America's Game: The 1967 Green Bay Packers

[Music] [Music] [Music] the Green Bay Packers won World Championships in 1965 and 1966 throughout summer camp in 1967 Vince Lombardi emphasized that the season ahead was going to be about making history coach Lombardi started from the get-go that year about winning the third consecutive title no one had ever won three consecutive titles and he reminded us that we had a chance to do that in 61 and 62 and that we'd fallen down in 63 it's 67 the difference was he never let us forget that we were trying to win three in a row something never been done before and we'd go down in history he kept saying we but I see was he each year you have different motivating features and at this particular time we're going to try to repeat well it was a brutal camp the up downs and grass drills were so brutal coach Lombardi had a saying he said the harder you work the harder it is to surrender he also had a saying that fatigue makes cowards of us all fatigue makes cowards of us all you can't play fatigue physical condition he wanted to be certain that we didn't fatigue in the middle of the season or at the end of the season when we got ready to play a difficult ballgame he wanted to make sure we remembered July the departure of Hall of Fame running backs Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor left a huge void for Lombardi to fill Paul Hornung was just a sensational football player and we missed Paul a great deal and we missed Jimmy a great deal too Jimmy's Rompin stompin fullback but when they were gone we knew we missed them and maybe that we had to pick it up a notch or two to succeed during 1967 the search for the right backfield tandem would present a puzzle for Lombardi part of the solution was a thousand miles away at the New York Giants summer camp in Fairfield Connecticut fullback Chuck mercy number 29 a third year veteran from Yale was poised for a breakthrough season [Music] through the first eight games of the 66th season I was in the top seven or eight in the league in rushing and even though I didn't play the last six games in my second year due to an injury I still ended up leading the Giants and rushing if you watch me play you knew I hit hard I may not have been an elite athlete but I was strong pretty hard-nosed ran pretty hard and had a lot of determination but in the summer of 1967 mersin was concerned about his frosty relationship with head coach alie Sherman Yakko beat anybody a National League you'd Beck's skittle scaling around like they have a high line of scrimmage you see a little something and if it is in there you make one cut and go you might break the tackle that's the way you do it in this league you ain't gonna beat these babies College maybe not here he did get on me pretty good about having come up to play professional football from Yale rather than from Big Ten school there's a lot of sarcasm with him he could be very biting with me of course you know we're seeing what do you think you're you know playing Harvard this week as it turns out all cuts have been made we're ready to play our first game of the regular season and maybe two or three days before that first game Alice Sherman chose me to put on waivers with his NFL career in limbo Marcin joined the semi-pro Westchester Bulls I was terribly distraught today to do this but I also knew that if I was going to stay in this game and not quit I had to stay in shape I knew one thing no one could all hurt me that's the way I played the game of football my heart was such that I wasn't going to give up ever and quitting wasn't something I was going to think about and if if it meant I'd have to go down and play in that semi-pro League for a couple of games I just had to swallow my pride and do it the quest for a third straight title began a Lambeau Field quarterback Bart Starr bothered by an injured right thumb through four interceptions [Music] trailing 17 to 14 with less than two minutes remaining stars pass to number 22 Elijah Pitts resulted in an 84 yard gain [Music] that set up a field goal that enabled the Packers to escape with the tie this game marked a rocky start to the season especially for guard Jerry Kramer Lions tackle Alex Karras outplayed number 64 Cramer all day you know I had not one of my better days unquestionably and so I felt bad about it and coach Lombardi chewed my backside so he let me know about it and my son asked me about Alex Karras and my wife asked me about Alex Karras my barber asked me about Alex Karras so I had all the carrots I wanted after the season Kramer and Karras tangled again this time in a war of words after I published instant replay I was at a dinner with Alex Karras Alex was speaking and I was speaking and Alex got up in front of me and he said Jerry Kramer is the best guard in football if you don't believe it read his book so the crowd got a giggle out of that so I got up and I said jeez Alex I appreciate the comment who read the book to you Jerry Kramer was a vital part of the Packers veteran nucleus I am Jerry Kramer I play right guard I've been with Green Bay for the past 10 years I'm max McGee and I've been left in with the Green Bay Packers since 1954 I'm Bart Starr I was the seventeenth round draft choice of the Green Bay Packers back in 1956 on green baize 40 man roster Bart Starr was among 11 players who were over the age of 30 certainly we were aging we were aware of that but we still felt cough and I think that we could play the game at a high level numerous injuries to Starr symbolized what many saw as the team's physical decline Starr missed two of the season's first five games and was sidelined for most of a third in Starr's first two starts he threw nine interceptions Starr had only thrown three interceptions during the entire 1966 season after five games the Packers were mistake-prone and still lacking backfield chemistry an aging offense appeared to be on a collision course with trouble all offense was not performing it hadn't been for the defense we've been in big trouble but we had some great defensive games this first four or five games of the season Green Bay's defense propelled the team to a 3-1 and one record and the Central Division lead in their last three games that has been the Packer defense that has rule completely they have Bentley happens we've never pointed a finger to offense we knew that they were struggling we knew they're trying to find themselves we knew they had to find themselves and we knew that we had to take up the slack Willie Davis said that you know it's on us if we play great defense the worst thing could happen is a 0-0 tie I've gone on every ball game thinking room I have a shutout I'm very disappointed when they score the first and even more disappoint when they scored a second time on us if it happens Dave Robinson was an outside linebacker in his fifth season as a rookie he first impressed Vince Lombardi with an unexpected special team skill marvel he is 63 is notable because that's year that Paul Hornung was suspended and with horny being suspended on kicking duties fell on the shoulders of Jerry Kramer who was pretty good I'm sure ranged field goals but he wasn't very good at kicking off I happened to mention the ruling would anybody keep the ball down to the boat lines I did it in college and I think he told Vince so that night Vince came over to me said well Davey says I've been looking at your Scout report and I saw were used to kick off in college I said yes sir he said well why don't you kick it off he said well coach I played offensive defensive end in college and I kinda had a new position and I'm trying to practice real hard to be the best linebacker the National Football League and Vince turned to me as his son your best chance to make this team is that's the kicker that name I kicked 40 minutes after practice and good side kick it off that is a kick off and it on I came in to Green Bay there were no black linebackers in the National Football League the AFL had him but the NFL did not have any black linebackers the figured at the time was that black men was smart enough to sharpen up three linebackers in provincial Green Bay the young man from suburban New Jersey encountered another kind of racial bias in Grievous speci they had a stereotype of black folks that all black people lived in ghettos we didn't even get on New Jersey I've marched down anyway they also had a stereotype that most black people did not have a mother the father home I had both [Music] during the years leading up to his all-pro season in 1967 Robinson had reexamined some of his own preconceived notions about race I went to Green Bay and I picked the roster up to see what the Cana guys I was going with and I saw all these guys from Texas supporter back of Alabama fullback from Louisiana I'm set myself holy mackerel what am I going into here I found out one thing and one thing only they were football players they weren't from Alabama they were foo easy and they weren't from Texas they were football players the players they were going to the wall for each other white or black made no difference [Music] by week six the so-called tired old men of the Packers were tired of being called old men we started out rather haphazardly the first few games of the season then there was a great attack upon us by the press media that we were all old with we were over the hill being an old man inferred that you were not capable of doing the job that you had past your prime that you were no longer a great football player you were a has-been you were a bunch of old men and it inferred that we were not capable of playing well and it made us angry in New York gets the chance Bob's Kraske and his pregame speech got up and said I'm tired as hell about being called an old man he says I'm up to here with it and I think everyone else on the club was too number 64 all ProGuard Jerry Kramer leads Elijah fits around end only a desperate tackle by spider Lockhart saves a packer touchdown [Applause] [Music] the Packers found an effective backfield combination and number 22 Elijah Pitts and Jim Grabowski number 33 against the Giants the pair combines for nearly 200 rushing yards and five touchdowns [Music] a breakouts 48 to 21 victory rejuvenated these old Packers maybe there had been a little doubt before that maybe we were starting to wonder ourselves whether we were hold men and so getting angry and getting that emotion up again getting intense about the game and playing at that high level was satisfying I think there was a sense of relief sense of joy is this an accomplishment after that game yeah we got it we still got it and we can do it and we can turn it on when we need to get it done so we're gonna be fine Jerry Kramer enjoyed playing football because of the friendships he shared with teammates like fuzzy Thurston all of the Packers formed a close-knit group we had a little tradition of the boys night out on Monday and we go out and we'd talk about things and have a pop or two or three or four or something like that anything that would a problem amongst anybody on the team would be talked about and we had hash things out with a beer or two and the more you drank of course the more you hashed a liner to say that bus start holds the ball so long we got to hold up blocks for four or five seconds Bart Starr threw 244 passes and Championships playoffs games to determine titles with one interception now do you suppose that on occasion he held the ball it's possible now we used to call him the Statue of Liberty amongst ourselves we go downtown meet the general public somebody say well if I start holds that ball a long time don't you guys have to block a long time he say Bart knows that the worst thing can happen to us though an interception I like to see bought hold a ball rather than fill the interception and so everything kind of came out on the table and was kind of cleared up on those Monday night sessions and we reduced the pressure a great deal too but for a team chasing history the pressure was never completely reduced against unbeaten Baltimore both Elijah Pitts and Jim Garbowsky suffered season-ending injuries the Packers lost their starting backfield and the game the Packers owned a division leading five two in one record but Vince Lombardi now had to find replacements for his injured running backs during the seasons ninth week Lombardi signed Chuck machine former Giants fullback had been ready to sign with Washington when he received a call from Lombardi I had the voice of God on the phone there was Vince Lombardi himself and he wasn't intending words she was very direct he said have you signed with the Washington Redskins and I said no sir he said well you get on a plane tomorrow morning come out here to play for us at the Green Bay Packers were world champions we're going to be world champions again and you can help us to get there we need you and we want you to play for us just like that I said yes sir I'll be there hung up the phone friend of my wife instead unpacked the car we're not going to Washington we're going to Green Bay Packers the world champion Green Bay Packers while Chuck Machin was learning the Packers playbook he want acceptance from his new teammates by proving his determination on special teams whoopee bob grimm couldn't find the handle and chuck Mercy's recovery on the Viking 20 to set up a Chandler field goal that made it 13 to 10 they've all been wonderful to me and they acceptance of myself by them it has been a great feeling for me it's I'm very grateful to them for it this is cool I mean I'm going from again you know either you know the lowest rung you could get to the highest rung again you know some people like to say you know from the hot house in bet house but machine occasionally wound up in Lombardi's dog house he was a kind of a person that you know you really didn't want to disappoint and you did not want to let him down we're just wanted because you didn't want his anger I'm on the scene let's go here you got a circle rock right down the field Chuck Marcin eventually proved that he was Vince Lombardi's kind of player Lombardi like the player that he could depend on he liked a guy that would give him everything he had he felt that a player with less than great ability who was given him everything he had was preferable to a player with great ability who was giving him less than he had he wasn't expect me to be a gym tailor he wasn't expecting me to run like the wind or do something that I wasn't capable of doing but what I was capable of doing was all he wanted and needed to get to another championship that's what he told me that's what he felt and knowing that that helped me a lot thanks to the 1967 Draft Lombardi already had her back who was even faster than Elijah Pitts his name was Travis Williams accidie didn't think I would get drafted at all because of my own two years at Arizona State wasn't anything fantabulous in summer camp Williams speed was impressive his ball handling was not Travis fumbled the ball a couple times in training camp and coach Lombardi gave him a ball picked it up and said carry this with you wherever you go if you go to bed take it to bed you go to the John take it to John you're in the shower take it with you it got so bad even in the in the rookie show the rookies presented Travis with a football which had they taken the athlete and made a handle so you can't like a person Williams has the speed to become one of the great ones in the NFL Williams got over his fumbling problems and earned the nickname Road Runner he made his biggest impact on kickoff returns in week 7 the first return of his career resulted in a touchdown against Cleveland the roadrunner returned to kickoffs for scores in the first quarter he finished the season with an NFL record for kickoff return touchdowns [Music] in week 11 at Wrigley Field Williams 69-yard returns set up one touchdown in a tight battle with the Bears [Music] Bart Starr was finally pain-free his leadership and passing accuracy helped the Packers to a win that improved their record to eight two and one [Music] this victory clinched the Central Division title with three games remaining to play you [Music] sixty-four him and during his pursuit of a third consecutive World Championship Vince Lombardi drove his team harder than ever before he did have a saying the big push and he said in training camp that year I get yourself ready we've got a lot of work to do and this is the beginning of the big push now I want everything you got I want every ounce of your energy I want it all so we would double our efforts or whatever we had left we would give to him and we'd get through the exhibition season and into the first game or so of the regular season and he'd say okay this is the beginning of the big push I really want you guys that give me everything you got and we're starting right now this is a big push and then we're halfway through the season okay we start the big push here this is a big push but at the time it was how much more can we take how much more can we give you well you've got it all there isn't anything left there anything left to push with we've already been big pushing all we got on Monday nights when we're out having a beer fuzzy would say all right boys this is gonna be the big push this next drink is the big push coach wanted things done perfectly you don't do things right once in a while you do them right all the time and so every play had to be executed perfectly Henry Jordan had a great line about Jensen Bharti when asked how did he treat you players and Henry Jordan said he treated us all the same like dogs you're not gonna get your job back unless we get a better performance [Applause] 67 was a very very tough year for coach Lombardi it reminded me of a President of the United States who comes into office as a young man and you can literally see him age as the months pass it gets older he gets gray or as gets a little Haggard looks a little drawn coach Lombardi got that away during 1967 it looked like the season took a tremendous toll on him the Packers finished the regular season with a 94 in one record as they lost two of their last three games the flat finish was a sign of Lombardi's fatigue but the playoffs re-energized Lombardi before the Western Conference championship game he delivered an inspirational speech that set the tone for the entire postseason he based his whole pregame speech on run to win I believe was st. Paul's epistle and I'm not the habit of quoting scripture or gospel but I was groping I think at the time but something in order to give my club a little bit of a lift and there is a quote from same for don't you know while all the runners in a stadium are in a race only one wins the prize so run to win and he went on to expound on that and say that we play not just to be playing we're here not just to be here that's not enough in itself we play to win we run to win [Music] the Packers not only ran to win they ran over the favorite brands [Music] the final score for the Western Conference championship game the Packers 28 the Rams 7 whatever happened to all of those supposedly old men on the Packer roster well annalee guess you would have to say all of our so-called old people all came through with flying colors and of course young people mixed in with these so-called old people that gave us a rare blend of perfection for this ballgame run to win proved to be a powerful theme that was about to be tested in an epic championship battle [Applause] [Music] on one of the coldest days in the history of Green Bay Wisconsin the NFL championship game was destined to earn a legendary nickname the Ice Bowl it was a total shock to wake up at my alarm radio go off and have the sound in my ear saying it's 13 below zero we find later on that to chill factor's - 49 I think at the start of the game - 57 at the end of the game the feeling of the air it was like being in a meat locker you know you'd only get so cold and that was as cold as I'd ever been in my life and I think anybody ever been if you looked in the stands all you saw was that steam coming out of people's mouths you only how do you to make out faces this told us before the game is yeah I don't mind the offensive the defensive linemen wearing gloves but I want the running backs receivers linebackers or defensive backs to wear gloves so everybody's gonna moan and groan it and I wanted to equipment man I said I said Dominique I said give me a pair of brown gloves he'll never know the difference the first play of the game was almost a disaster Donnie Anderson fumbled you know it was like trying to hold an ice cube but ball came out thank God I recovered it the referee blew the whistle the next thing that was he tried to pull the whistle which is a metal whistle out of his mouth it stuck to his lip and he had to rip it out of his mouth in his lip blood right it cracked the slip and the blood froze and from that moment on there was never another whistle in the ice ball we played the entire ice ball listening to the commands of the referees saying stop and everyone did maybe 53 and 52 yes sir [Music] the Packers took a 14 to nothing lead on a pair of Bart star touchdown passes to Boyd dollar [Music] but star was sacked eight times in the second quarter Dallas score on a star fumble half-time the Packers lead had dwindled to four points field conditions were steadily deteriorating by halftime the field crusted over and in second half the crust could be thicker and thicker and it was just a rock solid field conditions worsened dramatically the footing was so bad hands were so cold and the receivers catching the ball with difficult so one score could make a big difference and that score of rentals was like a knife in the heart Dallas took a fourth quarter lead on a 50-yard pass from Dan Reeves to Lance ransom at this point the Packers offense didn't seem capable of playing catch-up we've really struggled offensively in the second half on Tinh series on thirty-one plays we gained two - nine yards so we were getting our tail kicked in the second half I certainly had a little little sinking feeling that maybe this was not to be with 450 remaining the Packers face their biggest push of the season the end zone was 68 yards away the temperature was 16 below zero I don't know if anyone knows what it is you find when you reach down inside for something and you have to make it happen but certainly we remember July we remembered the training camp remembered the hard work the sweat the tears of pain suffering the whole package we remembered that and certainly Lombardi's ability to push us to our limits helped us in that situation because this was a situation that needed everything we had each and every one of us what the Packers had were the values that Lombardi had preached for nine seasons pride courage and determination [Applause] [Music] [Music] facing brutal conditions and Dallas's bruising doom stay defense the Packers put together a march of mythic proportions [Music] [Music] on third down with no timeouts left Lombardi decided to go for the win on one final play rather than settle for a field goal the call was 31 wedge a running play designed for the full-back the BART star didn't tell his teammates he was going to keep the ball himself [Music] start begins the count [Music] [Applause] [Music] the drive epitomized the sheer force of Lombardi's will it also showcase the fierce determination cast off back Chuck Marcin he took me aside before that game and he said Chuck this is why you brought you here this is why you're here you're starting this game it's your first championship game we know what you can do just do what you can do and you'll help us to win this game on his finest day as a pro we're seeing gain 34 of the drive 68 yards I had a first down run right away there and I remember Lombardi saying good run Chuck you know because it was right at the bench right there what a feeling [Music] you can take a player like it's something I've seen I can tell you how I is I know how much he weighs I'd have facias but no one can measure it his heart and he was all heart Racine believed he was going to get the ball on the game's climactic play everyone else did too but Jerry Kramer claims he knew Bart Starr super Chuck thought he was gonna get the ball there's any question about that maybe Bart said it as we broke the huddle he said to me I'm gonna keep the ball I've maintained that I never heard him say that and I don't know anybody in the huddle it did I know a lot of guys in the team thought I did score the touchdown I heard the strike 31 way John - and I'm ready I'm going in looks like I'm signaling a touchdown when I'm actually throwing that signal referees not assisting a team or pushing quarterback into the end zone and I would not have done that you know if I didn't think I was gonna get the ball Jerry Kramer made the most famous block in NFL history when he got down low and pushed number 75 Jethro Pugh out of the way star followed Kramer into the end zone [Music] xxx xxx driller they here we've done for the Green Bay Packers but we've never taken it [Music] coach we're gonna have a play right now you can see on this monitor I hope I can see slow motion now as Jerry Kramer makes a key block for Bart Starr on this quarterback sneak for the winning pass they ran the play and coaches when I think of my team the Green Bay Packers I think of that drive I don't think of the final touchdown the sneak I think of the drive I think of the 68 yards that team went in incredible conditions in how that team was able to reach down and find something that coach Lombardi had given them and had given him over a long period of time from training camps many many many sessions of mental toughness of the perfectly disciplined will of fatigue makes cowards of the Thal of all those things that he spoke of for so many years I think they were personified in that final drive [Music] with a history-making third consecutive NFL championship secured the importance of Super Bowl 2 was a matter of opinion everything we had done leading up to it would be meaningless if we lost the Super Bowl the main thing was we won three NFL championships in one Icefall the Super Bowl was anticlimactic to the enth degree in Florida the Packers were less concerned about the outcome of the game than they were about the future of their head coach coach had mentioned on Wednesday prior to the Sunday Super Bowl that this might be our last time together and we looked at one another and what is that about I think I looked at Bartlett what do you think that means I don't know juries can only mean one thing and so we kind of thought that maybe it meant that he was gonna retire he was kind of depressed to look like to me and had a sit down a lot wasn't real fiery enthusiastic even his speech before the game I thought it was kind of roped before the opening kickoff Lombardi and his team seemed unemotional but Ray Nitschke number 66 displayed passion and power on the game's very first play [Music] it was no surprise that the NFL's number one defense followed Nikki's lead throughout the game but it was surprising that the Bharti chose number 36 Ben Wilson to start at fullback instead of Chuck mercy it was completely shocking to me that five minutes for the kickoff you said because I just have a hunch Ben's gonna have a good game because he's all warmed up and he hasn't played in weeks and this is his kind of weather and you're kind of banged up well I was upset I was very disappointed my mom and dad were there wow I can't believe I'm not starting in their super box of these last two games I just did but you can't really question the Marty you know everything he did was right he was a hunch player Ben had a good game Wilson was the leading rusher in Super Bowl to Racine carried the ball one time for no game [Music] despite a 62-yard scoring pass from start a boy dollar Greenbay was less than dominant in forging a 16 to 7 halftime lead the packers might have been unfocused but Jerry Kramer put things into perspective at halftime I said let's play this 30 minutes for the old man this is look we got 30 more minutes this year I said let's give it to the old man let's play the last 30 for the old man throughout the second half the old man watched his old men methodically take apart the Raiders [Music] the defense had the final say a 60 yard interception returned by number 26 her battery secured the Packers second straight Super Bowl route that wonderful wonderful picture of him looking at me and it's a like mutual admiration all them arguments all of difficult times together and all of his driving and demanding and everything had finally paid off for me and I finally understood him and there were the wonderful emotion passing between us and he looks down he says let's head for the locker room boys this was Lombardi's last victory ride three weeks later he resigned his head coach [Music] in a locker after the Icefall was pretty how would you say not as celebratory as you would think the desk us guys were exhausted you know and frozen but after super ball in eighty degrees water you'd think that people would be elated there was no elation it was quiet it was like genereal and that's because we knew he was gone back in Green Bay fans hailed their hometown heroes but it would be nearly 30 years before the Packers returned to a Super Bowl 1967 marked the end of an era in Green Bay and the beginning of a turbulent period in American society [Music] [Music] [Music] you knew that he was a great man and any was and was my privilege to play for him that man had the distinct ability to just patch on the head or give you a hug or something and make you feel like a million bucks he didn't pay me about fifty bucks he would expand your athletic talent he would expand your abilities and also he would expand your life and your horizons and what you could do and what you could be and so he had a tremendous impact on me and on my life and still does today there are standards that you live by if you're gonna do something you don't do it right once in a while you do it right all the time he did a magnificent job of coaching at 6017 he emphasized our strengths downplayed our weaknesses he made his believe he made us all believe David any belts he made us believe that we could win no one could beat the Green Bay Packers we just do that don't you know that while all the runners in a stadium are in a race only one wins the prize so run to win [Music] you [Music] you you

Channel: NFL Fanzone

Views: 60,766

Rating: 4.9096775 out of 5

Keywords: NFLFanzone, NFL, Fanzone, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Tom Selleck, Chuck Mercein, Dave Robinson, Jerry Kramer, Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Donny Anderson, Boyd Dowler, Willie Davis, Ray Nitschke, Willie Wood, Forrest Gregg, Henry Jordan, Herb Adderley, Carroll Dale, Bob Hyland, Jim Grabowski, Elijah Pitts, Don Chandler, Travis Williams, Bob Jeter

Id: PVUrzqnLeMw

Length: 44min 41sec (2681 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 26 2020