Green Bay Packers (3-1) 42, Los Angeles Rams (0-4) 10
Sunday October 6th 1963 (at Green Bay)
GAME RECAP (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE)
(GREEN BAY) - The Packers opened the beautiful Sunday afternoon with a 98-yard kickoff return by Herb Adderley for a touchdown and closed it with an impressive 42 to 10 victory over the Rams in City Stadium. In between, the Bay offense was exploded for the first time this season and the Packers just plain ran away from their California guests with a 418-yard offense and a stifling defense. Unseasonal 84-degree weather - plus a hot sun, provided a gorgeous setting for the 42,329 spectators and the Packers made the record weather day most unforgetable. The Rams slugged it out with the champions in the first half and held the Bays down to a 15-10 edge at the intermission, but the Packers unleashed a 20-point third quarter to win going away. The "relief" team played most of the fourth period and counted seven points. The Packers thus became the unbeaten (4-0) Bears' closest pursuer, ranking one game back with a 3-1 mark. Green Bay now takes to the road, meeting the Vikings at Minnesota Sunday, while the Bears visit Los Angeles. This was Bart Starr's day to howl and the veteran quarterback, who said he wasn't up to snuff in the first three games, uncorked three touchdown passes of 27, 53 and 19 yards to Jim Taylor, Max McGee and Ron Kramer, respectively, and guided the team 88 yards in six plays for the fifth touchdown - a seven yard run by Taylor. John Roach engineered the sixth and final TD - a 19-yard jaunt by Earl Gros, on an 83-yard drive in 10 plays. Starr went through without an interception and completed 10 of 19 passes for 183 yards - plus those three TDs, his best day of the early season. The Bays broke away with 300 of their 418 yards and 13 of their 20 first downs the second half, scoring four of the six times they had the ball. The Packer defense held the Rams to a net of 27 yards in the second half - 29 yards rushing and a minus 2 yards passing. The visitors picked up 136 yards in the first half and 76 of it came on Los Angeles' comeback touchdown after Adderley's heroics. The Rams snapped back smartly, covering 76 yards in nine plays with Zeke Bratkowski throwing to Pervis Atkins for a touchdown that tied the score at 7-up. The Rams never put on another drive until early in the fourth quarter when they tacked together five first downs and reached the Bay 3-yard line. Willie Davis ended that by recovering a fourth down fumble and returning 10 yards. Davis had himself quite an afternoon. He recovered another fumble when the Rams threatened - at least to midfield - in the third period. What's more, Willie received credit for a safety when he and Bill Forester piled up Roman Gabriel in the end zone in the first quarter. That safety made the score come out right, so to speak, in view of the fact that Jerry Kramer had two extra point kicks blocked. In addition, the busy J.K. missed three field goals - from the 42, 28 and 34-yard lines. The Packers wound up making 7 yards on each of their 60 offensive plays. Ironically, the Rams ran off to more plays but the gain per was only 2.6 yards. The customers were hardly settled when Adderley took Atkins' kickoff on the two and went all the way. It seemed so simple. He went straight up the middle and broke free behind a block by Gros about the 35 and then leaped toward the east sidelines and merely out-ran Atkins and Duane Allen the rest of the way. Happy Herbie hurled the ball into the south stands and the folks were still yelling when J.K. hit the extra point with only 15 seconds gone in the game. Everybody got religion in a hurry when the Rams took Dave Robinson's short kickoff, starting on the 24. Gabriel, on Play 2, and Jon Arnett worked a 41-yard screen pass to the Packer 34 and then Dick Bass carried five straight times to the 3 from where Bratkowski pitched up the middle to Atkins in the end zone for a TD. Dan Villanueva's kick tied the score. After J.K.'s field goal try from the 42 went short, Davis and Forester put on their safety heroics for a 9-7 Bay lead. The Bays took the free kick, with Willie Wood returning it 20 yards to the Ram 45, and scored. Starr hurled to Boyd Dowler for 15 yards to the 29 and three plays later lined a pass to Taylor on the left side. The big fullback ran through three Rams enroute to a 27-yard TD aerial. The kick was blocked and it was 15-7. The only major items before the half were Villanueva's 33-yard field goal, which set the score at 15-10, and J. Kramer's FG miss from the 28. The Packers made the Rams punt in a hurry to start the second half and Bill Swain ran into Wood making a fair catch, the penalty giving the Bays position on their 47. Starr hurled a scorcher to Max McGee around the 40 and The Taxi broke away from Henry, juked Smith, and just took off for the goal line. J. Kramer was good this time - for 22-10. Davis quickly recovered a Gabriel fumble and J.K. got a shot a field goal from the 34, but it was wide. With Lionel Aldridge making a key tackle, the Bays got the ball again and moved 43 yards in three plays for another TD. Moore ran four at right tackle and then zoomed 20 on the same side to the 19. Starr pitched to Ron Kramer, who broke away from Meador and Henry for the TD. J.K. again converted and it was 29-10. The Rams couldn't move again - as they tried the air, but the Packers had no trouble. Starr dropped a beauty of a pass in Moore's arms on the west sidelines for 28-yard gain to start the 88-yard push. Taylor, who finished with 90 yards, opened with 8, Moore ran 1 and than Taylor shot outside right tackle for 26 yards. Moore fired off left guard for 18 to the seven and then Taylor hit off the left side for the TD, dragging three Rams over with him. J.K's kick was low and blocked, but it didn't make much difference with the score at 35-10. Roach had Gros, Bob Jeter, Ken Iman, Marv Fleming, Elijah Pittas, Lew Carpenter and Dan Grimm on the field when he replaced Starr after the first play. Gros led off with a 15-yard run on which he fumbled and then recovered to complete a 15-yard gain. Most of the yardage came on
Roach's 21-yard pass to Fleming and a 12-yarder to Carpenter to the 28. With a fourth and one situation on the 19, Gros broke off right tackle and went in for the TD with Charley Britt hanging on. J.K. hit this time for the final 42-10.
LOS ANGELES - 7 3 0 0 - 10
GREEN BAY - 9 6 20 7 - 42
LOS ANGELES GREEN BAY
First Downs 13 20
Rushing-Yards-TD 25-102-0 38-214-2
Att-Comp-Yd-TD-Int 29-11-118-1-0 21-12-216-3-0
Sack Yards Lost 57 12
Net Passing Yards 61 204
Total Yards 163 418
Fumbles-lost 3-3 2-1
Turnovers 3 1
Yards penalized 4-38 2-31
SCORING
1st - GB - Herb Adderley, 98-yard kickoff return (Jerry Kramer kick) GREEN BAY 7-0
1st - LA - Pervis Atkins, 3-yd pass from Zeke Bratkowski (Danny Villanueva kick) TIED 7-7
1st - GB - Safety, Willie Davis tackled Roman Gabriel in the end zone GREEN BAY 9-7
2nd - GB - Jim Taylor, 27-yard pass from Bart Starr (Kramer kick failed) GREEN BAY 15-7
2nd - LA - Villanueva, 33-yard field goal GREEN BAY 15-10
3rd - GB - Max McGee, 53-yard pass from Starr (J. Kramer kick) GREEN BAY 22-10
3rd - GB - Ron Kramer, 19-yard pass from Starr (J. Kramer kick) GREEN BAY 29-10
3rd - GB - Taylor, 7-yard run (Kramer kick failed) GREEN BAY 35-10
4th - GB - Earl Gros, 19-yard run (J. Kramer kick) GREEN BAY 42-10
RUSHING
GREEN BAY - Jim Taylor 16-90 1 TD, Earl Gros 9-60 1 TD, Tom Moore 8-49, Bart Starr 2-8, Elijah Pitts 3-7
LOS ANGELES - Dick Bass 11-50, Jon Arnett 12-45, Pervis Atkins 1-6, Zeke Bratkowski 1-1
PASSING
GREEN BAY - Bart Starr 19-10-183 3 TD, John Roach 2-2-33
LOS ANGELES - Roman Gabriel 13-3-72, Zeke Bratkowski 16-8-46 1 TD
RECEIVING
GREEN BAY - Ron Kramer 3-53 1 TD, Max McGee 2-63 1 TD, Boyd Dowler 2-21, Tom Moore 2-19, Jim Taylor 1-27 1 TD, Marv Fleming 1-21, Lew Carpenter 1-12
LOS ANGELES - Jon Arnett 3-63, Pervis Atkins 3-12 1 TD, Red Phillips 2-27, Ben Wilson 2-7, Carroll Dale 1-9
'OUR BEST BALL GAME-OFFENSIVELY,' SAYS LOMBARDI
OCT 7 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - A flushed and perspiring Vince Lombardi, mopping his brow following 2 1/2 hours of pacing under a broiling sun, was settling into the straight-backed chair behind his dressing room desk Sunday afternoon when a newsman asked him" How do you explain the big change from half to half, Vince?" Inclining his head toward the adjacent players' quarters, Lombardi said earnestly, "I was just telling the coaches and the team out there that, and I'm not taking anything away from the Rams when I say this, everybody that comes in here is fired to the skies against us." "That seems to have been our history all year," said the Packers' square-shouldered head man, who had just watched his athletes convert a perilously modest 15-10 intermission lead into a bulging 42-10 decision. "We just can't seem to get started in the first half and I can't give any other reason for it." "Of course," he added soberly, "you've got a big club out there. That's a hard club to move." New strategy, he insisted, was not involved in the Packers' second half revival. "We didn't change our game plan one iota at halftime," Vince declared. "We made a few minor adjustments, but that was all." Reviewing this latest successful project as a whole, Lombardi volunteered, "I think I would have to say it was our best ball game - offensively. Defensively, we've played quite a few good games." Would he say that, overall, it had been the defending world champion's best game? "Yes, I would say so," was the quick reply. "The reason, of course, is that we made a lot fewer mistakes," Vince pointed out. "We had only one fumble that we lost, just two penalties, and no interceptions." At this point, Lombardi, who appeared less composed than usual, explained his somewhat restive manner by announcing with a modicum of pride. "I've given up smoking, since Monday morning. How about that?" How had this come to pass? "Last Saturday and Sunday, I smoked over six packs," Vince replied, asserting with a wry grin, "I thought anybody who smokes that much should have his head examined, so I decided to quit." The Rams' awesome size posed a number of problems, for the Packers' offensive line in general and quarterback Bart Starr and placekicker Jerry Kramer in particular, he said. "The Rams are so tall that if you're quarterback isn't too tall, like ours, it's hard for him to see his receivers. We knew Tom Moore was open a couple of times before we completed that second one to him, but Bart couldn't find him." In answer to a question, Lombardi explained Kramer's two blocked extra point efforts by observing, "Those big 6-8 guys in the middle of the Rams' line are responsible - they're awfully big." Any theory on the missed field goals? "I guess Jerry didn't judge the wind too well," Vince said. "It was quartering a little and he wasn't giving it enough leeway." Obviously encouraged by Starr's second half performance, the Packers' resident genius noted, "This game should bring him out. He's had a rather shaky start. He threw the ball rather well in the second half." He also was eminently well pleased, needless to say, with Herb Adderley's 98-yard return of the opening kickoff for a touchdown, a "spectacular" that quickly set the 42,327 assembled witnesses agog. "When he saw that gap, he really shot through there," Lombardi grinned. "He's dangerous. That other kid, Earl Gros, is dangerous, too." Rookie end Marv Fleming, who flashed the moves of a halfback on a 21-yard pass reception in the fourth quarter, also can run, somebody observed. "Oh, Fleming can run," Vince smiles. "If we can get him pointed in the right direction, he'll be all right." Lt. Gov. Jack Olson arrived in Lombardi's inner sanctum at this juncture to extend his congratulations. "Hello, Governor, nice to see you," Vince greeted him. "We were plugging there for you," Olson smiled, shaking hands before making his departure (Gov. John W. Reynolds also made the dressing room rounds later, charring with players and coaches). How, Lombardi was asked, had the heat affected his players? "I think both squads showed they were in good condition," he said. Had the game been more difficult than the score suggested? "It certainly was," Vince replied, nodding his head for emphasis. "It was a real tough ball game." And, a Los Angeles scribe asked, what did he think of the Rams' alternating quarterback system? "I wouldn't pretend to know anything about alternating quarterbacks," the Packer major-domo said. "Each club has its own problems and has to deal with
them in the best way it can." "I think it's a good idea, though. Under the Rams' system, you've got the seasoned man going and you're also giving the younger man experience. That's just my opinion, of course." The statistics arrived and Lombardi took time out to study them. "Four hundred and eighteen yards," he noted with satisfaction, then chuckled heartily on what proved to be a "joke" on himself. "I was giving some of the coaches hell on the sidelines," he laughed. "I said we weren't making any yards running. And here we gained 214 yards rushing."...As might be expected, the Rams' dedicated Harland (Swede) Svare was not overly talkative. His front defensive four, one scribe ventured, had turned in a "solid" performance. "They weren't solid by the time that game was over," rapped Svare, lolling back on a folding chair just outside the Ram dressing room to escape the wilting heat inside. Any explanation? "They were getting beat up. The same thing happened to us in Washington, too." Did he intend to continue alternating his quarterbacks? "I probably will," Swede said. By doing so, he added in reply to another question, "we hope to get more variety of plays called. We feel we can work a game better this way." Had Herb Adderley's 98-yard opening kickoff return been a major blow? "No, it wasn't," Svare responded with a scowl. "We came right back and scored right away." And what of the Packers? "They looked like they played better than they have been playing," the Rams' 32-yard-old head man said. "They didn't make the mistakes they have been making." How did he compare them to the t4eam that won a second straight world title in 1962? "The same old Packers," Svare said grimly. "They look pretty good to me."...HIGH NOTE: East High's colorful back drew a rousing response with spectacular and melodious pregame and halftime performances. The latter presented before a regional TV network audience as well as the "live" house," was spiced by a humorous "skit" in which a pint-sized Packer, bearing Ray Nitschke's number 66, vainly pursued a much bigger "Ram" around the perimeter of the band as the climax to an imaginative "NFL Merry-Go-Round" routine. Bears, Lions and Colts also were in evidence on the "Merry-Go-Round." The band is directed by Norman Hinkley, who was a busy man Sunday since he also doubles as a member of Wilner Burke's Packer band...VISITING FIREMAN: Tim Cohane, sports editor of Look magazine, was a press box observer. Cohane, who said he was "just on a visit here," is a guest of Packer coach Vince Lombardi, a close friend since Lombardi's days at Fordham University, where Cohane then served as publicity director.
ADDERLEY PLANNED BOOM TO DAYLIGHT
OCT 7 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - "Earl (Gros) and I made up our minds we were going to run anything out of the end zone - follow the wedge as far as we could and as soon as we'd see daylight, boom." Muscle-laden Herb Adderley, the speaker, didn't have to add that he had followed this private "plan" to a T, converting the aforementioned "boom" into a 98-yard scoring burst on the opening kickoff of Sunday's 41-10 decimation of the Rams. Likewise no accident, Adderley informed newsmen gathered around his dressing room locker, was a crunching Gros block which sprung the mercurial Michigan State alumnus at the Packer 35. "Before the kickoff, I told Earl to go up on the outside," Herb explained. "I told him not to go into the wedge because I was planning to go up the outside." "I had beautiful blocking, beautiful blocking. After I got out there," the ex-Spartan said, "it was just a foot race between me and the safety man, Purvis Atkins." "How many yards was that?" Adderley asked. Apprised it had been 98, he evinced surprise, observing, "I thought I was on the goal line." The figure reminded him of something else. Turning to Elijah Pitts, en route across the room, he called, "Hey, Pitts, 198 now. I lost 8 pounds today" - an eloquent testimonial to the "midsummer" heat. Far down the line, massive Willie Davis was waxing humorous. The bull-shouldered defensive end, whose second quarter safety shot the Packers ahead to stay, explained with a grin, "We were just trying to slip off - we weren't trying to penetrate. But we managed to penetrate pretty good." A slightly downcast Jerry Kramer, not entirely happy with his kicking performance (all his three field goal attempt went awry), murmured, "What a bunch of jokers those guys are. They're really huge. You can't kick over 'em - you can't even punt over 'em." Had the wind bothered him? "No, it was blowing across me and with me. I didn't think it was the kind of wind I had to allow
for. I think it was the kicker," he said soberly, "rather than the wind." "I think if I get a tiny bit closer to the ball," Jerry added. "I'll be all right. Thank God we didn't need 'em today." His running mate, Fuzzy Thurston, was nursing a rebruised leg. "I hurt it last week," the ex-Valparaiso star confided, "and I got a knee in it today." Turning his attention to the enemy, Thurston appended with considerable fervor. "They're great football players, boy, those front four of the Rams." Another semi-invalid, Jim Taylor, confessed, "my leg pulled a little bit, but I didn't let it bother me on the field." Perfectionist Bart Starr, who had flashed his 1960-62 form in the second half, was far from satisfied with his efforts, despite three touchdown passes and a shiny 10 for 19 record. "I didn't have enough strikes," Starr said wryly, pointing out "and Max (McGee) made a helluva catch on his touchdown." The Rams' defense, he admitted, was "the toughest I've had to face because they're so tall. You've got to give 'em credit, too. They've lost what, four games, and they keep coming at you." "Good game, Bart," a passerby said. Bart shook his head and replied, "I haven't had a good day yet. Maybe now I'll start coming around." Perspiration pouring from his dusky brown, mountainous Rosey Grier drew heavily on a bottle of pop in the almost deserted Ram dressing room, then signed and said, "We tried, but I don't know. They're the champion team - and they showed why today. They made the key play all day." "They hit," he added, sincere respect in his tone. "They come off the ball and they hit." Pausing for another swig, the monolithic 300-pound tackle continued, "Was this Starr's best game? I thought he was exceptionally sharp today." "Green Bay is rolling," he concluded. "I thought all of their guys out there were trying, really coming on. It looks like they're going to be all right if they can even with those Bears."
PACK DUO NO FLASH IN PAN, FIGURES SHOW
OCT 7 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Flashiness does not always indicate importance in a football player. But in the case of the Packers' Ray Nitschke and Willie Davis, flashy by virtue of the fact that they seem to be in on almost every play, defensive figures from Sunday's game demonstrate their importance. In the 42-10 win over the Rams, Nitschke and Davis led the Packer defensive platoon in making tackles and rushing the passer. Using a system that awarded one point to the key stopper on every defensive play and one point for an exceptionally hard rush on the passer, Nitschke came out with 10 points and Davis with 9. Ray earned six of his points in stopping runs, two more for halting pass receivers and two for nailing the quarterback attempting to pass. Davis got five points on running plays, one for spilling the passer and three for rushing the thrower. Trailing these two in total points were Bill Forester with 7, Hank Gremminger with five and Dave Hanner with four. Huge Rosey Grier was top man for the Rams with 11, just one more than end David Jones. Center linebacker Marlin McKeever earned seven. The accompanying table gives a rundown on each tackle made in the game, including
those on punt returns, and every really strong rush on the passer. Admittedly, compiling a table of this sort involves the judgment of the author in many cases but it is based on who was the key man in stopping the play. On only six Packer defensive plays and 10 Ram plays did two men get a point each. There was only one point awarded on all other plays. The table does not include a category for knocking down passes, which may account for the fact that Jesse Whittenton is the only regular Packer defender not mentioned. It does point out, however, that the Packer front four, including the reserved who saw action late in the contest, made 20 tackles, the linebackers 19 and the deep men 11. The Rams' front four had 33 tackles, the linebackers 16 and the deep men 16 more. Nitschke had all his tackles of runners from scrimmage in the first half with four of the six coming in the first few minutes.
DECLINE? '63 PACK 'BEST OVERALL TEAM I'VE HAD,' VINCE
OCT 8 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The coach went right down the line: "Better punt return team." "Better kickoff return team." "Better punting." "Better defensive line." Vince Lombardi could have named the whole bunch. In fact, he did today when he sized up the 1963 Packers as 'the best overall football team we've had since I've been here." Lombardi doesn't buy this business about the Packers suffering from a decline from their championship peak of 1963. Three victories in the first four games has convinced Vince that the Bays are better overall. There's a certain sobering fact, in Lombardi's opinion, which is this: "But then every other team has improved tremendously. I guess that kind of evens it up." The kickoff and punt returners are just about the same as a year ago but each (Herb Adderley, Earl Gros, Willie Wood and Elijah Pitts) has gained more savvy and, more importantly, the supporting cast has improved. The punt and kickoff teams have furnished vicious tackling and no team has taken any liberties on returns - which wasn't the case last year. Jerry Norton has been steady with his punting and, like magic, that department is no longer a worry. That defensive line is rapidly becoming the apple of the collective eye of Lombardi and Coach Phil Bengtson. There was some fidgeting when Vince traded off Bill Quinlan last spring and opened the season with a rookie, one Lionel Aldridge, in Bill's spot at right end. The Bays now have three "speed merchants" in the line - Aldridge, Hank Jordan and Willie Davis, and this results in great pressure on the passers - from both sides and up the middle. The grand old pro, Dave Hanner, holds the fort himself. The line must be working out. The Bay defense has allowed the fewest first downs passing, 25, in the league. Perhaps more important when you consider that Quinlan was some shakes at stopping the rush: Only one other team has allowed fewer yards rushing than the Packers. The Bears permitted 314 and the Pack 356. The Bays and the Browns have the best average yards per rush allowed, 3.1. Lombardi and staffmen Norb Hecker, Bill Austin, Red Cochran, Tom Fears and Bengtson Monday looked over movies of the 42 to 10 victory and the opinions remained the same as they were after the struggle. The films offer solid proof of the Rams' great effort to unseat the champions, prompting Lombardi to note that "everyone we're playing is so emotionally high that it takes us a while to get going. I don't know what happens. Either they lose that emotion after a while - or we knock it out of them." The suspicion is that the Packers knock it out of them - with steady offensive and defensive pressure. The gates broke loose in the third quarter when Bart Starr and Max McGee collaborated on a 53-yard touchdown pass to put the Pack in front 23-10. From then on, it seemed easy as the Bays raced to two more touchdowns in the third period and one in the fourth. Green Bay's scoring has backed up Lombardi's theory. The Packers counted 79 of their 107 points in the second halves of the first four games. The Packers came out of Sunday's game in good physical condition (look at the Rams' injuries in the accompanying story), with Fuzzy Thurston and Jim Taylor suffering recurrence of old hurts. Now it's the white traveling uniforms for the next three Sundays - in Minnesota, St. Louis Oct. 20 and Baltimore Oct. 27. The next task promises to be a sizzler since the Vikings undoubtedly will still be teed off about getting plastered 56 to 14 by the Cardinals last Sunday. The Vikings and their fans (the park is sold out) have been awaiting the Pack for weeks. But, by golly, it's been every Sunday for the Packers. The Vikings are one of the Packers' three natural rivals, the other two being the Bears and the Lions. Lombardi is painfully aware of this: "We've got more traditional rivals than any other team. I don't like it. It gets those boys all the more aroused when they play us."
BRATKOWSKI-GABRIEL DUO SPRINTED 3,100 YARDS
OCT 8 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - It just occurred to us why we left City Stadium puffing like mad. It was sort of a sympathy wheeze for the Rams' two quarterbacks, Zeke Bratkowski and Roman Gabriel, who alternate on each play. And, brother, the Rams ran off 62 plays, rushes and passes. So how far did each quarterback run, Einstein? Assuming the takeoff point was the 50-yard line, let us divide each 50-yard half of the field into halves. Since half of 50 is 25, let us then in turn make the distance a diagonal straight line from the sideline 50 to the middle of the field 25. That's a distance of 25 yards. Sometimes, said QB ran less, to the 40 for instance, and other times to the 10. So perhaps 25 yards
might be a good conservative average, eh Einie. Sixty-two 25-yard trips measures out to 1,550 yards for each QB. Double that and it can be estimated that Bratkowski and Gabriel ran 3,100 yards for the purpose of coping with the Packer defense. Once on the field of battle, Zeke and Roman had some other kind of running to do. They were thrown for losses totaling 57 yards by our eager beavers and, of course, they moved around a few yards on each handoff. Thus, it is safe to assume that each quarterback ran about one mile, give or take a yard or two. So what does all this mean? The Rams have the best conditioned quarterbacks in pro football!...And speaking about running quarterbacks, Bart Starr got a big cheer from the audience Sunday when he ran up the middle for eight yards for a first down on the Packer 32 in the first quarter...The Rams and Packers got off to rather opposite starts. Herb Adderley opened with his kickoff return for a touchdown and on the Rams' first play Bratkowski handed the ball off by nobody took it. The Brat ate it and the loss was only two yards. Bratkowski made the trip for the final play of their opening nine-play touchdown drive and hurled to Pervis Atkins for the TD.
PACKERS LEFT RAMS WORSE FOR WEAR; 7 ON CASUALTY LIST
OCT 8 (Los Angeles) - The Los Angeles Rams came out of their losing battle with the Green Bay Packers pretty much the worse for wear, but a spokesman said Monday most will be ready for the Chicago Bears here Sunday. Lamar Lundy, defensive lineman, has a shoulder separation and is a questionably factor. Ken Kirk, center and linebacker, is out with a pulled hamstring muscle. Guard Don Chuy sustained a broken nose. Joe Corrola has a shoulder separation. David Jones, a defensive end, had a jammed finger, and halfbacks Dick Bass and Jon Arnett have rib bruises. All are expected to see service against the Bears, however.
PACKER SECOND FIDDLE NOW BUT THEY'RE LYING IN WAIT
OCT 9 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers have become a team lying in wait. All the while playing second fiddle in the NFL. The two-straight world champions have had to take a back seat to the league's two unbeaten teams - the Bears and Browns, each with 4-0 records. This rather unusual circumstance developed after the Bears nipped the Packers 10-3 in the league opener back on Sept. 15. The Packers followed with three straight wins but so did the Bears - and the Browns, who had clobbered the Redskins in their opener. The Browns and Bears are now commanding the big publicity around the country. The Associated Press and United Press International, which capsule the NFL race a couple of times each week, each "play" the unbeatens in their leads. There's no use complaining, of course, but maybe this all merely reflects the tremendous task the Packers face as they dig forward for a shot at that historic third straight. The Packers have always had tremendous reputation for making a successful "comeback." It's only the first quarter of the 1963 season, but the Bays are behind. A continued comeback is in order. While the team is in the second row of violinists, the Packers are also ranking behind the leaders in the individual statistics department. On the matter of rushing, the Brown's great Jim Brown is leading in his specialty with a fantastic 664 yards in 78 tries for an 8.5 average. The Bays' Jimmy Taylor has leaped into second place with a more normal 297 yards in 66 trips for 4.5. In passing, Bart Starr had jumped from 14th to 11th place in the four-category average system of grading passers. The two unbeaten quarterbacks, Frank Ryan of the Browns and Bill Wade of the Bears, rank second and fourth, respectively, although Wade had to have help from Rudy Bukich to beat the Colts. Y.A. Tittle of the Eastern champion Giants leads the league. And speaking of the Giants, you might note that the Packers' favorite playoff partners are a bit human, too. Like the Pack, the Giants lost a game. The unbeatens have but two pass receivers in the first 11 - sophomore Gary Collins of the Browns and graduate Johnny Morris of the Bears, each with 15 catches. The Browns are the only unloser among the scoring leaders. Brown is tops with 42 points on seven TD and Lou (The Toe) Groza is third with 31...COUPLE OF KRAMERS: The Packers aren't among the leaders in any individual figure. There is one second, Taylor, and one third, Herb Adderley, who has averaged 39.3 yards on seven kickoff returns. Herb leaped from fifth on the strength of a 98-yard kickoff return against the Rams Sunday. The Bays aren't listed among the leaders in receiving and scoring, but a couple of Kramers are leading the team in those departments. Tight end Ron caught 12 passes for 167 yards, while right guard Jerry counted 21 points on 12 extra points and three field goals in nine attempts. There's a three-way tie behind
Ron. Max McGee, Boyd Dowler and Tom Moore each caught nine passes. McGee has the most yardage of all four, 186, and the longest catch, 53 - for a touchdown last Sunday. The Bays exercised and played touch football on their own Tuesday and then listened to a report on the Vikings, next Sunday's foe in Minneapolis, by Scout Wally Cruice. It was back to hard work today.
'KIDS MUST GET SELVES UP FOR PACK,' NORM
OCT 9 (St. Paul, MN) - Minnesota Viking Coach Norman Van Brocklin says he is letting his players get themselves up for the Green Bay Packers. The Packers take on the Vikings here Sunday. The Vikings will be trying to snap back from a humiliating feat at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals last Sunday, 56-14. "I can talk until I'm blue in the face," Van Brocklin said Tuesday. "But it's the kids themselves who must get themselves up for the Packers. It's going to take self-motivating. We just got the tar kicked out of us. We really got it - physically as well as on the scoreboard." The Viking coach said that several players sustained injuries in the game with the Cardinals, but he would not know until Friday whether he would have to make lineup changes.
PACK CHASES OWN SCRAMBLERS TO PREP FOR TARKENTON TEST
OCT 10 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - How do you practice against a scrambling quarterback? The scrambler - meaning the Vikings' Fran Tarkenton - doesn't know what he's going to do until the last half-second. There's no pattern, like a normal running or passing play, to drill against. This makes it difficult for the defense but the Packers have their own version of a scrambling back - in fact, two of them. They are light-footed Lew Carpenter and young Terry Zang, the taxi-cabber, who quarterback the "Viking" offensive teams in defensive practice. They can really scoot - er, scramble - out of the pocket when necessary. Thus, the defensive players see a couple of versions of Tarkenton, the QB darter the Packers will face in Minneapolis Sunday. Funny thing, with Carpenter and Zang racing around and four or five receivers doing likewise, the defensive area behind the linebackers isn't a safe place this week for Coach Vince Lombardi and his defensive aides, Phil Bengston and Norb Hecker. No casualties, yet. It will be interesting to see what the Packers' defensive line does with Tarkenton - in view of the unit's added speed over a year ago. Fran was well contained in the game in Green Bay, but he got loose enough to produce 21 points in the return match in Minneapolis. The extra speed, of course, is Lionel Aldridge, who handles right end in the line also composed of Dave Hanner, Willie Davis and Henry Jordan. Hanner has the answer for Tarkenton: "They ought to let the defensive linemen carry a shotgun to pick him off." Seriously, Dave feels that "he wears a defensive lineman out chasing him all over the field. Not many quarterbacks run like Tarkenton. I don't see how he gets away with it, but he does. We can't give him any time because he's great for picking somebody out in a broken pattern." Hanner isn't sold on the scrambling quarterback, though, explaining: "If he's hit, really hitting, he looks great, but if he's the least bit off he'll look bad. But we still have to get at him." Incidentally, Hawg is off to one of his finest starts in his 12 Packer seasons. He's trim and tough, and the big tackle sums it all up this way: "I feel great." And speaking about veterans, the Vikings (they've been only in operation three years) have only two players left from the player pool put together by the other clubs in the league in 1961. They are Grady Alderson and Gerry Huth, who will start at left tackle and left guard, respectively, on the offense. The team is composed mostly of the Vikings' own draft choices and the top three are the first three they selected in '61 - halfback Tommy Mason, first choice; linebackers Rip Hawkins, second; and Tarkenton, third. Mason will open at left half and Hawkins at middle linebacker. Minneapolis will start five rookies - left end Paul Flatley and Ray Poage at flanker - the club's two top pass catchers; and defensive left end Don Hultz, safety Terry Kosens and cornerbacker Lee Calland. Two major switches have been made from a year ago. Larry Bowie has been shifted from the defensive line to offensive right guard and Steve Stonebreaker, a tight end last year, now is the starting right linebacker. Stonebreaker caught a TD pass vs. the Pack last year. The Vikings' biggest improvement has been on the offense. The Van Brocklinites and Cardinals are leading the league with 86 first downs, which is 21 more than the Packers have produced. Minnesota also tops the league in first downs by passing, 44. The Vikings, with Tarkenton on the gallop - not to mention his understudy, Ron Vander Kelen, have attempted 130 passes which is second only to Baltimore's 144. The Packers have thrown 93. Rushwise, the Vikings tried this form of exercise 139 times for an average of 3.7 yards per rush. The Pack ran 146 times and averaged 4.5 yards per try.
VIKINGS POSE POINT THREAT; VANDY TO SHOW?
OCT 11 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Only three teams scored over 20 point in a single game against the Packers last year. Minnesota did it first, getting three TDs in a 48-21 loss in Minneapolis. Detroit was next, producing 26 in the Pack's only setback. And finally the 49ers scored 21 as the Packers had to come from behind to win at San Francisco 31-21. Since Minnesota has spruced up its offense, with a couple of hot receivers in Paul Flatley and Ray Poage, the Vikings undoubtedly
are figuring to score aplenty. But the Packers aren't easy to score on. They have allowed but five touchdowns in the first four games. One was made directly on the offense - Bob Boyd's 45-yard runback with a fumble by Earl Gros. Two touchdowns were scored on moves of 45 yards by the Lions and Colts and the other two were scored on drives of 68 yard (10 plays) by the Bears and 76 yards (9 plays) by the Rams. One of the 45-yard moves was set in motion by a short punt and the other by an interception. Two of the four touchdowns came on passes. The Lions' Milt Plum threw to Tom Hall for 23 yards and the Rams' Zeke Bratkowski hurled to Pervis Atkins for the other. The other two came on 2-yard plunges by Joe Marconi of the Bears and Jerry Hill of the Colts. Ron Vander Kelen, the pride of Preble who gave the Packers such a fit in the College All-Star game, has played almost the entire fourth quarter of the Vikings the last three games - when the Vikes were either a good piece ahead or behind. The rookie Vandy doesn't figure to work Sunday unless Fran Tarkenton is having an exceptionally bad time or the Vikings go a good bit ahead or behind. Actually, the Packers have a bit of a score to settle with Vander Kelen - in view of the way he worked in the All Star game. Viking Coach Norm Van Brocklin might want to use Vander Kelen a bit more because of that success. Vandy has attempted 26 passes and completed 12 for 165 yards...A new Metropolitan Stadium attendance record may be set Sunday, breaking the old mark of 42,034 for a Yankee-Twins baseball game last July. The previous mark was the 42,007 for the Packer-Viking game there in 1960. The Vikings are adding a 300-seat bleacher section for the game. Less than a thousand general admissions were left in midweek and standing room will be sold when they are gone...The Packers will fly out of Austin Straubel for Minneapolis in their chartered United Airlines plane at 9:30 Saturday morning. They'll drill at Metropolitan Stadium, which is located in Bloomington, upon arrival and then headquarter at the Leamington Hotel. And speaking of flying, there are a few seats left on the west coach junket for the Pack's games in Los Angeles and San Francisco, according to Dick Peal of AAA Travel Bureau. Peal figures to get a planeload of backers, which really isn't many when you compare it to the airlift Saturday of 4,000 soccer fans who flew from Turin, Italy to Moscow to watch the national teams of Italy and Russia battle it out Sunday...The Packer defense believes in round figures, having allowed 50 points - 10 in the first quarter, 10 in the second, 20 in the third and 10 in the fourth. We can think of a simple way (however, difficult) to keep those zeroes intact over the weekend!
HORNUNG SAYS: 'SUSPENSION HELPED ME SETTLE DOWN'
OCT 11 (Milwaukee) - Paul Hornung said Thursday he hopes to return to active duty with the Green Bay Packers next year and that his suspension by the NFL commissioner for gambling has "given me an opportunity to settle down." Hornung told a men's club meeting at St. John De Nepomuc Church, "I want to thank Wisconsin's people for having faith in me, and I hope to justify that faith in 1964." "Athletes have a definite obligation to their sport, especially to kids all over the country," said Hornung. "It's nice to be important, but it's much more important to be nice." Noting this is the first time in 17 years he has not been active in organized football, Hornung told the crowd of some 500 persons, "I'm not going to crawl into a corner. Football has been very, very great for me." Hornung praised Packer Coach Vince Lombardi and said Lombardi is set apart from other coaches because of his respect for the players and the players' respect for him. He said if he is reinstated next year much of the credit would have to go to his close friend Bob Cousy, former star guard for the Boston Celtics professional basketball team. He said Cousy has done much on his behalf since the suspension was ordered.
Sports Illustrated (October 14th 1963)
PACKERS ONCE HAD 14 GOPHERS
OCT 12 (Minneapolis-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Gopher Holes: The Packers don't have a Minnesota player on the squad. The closest is Assistant Coach Phil Bengtson, who is a native of Minneapolis and a former Minnesota tackle. "But," Phil says, "I've been away longer than I've lived there. I left when I was 21." Bud Jorgensen, 40 years the Packer trainer, said, "We had as many as 14 Minnesota players one year." The Packers have had some great Gophers through the years - Hal Van Every, Andy Uram, Larry Buhler, Bruce Smith, Urban Odson, Clayton Tonnemaker and, of course, the perennial all-pro, Dick Wildung. The Packers have six Big Ten grads who worked against the college version of Minnesota - Bob Jeter, Herb Adderley, Dan Currie, Ray Nitschke, Bob Skoronski and Ron Kramer. Fair warning" The Vikings have only scored 14 points in the first and third quarters of their four league games - seven in each period. They produced 45 marks in the second periods and 31 in the fourth. Coach Vince Lombardi's belief that the enemy is especially fierce in the first half and then loses steam thereafter shows up by quarters. The Bays and their foes scored 48 points in the first halves and 109 in the second halves. Of that 109 total, the Bays scored all but 30. Billy Butler, the one time Packer defense back, is the Vikings' chief punt returner. He lugged eight back for 109 yards, including one for 60 yards and a touchdown. He also plays back on kickoffs, sharing the deep spot with Bob Reed. The Vikings have tried only three field goals, compared with the Packers' nine. Rookie kicker Fred Cox of Pittsburgh booted two of three, while Jerry Kramer has hit three of nine. Cox also does the punting and has a 35.7-average on 17 boots. Cox kicked five field goals in a preseason win over the 49ers, and his 17-yard field goal in the last 12 seconds beat the Giants 17-16 in an exhibition. Incidentally, Kramer would have a perfect record on kicking points if it weren't for Rams' defensive tackle Dave Jones. Last year, Kramer successfully converted 38 of 39 attempts. The one he missed was blocked by Jones. Jerry had two blocked by the Rams last Sunday and Jones was the culprit both times. "I guess he's just too tall to get the ball over his head," said Jerry. The newest Holiday magazine carries an interesting article on the Packers and Green Bay.
PACKERS HIT ROAD FIRST TIME; 'BROILING' VIKINGS WAITING
OCT 13 (Minneapolis-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers play their first league game away from the safety and comfort of their own fans today. And if the fans in Metropolitan Stadium are unhappy and uncharitable to the Packer cause, it will be nothing compared to the Vikings, who are expected to be snarling. The Vikings have two mads on. They've been broiling all week about losing 56 to 14 to the Cardinals here last Sunday. The other ire is directed at the Pack, because the Vikes figure they've got to get mean to whip Green Bay. The Packers played their first four game on their home lots, losing to the Bears and beating the Colts and Rams in Green Bay and dropping the Lions in Milwaukee. They now play here, in St. Louis and Baltimore on successive Sundays. The Bays must keep on winning since the Bears, who are leading the Pack by a full game, are expected to keep growling out victories. The Bears play at Los Angeles and San Francisco and then host Philadelphia in their next three. A record crowd of over 42,000 will watch today's fifth league game for both teams, and the Packers are favored to up their record to 4-1. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:36, with 75 degree weather expected. The Packers have won all four games vs. the Vikings in the short two-year series, outscoring the Newcomers 143 to 45. The 1963 Vikings have been improved greatly over a year ago - thanks chiefly to the addition of two outstanding rookie ends, Paul Flatley of Northwestern and Ray Poage of Texas. They've caught 30 passes between 'em in the club's two wins and two losses. Tommy Mason and Gerry Reichow have added 21 more receptions. The club's entire aerial attack has been juiced up and scrambling quarterback Fran Tarkenton has a 53.8 completion percentage on 56 completions in 104 attempts and five touchdowns. His assistant, Ron Vander Kelen, has completed 12 of 26 for 165 yards. Vander Kelen, who beat the Pack in the All-Star game, likely will be given a shot somewhere along the line. He played the last three quarters of the last three games. Mason and 221-pound fullback Bill Brown, the onetime Illinois star and Bear draftee, carry the brunt of the rushing. They have carried 100 times for 352 yards for six touchdowns and 3 1/2-yards per trip. The Vikings hope to control the ball and thus remove some of the pressure from their harassed defense. The Packers picked up 41 points and 418 yards in the victory over the Rams last Sunday and they hope to continue the production today. They had a 500-yard day against the Vikings here last year but the Vikings of '63 are considered much stronger. The Bays passed well against the Vikings last year and Bart Sarr has a good memory. Max McGee and Boyd Dowler, the Bay's two spread ends, have been held down to nine catches each, while tight end Ron Kramer, who must block before he takes off, has 12 receptions. Tom Moore also has nine...TAYLOR GIMPY: Jim Taylor has been a little gimpy
due to a leg injury but he may be okay come game time. At any rate, Earl Gros is ready to pair up with Moore. The Packer defense, nicked for 21 points here last year, also has a good memory and you can bet Tarkenton will be put under extreme pressure. Furious Fran likes to run out of the passing pocket and run or throw, thus seemingly cresting broken plays. This is always a source of concern for the Packer defense. The Packers worked out in Met Stadium upon arrive Saturday afternoon and greeting them was Johnny Blood, the old Packer vagabond halfback.
