they were each inducted in the Hall of Fame, a place where Davis received a bust in 1981.
“Yes, the night before I was inducted in 2013 in New Orleans, Jerry joined me for dinner and we had a couple of bottles of wine,” Robinson said. “We did the same thing in Minneapolis in 2018 the night before he was inducted.
“The weird part about being in New Orleans, is that was where Jerry didn’t get in as a senior in ’97. I kept thinking, I hope this isn’t déjà vu. I was a bit nervous. But Jerry settled me down. Jerry told me that our dinner would be good luck for me and it was. So when he came up in 2018 in Minneapolis, my son and I went to dinner with Jerry and some people at Ruth’s Chris and had a great steak dinner. Plus we had our wine, too! I was so happy when Jerry got in. Almost as happy when I went in!”
The legacy that Davis, Kramer, Robinson and so many of their Green Bay teammates have created all stems from the guidance of Coach Lombardi. I have talked with many of the players from those championship teams in Green Bay under Lombardi and all have shown exceptional class and humility.
I talk to Kramer more than anyone and it’s a relationship I truly cherish. I first got to meet Robinson at Jerry’s party in Canton before the induction ceremony and when we talked again recently, it was like we were old buddies. I was only able to chat with Willie once and that was when he was on the phone with his wife Carol talking to me, but what an honor that was.
Getting back to Vince Lombardi now. Obviously, he was a great coach and a great teacher. But he was more than that. He was also a great man. A man who molded great football players to be sure, but more importantly than that, he molded great people.
Davis, Kramer and Robinson are a testament to that!
It’s funny how life can take one on a path to form an unexpected friendship with people. That was what happened with me a little less than four years ago. It all occurred because of one of the many conversations that I have had over the years with Jerry Kramer.
That chat with Jerry led me to write a four-part series about stem cell therapy. It was then when I was able to get to know Kandace Saberhagen. I knew immediately that Kandace was a special person. That impression was cemented by other people who knew Kandace well. People like Don Horn, who played with Kramer in Green Bay when both were with the Packers. It was Kramer’s discussion about stem cell therapy at a reunion/autograph session several years ago which first got Horn interested in the subject. It also led to Don’s association with Kandace in the stem cell therapy field.
My association with Kandace led to another friendship, when she married Bret Saberhagen in February of 2019. I knew all about Bret and his career in Major League Baseball. A career that spanned 18 years in the big leagues in which Saberhagen twice won the American League Cy Young Award and also saw him being named the 1985 World Series MVP for the Kansas City Royals. In fact, I definitely feel that Bret deserves consideration for enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I wrote about that situation a little over a month ago.
But I got to know Bret after he married Kandace, and while it was great to talk to Bret about his career in the big leagues, it was also very obvious that he and Kandace had an exceptional relationship. They were definitely a special blend as a couple.
Bret and Kandace first met in Chicago in May of 2018 when they were introduced to each other by Bill Bellah. This meeting occurred while Kandace was in the Windy City along with stem cell therapy advocate Mike Golic for a charity event.
Bellah explained to me how the meeting finally took place.
“It’s funny, I met Kandace through Kurt Walker, who had played in the NHL,” Bellah said. “He had been working with Kandace to help out older players in hockey with stem cell therapy. Unfortunately, Kurt passed away a couple of years ago. Anyway, when the hockey players were getting their stem cell procedures done at Kandace’s clinic, I let them use my house in Breckenridge (Colorado) to recuperate.
“Kandace, Don Horn and several others came to this birthday party that I had in Breckenridge. There were like 80 people there. Bret was there too. But at that time, Kandace was with Don, who was watching over her like a father. Bret was on the complete opposite side of the venue that I had put together, sitting by a fire pit. So they didn’t meet there.
“About eight months later, I had a charity event in St. Charles, Illinois. That is when Bret and Kandace finally met. Afterward, they both flew on my jet and they sat in the back of the plane. They really hit it off. It was great, because they are both great people. If I truly was cupid, they were a couple I would want to put together.”
The relationship between Bret and Kandace had begun. They soon realized that they had a lot in common, as Kandace explained to me.
“One of the first things I noticed about Bret was that he had a big heart,” Kandace said. “He’s just a great person, who is always looking out for me. We also have a lot of similar interests.”
Bret concurred.
“Obviously sports is one one reason we connected,” Bret said. “But it’s really everything. If Kandace wants to do one particular thing, I usually want to as well. The same holds true if I want to do something, she does as well. We just have similar likes. We both love cooking for instance. It doesn’t take a whole lot to make us happy.”
The relationship between the two was in full swing in October of 2018 when Bret asked Kandace if she was ever interested in getting married again.
“When Bret asked me that, I said no, are you crazy,” Kandace said. “So I sat there for a minute and Bret was real quiet. Then I asked him if he was asking me to get married. And he said, ‘I might be.’ That was before I knew I was sick.
“A couple of days later, I felt a lump on my right side. At the time, we had a lot going on, as we were buying a house. So I went in and had a mammogram and the doctor told me it didn’t look good, but that he was going to send it off to get the test results. That was on a Friday. On Monday, they gave me the report. I really lost it when I heard the bad news. It was not the optimal time, as I was just ready to start the next chapter of my life. But God had other plans.
“I flew out of Colorado that day to go to Arizona. Bret’s daughter came out to stay with me. I was devastated the whole week and really couldn’t talk through a lot of things. I was meeting Bret that Friday. My mentality at that point was that I was going to have to let him go because I wasn’t going to take him into this situation with me. This was going to be huge ordeal. We were in the infantile stages of a serious relationship. I wasn’t going to have him take that on.
“Long story short, I met Bret in Chicago at the airport. I told him that I was sick and that I would love to spend the next chapter of my life with him, but that I’m going to have to do the next chapter alone and he wouldn’t be in it. Bret got what I said, but he cried. We both sat at the bar at Lou Malnati’s in downtown Chicago in front of crowded group and just sobbed unbearably. It was a very touching moment.
“The next day, Bret asked me if I would have coffee with him. I said sure. We passed like four different coffee shops before Bret pulled into the diamond district, also known as Jeweler’s Row and put a ring on my finger right there. He told me that we would start our time in sickness, but that we will also have happiness and asked me to marry him.”
“That was when my medical support from Bret started. He immediately moved from California to Colorado. Bret was with me on every IV and chemo treatment. He went with me on every doctor’s appointment. He was involved in everything I did. He made sure I had iron in my diet. Every time I threw up, he was there. He made a make-shift bucket on a stepladder by the bed so I didn’t have to leave the room and go into the bathroom. He would talk to my doctors one on one to see what would be best for me. He’s carried me up the stairs when I couldn’t walk. He also made me stop working and go on medical leave. He was with me every step of the way. That continues to this day.”
Bret and Kandace got married on February 16, 2019 in Paso Robles, California, which is also where the couple currently lives. Don Horn made the toast at the reception.
Don Horn toasts Bret and Kandace Saberhagen.
“It was fantastic,” Kandace said. “There was a huge winery. There were 100 of our closest friends who celebrated with us.”
One thing that seems to be a common denominator when I talk to Bret and Kandace is their absolute love of cooking.
“We love to cook any type of meal. Italian, Mexican, American cuisine, you name it,” Bret said. “It’s a wide variety. I’m not a big seafood fan, so there is not a lot a seafood being cooked. I will do shrimp though. I’m more of a meat and potatoes guy.
“Because I played so long in Kansas City, I just love to barbeque. But as I said, I love to cook just about anything.”
Kandace talked about the pleasure of cooking with Bret.
“Cooking has become a major part of our lifestyle,” Kandace said. “I’m trying to be as humble as possible, and I’m not so much talking about the outcome of the food, but it’s really how we cook. It’s almost like a dance in the kitchen. We love to entertain. One of Bret’s specialties is the way he cooks his steaks. They are just phenomenal. The potatoes are great as well because of some of the ingredients we use. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen. It’s huge kitchen and it takes up most of our house. We also have an area outside where we can cook and grill.”
Bret and Kandace have a three-year plan. They obviously want to enjoy their life together. They would also eventually like to do a cooking show together. Plus they want to make sure people have the awareness about medical issues that Kandace and so many women go through each day in their lives. In lieu of that, Bret recently put out a statement on the Facebook page that the couple has, called The Saberhagens.
NEW ADDRESS and new name for our nonprofit! Each month I receive hundreds of cards, baseballs, and pictures to sign for people. All I ask is for a small donation to our nonprofit. My wife and I gave my old nonprofit that has not been doing anything for years a new facelift and made it something near and dear to us. SabesWings will relaunch next month in honor of my wife’s battle with breast cancer. It will assist those who suffer from medical financial toxicity. More information to come! In the meantime, our new nonprofit address is: 179 Niblick Road #411, Paso Robles, CA 93446! We receive so many requests for autographs and the best way to do it is send what you want signed to the above address with a return stamped envelope and a small donation to SabesWings! Pretty simple and your donation goes to those who struggle to pay for cancer treatments! It’s a cool way to give back. Suggested minimum donations $10 per 1 baseball card, $25 per signed ball, $50 per jersey, $25 for miscellaneous items. PLEASE include return shipping!!
Family is huge component in the relationship of Bret and Kandace. Together they have six children who range in age from 11 to 34. The oldest is Drew Saberhagen, who is 34 and is married to Kelsey. They have a baby named Sawyer and they are expecting another baby. Next up is Bret’s daughter Brittany, who is 33. She is married to Jacob Zachar. Third on the list is Dalton Saberhagen, who is 28 and still single.
From left to right, Brittany Zachar, Aidan Stolz, Bret Saberhagen, Layton Stolz, Kandace Saberhagen, Drew Saberhagen and Dalton Saberhagen.
Plus there are the three children who are 16 or under. They are Kandace’s son Aidan Stoltz and Hannah Saberhagen, who are both 16 and are just five days apart with their birthdays. The baby of the family is Layton Stolz, who is 11.
Bottom line, It’s been a difficult time for Bret and Kandace, as they try to stay as positive as they can while Kandace, through Bret’s great assistance, battles breast cancer. Kandace is using alternative therapies to help her fight the good fight. That is why SabesWings will be launched next month.
I often hear from my friends and associates about how jealous they are of me because of all of the sports celebrities I have been able to interview and do stories on. I am indeed very blessed to have had that opportunity.
I have had the opportunity to interview Hall of Famers like Bart Starr, Jerry Kramer, Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Carl Yastrzemski, Johnny Bench, Reggie Jackson, Robin Yount, Rollie Fingers, Don Sutton, Paul Molitor and Ted Simmons.
It would be awesome if Bret can join that group someday soon. I know he deserves at least a chance to have his candidacy talked about in terms of someday having a plaque in Cooperstown.
In terms of the human life Hall of Fame, both Bret and Kandace are definitely members from my perspective. I hope and pray that their life together is long and rewarding. No couple deserves it more.
Anybody who has read my work over the years, know that I have promoted a number of former NFL players for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Most notably among that group of players was Jerry Kramer, and he indeed was enshrined in Canton in 2018. I first started writing about Kramer’s omission from his rightful place in the Hall of Fame over 30 years ago.
And it was through my association with Kramer over the years which led me to new friendships with people like his former teammate with the Green Bay Packers, Don Horn. One of the reasons I got to know Horn was because of his background in stem cell therapy and it was Kramer who first got Horn interested in that subject matter.
It was through Horn that I got to know Kandace Saberhagen, who was the president of Premier Stem Cell Institute, where Horn was a liaison to former NFL players who could utilize stem cell therapy to help them recover from shoulder, knee and hip injuries that they had suffered in the past.
I wrote a four-part series about stem cell therapy back in August of 2016 and have remained friends with Kandace ever since. Which takes me back full circle, as like with Kramer and other NFL players who I promoted for the Pro Football Hall of Fame (like Class of 2020 member Bobby Dillon), I also believe Kandace’s husband Bret Saberhagen deserves consideration for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
There are just 21 multiple winners of the Cy Young Award in MLB history, and Saberhagen is one of them, as Bret won his first in 1985 and his second in 1989 as a member of the Kansas City Royals.
Saberhagen was also named World Series MVP in 1985, as his Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. Saberhagen was 2-0 (including a shutout) in that World Series and had a sparkling 0.50 ERA, plus gave up just 11 hits in 18 innings. No. 31 also had 10 strikeouts and gave up only one walk.
If one looks at Saberhagen’s career stats, his numbers are quite good. He was 167-117 with a career ERA of 3.34, which adds up to a .588 winning percentage, which is better than a lot of pitchers in the Hall of Fame. There are 80 pitchers in the Hall of Fame and Saberhagen has a better winning percentage than 38 of those pitchers.
The career ERA of 3.34 is also good, as he pitched in the American League for 11 of the 16 seasons he played in baseball. The American League has the DH, unlike the National League.
A number of the years when Saberhagen pitched were marred by injuries, which will be addressed later in the story. In fact, Saberhagen was actually in MLB for 18 years, but two full years were lost because of injury.
Saberhagen was also a three-time All-Star, plus won a Gold Glove and also won the ERA title in 1989 when he won his second Cy Young Award.
From 1985 through 1989, there wasn’t a better pitcher in the American League, as Saberhagen won two Cy Young Awards, won 82 games and lost 50 and had an overall ERA of 3.27.
When one looks at the 167 wins that Saberhagen had in his career, there are three other starting pitchers in the Hall of Fame that have similar win totals. I’m talking about Sandy Koufax, Dizzy Dean and Lefty Gomez.
Koufax was 165-87 in his career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers with a career ERA 0f 2.76. No. 32 also won three Cy Young Awards, won a National League MVP , was a World Series MVP twice, a seven-time All-Star, a three-time triple crown (wins, ERA and strikeouts) winner and was a five-time ERA leader.
Dean was 150-83 in his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs and had a career ERA 0f 3.04. Dean was a National League MVP in 1934 when he won 30 games. There was no Cy Young Award then. Dean was also a four-time All-Star.
Gomez was 189-102 with the New York Yankees and Washington Senators with a career era of 3.34. Gomez was a seven-time All-Star, won two triple crowns and was a two-time ERA leader.
When I was promoting Kramer for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, one of the things I put out there were the many endorsements from Hall of Fame players that Kramer received in his career before he was inducted. None were bigger than the three he received from Merlin Olsen, Alex Karras and Bart Starr.
Likewise, I wanted to talk with three Hall of Fame baseball players about Saberhagen. The three I talked to were Larry Walker, Robin Yount and Rollie Fingers. I never had talked with Walker before, but I did interview Yount and Fingers a few times when I covered the Milwaukee Brewers from 1980 through 1983.
Walker briefly played against Saberhagen when he was a member of the Montreal Expos and Saberhagen was pitching for the New York Mets. Walker talked about what it was like facing Saberhagen.
“When you look at Bret on the mound, he sort of reminded me of Pedro Martinez,” Walker said. “Not very intimidating. He’s not a mean looking guy. Not big or strong looking. But with both of those guys, once the ball leaves their hands, they definitely become intimidating.
“The life on Bret’s fastball is something I’ll always remember. Similar to Dwight Gooden and David Cone, as his fastball could buckle your knees at times and make you shake your head. I remember the first time I faced him and it was almost like his ball was rising as it came to the plate. Plus he had a sharp curveball and they were just nasty pitches. You were hoping that he wasn’t on that day, so maybe you could scrape out a hit.”
Very humble words from Walker, who once hit over .360 for three consecutive years when he was with the Colorado Rockies, plus won three batting titles and was a five-time All-Star. A superb fielder as well, as he also won seven Gold Glove honors. That all led to Walker being named to the Class of 2020 for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Derek Jeter, Marvin Miller and Ted Simmons.
Walker also loved being teammates with Saberhagen when both played for the Rockies.
“Bret was as solid as one could be. A guy you love in the clubhouse,” Walker said. “He was always talking and communicating. And that’s a good thing, because it’s rare too, but pitchers normally don’t jell that well with position players, but Bret did.”
Although Walker just recently was named to be a member of the Hall of Fame, he talked about why Saberhagen also should be considered.
“You know, Bret won two Cy Young’s and a was a World Series MVP. He has that definitely going for him,” Walker said. “It’s a fine line. I think he only had a few people vote for him the last time he was on the ballot, which is ridiculous. There are a bunch of players who I think belong, but you kind of shake your head in disbelief that they don’t get more respect from the voters. I know his win total isn’t as high as some of the voters would like, but injuries put a little damper on his career.
“I’m glad that you are promoting Bret. Hopefully you can help open some eyes. You never know. If it (the Hall of Fame) could happen for me, it can happen for anyone.”
When Yount played, he and Saberhagen were considered two of the best players in the American League and in all of baseball. Yount was the AL MVP in both 1982 and 1989. Saberhagen won the Cy Young Award in 1985 and 1989. Saberhagen was also World Series MVP in 1985 and Yount probably would have been in 1982, had the Brewers defeated the Cardinals in that World Series. Yount hit .414 in that World Series and if Fingers (out with an elbow injury) had been available to pitch, the odds were pretty good that the Brewers would have won that Fall Classic.
Yount faced Saberhagen many times in his career.
“I certainly remember his high, hard fastball and his sharp curve,” Yount said. “Those two pitches were outstanding and they turned out to be good enough to win him two Cy Young’s and a World Series MVP. To me back at that time, Bret was one of the top pitchers in all of baseball.
“I also remember that we played high school baseball in the same area of Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley area. We sort of grew up in the same type of baseball atmosphere.
“Doing what you are doing in promoting Bret is what it takes. I’ve been part of the Modern Baseball Committee for the Hall of Fame a couple of times and we get to discuss and vote on ten nominees who have been presented to our committee. That is how Ted [Simmons] got in.
“Being a two-time Cy Young winner and being a World Series MVP like Bret was, it’s hard to believe he was taken off the Hall of Fame ballot after one year due to lack of votes. Hopefully he can be a nominee on one of the Hall of Fame’s committees so his accomplishments in baseball can be discussed by the members of that particular committee.”
The Hall of Fame has four Era Committees which vote on 10 candidates in each committee for selection into getting a plaque in Cooperstown. The four Era Committees are Early Baseball (Prior To 1950), Golden Days (1950-1969), Modern Baseball (1970-1987) and Today’s Game (1988 To Present).
Saberhagen is characterized as to belonging in the Today’s Game category, as the bulk of his career was played from 1988 to present. The Today’s Game Committee has 16 members, which will be a mixture of Hall of Fame players, MLB executives and writers. The list of 10 candidates for each committee is put together by the Historical Overview Committee.
The Historical Overview Committee is comprised of 11 veteran historians: Bob Elliott (Canadian Baseball Network), Jim Henneman (formerly Baltimore Sun), Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Bill Madden (formerly New York Daily News), Jack O’Connell (BBWAA), Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram), Tracy Ringolsby (MLB.com), Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle), Dave Van Dyck (formerly Chicago Tribune) and Mark Whicker (Southern California News Group).
The Today’s Game Committee will meet again in December of 2021 to discuss who might get inclusion in the Class of 2022.
I also had the opportunity to talk with Fingers about Saberhagen. They both have a couple things in common. Both have been World Series MVP’s and both have won at least one Cy Young Award.
Although Fingers started out his career as a starter like Saberhagen, he eventually became one of the best closers in the history of the game, as he ended up with 341 saves. Fingers retired after the 1985 season, which also happened to be the year that Saberhagen won his first Cy Young and was the World Series MVP as well.
“I remember Bret, as I was with with the Brewers in ’84 and ’85 when he first got started in baseball,” Fingers said. “I remember that he threw really hard. I’m glad I never had to face him because we had the DH, but I know that in his first five or six years he was with the Royals, he was the cat’s meow in the American League, winning a couple of Cy Young Awards and also being the MVP of the ’85 series.
“Bret had some great years. Now he only won 167 games, but he had a pretty good winning percentage at .588. Plus he had 76 complete games, which is not bad. In fact, it’s pretty good. Nowadays in baseball, if you had 76 complete games in total for pitchers over two years, that’s considered good.
“Looking at Bret, obviously winning two Cy Young’s and being a World Series MVP is very good. He was also a three-time All-Star. Two more All-Star appearances might have helped his cause.”
Ironically, in 1985 and 1989, the two years he won the Cy Young Award, Saberhagen was not named an All-Star, which is unbelievable.
Fingers continued talking about the stats of Saberhagen.
“A lifetime ERA of 3.34 is pretty good. So is over 2,500 innings pitched. Having only 167 wins will go against him a bit. But Sandy Koufax is in the Hall of Fame with less wins (165) than that, but he also won three Cy Young’s and struck out the world when he played. But all in all, Bret had a great career in baseball.”
Fingers was on the top of his game in 1982 when he suffered an elbow injury in early September which cost him the rest of the season and all of the 1983 season. At the time of his injury, Fingers was the defending Cy Young Award winner, as well as the defending AL MVP.
Likewise, injuries have hurt Saberhagen throughout his career in baseball, which definitely curtailed some of the stats he might have put up in the big leagues. Saberhagen and I talked about that and much more when we recently talked about his baseball career.
It was at a fairly young age when Saberhagen thought he had a chance to maybe get to the big show.
“I think I was pitching in high school when scouts were coming around,” Saberhagen said. “I never imagined that I would have the career I ended up having though. I was pretty much throwing just fastballs and curveballs back then.”
But it was when Saberhagen developed a great changeup which really set his career in baseball upward.
“In high school, I was trying to come up with an offspeed pitch. I was trying the knuckleball, but nothing really clicked. But in the minors when I was in AA ball, Tony Ferreira showed me how to hold the baseball to basically throw a screwball. I held my fingers down on each one of the seams and pulled down with my index finger and I was able to control that with a different velocity. That’s what really made a huge difference with my repertoire. Without that pitch, I probably wouldn’t have had the career I did.”
Saberhagen got off to a quick start in the majors, as he made the Royals out of AA ball in 1984 and won 10 games as a rookie with a 3.48 ERA. Things really took off in 1985, when he won the Cy Young Award with a 20-6 record and an ERA of 2.87. Plus he led his team to the World Series title, as he was the MVP of that series.
Saberhagen didn’t do it alone though and he wanted to make sure that the guys who were catching him got a lot of credit.
“The guys who caught me were very knowledgeable and had been around. In 1985, Jim Sundberg caught me and we are talking about a guy who caught a number of no-hitters from Nolan Ryan. With a guy like Jim, he knows what pitches to throw depending on the situation in the game. I very seldom shook him off.
“I had four guys who I really enjoyed throwing to. There was Jim, Bob Boone, Charlie O’Brien and Jason Varitek. With all four of those guys, if I shook off those guys five times in a game, that would probably be the max. And if you are not shaking off, you get into a nice rhythm and groove.”
Saberhagen was definitely in a groove in 1985 when he won his first Cy Young Award and then really made a name for himself in the 1985 World Series.
“It was funny in the 1985 postseason, as I had struggled against the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS, who I always seemed to struggle against,” Saberhagen said. “My mindset in the World Series was to get my shit together.”
And indeed, Saberhagen sure as hell did. With the Royal down two games to zero in the series, Saberhagen was faced with a must-win start in Game 3 at Busch Stadium. And No. 31 delivered big time, as the Royals beat the Cardinals 6-1, as he pitched a complete game and allowed just six hits, while he struck out eight and walked just one.
The Royals extended the series to Game 7, when Saberhagen got his second start of the series. This time the game was played at home at Royals Stadium. Saberhagen was again magnificent, as he pitched another complete game, but this time it was a shutout, as the Royals won 11-0 and had their first World Series title. Saberhagen allowed just five hits, as he struck out two and walked nobody.
Because of his performance in the series, Saberhagen was named the MVP.
When I was a kid, I always dreamed about playing in a Game 7 in the World Series and being the hero. I know that is the same dream with many kids who grow up loving baseball. Saberhagen accomplished that goal and it had to be just a fantastic feeling.
“Winning Game 7 of the World Series was my biggest thrill for sure.” Saberhagen said. “Second would be pitching a no-hitter and third would be starting an All-Star game.”
Saberhagen remained one of the very top pitchers in the American League for the next four years, which culminated when he won his second Cy Young Award in 1989. That season Saberhagen was just nasty on the mound, as he was 23-6 with an ERA of just 2.16. He also had 12 complete games and four shutouts. In addition, Saberhagen allowed just 209 hits in 262.1 innings.
No wonder he won another Cy Young!
Some shoulder woes affected Saberhagen in 1990, as he was just 5-9 with an ERA of 3.27, but he was named to the All-Star team and got the win in that game. In 1991, Saberhagen bounced back and was 13-8 with an ERA of 3.07.
In 1992, Saberhagen was traded to the New York Mets. In three and a half seasons with the Mets, Saberhagen was 29-21 with an ERA of 3.16. His best year was in 1994, when he went 14-4 with an ERA of 2.74 and finished third in the NL Cy Young voting. The most amazing aspect of that season for Saberhagen was his 11-1 strikeout to walk ratio.
At the trade deadline in 1995, Saberhagen was traded to the Colorado Rockies and went 2-1 in three starts.
“Unfortunately, I only pitched three healthy games with the Rockies,” Saberhagen said. “After my third start, the next day we traveled to Pittsburgh and we did our stretching and I went out to warm up and the first throw I made felt like a bomb blew up in my shoulder. The team did a MRI which said the shoulder was fine and just needed some clean up after the season was over.
“Needless to say, it would take me over a half hour to get loose before a ball game and my curveball was not there anymore either. It was tough to throw the changeup and my fastball was all over the place. I ended up getting two more shots of cortisone and I was living on anti-inflammatories throughout that season. I finally had surgery that offseason and the surgery was performed by Dr. Altchek by the Mets. I was put under, but I wasn’t completely out because he wanted to talk with me during the procedure.
“So when he went in, he asked me what happened and I explained. And then he told me that everything in my shoulder was gone. He said that my supraspinatus, infraspinatus and other muscles were all torn. He told me that he wasn’t going to do reconstructive surgery at that point, but that it would probably have to be done later. He just fixed it as best as possible so I could pitch the next year. But by May next year in 1996, my shoulder was still killing me and I did have reconstructive surgery and I missed all of the ’96 season.
“One of the things that I think about is the fact that I was injured quite a bit and if there was one thing in my career that I would like to change, it would be being healthy a lot more. I had a big league uniform on for 18 seasons and I missed two of those seasons completely due to injury, plus had a number of other seasons cut short due to injury.”
In 1997, Saberhagen signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent. In five years with the Red Sox, Saberhagen’s point about being injured often is illustrated quite clearly. In 1996, Saberhagen only pitched in six games and in 2001, only pitched in three games due to shoulder woes. Plus, he missed all of the 2000 season.
But in the two years that Saberhagen was able to pitch, he looked a lot like the old Saberhagen, as he was 25-14 in 1998 and 1999 combined with a cumulative ERA of 3.46 for the Sox. He also struck out 181 hitters and walked just 41 (one intentional).
Looking back on his injury woes, Saberhagen reflected.
“Sometimes when you have a MRI, it misses things that are issues,”Saberhagen said. “But back then, that’s what we were working with. And you did what you had to do to get back on the mound. You got your shots of cortisone and lived on anti-inflammatories. That was just the way we were programed. You just had to what you could to get back out there.”
The bottom line is that when healthy, Saberhagen was one of the top pitchers in all of baseball and his two Cy Young Awards and his World Series MVP bear that out. Saberhagen certainly deserves to be nominated to be one of the 10 players discussed by the Today’s Game Committee in the fall of 2021 to debate if he warrants a plaque in Cooperstown.
The 16 people on that committee can make that determination, but at the very least, Saberhagen deserves the opportunity have his name put back into the discussion about being in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
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