1970-1979 | Great Losses

[Music] it was my character it wasn't my color that I like to think that got me through here the only thing that matter was could you blot and could you tackle they didn't care what color you were I came to Green Bay the same year Vince Lombardi did and I was I will say it again I was born right I'm really just in favor of great competition and great athletes and the Packers have had more than their fair share of the great athletes and the great competition Lombardi was gonna be no easy act to follow gentlemen is the most important play we have [Applause] [Music] you one of the Washington players came up and said coach can I carry your bag and he said oh yes would you please Murray told me she said that's the first indication that I that he was really ill seriously ill he passed out in the locker room he he drove himself to the point where I think he really he was spent and he was afraid of what might be going on I went the same he was in the hospital and when I walked out of there I was at sea I was sad I don't know if he's gonna make it coach was laying in bed and his hands were down at his side and his hands were clenched and I knew he was fighting it I said god bless you and he said thank you and I was done you know he was feeling very badly we've been hard [Music] because it was him that made me I went over to his bedside and touched his arm and he opened his eye and I said coach I just wanted to tell you how much you meant to me what you meant to my life and how much I love you you've made a great difference in my life September 3rd 1970 Vince Lombardi dies of colon cancer at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC he is 57 years old he can die he can't die not this guy he's not ever gonna die and so you couldn't couldn't believe it and ultimately you had to believe it [Music] four days later his funeral is held at New York's st. Patrick's Cathedral with that goodbye to him but he lives with us every day he's part of our life every day there wasn't anybody like him and ever will be he will be more respected than anybody in the history of this league he's respected as a man as a coach and as a leader he knew that how to really get inside a person head and heart and the heart was I think the thing that was especially domineering I know I'm an emotional man Notah for me for example to give everything of myself take the mental anguish that's all part of this game the emotionalism it's all part of this game thought of me to do this for someone else I think it has to be a certain amount of love for that other person that love for each other in other words his friends were his football players those were the people that he cared about the outside of his players and the functions of running the Green Bay Packers that was it for him that was enough for him he didn't even one week after Lombardi's death NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle announces the renaming of the league's championship trophy pro football lost one of its legends and a Pete Rozelle changed the name of the ultimate trophy in the game to the Vince Lombardi Trophy it's a trophy that's awarded to the champion team not an individual Akeem someone who's attained that level of meaning in American life dies you lose the person but you don't lose anything else the mythology the meaning of Vince Lombardi is as deep today or deeper than it was when he died the greatest coach of the history of this game and he'd loved the NFL Lombardi was the patron saint of the NFL right at the time when it was reaching its majestic status in American life the rise of football was in part made possible by Lombardi in the Packers the following year the late Vince Lombardi is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Packers hadn't won for more than a decade before you got here and they didn't win for almost the quarter of a century after he left so I'd say his impact was rather substantial he's been dead almost 50 years and the way they talked about him you'd think he was standing in the back of the room they still have that much reverence that much respect he would take whenever you had and make it good and make it better in all 13 Lombardi Packers are enshrined in camp to this day of the Packers of the 60s are the only team to won three straight championships under a playoff system so they did things that no other team had done before I've always said the guys had played for Lombardi played over their heads and it really did he gave football what it needed and that was he took people and made them great he made me somebody bigger than I I expected to be I think the cheers of the people the Super Bowl victories that all fades away but you never forget you great friends they were in the ditch with you they attribute their success in life to the lessons they learned from Vince Lombardi he brought everybody in a writing with the right goal and to not let each other down respect each other respect each other it's not only as teammates but as men after the game is over Stadium is empty lights are out press releases have been filed championship ring is on the dresser you're all alone in the quiet of your room the only thing left at this time is to lead a life of quality and excellence and make this old world just a little bit better because you were in it historically Green Bay is an almost entirely white community people were not used to seeing black people they weren't used to talking to black people if you saw a black person walking down the street in Green Bay the assumption automatically was he must have been a Packer player there were no blacks in Green Bay it was a white community the black people that you would see passing through Green Bay many times would be the people that were working on the railroads in terms of whether their porters or working in the dining cars or other aspects of the train travel that would be coming in and out of town we didn't have a chance to really study the Packers I mean that's outside and I saw the quarterbacks malla Bama and the running back from the Louisville and the other renovation LSU and half the lines from Texas in college every time I went south of the mason-dixon line I had some bad experiences now it's gonna have a whole team for guys from the south and I thought that I did the right thing here in 1961 her bad early Willie Davis in Elijah Pitts Shara fixed up one bedroom apartment the other half of the building is the kanaday Oh exterminating business Willie Davis gets the bedroom because he's the oldest Adderley and Pitt's flip a coin to see who sleeps on the sofa and who sleeps on an army cot Adderley says the homeless shelters in Green Bay are better and have better furniture none of the black ballplayers brought the Y's to Green Bay I was here the first year and I thought what was like in Green Bay everybody said there's one black lady in town with two daughters I was here ten years and soin the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 68 brought a legal end to segregation and discrimination the Packers had already broken the color barrier nearly 20 years before in 1950 the Packers signed free agent and Bob man the very next day he became the first african-american to play for the Packers in a league game or was he Bob Mann has long been credited with being the first african-american to play for the Packers in a regular season game he really broke the color barrier for playing professional football in Green Bay he clearly had a huge impact by signing with the Packers and becoming the first african-american that was known to play for the Green Bay Packers Curly Lambeau had never had a black player that anybody was aware of subsequently we learned the Wold gene was an african-american who played in the mid pointers Walter Jean a packer during the 25 and 26 seasons may actually have been the first his father was black his mother was white in all likelihood when gene played for the Packers he was considered to be white by Lambeau his teammates and fans in 1959 the Packers acquired defensive back m1 Tinnell from the New York Giants spent a majority of his crew at the Giants the Lombardi knew him from there he was looking for that leadership and direction to help these some of the younger players on the team so that's why I Bharti brought him here when he arrives housing is difficult to find in Green Bay during part of his playing career he lives at the hotel Northland Lombardi pays his room and board when Lombardi started in 1959 and emmalin the Tinnell was a winner the rest of the players he inherited were abysmal losers basically it would just finish playing at a 110 in one team m110 L helped Lombardi teach the path there's how to win he was really a de facto assistant coach before there were any african-american assistant coaches he was invaluable and that was the start of changing the culture the Green Bay Packers he played 11 seasons with New York three seasons with the Packers and became a respected team leader paving the way for many african-americans to play pivotal roles in the team's success during the 1960's in 1959 there were only four african-american players on the team and by the end six of d11 players on the number one ranked defense are African Americans it was a uncommon to drift african-americans in the first round but Vince the body broke the mone drafted her route in 1961 he directed me in 1963 so that was two out three years he's got the african-american the first round Lombardi changed everything in terms of race with the Packers he didn't see black or white he just saw a green and gold and and and that's all it took the men who he signed and played was such great intelligent people so many other NFL teams had quotas at least it was understood that they did keep the number of african-american players to a minimum and he had none the 1962 Green Bay Packers world championship team is the last the last officer unit but other black seminars when Lombardi's teams in the mid-60s won three more championships some of those teams hadn't really increased their numbers Packers in 1967 had six african-american starters and the defensive side of the ball and that was the strength of those teams great defense I believe the number one reason for that was Vince Lombardi's open-door policy toward african-american players there was all this criticism about having too many african-americans and he made that statement if I hear anybody complain he said we'll never play another game in Green Bay one of his best traits and maybe we overlooked is how tolerant he was of other people's religions their race he was beloved by his african-american players there was a family who lived in Kenosha I went to school with one of the daughters who's the dancers at Universe Utah so they came up and took me to brunch on a Sunday and one of the ball players the white ball players saw me with her and it was the unwritten no no that a black could be with a white person so he goes and tells nobody and surely not the next day Lombardi called me in this is I'm gonna make a good player out of you but now I'm gonna be on you to make you a better player we be able to take it and I said yeah he says I'm gonna be on you to me it be a better player can you make it I said yes yes yes sir I I can he says Oh mrs. I'm gonna be on you to make you the best player I can will you be able to stand I said yes sir coach Lombardi he says all right then it's just that be all that'll be all you're not gonna cut me I said is this Marvin just be discreet that's all finding housing for black players is difficult many stay at the YMCA as an option the civil rights act changed everything but it didn't pick effect in 1968 you woke up to a guy and said I saw you've added the papers we don't rent to Black's the Lombardy was so strong if you ever felt that to anybody was being mistreated didn't way of housing or anything like that he would call him on it we rented the house because the landlady had got our load of neighbors he said I'll get in with you with the blacks he made some moves on landlords that never got publicized but the landlord's either behaved or lost their customer at the time because of the Jim Crow laws they had white and black hotels they were playing in the south Lombardi housed them at a Fort Benning you know at a military institution so that those black players wouldn't have to stay somewhere else it was certainly another example of his sensitivity to diversity and that all his players would be treated equally because Lombardi had experienced discrimination on his own by being Italian he was more open-minded and more supportive of the african-american players he thought about the problems of the african-americans in the white community it was almost the same as the problems were for Italian in New York he felt at various times that because he was not only Italian but southern Italian and dark-skinned Italian that he was being discriminated against he felt he did not get the head coaching position in New York because of fact that he was Italian he said you know I think it's because my last name ends in an i he was very sensitive that he also had a gay brother and I'm sure that he witnessed the prejudice that he had been subjected to the party was decades ahead of most other people in sports on issues of gender and sexuality he was gonna let anybody discriminate against his players there was a 78 places in town with african-american ballplayers when I except and Vince heard about it Lombardi went to those places instead if I hear you discriminate against any my players you're off-limits for the entire team you let the fans know right and I'm there we don't tell wreaths up or coach Lombardi to leave the Giants the biggest city in America to go to farmland is an improbable story and for him to succeed in the way he did and to do it were the kinds of players that he put together here I was 22 years old from College Park Georgia had never been in a huddle with an african-american I wanted to be accepted but I didn't know how the intimidation factor was exponentially increased because of this tension I felt about the race thing the most intimidating of the mall was Willie Davis the defensive captain who was working on his master's degree in business and shattered every racist stereotype that I had learned he changed my life because I was never able to look at another human being any human being in the same way I had that's the history of America is diverse people coming together and collaborating from different parts of the country with different backgrounds and just becoming single-minded in pursuit of a goal which coach Lombardi was without parallel in terms of enabling to create that kind of a spirit while Lombardi is often credited as bringing true integration to the game he did not pair up white and black players as roommates until 1968 when he was general manager the first crew guys get together with Terry crema and Willie Davis we ended up down in my room talking about things and well where's your roommate Jay Wow not coming to camp I said why don't you move in there the first integrated couple there the first Odd Couple we call I'd say we'll yeah Jay said do you believe in black power no Jay I don't believe in black power oh oh well yeah Jay you believe him white power no Jay I don't believe more power mm-hmm well yeah Jay what the hell you believe in green power Jay green power he walked the talk on race in every possible way and that's what led Dave Robinson is great linebacker to say that he cried at only two funerals in his life and one was his father and one was Vince Lombardi this Lombardi integrated the whole city of Green Bay some of the ballplayers today I think they don't realize what it was like but people had to go through for them to be in a position in a day but progress that was made during Lombardi's years as head coach a Rhodes soon after his departure and persists over the next two decades I'm just gonna go out and express myself on the football field let them know that we are a part of a community and a bigger part of the community and we're gonna just go out and do what we came here to do it has to play football there was a period of time there where African Americans viewed Green Bay has not a great place to go Green Bay became known as the Siberia of the NFL that was a scene that was kind of going around the league that you know we're gonna ship you off to Green Bay if you don't straighten up and play right it had been 20 years since the pack that want anything of substance we see it all the time and sports losing generates impatience pretty quickly empty seats in Lambo a lack of diversity throughout the community and disrespect from longtime fans players were not interested in Green Bay or playing for the Packers it was a wake-up call maybe for Green Bay to say you know if we want to keep this franchise and we want to win we have to do some things differently 1992 the Packers announced the hiring of Sherman Lewis as offensive coordinator and Ray Rhodes as defensive coordinator the first team in NFL history to have african-americans holding both coordinator positions I was told that afterwards you know this is the first time this has happened I said all I did I didn't think about that I grew up in San Francisco and it's pretty diverse and I never thought about those things too much holmgren by naming those african-american coordinators opened the door it really sent a message you're qualified to do the job no matter what anyone else thinks it's the right thing to do it with coaches that needed the Green Bay Packers and impact was needed yeah and they were great coaches when I hired ray ensure my hired what I thought were the best people they put people in position to help their organization their ball team win I don't think Reggie white comes here a year later in free agency without the renewed feeling that African Americans can thrive in Green Bay it just shattered that image of what people used to say that african-americans didn't want come to Green Bay it was done so [Music] you 1970 Phil Bengston in his third year as head coach is anything but Lombardi they gave him the coach and general manager honest to god day his will verse and his coach he also had a drinking problem that interfered with his coaching remember going to auto town games before a guy was up all night drinking it show up the next morning gone shaven you know smoking like crazy you know darn well learn chances were they're going to lose it he just didn't have the personality to pull off a head coach's job he didn't have that charisma or whatever it is whatever you want to call it that Lombardi had you don't fool anybody with your X's and O's in your deception and all that stuff you beat him by well coached and motivated people Phil unfortunately was more of an X in the whole day how do you attain and maintain that excellence that we had had for nine years under Lombardia Packers Executive Committee discussed making a pitch for Don Shula and actually somebody made contact and then never followed up on it at the end of the 1970 season Bankston resigns you take things in order in the first place there was nothing to consider as long as he was our head coach and general manager at 20 20 21 record by Phil Benson little did we know that for the next decade that would be the best record the Packers would have so gives you some idea the dark ages that fell upon us it is an all bleeped as the 1970s unfold the Packers are in good shape financially thanks to revenue sharing with more games on television and president Dominic Oh any checks commitment to protecting Green Bay's standing as a small-market franchise what he saw with the TV explosion was that if we're gonna make this work and make it a really good enterprise we have to have revenue sharing and that's what's his key I'm perfect leader for his time that attackers Ecuadorian were in better economic circumstances he was very articulate and making the case for policies and processes that would protect the interests of the Packers we wouldn't be here today without revenue sharing that all occurred during that period of time he helped the Packers gain the economic strength over over the over the years by 1971 just 21 years after a stock drive was needed to keep the Packers from folding the team shows its first million dollar profit a net worth of almost 5.8 million dollars everyone in the league knew what the pack is represented for the league in which all of us could learn a lot and stolen each item eyes that following bangtan's departure his head coach a new search begins they had a number of coaches that were interviewed including Joe Paterno they ended up going into the college ranks instead of going to a parole assistant dan divine coach and athletic director at the University of Missouri is named the Packers new head coach and general manager born in Augusta Wisconsin Devine becomes the Packers seventh head coach Devine had success in Missouri so he was revered he built that program to what it was he comes to Green Bay and he has to live in the shadow of the late Vince Lombardi and let's be honest nobody's gonna match that he was a master recruiter both at Missouri and at Notre Dame he would bring the players in but the actual coaching was done by assistant coaches he never could transition from college to the pros he even had to know to show us college football films I mean to a pro football team analysis absurd very few coaches have been able to win at both the college football and the NFL level let's just say he didn't inspire a lot of loyalty from his staff or from other including his players we didn't respect him but there wasn't much we could do about it in his first game as an NFL coach Devine suffers a broken left leg carried from Lambeau Field on a stretcher after he was upended along the sideline by former Packers now Giants enter Bob Highland making a bad day worse the team loses to the Giants 42 to 40 the 71 season is also broken closing out at four eight into it's followed by the end of a historic career Bart Starr Lombardi's quarterback retires in July to become Divine's quarterback coach his career completion percentage of 57.4 is then an all-time NFL best and will eventually take him to camp Bart stars will go down as the greatest quarterback in history Packers and deservedly so he's a great gentleman but on the field he'll cut your heart out and show it to you that's the way did it any any he played by example everybody appreciated how hard he worked I can't say perfect cuz no one's perfect but Bart Starr he threw the ball plenty hard enough and he certainly threw it straight he got it where I blogged and he never hung you up he never threw it to you when he shouldn't when you were running into Dick Butkus he wasn't gonna throw it to you I'm thankful for that the quality of a great leader of a great quarterback is being able to deliver when you have to anybody can play when when there's really nothing at stake regardless of the game regardless of the situation if you judge by Championships Bart Starr is not only the greatest quarterback in Packers history you can make a case that he's right up there in NFL history because he has five NFL championships he won the first two Super Bowls he won championships before they were Super Bowls one of my favorite quotes is from William Jennings Bryan destiny is not a matter of chance it's a matter of choice it is not something to be wished for it is something to be attained things don't get any better for the Packers for most of the insufferable 70s the glory years are indeed gone in eight of the decades ten years Minnesota wins the NFC Central Division nicknamed the black and blue division Vikings owned a division and mean we only beat them maybe twice not when I was here the new division the NFC Central at the time was run and schooled by the Minnesota Vikings the Packers couldn't buy a win in Minnesota we went up there in 71 lost the game freedom nothing oh my gosh and we were inside to probably to 10 twice in the Reds only twice I never got the ball Dave I never gave me the ball the Packers bears and lions all struggle and live up to the black and blue label by playing mostly ugly physical football one exception to the Packers poor performances is the successful 1972 season under coach Devine the big difference between 71 and 72 was Willie Buchanan in Chester Marcol all I had to do was change that uniform that black in the red and put on the green and gold and I was prepared to play he was tough he was big he was fast and he could find out cover you when they draft Chester Marcol a span of four years Packers had 10 different kickers they looked at 40 it was one bad choice after another I remember when Chester Marcol to myself came up from the college all-star game the coaches said okay what two guys take the next bus out and take you over to the practice facility low and behold we didn't know that we were getting on the veteran's bus so we're sitting back there and then the veterans started piling on now all of a sudden you hear a neski watch that smell and Dave Robinson gets owned he says I think we got rookies on this bus we ended up getting escorted off the back of the bus right out to shoot Gael Gillingham were so explosive you'd watch endzone video of Gael Gillingham and it was like when he buried his head in a defensive tackles chest it was like looking at one of those little dogs they put in the back of cars with the bobbing head Gillie was unbelievable best lemon I've ever seen McLaughlin Lane was the icing on the cake he was John brockett's and blocking back so he was very instrumental on the success of John brockington this guy was the real deal he could do it all he could catch passes he could block like nobody's business and he could run he in 72 because the lane rushed for 900 subs in the yards also in Brockton went over a thousand I was the first back to get $2,000 speciesism when I considered it back that came before me it's pretty good he's the first guy in history thousand yards three times in a row Brock was a north/south runner Brock was get the ball and I'm going bruising cold weather battles further fan the black and blue nickname no game represents the label more than the December 72 matchup between the Packers and the Vikings in 18 below wind chill Packers were easing into the playoffs with Brockington and McArthur Lane and a strong defense we beat them pretty good that day at over 100 yards back at 99 and we had like four turnovers times Williams had three sacks that day on Fran Tarkenton so big day for the Packers with a 27-23 win against the Vikings and Metropolitan Stadium the Packers clinch the NFC Central Division Dan was named the coach of the year and it really looked like we might take off the first playoff game in the playoffs was against the Washington Redskins in Washington against George Allen and up again it was December 24th 1972 the Redskins played a five-man front single man-to-man blocking they were gonna line up in a 5-1 defense against us it was just to throw us off and to try to make us think about trying to run over them they did that because they would take away our running game we have played them previously that year and he showed a five-man line you can't run against apparently Devine never figured it out both Gail Gillingham and I talked to Raleigh dodge who was the line coach as he told him you can't run tackle the tackle on this thing flare the back out of the backfield and pitch the ball to McCarthy just before the game and Devine decided that he was gonna be the offensive play caller that day instead of Bart Starr took the job away from him Devine I guess wanted to finally coach so he took over the realm and it was all downhill after that the Packers failed to win the divisional playoff game falling hard to the Washington Redskins 16 to 3 they taken the play calling away from Bart nothing he could do about it his boss said this we're going to do it I'm calling the place and he did dandelion was a disaster with the Packers the Redskins never should have beat us we lost because the boy is put in the right position to win I think the boys went home that that winter and said we're not going anywhere with this guy it will be another 23 years before the Packers win another Central Division title over the next two decades it hit rock bottom in the midst of unquestionable turmoil under head coach Devine 1974 sees a player strike although the organization is essentially owned by its community Packers are not immune to ownership player disputes over players rights when the NFL players went on strike they wanted free agency they wanted to be able to move from team to team they wanted to earn more money the Rozelle rule freedom of movement was the biggest issue we had started out saying get rid of the Rozelle rule ball was the player up at that time teams kind of held player reps accountable personally the Rozelle rule was a rule that the NFL had that if they drafted you you were their property if you didn't like what they wanted to pay you you had to play out that year it was your option year you had to play out the option year at a 10% cut in salary the pleura on today j'en see and at that time the league was really hard nosed against that it was basically a rule that prevented players from having the choice of moving on to another team even if you played at your option then you had to get a team interested in your services and if the two teams couldn't agree what player the team you were going to had to give up then Rozelle would step in the slogan was no freedom no football he's pulled it off the table and started a federal lawsuit because it's a restraint of trade we sat down with the owners and they said we're not gonna talk about anything until you drop that lawsuit and we said no at Packers training camp a player's union representative and two Packers players are ordered off the st. Norbert campus when they attempt to talk to rookies on their way to breakfast the situation is elevating there was pressure on young guys we're told hey you come to camp you break the strike or you're not gonna be here the veterans were barred from visiting the campus and trying to talk the rookies into walking out of camp you know they were picketing they'd pick it outside the offices they picketed before the games during a practice game between the Packers and Bears rookies 20 striking NFL players including 14 Packers are arrested outside Lambeau Field while picketing the game I was told by Dan Devine he didn't want to see my face over there at the Packers Stadium and I got calls from love from the coaching staff says I don't want to see you on that picket line it's a right old coach I was the first one there the talk was that Dan Devine paid off guys to break the strike he fractured our team you know it was awful I got run out of here on a rail on the 11th year because they was leading the strikers that was how I was unceremoniously ushered out of Dan Divine's life and out of the Packer life the 1974 season is fraught with controversy the restaurant players who in the world would do something other than the screwed-up Packers of the 1970s after the strike it was a period of I would say and I don't think I'm going too far locker room turmoil 1970s the Packers used 18 different quarterbacks 14 different starters if quarterbacks are critical to the success of an NFL team that speaks volumes about the problems they face we were hurting at quarterback we needed a quarterback and identified needed a quick quick quick fix tony Canaday or former great packer running back who was on our Executive Committee at the time came into my office late in the afternoon he says is Olli here talking about president Dominic Olin e-check and I said no he's went home for the day he says did you hear what Defiant just did in the middle of the 74th season with the record of three and three Devine trades five future high draft choices to the Los Angeles Rams for the reigning NFL MVP 34 year-old quarterback John Hayden which seemed fatal two weeks before he couldn't throw the ball out of a phone booth I mean his arm was shot an aging quarterback and we gave up a number of draft choices for it it set the organization back a great deal what are they doing giving up all of that for John HIDA the vine gave up two ones two 2s and a 3 the draft choices to get a guy that was seriously at the end of his tenure horrible trait maybe his portrayed as we have ever made he ended up being a disaster because John Hagel was washed up and couldn't really deliver there was a desperation move by a man who was hanging on by his fingernails wow that kind of threw the Packers back 10 good years at least he would do things without going to the executive committee things that not only changed the franchise at that time but affected the franchise on the road to this day it's the worst trade in the history of the National Football League in October 1974 Time magazine carries a story titled haunted in Green Bay the magazine claimed Devine had been the target of personal insults and professional criticism the famous story is that his dog was shot and he was all upset that some unhappy fan had shot his dog the neighboring farmer who had warned Devine a number of times to keep his dogs tied up kept chasing the dog off and warning Devine and finally he had enough took the dog down the oppression that was created by that Time magazine story was that an irate fan had gone on out and shot dandelions dog and that was not the case as if things aren't bad enough December 1974 one of our assistant coaches came to me before we went to Atlantic you know there's a rumor in the locker room that the team is gonna boycott matched you up at the airport on Saturday afternoon we're supposed to be out there just you know having fun and playing a game get the fans like in four seasons is coach Devine accrues a less than mediocre 2527 and four record Saturday night when we're in Atlanta Dan sent a letter to father Joyce at Notre Dame formally accepting the Notre Dame job and had one of our equipment people actually take the envelope to the mailbox and make sure it went out that night Dan Devine beats the Packers to the punch by accepting the head coaching position at Notre Dame then resigning at season's end before the executive committee can announce his firing it was an organization that was in total disarray at that particular time there was only one guy that people would accept as the next head coach of the Green Bay Packers the fans wanted this was the rare case of the fans hiring the coach my father was more inclined to one a hired Dave Hanner as the coach basically there was division among the executive committee about who it should be I honestly thought he would be the answer to our dreams Christmas Eve 1974 one year after his number 15 Jersey is retired former quarterback Bart Starr is named the Packers new head coach essentially by popular demand started as a guide in Green Bay so really was there a choice another choice no we're gonna bring in this former player who was a great leader for the Packers and we loved by so many people especially after you come back and spent that one year as an assistant when the Packers had success in 1972 it was a no-brainer of course Bart Starr would be our next head coach and he would lead us back to the promised land star asks fans for their prayers and patience new coach new system new training the first practice Bart Starr coached there was a lineup from the stadium on down of the United Street practice field of people wishing Bart Starr well everybody liked Bart and they would rally around him and they would support him and play for him he was one of those guys that you really wanted to play for hard for you know you wanted to make him proud of you he was organized very bright a very good man to work for loyal you know he just was that kind of a man you liked it you know he'd go to the wall for Martin there's a misconception out there that Bart Starr was easy you go through one of his training camps and it was brutal I mean it was absolutely brutal in Starr's head coaching debut Packers putter Steve Broussard has an NFL record three punts blocked each leading to a Lions touchdown the Packers suffer a humiliating 30 16 defeat at the hands of Detroit first time I've been on a field here as a coach of the Green Bay Packers naturally the butterflies are you know they were about three feet across I think at that time Bart you had one year of coaching experience he never came out thinking he was going to coach he said if he had wanted to cultured had a desire he would have gone on as a grad assistant at Alabama worked for Bear Bryant mostly of great coaches were not great football players but they're great students in the game the inexperienced hurt by terribly he was a leap of faith for Packers fans it was a leap of faith for Bart Starr whether poor trades bad luck forgettable drafts organizational chaos unhappy players union strikes or questionable Talent the Packers become the laughingstock of the NFL that was the beginning really of the contemporary coverage of the Packers 1974 into the early 80s when it was very much contentious with Bart stars the head coach when Bart got to be coach he made a mistake by saying something and then saying oh that's off the record oh you don't do that once you say it it's on the record the press cos that coverage is starting to change is starting to question a little more and that was just a natural progression there was no ill-will there that's just how media changed how sports marketing change how the NFL changed Bart is the type of person that looks for the best in people and not the worst and sometimes you open yourself up in a tough cold business you open yourself up a little bit in 1974 the press because that went all in they hired a new reporter his name was cliff crystal cliff crystal reported the way it is facts are facts it is what it is journalism was changing and that type of journalism that type of coverage came to the Packers beat I love to dig love to uncover stories love the reporter side of the job Cliff's orders very different from all the previous orders for Packers reporters cover them as you would cover anything else do that with a critical eye column as you see him much of my career I had an adversarial relationship but also I think a respectful one with the people that were running the team head coaches my first year 1991 I'm in for the last four games you finally win one to go four and twelve so I come home and I told Bob I need to talk to you I would like to make a change in the coaching head coach but he said okay I walk out and I start to get in my car I want you to know it's know it across from my car this door opens and it's cliff crystal I said what the bleep are you doing here and he said why I'm following up I see that you were when with varlyn in the bicentennial year 1976 the packers acquire Houston Oilers backup quarterback and promising talent Lynn Dickey I wanted to go to Denver and Denver had no interest in me at all then was the real deal and man he could throw that ball never the car parked right in front of my house and I'm thinking I wonder who that is out there so finally I went out and just rapped on the window fill the most accurate long thrower deep thrower I've ever seen roll the window down for smoke comes rolling out and it's it's a man named Lulu carpenter and Lou carpenter had been our receiver coach in Houston for a couple of years I said Lou what he doing out here he was a major major part of the solution because I want to know if you want to come up play for the pack I said the Green Bay because yeah yeah and we got a good young team brewing you know we need some younger quarterback in there I said doesn't get get really cold up there it gave us hope in 1977 in a game that was already long lost to the Rams quarterback Lynn Dickey sustains a double fracture to his left leg and is lost to the game of football for nearly two years the leg did not heal correctly the guy took x-rays and he puts them up he looks at him do the do the light pulls him down put some envelope hands of x-rays to me and says your legs still broke I went what I've been running a mile a day five days a week for a month he goes I bet that hurt didn't it no way damn right it hurt the Packers can never quite gain ground or momentum on a 45 man roster I think we had about 36 first and second-year players on that team in 1978 so we were all young coming out of college first year players second year players I don't think they had the right amount of talent I mean you have to think about the teams that were winning in that era we looked at the schedule and said training camp is tough the preseason games are tough we're just gonna start the season and see how things go despite what some would say are his shortcomings as a coach Bart Starr is widely admired and respected as a leader players loved him the players responded well to him Bart lived and learned on the job very tirelessly I could always ask him anything about the game and Greaves and Duff like that little insights that quarterbacks were always looking for a tip in our locker room we had these bins that you were supposed to put your soiled t-shirts in and guys would miss the bed Bart came in and he said men we have people who come in here at night and who clean up after you and they really shouldn't have to and he said you can tell the true measure of a man by how he treats somebody who can do nothing for him Paulo frame player Hall of Fame human being as great a player as he was you'll hear people say he was an even better man he really was in the 1979 Draft the Packers missed a prime opportunity read Cochrane said in that draft room and every time we came up on the board Brad would say depart he does nothing but when I thought read cochrane and dave hennen we're gonna have apoplexy they were just begging him to take him when we didn't take him read cust slammed the door and left the draft room we passed on him for a fella named Charlie Johnson a nose tackle out of Maryland fact he passed not only once but three times on Joe Montana in the rest is history [Music] there goes back to throw fires a pass complete disease [Applause] [Music] we had a couple Safety's by the name of Johnny gray and Steve Lou they were called the hit brothers they earned that nickname not only in games by lighting people up but practice lighten our own guys up for your receiver in practice going over the middle lookout cuz crazy Johnny or crazy Steve was gonna try to knock you out onto a night of Street and they just did it for fun [Music] every day it's a test of courage for the receivers you talk about a group with alligator arms they're all scared to death [Music] so Lofton arrives on the scene and before they could light him up they get called into the office hey you guys you know this this not going to crap out of our own guys the receivers that's over [Music] you don't touch this Lofton guy he's too good you [Music]

Channel: Packer Nation United

Views: 960

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Id: k9_UJJFTxfw

Length: 54min 14sec (3254 seconds)

Published: Wed May 06 2020