GAME RECAP (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(ALEXANDRIA, VA) – In their best all-around performance of the exhibition campaign, Gene Ronzani's Green Bay Packers defeated the Washington
Redskins here Sunday afternoon, 14-7. It was their
second victory of preliminary play. They beat the
Cardinals a month ago, 17-14. A week hence they
will open the league race against the Bears in Green
Bay. Defense or offense, it made no difference
Sunday. The Packers had it. They drove 68 yards on
five plays for their first touchdown as soon as they
got the ball, and then, after Washington had tied it up,
7-7, they immediately drove 80 yards on nine plays
for their second. On defense, the play was downright
sparkling. Twice they yielded a first down to the
Redskins inside their nine, then twice hurled back all
further charges. On the first occasion, with the ball on
the one yard line, and three downs to go, they did not
yield an inch. On the second, they took over on the
five.
GIRARD RUNS WELL
Outstanding was the running of Jug Girard, the
passing of Bobby Thomason and the defensive play
of a variety of combinations, most particularly of Walt
Michaels in the middle linebacking role, and Ab
Wimberly and Steve Pritko at the ends. Thomason,
who engineered most of the offense, completed seven
out of nine passes. Tobin Rote added one out of two.
Girard, running in the left halfback slot, tore off the
major individual share of Green Bay's 180 yards on
the ground. Michaels roved behind the line the way
the departed Clay Tonnemaker used to. Green Bay's
opening touchdown drive was a beauty. On the very
first play Girard ripped off 33 yards around left end.
Hanlon added three. A screen pass to Cone picked
up 15. Hanlon failed to gain by Thomason passed to
Giarard for 17 yards and the ball was home.
GOAL LINE STAND
For the rest of the half the Packers never threatened
but they also held the Redskins safe. They made
their first goal line stand late in the second quarter,
halting four heavy assaults inside the 10. The last was
a quarterback sneak by Sammy Baugh from the one.
They stopped the Redskins similarly early in the
third quarter, taking over on the five, but they finally
yielded the tying touchdown 10 minutes later. A pass
from Harry Gilmer to Hugh Taylor, brought the ball
home. Immediately, though, the Packers struck back.
On eight plays after the kickoff, they moved to the
Redskins' three from where Jack Cloud once more
plowed home. The Packers immediately left after the
game for Green Bay.
GREEN BAY - 7 0 0 7 - 14
WASHINGTON - 0 0 7 0 - 7
GB – Girard, 18-yard pass from Thomason (Fritsch kick) GREEN BAY 7-0
WASH – Hugh Taylor, 10-yard pass from Harry Gilmer (Bill Dudley kick) TIED 7-7
GB – Cloud, 3-yard run (Fritsch kick) GREEN BAY 14-7
EXHIBITION - Green Bay Packers (2-3) 14, Washington Redskins 7
Sunday September 23rd 1951 (at Alexandria, VA)
Charles Robinson, rookie guard; Clarence McGreary, second-year tackle; Steve Pritko, veteran end, and Art Felker, rookie end from Marquette. Fritsch leaves the club as its second high scorer of all-time with 392 points. Don Hutson is the all-time leader with 825. The Packers returned home Monday evening from Alexandria, VA, and immediately held a skull session in preparation for Sunday's league opener here with the Chicago Bears.
HUTSON TO OPEN AUTO DEALERSHIP
SEPTEMBER 25 (Racine) - Don Hutson, all-time All-America pro end of the Packers, announced today he will open an automobile agency here October 15th. Hutson said he had disposed of his business interests at Green Bay and would move his family to this city.
BEARS TO PLAY PACKERS 66TH TIME SUNDAY
SEPTEMBER 25 (Chicago Tribune) - This is the week
leading up to the opening of the NFL's 32nd season.
For the Chicago Bears, it's a resumption of the same
old story - the Green Bay Packers. Sunday afternoon
the Bears will be in Green Bay to meet the Packers
for the 66th time since their formal introduction in
1921. The same afternoon, in Comiskey Park, an
almost spanking new edition of the Chicago Cardinals,
under Curly Lambeau, the old master, will try to give
the heave ho to Bo McMillin's Philadelphia Eagles.
But even before these two struggles, the league race
will have begun. Friday night, the New York Yanks
will appears in the Los Angeles Coliseum against the
Rams, one of the clubs the Bears must circumvent to
win the title for the first time since 1946. The site of
this game was changed because of the strong
possibility of the baseball Yankees winning the
American League title. The record breaking, five time
champion Cleveland Browns will start their sixth title
prowl Sunday afternoon in San Francisco against the
49ers, who were of their most persistent rivals in four
All-America conference seasons. Another Sunday
opener will match the Washington Redskins at Detroit against the Lions. A Monday night kickoff will involve the New York Giants against the Steelers in Pittsburgh. The Bears, one of the foremost exponents of the cloak and dagger system, will start drills for the Packers at an undisclosed spot today. Just to give Gene Ronzani and his Green Bay brain trust a clue, the rendezvous will be within a 50 mile radius of Chicago. In some 40-odd exhibition games throughout the nation, the 12 league teams have played to approximately three quarters of a million customers. Yet, the results of their games are not to be taken as conclusive evidence of what is to come. Many clubs, among them the Bears and Cardinals, experimented more than ever before because of the necessity of testing an unprecedented number of rookies. The series of warmups did indicate, however, that the races in both the eastern and western divisions are tossups. The 12 week schedule will be concluded December 16 unless ties exist for the top spot. Last year, playoffs were required in both sections. If all proceeds according the plan, the divisional champions will meet in the western city December 23. The Browns won the crown last year on December 24 by beating the Rams, 30 to 28, on a field goal by Lou Groza in the final half minute. Out of this extensive shadow boxing, six team have been prominent. They are Cleveland, the New York Giants and Washington in the eastern division, Detroit, Los Angeles and the Bears in the west. An upset team in the eastern section could be the Cardinals if Charlie Trippi makes good as a T quarterback. The San Francisco 49ers rate a dark horse role in the western flight. In 78 league games last year, the National League played to 1,977,735 customers, an average of 25,355. Against this league average, the Bears averaged in excess of 40,000 a game as a decisive leader in home attendance. Bear officials say that advance ticket sales indicate an increase in attendance this fall for the six games to be played in Wrigley field. Trippi suffered only an arm muscle bruise in Sunday's loss to San Francisco in Omaha and will be able to play the Eagles. Lynn Lynch, rookie guard from Illinois, is definitely out with an injured knee. Tom Wham, star defensive end, may not shake his ankle injury in time, however. The Cards will open drills this morning at the University of Chicago. The Bears announced that Paul Lea, rookie tackle from Tulane, has been traded to Pittsburgh for one of the Steelers' player choices in the draft for 1952.
DREYER CUT BY PACKERS
SEPTEMBER 26 (Green Bay) - The Packers cut two more veterans from their roster Wednesday. Coach Gene Ronzani asked waivers on Ray DiPierro, a guard, and Wally Dreyer, defensive back. Both joined the club last year. DiPierro played his college ball at Ohio State and Dreyer is a former Wisconsin star. The Packers are now down to 31, two under the player limit. As a result, it is generally believed that Ronzani is in the process of making deals for new players to replace DiPierro and Dreyer.
THREE NEW PLAYERS OBTAINED BY PACKERS
SEPTEMBER 28 (Green Bay) - The Packers Thursday announced the signing of three players obtained from rival NFL clubs. Dave Stephenson, 235-pound guard, and Dick Moje, 210-pound end, were added via a straight purchase deal with the Los Angeles Rams. Harper Davis, halfback claimed by several clubs after the Chicago Bears had asked waivers on him, was awarded to the Packers for the waiver price. Stephenson, West Virginia grad, played both offensive and defensive guard for the Rams last year, his first as a pro. Moje, Loyola of Los Angeles star, was recalled at the start of this season season from the Richmond Rebels. Davis joined the Bears last year after graduating at Mississippi State. Although blessed with unusual speed, the 172-pounder has been used mainly on defense. The latest acquisitions boosted the official roster to 34, over over the player limit. Under league rules, it will be necessary to cut back to 33 by Saturday noon.
BEARS SLIGHT CHOICE OVER BAYS
SEPTEMBER 29 (Green Bay) - The Chicago Bears unleash their tremendous speed against the defense-minded Green Bay Packers and 25,000 partisan fans in the 66th renewal of the traditional Packer-Bear series at City Stadium Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is at 1:30 PM, a half hour earlier than in the past. George Halas' Bears will be seeking revenge for that 31-21 defeat the Packers posted a year ago, though they got a measure of revenge by taking the nightcap in Chicago, 28-14. Gene Ronzani, starting his second season as Packer coach, has designs on an upset but the experts are figuring the Bears a 14-point favorite. The Bears will likely go with veteran quarterback Johnny Lujack. Their starting lineup shows two rookies, end Gene (Another Hutson) Schroeder and left half Whizzer White, both lightning fast. Veteran Fred Morrison will be at fullback, with promising rookie John Dottley in reserve. Ronzani has two veteran quarterbacks, a far cry from a year ago when he had the aging Paul Christman and rookie Tobin Rote. Working with Rote this season is Bobby Thomason, sharp-shooter formerly with the Los Angeles Rams. Only rookies in the Packer backfield are Ray Pelfrey and Ace Loomis, both left halfbacks, and fullback Fred Cone. The Bears are rated favorites chiefly on the basis of their pre-season showing and the fact that they have exceptional rookies to go with the veterans. The Packers are still in the process of rebuilding, and many new players were tried during the past two weeks.
BEARS RESUME OLD FEUD WITH PACKERS
SEPTEMBER 29 (Green Bay) - The Chicago Bears
and the Green Bay Packers, who were not exactly
sensations in the recent warmup weeks. tomorrow
will add another hit to one of the oldest rivalries in
football when they knuckle down to business for the
66th time. All the familiar old trappings are there. City
Stadium will be jammed to its 25,000 capacity. The
Lumberjack band will toot into the crisp Wisconsin air
from its bandome at one end of the field. It tooted with
a frenzy here last September when the Packers rose
up and whipped the Bears, 31 to 21. Adding to the
festivities will be a reunion of the 1919 Packer team
following the game. Members of the first team to
represent Green Bay in pro football on hand for the
ceremonies will be Art Schmael, Sam Powers, Gus
Rosenow, Herman Nartell, H.J. Bers, G.W. Calhoun,
Andy Muldoon, John Des Jardins, Jim Coffeen, Al
Petcka, Wally Ladrow and Carl and Martin Zoll. After
each disappointing experience against league rivals
in exhibitions the Bears have explained everything off
by insisting they were experimenting. Tomorrow's
opening offensive lineup show the Bears have made a
few changes at that. They're new at the ends, with
ex-fullback John Hoffman on the left side and Gene
Schroeder from the University of Virginia, at right end.
Frank Dempsey of Florida is at right guard over the
old standby, Ray Bray, who, however, still is around
and healthy. Whizzer White, the spectacular rookie
from Tempe (Ariz.) State, is a left half and Billy Stone,
a refugee from the Baltimore Colts, a right half. Paul
Stenn and George (Moose) Connor are back at the
tackles. The left guard is Dick Barwegen, one of the most capable at his trade. The Packers, under energetic Gene Ronzani, ended their unimpressive exhibition season with a victory over the Washington Redskins. Five of their 11 offensive starters are from other clubs. Bob Mann, left end, came form the Detroit Lions. Ham Nichols, right guard, is an ex-Cardinal. Joe Spencer at right tackle is a Cleveland castoff. Robert Lee Thomason, the quarterback, is from the Los Angeles Rams, and Billy Grimes, right half, is a former All-America star at Baltimore.
NEWS AND NOTES
HOLD YOUR HATS, BOYS! WILD PRO RACE LOOMS
SEPTEMBER 24 (Milwaukee Journal) - The exhibition season in the National Professional league ended with Sunday's three games, except for a "scrimmage" between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles Monday night, and a wackier round of games there hasn't been in a long time. Strange results and strange reversals were the regular order, and if they cast an accurate shadow of what is to come, this could be one of the most exciting seasons in league history. The championship race will open Friday night in New York where the Los Angeles Rams meet the New York Yankees. On Sunday the Green Bay Packers will be host to the Chicago Bears, the San Francisco Forty-niners to the Cleveland Browns, the Chicago Cardinals to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions to the Washington Redskins. On Monday night, the New York Giants will meet the Steelers in Pittsburgh. And hold your hats! Anything could happen...EVERY TEAM LOST AT LEAST ONCE: Not a team went through the exhibition campaign without a licking. Three of them, Cleveland, Detroit and San Francisco lost only one. Each won four. The Rams also won four, but lost two. To the embattled New York Yankees went the booby prize, and it wasn't exactly a surprise with owner Ted Collins firing Red Strader and hiring a new coach, Jimmy Phelan, a week after practice began. The Yankees lost five in a row. The Packers opened their campaign with a victory over the Cardinals and closed it with a victory over Washington. In between, though, they lost three in a row. Highest scoring team was Cleveland with an average of a little better than 28 points. Lowest scoring was Green Bay with a fraction over nine. Strongest defensive team was Cleveland. The Browns allowed a little over nine points a game. Weakest was Collins' club. Everybody took pick on the Yanks, who have so resemblance whatever to their baseball cousins. The Yanks allowed a little better than 36 points a game....BROWNS NO 'IN' BY ANY MEAN: Despite their high standing in the hickory nut circuit, the champion Browns could have trouble. They lost only to the Lions, 21-20, but they barely squeezed past the Rams with a touchdown in the last few seconds of play, 7-6, but they built up their superior scoring and defensive averages largely at the expense of the hapless Yankees, whom they walloped, 52-0, and the College All-Stars whom they beat 33-0. But they have a rugged line, good ends and, above all, they have passer Otto Graham. Surprises of the exhibition campaign were the Lions and the Forty-niners. The Lions lost only to Washington in one of those reversals, 10-7, and the Forty-niners only to the Bears, 24-7. In all other starts, though, they looked sharp and sparkling. Under Buddy Parker, the Lions obviously have begun to realize some of the fine potential they never really did under Bo McMillin. The Forty-niners have fine backs, including Frankie Albert, and a sturdy line. McMillin, who can talk himself into more good jobs after losing jobs, hasn't done much with the Eagles. Despite some of the finest material in the league, the team lost to the Bears, 31-6; to the Rams, and barely staggered home against the Packers...INJURIES SLOW DOWN NEW YORK GIANTS: Injuries have slowed down the Giants, and they will surely be tougher in the championship race than their exhibition record suggests. Both Bob Conerly and Kyle Rote, backfield mainstays have been out with injuries for several weeks. Characteristically, the Giants have always started slowly, too. A little hint of what they have, thought, was revealed in their 14-0 victory over the Bears. Pittsburgh, like Detroit and Frisco, played surprisingly good ball. The only single wing team in the league, the Steelers "two bit" you to death - two yards here, four, three, three here, five there. But they control the ball. Washington's Redskins got off to a terrible start, losing to the Rams, 58-14, and to the Forty-niners, 45-14, in their first two games. It was agony for owner George Marshall to sit in the stands and watch this, so, in the third game, he sat on the bench and began to help in the operations. Strangely enough, very strangely, the Redskins began to look better. The Bears, although still one of the better teams, do not look quite like the Bears of old. There is trouble in the line - so much trouble, in fact, that George Halas is ready to trade five of his backs for a couple of tackles. Bob Williams hasn't panned out at all as hoped at quarterback...RAMS STILL DAZZLE WITH PASS ATTACK: The Rams still possesses a dazzling aerial circus, which alone makes them extremely dangerous, but they have bad trouble on defense. The Cardinals, with fine young material, have been decidedly in and out. How well Trippi can fill the bill at quarterback will probably determine to a great extent how far the team will go. In the camp of the Yankees, things are only now beginning to straighten themselves out after the bad start. The Yankees don't have bad material. And the Packer? Gene Ronzani has experimented so much that it is hard to say. If only because of Bobby Thomason at quarterback, however, they should be a better team.
PACKERS HOST BEARS SUNDAY
SEPTEMBER 25 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears meet for the 66th time in professional football's oldest and bitterest rivalry at City Stadium Sunday afternoon. A sellout crowd of 25,000 will watch the traditional rivals battled for the inside track in the chase from the NFL National Conference championship. Kickoff has been set for 1:30 PM, a half hour earlier than in past seasons. The game has been sold out for several weeks. The Bears enter the game with a tremendous edge in victories. George Halas' Chicago powerhouses scored 37 wins against 23 defeats and five ties since the two clubs started clubbing each other in 1921. The Bears will be out to gain revenge for the 31-21 upset victory posted by the Packers in the first meeting here in 1950. The Bears entered that game with a 2-0 record, while the Packers, coach for the first time by Gene Ronzani, then making his debut against his old team, were 1-1. The 1951 Bears reportedly are considerably improved over the 1950 edition, with Jerry Williams of Notre Dame working in at quaterback and Gene Schroeder at end. And for the first time in history, the Bears will send a native of Green Bay against the Packers. He is Frank Volm, the former Marquette quarterback and Green Bay West star, who has been seeing considerable action on defense.
RITSCH AND NINE OTHERS RELEASED BY GREEN BAY
SEPTEMBER 25 (Green Bay) - Gene Ronzani reached the NFL player limit of 33 players Tuesday morning when he asked waivers on 10 men, including Ted Fritsch, veteran fullback who was in his 10th year with the club. In addition to Fritsch, at one time one of the best fullbacks and field goal kickers in the game, Ronzani disposed of the following men: Rip Collins, a halfback obtained from the defunct Baltimore Colts; Ed Ecker, veteran tackle; Marvin Strauch, rookie tackle; Bob Hanlon, halfback obtained from the Chicago Cardinals; Alex Wizbicki, defensive halfback obtained a year ago from the defunct Buffalo Bills;
