Green Bay Packers (9-2-1) 13, Detroit Lions (4-7-1) 13 (T)
Thursday November 28th 1963 (at Detroit)
GAME RECAP (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE)
(DETROIT) - The Packers suffered a tie in Tiger Stadium Thanksgiving Day. It wasn't turkey and it wasn't hash. It was a darned shame - or more specifically a blocked extra point kick that separated the Packers from a tight squeeze victory. The final score was just about as unlucky sounding as the Packers were at times, 13 to 13. And on top of everything the Packers lost Ray Nitschke for the season. He suffered a broken arm on the Lions' game-tying drive in the fourth quarter. The tie recreates the possibility of a division playoff in Green Bay - if the Bears can lost one of their last three and the Bays sweep their next two on the west coast. Each team then would finish with 11-2-1 records. The Packers now have a 9-2-1 mark for .818 against the Bears' 9-1-1 for .900. This was the Pack's first tie under Coach Vince Lombardi. Ironically, the Packers' last tie was by the same score against the same team - in Green Bay in 1958. The game started out like an old-fashioned defensive scrimmage, with the score 6 to 6 after an 11-punt first half and finished in a blaze of offense. Perhaps the hard-pressed and vicious defenses became exhausted after three quarters of smashing. Bart Starr rolled the Bays 95 yards from his two to the Lion 3, only to have Jerry Kramer blow a 10-yard field goal for a 9-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Packers then went on a 62-yard binge, and they got a touchdown this time - on a seven-yard pass from Starr to Ron Kramer. J. Kramer converted for what seemed like a healthy 13-6 (under the defensive circumstances) lead with 9:09 left in the game. The Packers never ran off another play. The Lions squeezed the ball for 20 plays over a 78-yard route in tying the score on a one-foot touchdown by Nick Pietrosante and the extra point by Wayne Walker. There were 16 seconds left and time ran out when the Bays came up to the line of scrimmage for one last play. Detroit took a lead on Walker's 27-yard field goal in the
second quarter and then the Packers snapped back to go ahead on Elijah Pitts' three-yard touchdown run, ending a six-play, 65-yard move. J. Kramer's kick was blocked by John Gordy. It didn't seem like such a terrible sin at the time but it was a whopper at the end. It apparently inspired the Lions. They took the next kickoff and moved in for the tying points on a 37-yard field goal by Walker just before the half. Walker missed three other field goal tries - from the 42, "52" and 40. J. Kramer was short on a shot from the 49 besides being a bit wide from the 10. Earl Morrall, rated the hottest quarterback in the league the last five weeks, was the slipperist Thursday. He was thrown for losses just twice but it could have been seven or eight times. He always managed to slip away and get off a late, late throw or run. He carried six times for a modest 14 yards. The Packers just couldn't run on the Lions. They wound up with a net of 31 yards rushing, with Jim Taylor getting 28 yards rushing - nothing to write home about either. The Bays' average gain per rush was 1.5, the Lions 3.2. Pitts, who started in place of Tom Moore, wound up with no yards in eight carries - his losses and gains balancing out evenly. Moore was ruled out of action Wednesday night to prevent additional damage to an eye injury he suffered vs. the 49ers last Sunday. This turned into a passing duel, and Starr and Morrall hurled 72 passes between 'em. Starr hit 18 of 35 for 286 yards and one TD, while Morrall hit 19 of 37 for 214. The strange game saw 13 punts, with Jerry Norton kicking seven times - six in the first half. He averaged 43.6 yards. Morrall booted six, five in the first half, and averaged 42.1. The Lions, who had lost to the Rams and Vikings the last two Sundays, were toughened up considerably Thursday with the return of Dick Lane and Yale Lary, who had missed the last two. Boyd Dowler, galloping loose most of the day, caught nine passes for 178 yards and had a bad break once. He caught a pass for 31 yards near the sidelines but was off balance and had to step out - with a clear field ahead in the first quarter. R. Kramer caught four including a 49-yard dazzler from Starr to set up the first TD. R.K. was free between the goal posts for his TD catch. Norton and Morrall each punted three times and 10 minutes had elapsed in the game before a first down was made. Starr threw to R. Kramer for 9 and Taylor ran 4 for that rarity, a first down. After another Norton punt, on which Tom Hall made a 33-yard return, Walker missed his field goal try from the 42. On the second play of the second quarter, J. Kramer missed from the 49. After another exchange of punt, the Lions - with five minutes gone in the second period - made their first first down, thanks to a 19-yard pass to Pietrosante. The Bays stiffened down close and Walker kicked a 27-yard field goal at 7:43 to break the scoring ice. After another punt exchange, the Bays moved from their own 35 to a TD in six plays. Starr threw to Dowler for 13 and then hit R. Kramer upfield about 15 yards. R.K. broke away from Lane and Maher and was pushed out of bounds by Dick LeBeau on the three. Pitts then went in standing up behind J. Kramer and Jim Ringo. The kick was blocked. Just before the half, Walker hit his field goal from the 37 and it was 6-6. After six minutes of the second half and some tough defense on the part of the Pack, Walker was short on his field goal from 52 yards away. Moments later Walker missed again, from the 40, but he got a real bounce, the ball going out on the two. The Bays looked like they were going to run away late in the third quarter on their 95-yard march. Starr threw three passes to Dowler for gains of 19, 48 and 18 yards, reaching the Lion 7. The Lions toughened and J.K. tried his ill-fated field goal from a tough angle on the 10. The Packers made it stick the next time. Starr threw passes of three yards to Taylor, 11 to R. Kramer, 8 to Dowler, 12 to Dowler and finally seven to R. Kramer for the TD. J.K. hit the base of the upper deck with his extra point kick at 5:57. The Lions went to work on their TD drive. Morrall completed 8 of 11 passes along the way for 59 yards and the big two were a 22-yard third down shot to Gail Cogdill to the Packer 14 and a pass to Cogdill on the next play on which Jess Whittenton was called for interference. The call left a bad taste, Packerwise, since the official standing closest to the pair didn't call it. Rather, it was called by an official in the end zone. That put the ball on the two-yard line and things looked good when the Lions were called for offside as Danny Lewis ran into the end zone. The penalty put it back on the seven but Lewis then was a foot short of the goal line on a wide left end run. Morrall got nothing on second down, and on third Pietrosante leaped in. He fumbled as he went in but the official claimed he had possession enough to score. The lions recovered it around the one-yard line. Walker converted and the score was tied.
GREEN BAY - 0 6 0 7 - 13
DETROIT - 0 6 0 7 - 13
GREEN BAY DETROIT
First Downs 15 16
Rushing-Yards-TD 21-31-1 27-88-1
Att-Comp-Yd-TD-Int 35-18-286-1-0 37-19-214-0-0
Sack Yards Lost 23 26
Net Passing Yards 263 188
Total Yards 294 276
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Turnovers 1 0
Yards penalized 2-17 8-60
SCORING
2nd - DET - Wayne Walker, 27-yard field goal DETROIT 3-0
2nd - GB - Elijah Pitts, 3-yard run (Kick blocked) GREEN BAY 6-3
2nd - DET - Walker, 37-yard field goal TIED 6-6
4th - GB - Ron Kramer, 7-yard pass from Bart Starr (J. Kramer kick) GREEN BAY 13-6
4th - DET - Nick Petrosante, 1-yard run (Walker kick) TIED 13-13
RUSHING
GREEN BAY - Jim Taylor 12-28, Bart Starr 1-3, Elijah Pitts 8-0
DETROIT - Dan Lewis 7-29, Nick Pietrosante 8-28 1 TD, Tom Watkins 6-17, Earl Morrall 6-14
PASSING
GREEN BAY - Bart Starr 35-18-286 1 TD
DETROIT - Earl Morrall 37-19-214
RECEIVING
GREEN BAY - Boyd Dowler 9-178, Ron Kramer 4-76 1 TD, Max McGee 3-20, Elijah Pitts 1-8, Jim Taylor 1-4
DETROIT - Terry Barr 5-36, Gail Cogdill 4-83, Nick Pietrosante 4-38, Tom Watkins 3-31, Jim Gibbons 2-23, Dan Lewis 1-3
'NO DIFFERENCE, BEARS MUST STILL LOSE': LOMBARDI
NOV 29 (Detroit-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Vince Lombardi kicked the cigarette habit two months ago but, but his own admission, he was sorely tempted to take up the controversial weed again Thursday. Summing up a long afternoon of frustration, which spawned the first tie of the ex-Block of Granite's five-yard Packer reign in sprawling Tiger Stadium, Lombardi apprised the press corps with a rueful grin, "Today I feel like I want to start again." He resolutely declined all offers, however, as cigarette packs were hastily proffered, before flatly informing the fourth estate that the just consummated 13-13 tie with Detroit's somewhat carnivorous Lion had not materially affected the Packers' hopes for a fourth straight Western Division championship. "This makes it no different than it was before," was Lombardi's unequivocal reply to this question. "Somebody still has to beat the Bears. The only thing it means is that if they lose one and we win two, we'll have to have a playoff." "That's the way it ought to be anyway," he volunteered with a grin. "They beat us twice, didn't they? Of course," Vince chuckled, "I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." Did he feel a fourth quarter injury to linebacker Ray Nitschke, who returned to Green Bay Thursday night with his right forearm encased in a splint, had affected the Packers' victory chances? Characteristically refusing to alibi, Lombardi replied in the negative, "No," he said, "no, sir." What about Tom Moore's absence? "I don't know," the Packers' head man responded. " I would only conjecture. For all I know, he might not have played as good a ball game (as Elijah Pitts, who held forth for Moore, out with an eye injury)." Moore, he disclosed, "would have been ready to play if our game had been Sunday instead of Thursday. There's really nothing seriously wrong with him. He does, however, have a little blood in his eye and the doctor recommended it would be best to hold him out today." "That's the kind of a game this is, though," Lombardi continued, escalating his eloquent eyebrows for emphasis, "You play with what you've got, that's all." Which prompted him to observe with more than a modicum of price, "We've got a great bunch of kids - they're battlers." He had looked dismayed when Jerry Kramer's 10-yard field goal, which obviously could have made the eventual difference, had gone awry
early in the fourth quarter, a Detroit scribe noted. Lombardi nodded and explained matter of factly, "You don't expect to miss those. The answer is, of course, when you get down inside there, you've got to score." Kramer's first extra point attempt which also misfired "was partially blocked," Lombardi said, "but I'm not quite sure what happened on that - the kick might have been a little low." Asked if he was happy to be out of the Thanksgiving Day game, which henceforth will find the Lions meeting all Western Division rivals in rotation, Lombardi nodded in the affirmative but made no further comment. He also conceded he had found the Lions' secondary defense "weaker. I don't think they were as much so, however, when Lane is in there." "They sure got a helluva tough defensive ball club," he concluded with fervor. "At least, they sure have against us. I don't know how they play against anybody else, but they're sure tough on us."...In an expansive mood over what he obviously considered something of a moral victory, Lion Coach George Wilson quipped, "We're just making the race a little tighter." He paused for a moment, then added with a chuckle, "I haven't got my check from Halas yet, but I'm expecting one." Flashing a shy grin, Wilson next pondered, "I wonder how they'll (the Packers) like it in Miami?" "We had it three years in a row," he said. "We didn't want it anymore." Here Asst. Coach Aldo Forte interposed to suggest the Packers might still be in the championship playoff. "We still can beat the Bears (in the Lions' final game), you know. In fact, you know we ARE going to beat the Bears." Had the Lions employed a special defense to block Jerry Kramer's extra point attempt after the Packers' first touchdown? "No," Wilson said. "It as a setup deal. There are different spots you do it in - and if it works." Discussing the field goal attempt Kramer missed from the Lion 10, Wilson observed without hesitation, "He jabbed at it. I mean it was too easy. It's so easy to do that when you're down in there." The Lions, he had earlier admitted, "were up for this one. You could tell it in the couple of days we had to get ready for it." Any theory on why his Tigers are so consistently anti-social to the Packers? "I don't think it's just the Packers," the good looking Detroit major-domo said. "They play good against the Bears and the Browns, as well as the Packers. We always play well against the best teams." The Packers, he ventured in reply to another question, "didn't take this game lightly. They can't do it now - they're in the same position we were in last year. They have to win their games and hope somebody knocks the Bears off." Did he think the Packers might be less hungry than in recent years, after winning two straight world championships? "I don't know how hungry they are," Wilson said soberly, "but they're still a helluva football team, don't think they're not. They're a very well balanced team. You take the New York Giants, for example - take Tittle out of there they're in tough shape. But it didn't work that way for the Packers when Starr was out of there." The subject turned to another quarterback, his own Earl Morrall. "He did a hell of a job," Wilson acknowledged fervently. Why had Morrall suddenly emerged as a premier quarterback after laboring in Milt Plum's shadow for two years? "If I knew," Wilson replied with a slow smile, "I'd go in and ask for a raise."
KRAMER 'WANTED END ZONE'; DOWLER PICKS ON 'NEW MAN'
NOV 29 (Detroit-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Awesome Ron Kramer, appropriately dubbed the "runaway moose," lived up to his label here Thursday, for which his Packer colleagues could be appropriately thankful. Kramer, who rumbled 49 yards to the Detroit Lions' 3 with a second quarter Bart Starr pass to trigger the Pack's first touchdown and clutched a 7-yard Starr for the other Packer TD in the last period of the 13-13 tie, explained with, 'I was just trying to get as far as I could. I don't know if there was anybody was behind me, on the side of me or in front of me," the University of Michigan immortal smiled, peeling a hunk of tape from his left ankle while ensconced upon the dressing room training table. "I just wanted to get into that end zone." The mountainous tight end wasn't sure who it was he wrenched away from to launch his earth-shaking sortie. "I think it was Night Train Lane," Ron said. Sometimes when people hit you, you don't feel it (this may not be a general experience, but it is understandable in his case). I don't know where he hit me but would imagine he came over my head." Literally a "lonesome end" on his fourth quarter touchdown, Kramer pointed out, "They were looking more for a slant-out than a slant-in. I started to slant out, then slanted back in. Somebody had pulled the middle linebacker out there and the rest was easy." His elongated fellow receiver, Boyd Dowler, attributed his big nine-catch afternoon to the presence of a "new man" in the Lions' defensive backfield. "They had Maher (Bruce) over there. I'm sure I wouldn't have caught that many if Lane had been over there." "It's the history of the league," said the NFL's 1959 rookie of the year, "that you go after a new man. I doubt if we'd have even thrown nine passes to me, if Lane had been there, let along my catching that many." The author of those bullseyes, Bart Starr, again was not entirely happy with his performance, his second since returning to action after suffering a broken right hand at St. Louis Oct. 20. Confiding that "only my feelings are hurt," the Western Division's premier field general said, "I thought the pass protection was real good today. I think I just hurried a little too much in the first half. I was expecting a heavy rush and wanted to get my passes off." The Pack's top toe, Jerry Kramer, also was something less than effervescent. Discussing the extra point which was blocked in the second quarter, he said, "Gordy (the Lions' John) Came through to block it. I don't think the kick was low - at least I didn't at the time I kicked it." His 10-yard field goal attempt which veered off target in the fourth quarter "was just a poor kick," the king size guard added disgustedly. "Yes, it was a difficult angle, but there was no excuse for missing it." Big Ray Nitschke, being helped into his shirt by a training aide, gestured to his bandaged right arm and said, "It's my forearm, but I don't really know. No, I don't have any pain - it's a little numb right now." The bruising linebacker, who later learned he had a broken bone, was injured late in the fourth quarter. "I think I hit a shoulder pad kind of funny." he said. Two of his teammates were pondering what might have been - with good reason. "I might have got Watkins for a safety on that opening kickoff in the second half," strapping Frank Mestnik, a valued member of the "kamikaze squad," revealed...TYING TD FUMBLED: "He was back on the 1 or 2 yard line, and if I'd hit him straight, I might have driven him into the end zone. But rather than gamble," the 25-year-old fullback explained, "I tried to cut him off from the sidelines. They were set up to the outside and he might have broken away." Jess Whittenton was still insisting that the Lions' Nick Pietrosante had fumbled in "scoring" the Lions' trying touchdown in the closing second. "The official said he fumbled after he got into the end zone," the wavy-haired Texan said. "I still say he fumbled in the air just as he got to the line of scrimmage. The ball hit me and it went back - it still would have been back on about the 1/2 or 2-yard line."
GO YOU VIKINGS, BEAT THE BEARS! NITSCHKE LOST
NOV 30 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - 'Tis the season to watch and wait. And pace the floor a little. The Packers' chances are up to the Bears now - at least until the Bays meet the Rams in Los Angeles a week from today. The Bears play the Vikings in Chicago Sunday. And don't laugh. The Vikings beat the Lions last Sunday 34 to 31 and you surely must have heard what the Packers and Lions did Thanksgiving Day. It was a tie, 13 to 13. The Bear-Viking game will be piped into Packerland via radio (WJPG) and television (WBAY-TV). And the chant here is "Go you Vikings." The Bears have three games left - the Vikings Sunday, the 49ers Dec. 8 and the Lions Dec. 15. All are in Chicago. The Packers play in San Francisco Saturday, Dec. 14, after visiting LA. The key to the whole business is a loss for the Bears. This must happen, at least once, and the Packers must win their last two if Green Bay expects to tie the Bears and thus produce a Western Division playoff in Green Bay Dec. 22. The championship game is carded Dec. 29, barring double playoffs in the three-way race in the Eastern Division. The title game goes to the home part of the Western winner. Thus, it's possible for the Packers to have two more games here. Let's get back to reality. And there's nothing more real than a broken bone. Ray Nitschke is carrying a cast around on his right arm, and the Pack's sterling middle linebacker is lost for the remainder of the season. Nitschke broke his arm while tackling Tom Watkins on the Lions' fourth quarter drive that forced the tie. Dave Robinson went in at right linebacker and Bill Forester shifted over to Nitschke's spot. Robinson can expect to be picked on - just as the foes worked over Lionel Aldridge in the final two games. It's a fact of pro football life that the rookies are attacked first. Nitschke is the Pack's second broken bone victim this season. He joins Bart Starr who missed four games before returning a week ago Sunday. Starr broke a bone in his right hand. Experts at shaking off minor injuries, the Packers have sustained four game-missing injuries. Besides Starr and Nitschke, the Bays have lost Ron Kramer and Tom Moore with various hurts. R.K. was out for a full game after hurting his leg early in the Colt game in Baltimore
and rookie Marv Fleming did an admirable job of replacing the big Moose. Moore, hurt (back) first in the Cardinal game, missed the Colt game the next Sunday but then returned. He suffered an eye injury early in last Sunday's 49er game and then missed the Detroit test. Elijah Pitts has done well in relief of Moore until he ran into the Lions' hungry defense, which limited Packer rushers to 31 yards. Nitschke's loss shortens the linebacking corps to three people - Dan Currie, Forester and Robinson, as well as Kenny Iman, the reserve center, who worked some at linebacker last year. Coach Vince Lombardi has a linebacker on the cab squad. That would be Ed Holler, the weightlifter, who will be more than happy to answer the nod. Nitschke actually was in the game for two plays with his broken arm. "I hurt it tackling Watkins on a draw play up the middle," Ray recalled, "and I could hear it clicking when I rotated my arm. It was weak, too." Ray was in for two Earl Morrall passes following the injury. One was kayoed by Jess Whittenton, and the other was complete to Watkins for nine yards. After that completion, Nitschke went out. Ray explained that "I didn't tackle anybody. It was hurting." The Packers are off this weekend and will report back for action Monday morning. Everything is moved up a day next week since the game is on Saturday.
ANOTHER 13? PACKERS MAY PICK 14TH IN DRAFT
DEC 1 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers will pick 13th in the NFL draft Monday. What's that...a 13? The Packers just finished scoring 13 points and allowing 13 points in their battle at Detroit Thursday. So who's superstitious. It's all in the heard. Of course, it's not a certainty the Packers will draft thirteenth. They could pick 14th. The teams pick in reverse order to their position as of the completion of today's game. If (and that's a big one) the Vikings beat the Bears today, the Bears and Packers will wind up with identical percentages of .818 on records of 9-2-1. This would require a coin flip, and, of course, the winner would naturally take the 13th spot, leaving No. 14 for the loser. The Packers are pretty good at coin flipping. The won the right to host the Western Division playoff - if there is one, and they won the coin flip at 10 out of their 12 league games thus far. They won seven in a row, then lost the Pittsburgh and Minnesota (here) flips before winning the next three. Now the Packers' exact draft position hasn't been established, let's see what the Packers will select when the picking opens in the Chicago-Sheraton's circular ballroom at 9 o'clock Monday morning. There's a stone wall on that sore, too. Pat Peppler, the Pack's chief talent scout, isn't revealing the Packers' first choice, of course, but he noted Saturday "that we'll probably decide Sunday on what (meaning area of position on offense or defense) to select." Peppler will put the finishing touches on the draft today prior to leaving for Chicago with Coach Vince Lombardi and Coach Phil Bengtson. These three will preside at the Packer table, while the rest of the coaches will handle the team in practice Monday. The key pick, naturally, is the first one. Lombardi and his aides have many things to consider. The normal procedure is to take the best player available regardless of position, but when a dozen players are already gone ahead the pickings can get slim - at least as far as real top-notchers are concerned. In addition, the Packers face the possibility of retirements this year - especially if they don't repeat. The Bays have one player in the 12-year bracket, Dave Hanner; two at 11 years, Jim Ringo and Bill Forester; and one at 10, Lew Carpenter. Five others are in the eight-year bracket. Lombardi's previous four first draft choices turned out well. His first was Tom Moore and the Vanderbilt halfback needs no introduction. The next was Herb Adderly and the former Michigan State offensive ace developed into a key figure in the Bays' defensive secondary. The next was Earl Gros, the LSU crusher who backs up Jim Taylor. And a year ago the top pick was Dave Robinson, who won the spot as fourth linebacker. The Big Robbie now will see regular duty since Ray Nitschke is out with a broken arm. Dave figures to work at right linebacker while Forester shifts over to Nitschke's middle linebacking position. The Packers will get several extra choices over the 20 rounds as the result of trades with other clubs. The 49ers will have the first pick if they lose to the Rams. If the 49ers win, the No. 1 selection will be up for grabs (by flip of coin) with Philadelphia, Washington, Dallas and San Francisco as possibilities. As the 49ers had to grab Lamar McHan from the scrap heap when John Brodie was unable to play, they undoubtedly will go for a quarterback. It could be Pete Beathard of Southern California or George Mira of Miami. With the current crop of NFL quarterbacks getting a bit old, the new boys will get plenty of attention. Mira of Miami, Jack Concannon of Boston College, Billy Lothridge of Georgia Tech, Dick Shiner of Maryland, Larry Rakestraw of Georgia, George Bork of Northern Illinois, Perry Lee Dunn of Mississippi and Craig Morton of California will probably be picked.
BEARS STILL MUST LOSE BUT PLAYOFF VIRTUALLY OUT
DEC 2 (Chicago-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Just in case you're all tangled up in knots today, remember this: The Bears' 17-17 tie with the Vikings in Chicago Sunday virtually rules out the possibility of a Division Playoff in Green Bay. The Bears' second straight 17-17 knot leaves Chicago with a 9-1-2 mark today, while the Packers' tie in Detroit Thanksgiving Day puts their mark at 9-2-1. Now, if the Bears split their last two and the Packers win their last two, Green Bay can win it outright. This happy turn of events would produce the following:
W L T .PCT
Green Bay 11 2 1 .846
Chicago 10 2 2 .833
If the Bears and Packers win their last two, the final standings would look like this:
W L T .PCT
Chicago 11 1 2 .916
Green Bay 11 2 1 .846
The Packers have no chance - remember - unless the Bears lose a game. And if the two teams each lose their last two games, the final reading would be as follows:
W L T .PCT
Chicago 9 3 2 .750
Green Bay 9 4 1 .692
The Packers play their last two games on Saturdays - in Los Angeles Dec. 7 and San Francisco Dec. 14, and the Bears are home to the 49ers Dec. 8 and the Lions Dec. 15. This means that the Bears will "know" in each case and they'll be under considerable pressure of the Packers can win. The Packers could conceivably win the championship while they're up the air. They'll be flying from San Francisco Dec. 15 - about the time the Lions are playing the Bears. It would be nice to come home to the championship game, which is scheduled in the home part of the Western winner on Dec. 29. And here's a tip of the hat and a big rose for Ron Vander Kelen, the Pride of Preble who almost became the Great of Green Bay in Chicago Sunday. We feel that the Vikings might have won if they had not fumbled deep in their own territory with 8 minutes left in the game and Minnesota leading 17-10. That fumble was a tremendous break for the Bears. And a terrible stroke of luck for the fighting
Vikings, who looked as if they outplayed the Bears. The Bears look a little tight through the TV version. Maybe pressure is starting to tell.
KRAMER NOW 5TH IN SCORING
DEC 2 (New York) - A burst of high-powered individual scoring efforts in Sunday's NFL games dropped the Packers' Jerry Kramer from first to fifth place in the point parade. Kramer booted a single point after touchdown in Thursday's 13-13 tie with the Lions in Detroit to increase his first place total to 81, but Sunday four other player passed him. Cleveland's Jim Brown scored a pair of touchdowns to take over first with 90 points. New York Giant kicking star Don Chandler raised his total from 79 to 89 points, Jim Martin of the Baltimore Colts took over third with 86, and Lou Michaels of the Pittsburgh Steelers moved into fourth place with 84.
PACKER DRAFT 'FAR BETTER THAN I EXPECTED,' LOMBARDI
DEC 3 (Chicago-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers grabbed nine players, topped by tackle Lloyd Voss in the first five rounds of the longest college player draft in NFL history. The picking started in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton-Chicago Hotel at 9:15 Monday morning and ended at 6:58 a.m. today - a stretch of 12 hours and 43 minutes. No previous draft went longer than 17 hours. Long or short, it was time well spent by the Packers' efficient selection threesome of Vince Lombardi, Phil Bengtson and Pat Peppler, who could not be accused of lengthening the draft. They had their selections ready when their turn came to pick in each of the 20 rounds. Lombardi and Bengtson left immediately after the draft to catch an early flight back to Green Bay for team practice. This is a short week since the Bays play Saturday - in Los Angeles. Lombardi said that the Packer list had "good choices - far better than I expected to get in my drafting position." The Packers picked up the 245-pound Voss, a real standout at Nebraska, with John Morris, a rangy 228-pound center and linebacker from Holy Cross. Three players were obtained on the third round, the first two as payment in trades with Baltimore and New York. The Colt deal turned into Ode Burrell, a 9.7-second defensive back and flanker prospect from Mississippi State, and the trade with the Giants brought a prize in Joe O'Donnell, a 250-pound offensive guard from Michigan. On their third round pick, the Bays
named Tommy Crutcher, the 220-pound fullback from TCU. The Packers received the Eagles' fourth round selection and took an offensive end, Bob Long, a 190-pounder from Wichita. The first of six futures was chosen as the Pack's own fourth round choice - Paul Costa of Notre Dame, one of the biggest fullbacks in the country at 6-4 and 232. The fifth round didn't start until 2 a.m. - almost 17 hours after the show started, and the Bays possessed the Cowboys' choice. They selected Duke Carlisle of Texas, a defensive halfback prospect. The Pack's own fifth pick was a big one - Alabama's Steve Wright, who stands 6-6 and weighs 250 pounds. Green Bay owed its sixth choice - in payment for a trade with Dallas. Lombardi followed the first nine players with a variety of selections designed to create competition at all positions, except quarterback. Besides the three veteran QBs, the Packers will have one of the top collegians in the country next season in Dennis Claridge, the Nebraska star who was picked as a future last year. The Pack came up with three close-to-home picks: Ken Bowman of Wisconsin, a 230-pound center, and a pair from Northern Michigan - Jack Mauro, a 247-pound tackle, and Leonard St. Jean, a 240-pound offensive end. Voss and Claridge, the Bays' touch of Cornhusker, actually were scouted in person for the past two seasons. And Coaches Norb Hecker, Red Cochran, Bill Austin and Bengtson kept a special eye on Voss this past season. Since Nebraska plays in the Orange Bowl, Voss and Claridge can't be signed until after the game. Lombardi said that Voss will be considered for both offense and defense. "He's a trim 245 pounds now, but he should go 260 when he fills out," the coach enthused. The coach said Voss received an "excellent" rating from Packer scouts in the major qualifications - desire, quickness, speed aggressiveness, durability, character and intelligence. Like Claridge, Voss also hails from Minnesota. Voss is from Magnolia and Claridge from Robinsdale, a suburb of Minneapolis. This closeness surely will be a favorable factor in signing them. The Packers now face competition from teams in the AFL in signing the draftees. Voss was drafted No. 1 by the New York Jets and Morris was Boston's fourth pick. Boston is Morris' home area, but the Packers' Tom Miller was at Morris' doorstep early today. Peppler and Verne Lewellen were on their way in various directions to sign the prospects.
BEARS COULD STUB TITLE TOES; SO COULD PACK...?
DEC 4 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Up in this neck of the wood Packer Backers feel the Bears will stub their collective toe and thus put old Green Bay into the title game. That's good. But having just come from the big City of Chicago with nothing to do but stay away for 30-odd hours, we discovered there is another side to the coin. Some of the folks we met around the NFL draft room in the Sheraton-Chicago Hotel were so bold as to even suggest that the Packers could lose one of their last two games. The Bays play the Rams and 49ers on the west coast while the Bears host the 49ers and Lions. It never occurred to us. Which is another way of saying that we have great confidence in the defending champion Packers. The feeling on the Western race went like this: "Don't forget, you've got to play the Rams yet." The insinuation is that LA could knock the Packers out of the throne room and, come to think of it, this is a sobering thought. The Rams are a hot club, having won five of their last seven and the last three in a row. Their fans are getting all steamed up and there is a prediction that the giant Coliseum, with over 105,000 seats, will be more than half filled for the Rams' big effort. The place could turn into the world's largest hornet's nest for the Pack. What's more, the Bays are hurting. Ray Nitschke, of course, is out for the two games due to his broken arm, suffered in the tie in Detroit last Thursday. Coach Vince Lombardi said Tuesday he is concerned about the availability of halfback Tom Moore, who has an injured eye. Moore hurt the optic in the 49er game a week ago Sunday, and then was ruled out of the Thanksgiving Day game the night before. Right linebacker Bill Forester will take over Nitschke's spot and rookie Dave Robinson will go into Forester's position. The No. 4 linebacker will be Ken Iman, who worked some there in a pinch last year, or Ed Holler of the taxi squad. Lombardi and aide Phil Bengtson returned from the draft in time Wednesday morning for practice, which is normally like a Thursday "thud" drill since the upcoming game is Saturday. The Bays will leave Thursday for Los Angeles via United Airlines charter out of here and jet out of Chicago in the afternoon. The Packers came out of its draft with 23 players, topped by Lloyd Voss, 245-pound tackle from Nebraska, and backed up by Jon Morris, a 235-pound center and linebacker from Holy Cross. Voss is only the fifth tackle selected first by the Packers and the first since Art Hunter in 1954. Hunter played a year and then was traded to the Browns. He is now with the Rams. Other tackles chosen No. 1 were Bob Gain of Kentucky in 1950; Dick Wildung of Minnesota in 1943; and Urban Odson of Minnesota in 1942. Gain never played here. He went to Canada for a year and rights for him were traded to the Browns. Wildung was an all-pro with the Pack...DRAFT BRIEFS: Jon Morris' father, Jack, is head of the Washington bureau of the New York Times. And Jon has an uncle, Richard Morris, who does promotion work for Bill Ford, new owner of the Lions. And speaking of Ford, the Detroiter who just last week purchased the Lions for six million dollars, sat at the Lions' draft table throughout the draft. And if you think millionaires shun work, the Cowboys' Bedford Wynne, Texas boots and all, operated the "twix" at times for Dallas, which drafted out of its home office in Dallas. Things got to drag about 5 a.m., so Lombardi decided to perk up the drafters. He penciled out the name of "Oscar Upchuck of Old Nausea" as a selection. The runner took the folded slip and handed it to Jim Hamilton, the NFL's watch dog who read some of the selections over the PA system for all to hear. Hamilton, the onetime Los Angeles police chief, started slowly - "Oscar Upchuck of Old Nau..." Everybody broke up and the sleepy bugs were gone.
WILL RAMS TIP TO PACKERS' RIGHT?
DEC 5 (Los Angeles-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - If the Rams tip a little to the left in the Coliseum Saturday afternoon, there's a reason: The Packers have two rookies on the right! It's an unwritten rule in the pro football jungle that the young animals get stepped on, stretched and kicked around. If they come up smiling, they are treated with great respect until retirement to pasture. The Packers will have two newcomers on the right side of their defense - Lionel Aldridge, who is no stranger, of course, and Dave Robinson, who gained the starting gong when Ray Nitschke broke his arm in the Thanksgiving Day tie at Detroit. Aldridge is hardly a rookie, having started 12 league games plus the exhibition schedule, but enemy offenses likely will continue to try and fool him. He has gained the respect of the enemy. Robinson will have but one handicap Saturday, Coach Vince Lombardi noted Wednesday, and that is "his inexperience." Robbie has excellent range and he's a tough tackler. It will be interesting to watch him work - especially since the Rams will be unloading most of their tricks his way. Robinson will be at right linebacker, and the long-time custodian of that corner, Bill Forester, will switch over to Ray Nitschke's spot at middle linebacker. Dan Currie remains at left linebacker. Nitschke was placed on the injured reserve list Wednesday, and Ed Holler, the muscle man from South Carolina, was activated from the cab squad. Ed stands 6-3 and packs 230 pounds. He was the Pack's 14th draft choice a year ago. The Packers again will be facing a tough defensive team, which is another way of saying a winning team. The Rams have a three-game winning streak going - not to mention five wins in their last seven
winning team. The Rams have a three-game winning streak going - not to mention five wins in their last seven games. The foe's defense is always a source of concern to Bart Starr, the Pack's heady quarterback, who said he got a laugh out of something Wally Cruice said at his weekly scout report. "When Wally finished talking about the offense, he said 'and now we come to the best part of the Rams - their defense,'" the QB said. The strongest defensive game the Rams played was against the Bears. They held the Western Division leaders to two field goals in losing 6-0. They kept the improved 49er offense at bay in San Francisco last Sunday, winning 21-17. The Packer offense may not be at its best because of a possible loss of Tom Moore, the starting left half. Tom missed the Lion game with an eye injury, and Lombardi was not sure Wednesday whether he'd be ready for Saturday. Moore has been working in practice. The Packers held a regular "Friday" drill today and followed with the weekly awards meeting. They departed for Chicago on a United Airlines charter at 1 o'clock this afternoon and then were scheduled to take a jet out of O'Hare Field at 3:15. They are scheduled to arrive in LA about 6:15, GB time. The Bays will headquarter at the Sheraton-West Hotel in LA. They will fly out right after the game for San Francisco. Their headquarters there will be Rickey's Motel in Palo Alto. The Packers will have an opportunity to watch the 49er-Bear game on television Sunday. And they'll be hoping for a repeat of 1960 when they watched the Rams upset the Colts via TV and thus put the Pack into the Western lead. The Packers will return to Green Bay Sunday evening, Dec. 15. via jet to Chicago and then charter to GB. And they'll probably be airborne while the Bears are playing the Lions in the final. The Bays' league windup at 'Frisco is also on Saturday. Green Bay will know Dec. 15 whether it's a championship game here Dec. 29. Or the consolation bowl in Miami Jan. 5. While the team is on the move, Packer "agents" are busy around the country trying to sign the new draftees and the futures who were drafted a year ago. The top pick, Lloyd Voss, can't be signed yet because his team, Nebraska, is in the Orange Bowl. Fair game, though, is Jon Morris, the No. 2 pick, of Holy Cross. One of the Packers' futures picked last year has signed with Buffalo. That would be Tulsa end J.B. Simmons, a sixth choice.
PACKERS BATTLE HOT RAMS IN 'MUST' TILT; PRESSURE BEARS?
DEC 6 (Los Angeles-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers won two of their last three Western Division championships in the mammoth Coliseum. They can't win a fourth straight in the same park Saturday but they can win THE BIG GAME that might lead to the title. Kickoff is set for 3:36, Green Bay time, and the battle will be televised nationally. Saturday, they say here, isn't a good pro football day but upwards of 60,000 will try to keep the hot Rams hot. This will be the Rams' home windup and they'll be going for their fourth straight win and their sixth in their last eight games. The Packers have found the Coliseum friendly - what with a four-game winning streak going here. They won here in '59, in Vince Lombardi's debut as Packer chief, and then took the '61 title sewed up on the next trip here but won anyway. A year ago, the Packers needed their final win here to capture the crown, but the Bears obliged by defeating the Lions and the Bays became champs in the second quarter as word drifted out from Chicago. The Pack went on to win the game regardless, 20-17. A Green Bay victory Saturday will heap pressure on the Bears, who then must beat the 49ers in Chicago Sunday to keep their tight lead. If the Packers and Bears win this weekend, the race goes down to the end - when the Bays meet the 49ers in San Francisco a week from tomorrow and the Bears host the Lions a week from Sunday...RAM DEFENSE PROBLEM: The Packers' big problem will be cracking the rugged and huge Ram defense. This proved to be no problem earlier in Green Bay, when the Pack won 42-10, but the Rams have found themselves since. Their high point was a 6-0 loss to the Bears, which followed a 56-14 shellacking by the Bruins. Green Bay goes into action Saturday well rested. The Bays have had 10 days to prepare for this key battle and Capt. Jim Ringo of the offense said "this is important." And, incidentally, this is one of the benefits of the Thanksgiving Day game - thus balancing off the lack of practice time before that game. The big question in the Packer camp is Tom Moore, the hard-hitting left half. A healthy Moore means a more productive Jim Taylor. Moore missed the Lion game with an eye injury. Tom says he expects to play but a final decision likely will be made after a light drill in the Coliseum today. While Bart Starr and Company will be trying to pierce the Ram defense, the Packer defense will play its first game without one of its top cogs. That would be Ray Nitschke, who suffered a broken arm at Detroit. Nitschke is here and will do his cheering from the sidelines. Capt. Bill Forester will take over Ray's middle linebacker spot and rookie Dave Robinson will handle Forster's right linebacker post. The Packers will look at a one-quarterback Ram team for the first time in a couple of years. Roman Gabriel has been installed at quarterback and Coach Harland Svare says he'll keep him there - come heck or high water. When the Rams played in Green Bay, Svare alternated Gabriel and Zeke Bratkowski. Bratkowski is now wearing a Packer uniform, but it's unlikely that he'll work against his former teammates. The Packers have another ex-Ram who probably will see some action in relief of Lionel Aldridge at times. That would be Urban Henry. The Packers will depart for San Francisco right after the game.
PACKERS ACCEPT ORDERS FOR PLAYOFF, TITLE GAME TICKETS
DEC 6 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Ticket orders are now being accepted for a possible Western Division playoff and a world's championship game in Green Bay, Vince Lombardi, coach and general manager of the Packers, announced today. Packer season ticket holders in Green Bay and Milwaukee received notice by mail today that money will be accepted for tickets. Thursday, Dec. 12, has been set as the deadline for ordering tickets for both games. The Division playoff is scheduled for Dec. 22 in Green Bay - if the Packers and Bears finish in a tie. The championship game will be held here Dec. 29 - if the Packers win the Western title and if no triple tie results in the Eastern Division. If a double playoff is required in the East, the championship game will be held Jan. 5. The following plan of distribution has been worked out: 1 - Each season ticket holder will be allowed to purchase two tickets for each game. 2 - Season ticket holders will be assigned seats as equitable as possible consistent with current holdings. 3 - Prices for the playoff game are the same as the league games - $6, $5.25 and $3.75 (no children's tickets). 4 - The price of all championship game seats have been set by the league - $10 and $12. 5 - Any tickets remaining after the deadline for ordering tickets will be allotted in the same price category to season ticket holders desiring additional tickets and who are not allotted the same number of tickets they purchased for the 1963 season. To those requesting these seats a separate check must be made out for each game. Lombardi asked fans to follow these instructions in remitting for tickets: 1 - Separate check, money order or bank draft must be made for each (playoff or championship) game and 2 - In the event of cancellation of either or both games, money will refunded as soon as possible. All orders must be mailed to the Green Bay Packer ticket office, post office box 726, Green Bay, Wis. (54305)
DID NOT DISCUSS JOB WITH 49ERS: LOMBARDI
DEC 6 (San Francisco) - Coach Vince Lombardi found himself in a familiar role today of quashing a report he will leave the highly successful Green Bay Packers to tackle the job of rebuilding a losing team. The San Francisco Examiner, acting on what it called a "highly speculative tip" from a Midwestern newspaper "close to the Green Bay scene," called to Lombardi to check out the rumor he would leave Green Bay to take over the San Francisco 49ers next year. "I've had absolutely no talk with San Francisco management," Lombardi told the newspaper. He also said he has two years remaining on his Green Bay contract and, while a good friend of 49er owner Vince Morabito, has never discussed a contract with him. Asked if he would consider the 49ers after his contract runs out at Green Bay, Lombardi told the newspaper, "A lot depends on what happens in the next two years. By that time, the 49ers could be champs. They sure wouldn't want to change coaches then." Three years ago rumors had Lombardi taking over the head coaching job at New York, vacated that time by Jim Lee Howell. Allie Sherman was appointed to the job and Lombardi given a new five year contract with the Packers. The next year he was mentioned prominently as head coach at Army, a job that was taken by Paul Dietzel. Last year the rumors had him going to the Los Angeles Rams. Jack Christiansen is presently the head coach of the 49ers, taking over from Red Hickey early this season. Despite the change of coaching, there has been little change in the play of the 49ers, outside of an upset of the Chicago Bears at midseason...Lombardi also faced the prospect today of being a successful author as Prentice Hall, publishers' of Lombardi's book, "Run to Daylight," said sales are going "extremely well, better than we anticipated." Lombardi's book, which was co-authored by W.C. Heinz, outlines a week in the life of a professional football coach. Prentice Hall said the book is currently in its third printing and has sold about 35,000 copies. The company said a fourth printing is anticipated which would boost total sales to more than 50,000. The Chicago Bears and injuries to key Packer personnel have virtually eliminated Green Bay from a chance at a fourth consecutive NFL playoff berth and a third successive title and the company admitted it felt the team's slump would affect the sales of the book. But such a slump never materialized. In fact, the company reported that sales spurted after the Packers were beaten by the Bears for a second time three weeks ago. The book, which is fully illustrated, starts on a Sunday night in 1962 after the Packers had beaten the Bears, 49-0, and continues through to the end of the next Sunday's game, which Green Bay won, 9-7.
G.W. CALHOUN, CO-FOUNDER OF PACKERS, DIES
DEC 6 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - George Whitney Calhoun, retired Press-Gazette sports and telegraph editor and co-founder of the Green Bay Packers, died early today in a Green Bay hospital. Death of the 73-year-old newspaperman was attributed to cancer. The oldest Press-Gazette employee in point of service at the time of his retirement in 1957, Mr. Calhoun had been a semi-invalid for the past several years. He had been crippled with arthritis for many years...DESCENDANT OF CITY'S FOUNDER: Known throughout the nation as "Cal" of the Press-Gazette in the days of the Packers' first world championships, Mr. Calhoun was a great-grandson of Daniel Whitney, founder of the city of Green Bay. He was born in this city but spent most of his youth in Buffalo, N.Y., where he was an outstanding football and hockey player in his high school and college days. Mr. Calhoun joined the staff of the Press-Gazette May 5, 1917, as telegraph and sports editor, the latter a part-time post. He developed the sports section of the paper as a separate department in the 1920s but later devoted his entire time to handling telegraph news. He joined with E.L. (Curly) Lambeau in the formation of the Packers as a local sandlot football team in 1919 and remained an officer in the corporation for many years after the club, organized as the result of a casual conversation, became a major league franchise...CHOSE 'PACKERS' NAME: He was secretary and publicity director until 1949, when he resigned, but remained a member of the board of directors. He was also responsible for the club name "Packers," originally just a nickname. As club secretary and Press-Gazette sportswriter, Mt. Calhoun accompanied the team on its travels for many years and became a well known sports figure throughout the nation. Until he stopped traveling with the club in 1944, he has never missed a game at home or away. In all those years, however, Mr. Calhoun never missed an opening kickoff. As guardian of the pass gate in stadiums throughout the country, he became famous as "Gates Ajar" Calhoun, the toughest gate guard to crash in the NFL. Those who tried always claimed he had the best "pass defense" in professional football. On Nov. 18, 1956. Mr. Calhoun was honored between the halves of the last professional game ever played in old City Stadum. The field had been built on land once owned by his great grandfather and was opened Sept. 13, 1925, with a Packer game against Iron Mountain, Mich. It was a football injury in college that crippled him for life. While playing for the University of Buffalo, he was tackled and thrown against a goal post, being so severely injured that he was completely paralyzed for some time. He never fully recovered from the accident. Prior to his injury, Mr. Calhoun was also a star hockey goalie in eastern high school, college and amateur circles. As a member of the Buffalo Athletic Club in 1905-06, he traveled to many eastern U.S. and Canadian cities. A baseball as well as a football fan, Mr. Calhoun was closely identified with diamond activities in the Fox River Valley prior to the formation of the now defunct Wisconsin State League. For many years, he served as secretary of a succession of sandlot and home talent leagues in this area, including the first
Wisconsin State and Fox River Valley circuits...BORN HERE IN 1890: George Whitney Calhoun was born in Green Bay Sept. 16, 1890. His mother, Emmeline Whitney, was the daughter of Joshua Whitney and granddaughter of Daniel Whitney, Green Bay's founder. His father, Walter A. Calhoun, was a civil engineer who came to this city originally to lay out the water lines when the Green Bay Water Co., a private corporation, replaced its original wooden pipes with metal. The family moved to New Orleans, La., and later to Buffalo, N.Y., where Mr. Calhoun remained through college, but he frequently spent long periods of time in Green Bay. He graduated from Boys Technical High School of Buffalo in 1910, then attended the University of Buffalo. He began his newspaper career with the Buffalo Times, although he had worked during school vacations for the old Green Bay Review, published by the late Charles Kerr. In 1915, he returned permanently to Green Bay to become telegraph editor for the Review. Two years later, he joined the staff of the Press-Gazette. Mr. Calhoun retired as telegraph editor in 1957 but remained as a special assistant to the managing editor until failing health forced his complete retirement. Thereafter he rarely left his home at 601 W. Walnut St. About two years ago he began contributing feature articles on early Packer history to the newspaper which were published under the head of "Cal's Comments," a title he had used in the 1920s an 1930s...SERVICES ON MONDAY: Surviving is a cousin, Mrs. E.C. Jacobi, Green Bay. The body is at Shauer and Schumacher Funeral Home where friends may call after 2 p.m. Sunday. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home at 11 a.m. Monday. The body will be cremated. Mr. Calhoun's will requests the ashes be strewn over old City Stadium, the scene of many Packer victories from 1925 to 1956.
LAMBEAU RECALLS 'TOWN TEAM' AND CAL
DEC 7 (Los Angeles-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The fabulous saga of the Green Bay Packers continued today. As they played the Rams before a nationwide audience of millions. When the Bays launched back in '19, little did Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun realize that the "town team" of that era would develop into the darling of professional sports. Lambeau organized and coached the team and Calhoun passed the bate to get a few nickels to pay off the players and publicized the team in the Press-Gazette to help attendance. "Cal" is dead today and his tireless and almost frenzied efforts to foster the Packers were recognized by his one-time partner and coach of the team for 30 years, Lambeau; the man who developed the team into its greatest success, Vince Lombardi; the president of the Packers, Dominic Olejniczak, and one of Cal's old buddies, Carl Zoll. Lambeau said, "Cal did the spade work back in the early days, and you've got to give him plenty of credit for our start. We never had to worry about any ink and you know he was our first secretary and treasurer. He helped keep a lasting record of just about everything we did. His records are priceless." Lombardi, vitally interested in the history and tradition of the Packers, called Cal "a real founder of the Packers. He was one of the men who made the Packers go in the early days and he certainly is a key figure in the great tradition of Green Bay." Olejniczak noted that "Cal was a faithful member of the Board of Directors. He certainly made a great contribution to the Packers - right up to the end. We can never forget what an important role he played in getting the Packers off the ground." Zoll, a one-time Packer tackle who is out here to help Dad Braisher with the equipment, said, "We were very close down through the years, and he worked awfully hard to help put the Packers over." Carl, a member of the first Packer team, recalled that, "We used to pile in the back of his old Jeffrey and go to the dances and we'd have quite a time. He couldn't dance, but he loved to go. You know just yesterday I mailed him a card." Olejniczak said that, "We lost another faithful Packer worker today." He referred to Eddie Fonferek, who took over as chief of ushers after the death of Tubby Bero, former police chief who played with the first Packer team. "Eddie did a fine job and it wasn't easy as the seating capacity was increased," Olejniczak said...BRIEFS: Tom Moore was rated a "doubtful starter" by Lombardi after Friday's drill in the Coliseum...One of the baseball people at the major league meetings here is Phil Seghi, former Bluejay manager and Premontre basketball coach. Seghi, farm director for the Cincinnati Reds, says he's pulling for the Bears to lose one - "But you've got to win your last two." Seghi
In 2013, a bronze sculpture of Calhoun was dedicated as part of the Packers Heritage Trail plaza in downtown Green Bay. (Heritage website)
passed along his best to all his friends in Green Bay...The biggest switch in the NFL was made by the Rams. Marlin McKeever, a standout at linebacker, was moved to tight end and he was practically an overnight sensation in beating the 49ers last week. McKeever makes his first start at the new position today.
'LOST OLD, DEAR FRIEND,' SAYS HALAS OF CALHOUN
DEC 7 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - "I have lost one of my oldest and dearest friends," George S. Halas, owner-coach of the Chicago Bears and one of the NFL's founding fathers, said today following the death of George W. Calhoun, co-founder and former publicity director of the Packers. "I am certainly sorry to hear the bad news," Halas said. "My memories of Cal go back over more than 44 years, to the very beginning of the NFL. I know how much of his spirit and enthusiasm and hard work contributed to the Packers." "I have also lost one of my oldest and dearest friends," he added. "Well do I remember that he joined Curly Lambeau and helped start the Packers, along with fellows like Andy Turnbill, Lee Joannes, Dr. Webber Kelly, a good friend, and Jerry Clifford. That was quite a gang. I remember I went to see him the night before our first game of the season in Green Bay this year, Sept. 14. He was full of pep and enthusiasm then, so I was really surprised when I got word of his death today. As usual, his parting shot was, 'Good luck, George, except for those two and a half hours against the Packers tomorrow afternoon.' He always said that - it never failed - and I began to believe he meant it. Maybe he was right." Halas, who is scheduled to begin preparations for the Bears' season finale against the Detroit Lions that day, said, "I am going to try to get up for the funeral Monday."