Preseason: Green Bay Packers (5-0) 31, Washington Redskins 24
Saturday September 9th 1961 (at Columbus, GA)
GAME RECAP (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE)
(COLUMBUS, GA) - That winning touch. The Packers will go into the 1961 league season with "it" - just as they did in the championship year of 1960. The Bays used a quick-striking, long-distance attack to (1) beat the Washington Redskins 31-24 at Memorial Stadium here Saturday night and (2) complete their second straight perfect preseason campaign. The Packers had a 6-0 record in '60 and now have posted 5-0, a good precedent for the championship-season opener against the Lions in Milwaukee Sunday afternoon. The Lions (4-1) also will go into the starter with a victory - a 35-17 verdict over the Browns in Cleveland Saturday night. Green Bay rolled up 28 points in 34 minutes and then coasted to an easy triumph while everybody on the bench was given a through testing before a crowd estimated at 18,000. The Packers averaged a fantastic 19.2 yards per touchdown-bound play in rolling up 309 yards in 16 plays for four touchdowns by the regular offensive unit operated by Bart Starr. One play was a hair-raising 83-yard touchdown run by Tom Moore with the second half kickoff. The Bays went 82 yards in only four plays for the first touchdown on a 46-yard Starr to Boyd Dowler pass. They then moved 75 yards in six plays, with the TD coming on Starr's 26-yard pass to Max McGee. After Moore's sixer, the big Bays moved 69 yards in five plays, the score coming on Jim Taylor's 13-yard romp. After Taylor's TD with only four minutes gone in the second half, the benchmen went the rest of the way, with John Roach taking over at quarterback. The final scoring was a 43-yard field goal by Paul Hornung midway in the third period. That FG closed out the Bays' 17-point third period and gave them a 31-7 edge. The Redskins, looking spirted and hard-hitting under their new coach, Bill McPeak, nicked the Packers for 414 yards - no mean feat for their rookie quarterback, Norm Snead, who went all the way. Snead, who completed 14 passes in 32 attempts for 246 yards, scored the first TD himself - on a 19-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. He threw two touchdown passes in the last four minutes of the game - a 32-yarder to Dick James and a 20-yard shot to Tom Osborne, to tighten the score. The Bays tested all of their rookies and the two freshmen defensive linemen - Ron Kostelnik and Ben Davidson, who played all of the second half, in addition to Nelson Toburen, who went the distance. Offensively, Elijah Pitts carried the most times - nine for 50 yards. He shared the ground honors with Hornung, who also gained 50 in six attempts. The Packers were murder when Starr was operating his regular unit. The sharp-shooting QB, besides tossing two touchdown passes, completed 11 out of 15 passes for 162 yards and 28 points in his 34-minute, no-pressure workout. The Bays came out with a few injuries, including Jim Temp's shoulder and hurt linebackers Dan Currie, Bill Forester and Ray Nitschke. With changing of personnel, the Bays will go into the Lion game well rested. Taylor and Hornung carried only 13 times between them. Moore was the long distance runner of the night. All of the Redskins' five kickoffs went to him and he rolled up 195 yards in kickoff returns. Tom also ran twice - for 17 yards. Somebody stepped on his hand, re-injuring his broken mitt. The Redskins, by the way, had six kickoff returns for 147 yards- giving the two teams a total of 11 returns for 342 yards. Joining Moore in the distance division was high-stepping Dowler, who caught four passes for 94 yards. Boyd punted three times and averaged 45 yards. Dowler got off a 55-yard boot early in the game and a few moments later John Aveni missed a field goal from the 48. His boot was downed on the Packer 18, and from this point the Pack scored in four plays. Taylor started by going five yards off right tackle. Starr then threw 15 yards to Ron Kramer
after which Horning shot off left end and lateraled to Taylor when he was about to get tackled on the Packer 46. Taylor continued to the Redskins 46. Starr then connected with a bullet shot to Dowler on the Redskin 12. Boyd high-stepped out of Gary Glick's arms and continued on into the end zone. Hornung kicked the first of four extra points and it was 7-0. The Redskins made three straight first downs and then lost the ball on downs on the Packer 33 when Hank Gremminger broke up Snead's third down and one to go pass aimed at Osborne on the five. Washington got it right back again when Taylor fumbled on the Packer 32 and Wilkins recovered. A 13-yard pass from Snead to Osborne set the ball on the 19 and two plays later, Snead slid off left end and dodged Packers all the way to the end zone on the first play of the second quarter. Aveni's boot made it 7-7. The Packers snapped right back to get a lead - 6 plays in 75 yards. After Hornung went four, Starr hurled 16-yard passes to McGee and Dowler to the Redskin 39. Taylor and Hornung ate up 13 yards and then McGee, stepping out of Glick's grasp, took Starr's rifle shot on the five and charged into the end zone for a 14-7 edge. With Em Tunnell, Kostelnik and Davidson going into action for the first time the Redskins moved for two first downs but on the try for three Willie Wood intercepted Snead's pass to set up Hornung's FG miss from the 46. The big gainers were Moore's 14-yard run; a 20-yard pass to Gary Knafelc by Hornung; and Starr's 15-yard pass to Hornung. All was quiet the rest of the first half, but the Pack exploded to start the final half. Moore caught the ball on the 17 and sliced up field to his left and finally to his right around the 25. He broke through a wall of Packers and Redskins and then was on his own. He shifted speeds about four times and reversed his field to the left side for his final get-away. That made it 21-7 but the Bays quickly forced the Redskins to punt, Wood fumbling the kick and then recovering on the 31. With Jerry Kramer and Fred Thurston blocking nicely out wide on two plays, the Bays moved 69 yards for their last TD. Taylor led off with two yards and then Hornung went around right end for 13. Starr threw 13 yards to Dowler and Hornung then zipped outside left tackle for a 28-yard rush. On the last play, Taylor slammed left end for the touchdown. A fumble recovery by Wood and two punts, plus a penalty for interfering with Wood on a fair catch set up Hornung's field goal from the 43. Early in the fourth period, Aveni missed a FG try from the 49 but he converted a three-pointer from the 37 when a Roach pass was intercepted on the Packer 24. Toburen caught Snead for a 7-yard loss and Aveni hit a field goal from the 37. After a Roach pass was intercepted by Jim Wulff on the 50, the Redskins went in for a touchdown. The big gainer was Snead's 25-yard throw to Luce and on the payoff Snead hit James for 32 yards and the TD. That made it 31-17 with 3:56 left. After forcing a quick punt, the Redskins moved 79 yards in four plays for the TD. He threw twice to Osborne and Dugan for 43 yards and then ran six. Snead then hit Osborne for 20 yards in the end zone for the touchdown. On the last play of the game, Pitts ripped off a 10-yard gain off left end. That was the last play for fun. Now it's strictly for keeps.
GREEN BAY - 7 7 17 0 - 31
WASHINGTON - 0 7 0 17 - 24
GREEN BAY WASHINGTON
First Downs 20 21
Rushing-Yards-TD 29-127-1 30-168-1
Att-Comp-Yd-TD-Int 20-13-175-2-3 32-14-246-2-1
Sack Yards Lost 18 22
Total Yards 302 414
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1
Turnovers 4 2
Yards penalized 3-15 7-55
SCORING
1st - GB - Boyd Dowler, 46-yard pass from Bart Starr (Paul Hornung kick) GREEN BAY 7-0
2nd - WASH - Norm Snead, 19-yard run (John Aveni kick) TIED 7-7
2nd - GB - Max McGee, 26-yard pass from Starr (Hornung kick) GB 14-7
3rd - GB - Tom Moore, 83-yard kickoff return (Hornung kick) GB 21-7
3rd - GB - Jim Taylor, 13-yard run (Hornung kick) GB 28-7
3rd - GB - Hornung, 43-yard field goal GB 31-7
4th - WASH - Aveni, 37-yard field goal GB 31-10
4th - WASH - Dick James, 32-yard pass from Snead (Aveni kick) GB 31-17
4th - WASH - Tom Osborne, 20-yard pass from Snead (Aveni kick) GB 31-24
RUSHING
GREEN BAY - Paul Hornung 6-50, Elijah Pitts 9-50, Jim Taylor 7-32 1 TD, Tom Moore 2-17, Bart Starr 2-5, John Roach 3-(-25)
WASHINGTON - Dick James 7-43, Don Bosseler 8-41, Sam Horner 8-31, Jim Cunningham 3-30, Norm Snead 4-23 1 TD
PASSING
GREEN BAY - Bart Starr 15-11-162 2 TD 1 INT, John Roach 4-1-11 2 INT, Paul Hornung 1-1-20
WASHINGTON - Norm Snead 32-14-268 2 TD 1 INT
RECEIVING
GREEN BAY - Boyd Dowler 4-94 1 TD, Max McGee 2-42 1 TD, Gary Knafelc 2-31, Paul Hornung 2-3, Ron Kramer 1-14, Lew Carpenter 1-11, Jim Taylor 1-0
WASHINGTON - Fred Dugan 4-86, Tom Osborne 3-60 1 TD, Dick James 3-46 1 TD, Bill Anderson 1-29, Lew Luce 1-28, Sam Horner 1-24, Don Bosseler 1-0
'READY AS WE'LL EVER BE,' VINCE
SEPT 11 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers were glad it was over and the Redskins were enthused over the way it turned out. The preseason windup between the opposite-division teams in Columbus, Ga., that is. There wasn't much comment on the game from the Packer camp. The Bays went into action thinking about the Lions and came out with the same thoughts. "We're as ready for the league season as we'll ever be - physically and mentally," Coach Vince Lombardi commented on the United Airlines flight home. Asked for a comparison of this year's team with the 1960 Western Division champions at this stage of the game, Lombardi said he felt that "we're the same as last year - no better, no worse. We're a good football club but we'll need some breaks and must avoid injuries." In whipping the Redskins, the Packers came up with some injuries - mostly in one spot. "Our linebackers are all hurt; it's nothing serious but the darndest thing I ever saw," Vince exclaimed. In addition, Defensive End Jim Temp re-injured the shoulder he hurt last year on the third play of the fourth quarter. He was hurt on a pass rush. Detroit? You'll hear about the Lions all week but Lombardi got the ball rolling Sunday with: "Detroit had the best defense in the league." Bill McPeak, rookie coach of the Redskins, said he was "far from dissatisfied with our performance. The Packers are the best team we've played so far. I realize the Packers had some of their new men in there on defense but our new quarterback (Norm Snead) looked good. He'll start against the 49ers." McPeak said a couple of his defensive men were hurt and he had to go with two rookies. Packer and Redskin players and coaches came away with praise for the young Snead after the game. Ralph Guglielmi, the Redskins' regular quarterback who couldn't play because of injury, called the rookie "a real football player." Guglielmi was injured when he was draped over a fence around the field in Bristol, Tenn., the week before. The Columbus field had a similar six-foot wire fence and it was only seven yards and two feet from the sidelines. The coaches warned players of both benches to "catch" players who might be running toward the fence. Such a bench catch saved Bill Anderson from possible injury. He was running a pass pattern and sailed out bounds and into the Redskin bench when Rod Breedlove caught him...BRIEFS: The game was scouted by the Lions and Bears. Russ Thomas, scouting for Detroit, said he figured Earl Morrall had won the starting QB job from Jim Ninowski. Pete Halas scouted for the Bears, giving the Bruins three looks at Green Bay before the Packer-Bear game here Oct. 1. They'll also view the Pack vs. the Lions in Milwaukee and vs. the 49ers in Green Bay...Hope you noticed that the only two unbeaten teams in the mean-nothing preseason campaign were the 1960 finalists - Green Bay and Philadelphia...The Bays found their stay at Fort Benning quite hot; no air conditioning. But it was the only way the Packers could stay together in the "un-integrated" Georgia...There was one casualty on the air trip home. Bud Lea, Sentinel scribe, had a flaming hand when some lighter fluid ignited. Packer physician Dr. Jim Nellen was called into active duty and pronounced it "first degree burns."
TEMP RETIRES, KECKIN WAIVES; PACK EYES LIONS
SEPT 12 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers were boiled down to a lean and hungry 36 players today - lean from eight weeks of training and hungry for another championship. The league's new limit (it was 38 last year) was reached with the retirement of five-year veteran Jim Temp and the waivering of Val Keckin, promising rookie quarterback. Coach Vince Lombardi announced disposition of the two players after practice this noon. Temp, former University of Wisconsin star who was the Pack's second draft choice in 1955, decided to end his pro football career after re-injuring his shoulder against the Redskins in Columbus, Ga., Saturday night. Temp hurt his shoulder during the 1960 season and missed the last few games. He underwent surgery last winter and came back strong, showing no signs of the injury. On the third play of the fourth quarter, Temp put on a strong pass rush on QB Norm Snead and damaged the same shoulder. Keckin was the Pack's 11th draft choice and saw some successful action in the Packers' opening preseason game vs. the Cowboys. He led the squad down for a field goal late in the game. The Packers joined the other 13 NFL clubs in reducing their rosters to 36 today, and it's not an easy job. The most noted "cut" today was Ralph Guglielmi, the Redskin quarterback. But Ralph's injured and won't be claimed by the opposition - similar to the Pack's Tom Bettis, and both can be called back. The Packers now have 16 players on defense and 20 on offense. The defense has six in the secondary - Jess Whittenton, Hank Gremminger, John Symank, Em Tunnell and Dale Hackbart; four linebackers - Bill Forester, Dan Currie, Ray Nitschke and Nelson Toburen; and six defensive linemen - Bill Quinlan, Dave Hanner, Hank Jordan, Willie Davis, Ron Kostelnik and Ben Davidson. The offense has seven in the interior line - Jim Ringo, Forrest Gregg, Bob Skoronski, Jerry Kramer, Fred Thurston, Norm Masters and Ken Iman; two quarterbacks - Bart Starr and John Roach; five running backs - Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Tom Moore, Elijah Pitts and Herb Adderley; and six ends - Max McGee, Boyd Dowler, Gary Knafelc, Ron Kramer, Lew Carpenter and Lee Folkins. The roster shows six rookies - a most unusual circumstance for a championship club, and a young title club, at that. The simon-pures are Toburen, Kostelnik, Davidson, Folkins, Adderley and Pitts. None won a starting position, although Toburen gained that honor in three non-league games. He has been playing right linebacker. Kostelnik and Davidson back up the defensive line - Kostelnik on the inside and Davidson at end. Folkins plays end or flanker back, while Adderley and Pitts back up Taylor, Hornung and Moore. By comparison, the Lions - Green Bay's foe in Milwaukee Sunday - had only four rookies Monday. There may be less today. In fact, Bud Erickson, the Lions' publicity chief, said yesterday that "we're the same as last year. There are no new faces in key positions." That, of course, isn't good news to the Packers. The last time Green Bay saw the Lion face was Thanksgiving Day, 1960. Detroit downed Green Bay 23 to 10 and the Packers didn't exactly shine. As you might unhappily recall, the Lions defensed the Bays down to 63 yards rushing and 118 passing. That same defense must be in great working order. In two games against the powerful Browns, Detroit intercepted seven passes and recovered four fumbles in the two games. The Lions won both games, of course. The Lions' defense team scored three times vs. the Browns in the 35-17 win Sunday.
STARR BETTER PASSER THAN IN '60: HE'S HITTING .620!
SEPT 13 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Is Bart Starr a better passer than he was a year ago? The Packers' heady quarterback established an all-time Packer record when he completed 57 percent of his throws during the 1960 championship season. During the just-completed five-game preseason campaign, Starr completed a rousing 62 percent of his throws. Okay, so maybe a few of the foes were experimenting with new defense backs, but we know one team that wasn't. That team was the Giants - right out in City Stadium Labor Day. The New Yorks weren't testing and on top of that Starr was given a real stormy rush. What was his percentage? An even 72, on 18 completions in 25 attempts with no (zero) interceptions. Now Starr comes face to face to what Coach Vince Lombardi calls "the best defense in the league." This unit is owned by the Detroit Lions and in case you're just tuning in the Packers play the Lions in Milwaukee Sunday. The Lions will throw up the same defense they used to chloroform the Packers in Detroit last Thanksgiving - except that it will wiser and tougher with experience. Bart hit 6 out of 15 for 100 yards that day while departee Lamar McHan had 2 of 10. Starr warmed up for the new 14-game schedule with 105 passes. He completed 66 of them for 943 yards and seven touchdowns. He threw only four TD passes during the 12-game league card last year. He threw three interceptions. Starr hit 14 out of 24 for 188 yards and one TD in the first non-leaguer vs. Dallas. In the next outing vs. St. Louis, he hit 10 of 19 for 193 yards and two touchdowns. Against the Bears in Milwaukee he had 13 of 22 for 229 yards and one TD. After the Giants, Starr posted 11 of 15 for 162 yards and two TDs. That was all for fun, of course, but the preseason firing percentage showed that Bart had bettered his accuracy. Who's for
receiving? The elongated Boyd Dowler led the squad by a landslide with 21 catches for 349 yards in four games; he went catchless in St. Louis. Max McGee was next with 13 catches for 260 yards - an even 20 yards per snatch. Passer-runner-kicker-receiver Paul Hornung snared 11 for 78 yards, while Lew Carpenter caught 8 for 131 yards and Jim Taylor 7 for 48. The action between Gary Knafelc, the incumbent, and challenger Ron Kramer for the tight end spot finished in a dead heat. Kramer started all five games but each receiver-blocker nailed four. In other preseason statistics, Hornung led the club in scoring with 45 points but Jim Taylor was close behind with 43. Taylor rushed for the most yards, 331, while Hornung had 181. Taylor carried 64 times - an average of 12 a game, while Hornung averaged 8 carries...The Packers reduced to the legal limit of 36 players yesterday. The final total was reached when Green Bayite Jim Temp retired and Val Keckin was waived. Temp, a salesman for Murphy Insurance, re-injured his shoulder late in the final preseason game and decided to retire...In Detroit, Lion Coach George Wilson cited his defense and a strong bench as his team's strong points. "If you don't have a defensive unit, you won't be up there in this league," Wilson said. "I think our defense is tops in the league. Now, I'm not saying we're going to win it. You have to be fortunate and have luck with injuries. But if we can win our share of the first seven games - that's the halfway point of the season - we'll be high up there at the end. We've always gotten off to a slow start. But we showed this year in the exhibition games we've ready for a fast start." Detroit's all-veteran defense unit, anchored by linebacker Joe Schmidt, did much of the club's preseason scoring. In the exhibition finale, the defense turned two pass interceptions and a recovered fumble into touchdowns in a 35-17 conquest of the Cleveland Browns. And Cleveland, beaten by Detroit twice, is one of the eastern division favorites.
SLOW STARTER? PACK EYES GETAWAY
SEPT 14 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - If there's something wrong, Packer Coach Vince Lombardi likes to correct it. If an enemy has something strong, Lombardi likes to crack it. Something wrong? The Packers are slow starters. Maybe that's not wrong but the Packers scored only 23 points (an average of 11.5) in their two league openers under Lombardi - both against the Bears in 1959-60. The Bays split the two games, winning a now-historic 9-6 thriller in Vince's debut and losing 17-14 in 1960. By the same token, the Packers are fast finishers. In the two final league games, the Bays scored a whooping 71 games - an average of 35.5. Lombardi notes that those figures indicate the Packers are slow starters and fast finishers. The records of the last two years would indicate that. In '59, the Bays roared to victories in their last four games. Last year, they roared into the championship with three straight wins. So maybe it's really not so bad starting out slowly. In fact, that seems to be the human thing to do. The winners in the six openers last year averaged 29.5 points. The winners in the six final games averaged 38.1. We don't profess to know what Lombardi and coaching henchmen Phil Bengtson, Norb Hecker, Bill Austin and Red Cochran have up their 10 sleeves for Sunday's clash in Milwaukee County Stadium, but one of Vince's pet theories is to hit the foe at his strength - but good. The Lions' big strength is their defense. "It's strong and active. And it's the best in the league" is the way Lombardi describes Detroit's "stop" sign. Hitting the Lions' defensive strength is no mean feat because it has such fine balance. Last year, the Lions' defensive unit was intact for only one of the two games vs. Green Bay. That was the Thanksgiving Day battle and our boys came away with only 10 points. The Bays "feasted" on only 63 yards passing and 118 rushing that Turkey Day. Green Bay won the opener here, which was the Bays' second game, by scoring 28 points against the Lions' nine. The Packers rolled up 255 yards rushing and 109 passing but the Lions' defense was hurting that day. Capt. Joe Schmidt, the league's top linebackers, didn't play and one of their other LBers, Max Messner, was badly injured. And the 300-pound Roger Brown, defense tackle great, was a rookie. There is one pattern in the two games. Detroit gave the Pack's passing a fit. Lamar McHan hit 7 out of 17 for 109 yards in the victory and Bart Starr and McHan posted only 8 of 26 for 63 stripes in the Thanksgiving Day game. That figures out to a two-game passing percentage of 35 and a yard-per-attempt of four. The Pack's rushing in the two
games boiled out to a handsome 5.1 yards per attempt. But this is noteworthy: The Pack rushed 52 times in the win and only 22 times in the loss. Individually, Jim Taylor rushed for a loud 151 yards and Paul Hornung had 73 in the first game, carrying 40 times between 'em. In the second game, Taylor had 62 yards in 10 trips and Hornung 23 in 9. Maybe it figures that the Lions will see a little of Hornung and Taylor Sunday - with a bit of Tom Moore for a wash. Those three will lead the Pack's "hit" parade Sunday...The Packers have a rain practice under their belts - just in case Mr. Weather decides to water up Sunday's classic opener. The Bays drilled for a full hour in a steady rain...BRIEFS: Green Bay will be playing its third league opener in Milwaukee. The Bays opened there (State Fair Park) in 1944 and beat Brooklyn 14 to 7. In 1953, in a pro football dedication of County Stadium, the Packers were dumped by Cleveland 27-0...The Lions intercepted 16 passes in the five preseason games, which is fantastic. The Lions will be making their first appearance in Milwaukee since 1946 and will be playing the Bays for the fourth time in Beer Town...Don't say it too loud but the Lions have never beaten Green Bay in Milwaukee. Naturally, Sunday is no time to start. By winning four of their five preseason tests, the Lions have now posted 12 victories in their last 15 games...The Packers will leave for Milwaukee Friday afternoon and drill in the Stadium Saturday morning. The Lions are coming into Milwaukee Saturday morning and will drill in the Stadium in the afternoon.
SOPH WOOD 'SUCCEEDS' TUNNELL
SEPT 15 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Willie Wood, 24, a free agent from Washington, D.C. via Southern California, will start at right safety for the Packers in their league opener against the Lions in County Stadium Sunday. And that might be the start of an era. And the finish of another. Wood is the Packers' new Em Tunnell, who ranks as one of the NFL's all-time defensive greats. Willie is in his second year of pro football. Em's in his 14th and time's running out. Tunnell is like a Country Slaughter or a Sal Maglie of baseball - a handy man to have around. Wood will play the "interception zone" on the right side for the Packers - the area the league's righthanded quarterbacks (there are no lefties) normally throw. And, as Coach Norb Hecker explained, "I'll be disappointed if Willie doesn't intercept at least 10 passes this season." With Willie at right safety, John Symank moves over from that spot to the left safety position, which had been occupied by Tunnell his last two years here and in most of his years with the Giants. Wood plays behind right cornerbacker Jess Whittenton and Symank backs up Hank Gremminger on the other side. Wee Willie (he stands just a bit under 5-11 and packs 185 yards pounds) has good hands and reaction. "He can play a man loose, which tempts the quarterback to throw the ball. But once the ball's in the air Willie reacts quickly and he goes after the ball," Hecker said. Wood is a little bit of a worrier. He has confidence in himself to get the job done but "I'm always worried about making the big mistakes." That, of course, is the nightmare of all defensive backs. One mistake can cost six points. Wood and Tunnell have a lot in common. They're both free agents. Neither was drafted. Tunnell, onetime Iowa star, walked into the Giants' office back in 1948 and asked for a tryout. Wood wrote to the Packers asking for a tryout. Willie was a quarterback at USC. Willie has adopted Tunnell's tough-tackling tactics. Em's like a linebacker the way he hits. Wood likes to rock, too. With Symank's love for rough contact, the Packers have no fears when a back breaks through the first two lines of defense - the line and linebackers. Wood and Tunnell have just one more "alike." Willie is a crack punt returner - the toughest job in football. Tunnell brought back punts for the Giants for years and holds two major league punt return records - the most returns in one season, 38 for 223 yards (in 1953) and the most returns in career, 258 for 2,009 yards. One of Wood's biggest boosters is Tunnell, himself. Em is a good influence on young defensive backs - and especially Wood. He talks defense to him continually and isn't afraid to use the middle if it's needed. Old Em, straining on the bench, will see a bit of himself out there Sunday...The Packers left by bus for Milwaukee right after practice this noon where they'll headquarter at the Astor Hotel. The team will drill in County Stadium Saturday morning...Coach Vince Lombardi can't help but emphasize the strength of the Lions' defense. He pointed it up again Thursday and the Bays spent considerable time oiling up their offense. With Lombardi leading the way, the Packers have been especially enthusiastic in practices this week. The Bays have been waiting for the "next season" since the bitter disappointment of the championship game last December. Sunday's battle marks the start of a return to the 1961 championship.
PACKERS OPEN DEFENSE OF TITLE AGAINST LIONS
SEPT 16 (Milwaukee-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The league's most stunning offense against the league's most stunning defense! When the Packers' Jim Taylor, Paul Hornung and Tom Moore hit, they sting. When Lions' Joe Schmidt, Wayne Walker, Roger Brown & Co., hit, they sting. It adds up to a perfect Offense vs. Defense contest. And the stakes are high. The Packers will be launching defense of their 1960 Western Division Championship. The Lions think they can win the '61 championship but they must beat the Pack to get on the inside track. The largest crowd ever to see a pro football game in Wisconsin is expected. It should reach around 43,000 or more - at any rate above the record 43,560 for the recent Packer-Bear Shrine game. Kickoff is set for 1:06 and the battle will be televised and radioed back into Green Bay. Good weather is predicted. Green Bay, the consensus choice to repeat as Western champion, will enter action as a three-point (or so) favorite. But the odds mean little under opening day circumstances. The Lions have been a hard nut to crack for Green Bay. They gave the Pack and awful time Thanksgiving Day and then went on to win four of their last five games, including the Runner-up Bowl decision over the Eastern choice, the Browns. And just to show that this was no fluke, the Lions walloped the Browns twice in preseason play. The Packers will have two starting changes from the clubs that opened against the Eagles in the championship game last fall. Ron Kramer will open at right (tight) offensive end in place of Gary Knafelc and Willie Wood will be in the secondary instead of Em Tunnell. Kramer and Wood started all of the preseason games. Bart Starr makes his debut as the Packers' No. 1 quarterback - a position he shared with Lamar McHan the last two seasons. Starr played his part exceptionally well in pitching .620 in winning all of his preseason starts. He'll be backed up by John Roach, himself a veteran. How will the Pack go about beating the Lions? They might try beating them dizzy with three pretty good hammers - Hornung, Taylor and Moore, and then calling up the air corps, headed by such airmen as Starr, Max McGee and Boyd Dowler, to provide the points. The Packers have had considerable success grinding out yardage but, with Starr hitting better than ever, they could surprise with an air emphasis. At any rate, that's Detroit's worry. The Lions' defense is a confident, cocky crew. The unit intercepted 16 passes in five preseasons and actually scored three touchdowns on the Browns. The defenders hit exceptionally hard and they're fast; they may require a completely new attack by the Pack. The Lions' QB situation is similar to the Pack's. Earl Morrall, like Starr, is a six-year veteran. He has been tabbed to start and unofficially rated No. 1 over Jim Ninowski, the ex-Brown. Morrall's big gunner is Nick Pietrosante, the large and fast fullback. And the Lions' major pass catching hopes are Terry Barr, Gail Cogdill and Jim Gibbons. Pietrosante shares the running with Johnny Olszewski and/or Danny Lewis, who has been hurt. Some observers feel that the Western Division champion will come out of this game. That may be a bit strong but since they're champions Coach Vince Lombardi and his group must rate as the team to beat. The Packers are in good shape for the game - other than remaining bruises from the last two non-leaguers against the Giants and Redskins. Norm Masters suffered a penicillin reaction earlier in the week but he's ready to play either left or right offensive tackle. And speaking of the offensive line, this unit may be Starr's trump card. If Bart can get a reasonable amount of time to throw, Detroit's great defense can be whipped. The Packers are staying at the Astor Hotel here while the Lions are headquartering at the Schroeder. The Packers will leave by bus for Green Bay from the stadium right after the game.
TOSS AWAY NFL's PRESEASON SCORES
SEPT 16 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - You can toss away all the exhibition results in the NFL now. They won't mean a thing starting Sunday. The circuit's 14 teams all swing into regular season competition with the world champion Philadelphia Eagles ready to open defense of their title against the Cleveland Browns in Philadelphia. Changes have been made since the Eagles tripped the Green Bay Packers 17-13 for the 1960 title. Minnesota's Viking have been added to the league's makeup and are a member of the Western Conference. The Dallas Cowboys have moved from the Western to the Eastern
Conference. Gone are such stars as Norm Van Brocklin, the great quarterback of the Eagles, now head coach of the infant Vikings; and Frank Gifford of the New York Giants, and Alan Ameche of the Baltimore Colts. Van Brocklin isn't the only new coach. Nick Skorich succeeds the retired Buck Shaw as coach of the Eagles, Allie Sherman replaces Jim Lee Howell of the Giants and Bill McPeak has succeeded Mike Nixon in the always-changing setup of the Washington Redskins. Several teams in both conferences have high hopes they'll be contenders. Some have been able to strengthen weak spots which turned up during the 1960 campaign. Others haven't been too successful to bolster either the offensive or defensive power of their respective clubs. Everything considered, it appears the Eagles may be the team to beat in the Eastern and Green Bay once more will be the class of the Western Division although Baltimore, with daredevil Johnny Unitas at the controls, and Detroit could give the Packers a rough time. The Packers open against the Detroit Lions at Milwaukee. Baltimore is host to the Los Angeles Rams. Minnesota makes its league debut at home against the Chicago Bears. Other openers find Pittsburgh at Dallas, St. Louis at New York and Washington at San Francisco. The Eagles, who mowed down all four NFL clubs they faced during the exhibition skirmishes, will play the Browns before a sellout crowd of 60,000 in Franklin Field. Even before the campaign has started, the Eagles have revenge in their hearts. They want to get even with the Browns for spanking them 41-24 in last year's opener. Skorich has finally settled on Sonny Jurgensen as his No. 1 quarterback to succeed Van Brocklin with King Hill in reserve...CRESPINO ONE OF BEST: "We're going to try to break Cleveland's strong ground defense and make as few mistakes doing it as possible," Skorich says. "The Browns like to beat you on your own mistakes. They make very few of their own." Skorich predicts Cleveland's young halfback, Bob Crespino of Mississippi, "is going to be one of the best halfbacks in the league, He's a big boy and has lots of speed, good for running." Cleveland Coach Paul Brown was unhappy with the performance of his offensive line against Detroit last week when the Lions downed the Browns 35-17. "It was soundly licked," Brown said afterwards, "just couldn't handle those big men. And Detroit people told us the Eagles are the best team the Lions played during the exhibition season, so you can see what we're up against."...BRATKOWSKI OF LOS ANGELES: Baltimore, as the rest of the league well knows, has Unitas, who threw five touchdown passes a week ago when the Colts battered the Giants 49-20. Three of the payoff pitches were caught by ex-Pittsburgh end Jimmy Orr. Colt Coach Weeb Ewbank sums up his team this way: A terrific defensive line, better punting, outstanding passing and concern over the linebacking and defensive backfield. Rookie Tom Matte will start at left halfback for the Colts. The Rams have a new quarterback in Zeke Bratkowski and Ollie Matson is back on offense, operating as slotback and blocker for Jon Arnett and Tom Wilson. Minnesota will use a three-end offense and plans to alternate the veteran Hugh McElhenny and rookie Tommy Mason at running back. "We've been coming slowly," says Van Brocklin, "mainly because out boys haven't played together before." The Vikings, unable to win in five exhibition tests, have George Shaw at quarterback. Coach George Halas of the Bears has strong quarterbacking in Ed Brown, Billy Wade and Dick Norman, but is concerned about the team's deep defensive backs. Halas is starting his 34th season as Bear coach. Sixth thousand are expected in Yankee Stadium for the Giants' opener with the St. Louis Cardinals. Charlie Conerly, the Giants' 40-year old quarterback, will play despite a broken nose, but Y.A. Tittle, another quarterback, will be sidelined by injuries. This means young Lee Grosscup likely will see a lot of action. St. Louis also has a quarterback problem. Sam
Etcheverry, the refugee from Canada, is bothered by a sore arm. In an effort to solve the quarterbacking problem, the Cards obtained Ralph Guglielmi from the Redskins last week. Coach Buddy Parker of Pittsburgh is pining for one additional offensive lineman who can do and says his secondary defense is the Steelers' weakest spot. Big Daddy Lipscomb should help the defense. The Steelers have a veteran backfield led by Bobby Layne. Parker looks for trouble from Dallas and rates Cowboy quarterback Don Meredith as a potential Sammy Baugh, Layne or Sid Luckman. Dallas Coach Tom Landry asserts the Cowboys "are still building, but we definitely will be improved."...'SKINS STARTING TO JELL': Washington is starting to jell, McPeak asserts. "Our running offense has come to life in the past two weeks and while it isn't spectacular it's respectable. The team has rallied around rookie quarterback Norman Snead." Coach Red Hickey of the 49ers doesn't have much to say about the Redskins. "If I told you my lineup changes and the 49ers' weak points," laughs Hickey, "I'd be giving you a pretty good scouting report. That's for the Redskins to find out today." The 49ers will concentrate on a dazzling "shotgun" attack with John Brodie and rookie Bill Kilmer running the show. Sunday's estimated attendance is 320,000 with 60,000 at both Philadelphia and New York, 53,000 at Baltimore, 42,000 at San Francisco, 40,000 at Milwaukee and Minnesota, and 25,000 in the Cotton Bowl at Dallas.
