Green Bay Packers (3-0) 23, Chicago Bears (0-3) 14
Sunday October 3rd 1965 (at Green Bay)
GAME RECAP (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE)
(MILWAUKEE) - The Packers were just as good as they had to be at Lambeau Field Sunday. No more. They scored a modest 23 points and stopped the Bears in the clutch. They didn't look like world beaters. But how can you argue with a victory? Especially when the victim is the Packers' traditional and always troublesome rival! The record crowd of 50,852 was treated to a 23 to 0 lead deep into the third quarter, but the place grew strangely quiet as the Bears whittled the score down to a final 23-14. The best part of the result pops up today - in the Western Division standings, which show Green Bay in a first place tie with the Lions - each with perfect 3-0 records. The Pack's next job is San Francisco - at Lambeau Field Sunday. The 49ers lost their first game to the Colts in Baltimore yesterday. Each has a 2-1 mark. The Packers drove 83 and 98 yards for two touchdowns, with Paul Hornung scoring from the one for the first and Bart Starr pitching a 48-yard pass to Bob Long for the third. The second TD came on a 42-yard runback of an intercepted Bill Wade pass by linebacker Lee Roy Caffey, making it the third straight game the Bays scored on an interception return. Don Chandler, who kicked a 16-yard field goal, booted two extra points and the third was blocked. Gale Sayers, a rookie with amazing speed, scored both Bear touchdowns, the first on a six-yard run near the end of the third quarter and the second on a 61-yard Rudy Bukich pass with 18 seconds left in the game. The bare scoring doesn't indicate any particular trouble for the Packers, but the Bears shook up our boys by controlling the ball and chewing up yardage in the second half. The Bears gained 309 yards in the second half against the Pack's 113 and out-first downed the Bays 16-4. Chicago finished with a 413-yard day compared to the Pack's 299. In first downs, it was 23 to 14, Chicago. The major yard differences came in rushing, where the Bears rolled up 192 against the Pack's 78. Each team gained 221 yards in the air. While the Bay defense seemed to be getting pushed around the fact remains that (1) the Bears got only 14 points and (2) the Packers took the ball away from the Bears three times on downs on the Pack's 34, 10 and 5-yard lines and once on a recovery of a Wade fumble by Hank Jordan on the Packer 8. The Bears had the ball for 27 plays in the third quarter, while the Bays had it for only 7. Yet, the Bears outscored the Pack only 7-3 in that period. Sayers put on one of the finest performances ever seen by a rookie here, giving the Bays a constant headache. He had his hands on the ball 24 times and advanced 210 yards. He ran 17 times for 80 yards and 1 TD; caught 5 passes for 104 yards and 1 TD; caught a punt for a minus 3 yards; and returned one kickoff for 29 yards. Andy Livingston, the Bears' hefty no-college back, picked up 70 yards in 7 carries. Actually, the Bears' yardage total is misleading, since 96 of the yards came on three Bukich completions on three of the last four plays of the game. Jim Taylor returned to the wars after missing last Sunday's victory over the Colts and the blaster turned pass catcher. He led the Bays in rushing with 45 yards and pass catching with 4 for 76 yards. Starr directed his pitching to the backs and Taylor, Hornung and Tom Moore caught eight of his 11 completions. Long, making his first league start, nailed 2 for 67 and Max McGee caught 1 for 27. Taylor caught a 24-yarder in a crowd to set off the Bays' first TD drive and he made a leaping catch of a Starr throw from his end zone for a 41-yard gain to set the stage for Bart's TD throw to Long. The Bears made the first drive of the game, reaching the Bay 8 where Jordan recovered Wade's fumble when he was hit by Ron Kostelnik. Starr then engineered a 14-play, 88-yard TD drive. The big play that set it off was a third and 12 situation on the 10. Starr couldn't find a receiver, faded to his right and threw
to Taylor who made a tough catch with Joe Fortunato. The Bears were roughing on the play and the Bays had good position on their own 49. From there on, Hornung and Taylor banged away and Starr threw to Hornung for 15 and Taylor twice for 8 and 3. From the 13, Taylor hit for 3, Hornung 6, Taylor 3, and Hornung 1 for the 7-0 lead. It was like old times. Kostelnik rushed Wade hard on his first play and the wobbly pitch hit a willing receiver - Caffey, who intercepted and raced like a runaway train into the end zone. It was 14-0 as the first period ended. After Green punted twice and Chandler once, the Bays started from their own two. Taylor got to the 3 on the first play, but on the next Jim wheeled straight downfield and took Starr's wind-carried pitch on the dead run for a 41-yard gain. Starr passed to Hornung for nine and after an exchange of penalties hit McGee for a 27-yard air gain to the 25. Hornung lost 13 on the option back to the 48, but two plays later Long got behind Dave Whitsell on the Bear 10 where he took Starr's pass and roared in for the TD. Dick Butkus blocked Chandler's kick and it was 20-0. The Bears kept the ball for 16 plays to start the third quarter and moved 70 yards - only to lose it on downs on Bukich's incompletion to Livingston in the end zone. Starr, on second down, hit Hornung on the 50 and Paul almost broke away before Bennie McRae caught him on the Bear 17, completing a 61-yard gain. The Bears tightened and Chandler kicked the Bays into a 23-0 lead. The Bears then got on the board, rolling 80 yards in 11 plays, with Sayers racing 6 yards around right end for the score. The big plays were a 28-yard run by Livingston and two runs for 21 yards by Sayers. The teams moved into the fourth quarter on a punting note before the Bears out on another drive with 7:34 left. Bukich started pitching to Morris, Ditka and Sayers but snagged on a fourth and two situation on the Bay 5 when he attempted a last-ditch throw. Caffey floored him and Bull recovered the fumble. After another Chandler punt, with 1:03 left, Bukich threw to Sayers for 16 yards to the Bear 35. Rudy then hit Sayers off to the left and the fleet back went straight down the east sidelines for a 65-yard TD. LeClerc tried two onside kickoffs, but the Packers were offside on the first. Ralph Kurek recovered the next to put the ball on the Packer 39 with 11 seconds left. Time ran out (whew) as Bukich completed a 25-yard pass to Livingston.
CHICAGO - 0 0 7 7 - 14
GREEN BAY - 14 6 3 0 - 23
CHICAGO GREEN BAY
First downs 23 14
Rush-yards-TDs 40-192-1 27-78-1
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INT 17-29-250-1-1 11-20-263-1-0
Sacked-yards 4-29 5-42
Net pass yards 221 221
Total yards 413 299
Fumbles-lost 4-1 0-0
Turnovers 2 0
Penalties-yards 6-67 4-51
SCORING
1st - GB - Paul Hornung, 1-yard run (Don Chandler kick) GREEN BAY 7-0
1st - GB - Lee Roy Caffey, 42-yard interception return (Chandler kick) GREEN BAY 14-0
2nd - GB - Bob Long, 48-yard pass from Starr (Kick blocked) GREEN BAY 20-0
3rd - GB - Chandler, 16-yard field goal GREEN BAY 23-0
3rd - CHI - Gale Sayers, 6-yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) GREEN BAY 23-7
4th - CHI - Sayers, 65-yard pass from Rudy Bukich (LeClerc kick) GREEN BAY 23-14
RUSHING
GREEN BAY - Jim Taylor 16-45, Paul Hornung 8-33 1 TD, Tom Moore 2-0, Bart Starr 1-0
CHICAGO - Gale Sayers 17-80 1 TD, Andy Livingston 7-70, Joe Marconi 3-18, Jon Arnett 6-16, Billy Wade 3-13, Ronnie Bull 3-(-1), Rudy Bukich 1-(-4)
PASSING
GREEN BAY - Bart Starr 20-11-263 1 TD
CHICAGO - Billy Wade 9-4-55 1 INT, Rudy Bukich 20-13-195 1 TD
RECEIVING
GREEN BAY - Jim Taylor 4-76, Paul Hornung 3-85, Bob Long 2-67 1 TD, Max McGee 1-27, Tom Moore 1-8
CHICAGO - Johnny Morris 6-57, Gale Sayers 5-104 1 TD, Mike Ditka 3-23, Andy Livingston 2-27, Joe Marconi 1-29
Green Bay Packers halfback Paul Hornung (5) scores on a 1-yard run in the first quarter of the Packers' 23-14 victory over the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on Oct. 3, 1965. From left, other Packers are guard Jerry Kramer (64, left of goal post), tackles Steve Wright (72) and Forrest Gregg (75), tight end Marv Fleming (81), quarterback Bart Starr (15) and fullback Jim Taylor (31). From left, other Bears are defensive end Doug Atkins (81), linebackers Larry Morris (33) and Dick Butkus (51), defensive end Dick Evey (79) and linebacker Joe Fortunato (31). Press-Gazette archives
Green Bay Packers linebacker Lee Roy Caffey (60) heads to the end zone on a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown during the first quarter of a 23-14 victory over the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on Oct. 3, 1965. Packers cornerback Doug Hart (43) is at right, running past Bears coach George Halas on the sideline. Bears cornerback Dave Whitsell (23) also watches from the sideline. (Source - Green Bay Press-Gazette archives)
HAD TO PROVE THAT 'I COULD DO SOMETHING,' SAYS LONG
OCT 4 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - "How does it feel, Bobby?" It was puckish Hank Jordan calling across the lighthearted Packer dressing room to needle sophomore flanker Bob Long, surrounded by the press corps for the first time in his brief but highly promising pro football career Sunday afternoon. Flashing an unabashed grin (he might have blushed ever so slightly even two months ago), Long shot back," Very gratifying." The erstwhile Wichita Wheat Shocker, who played only seven games of college football but already has developed into one of the NFL's top threat, was discoursing upon his 48-yard collaboration with Bart Starr that proved to the decisive touchdown in the Pack's 23-14 triumph over the Bears. "Most of the first half they were putting double coverage on the split end, Max (McGee), which left me 1-on-1 with the halfback," the personable Vandergrift, Pa., native related. "I ran a post pattern on it and Bart put a beautiful pass up there. That's all there was to it." Correcting a report that this had been the first pass he had caught in a league game, Bob said, "I caught one last year against Dallas. But it was so insignificant," he noted with a smile, "I guess they just forgot about it." Responding to the observation he had been free frequently throughout the sun-drenched afternoon, Long cautiously conceded the point. "It seemed," he said, "like I was open a lot." That first official TD pass (he caught three in preseason play) must have bolstered his confidence, it was suggested. Although he admitted it was a help, Long pointed out, "A lot of my confidence was built up during the preseason." "Last year, I didn't do anything," the 23-year-old string bean declared. "This year I had to prove something - prove to myself, that is, that I could do it." Bart Starr, the originator of Long's second quarter contribution, which loomed large in the final accounting following the Bears' late renaissance, characteristically dismissed his role in it - as well as his 263-yard passing performance, one of the most productive of his distinguished career. "I wish we could have had some of those yards in the second half," he observed with a rueful grin. "We fell flat on our faces." Explaining his frequent employment of the pass in the first half, Bart said, "We thought we had some routes we could work on - at least that we were hopeful we could work, and it turned out that we could." "By the way, on one of the first passes, I threw a ball a little short or we would have had another touchdown. Long had McRae beaten easily. I thought the ends did a real fine job of getting open today - a real fine job." One of his favorite targets on this occasion, fullback Jim Taylor confided, "I didn't have my legs under me (he's been troubled with an ankle injury for two weeks). If I had, I think I would have scored on that one in the first half when Butkus (Bear rookie Dick) tackled me. I don't think he would have caught me." A comrade who did go all the way, heroically hewn Lee Roy Caffey, confided with a chuckle, "I was so surprised, I was scared - I didn't know where to run." He had reference, of course, to his 42-yard runback with an interception which staked the Pack to a 14-0 lead on the final play of the first quarter. "I was just lucky," Caffey grinned. "Kostelnik (Ron) and Aldridge (Lionel) were in on Wade and I think Lionel hit the ball - and I just happened to be there."...REAL FINE BLOCK: "No, nobody touched me. Somebody threw a real fine block down there. I don't know who it was - it might have been Kostelnik." "That doesn't come very often," the blond behemoth, perhaps the world's fastest 250-pound linebacker, beamed. "It only happened to me once before. It was in my rookie year with the Eagles (he came to the Packers in a 1964 trade which sent Jim Ringo and Earl Gros to Philadelphia). That time I went 87 yards for a touchdown." A somewhat battered Max McGee, gingerly preparing to depart the Lambeau Field premises, reported, "I feel like I was run over by a threshing machine. No, I'm not sure just what happened. I was lying down and somebody fell on me along the sidelines." Impressed with Bear rookie Gale Sayers, as were many of his colleagues, The Taxi shook his head an opined. "That guy can run faster than anybody else in the league - backwards."
LOST OUR MOMENTUM, VINCE; FINE COMEBACK, HALAS
OCT 4 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Wearing a dark scowl that did not suggest victory, not to mention the newly-acquired title to the NFL's Western Division lead, Vince Lombardi was hardly a picture of elation late Sunday afternoon. He was, in fact, patently chagrined over the Packer' second half swoon enroute to a 23-14 conquest of the late blooming Chicago Bears, a performance which tended to obscure the happier artistic realities of the moment. Did he have an explanation for this somewhat startling turnabout? Shrugging his shoulders, the Packers' resident genius offered, "The Bears got a little momentum. And we lost ours - whatever we had." He could find no other reason, a Milwaukee scribe persisted. "No, they just got momentum - that's the only explanation I have." "I guess we felt we had a couple of touchdowns and we could take a vacation," Lombardi said sardonically elaborated. "This is still a game of emotions, of hitting. You can't expect the other team to fall down. They're just not going to." He, then, was not satisfied with the home forces' overall effort? "We did nothing in the second half," he rapped. "I can't be satisfied with that. I'm satisfied we won, but not with the way we played. The first half, I thought played extremely well," Vince conceded, "but in the second half." There was no need to complete the sentence. Could a letdown in the wake of last week's monumental struggle with Baltimore have been a factor? "No, I'm sure it wasn't a letdown from the Baltimore game," he said. "It was just that we had a 20-0 lead at the half." The Packers had gone to the pass more often than normal in the early going, it was suggested. Had this been a planned approach? "I don't think we planned that much," he replied. "It's just that the defense the Bears used was conducive to it at the time." Quizzed in this connection about starting Max McGee and Bob Long at split end and flanker, respectively, Lombardi explained, "Long was in there because Dale (Carroll) had a pulled muscle. And Dowler (Boyd) has been hurt. We haven't had a full team yet this year." "Dowler wound not have played if McGee hadn't hurt himself," he continued. "No, I don't know just what it is. It's a rib or a cartilage, or something like that." Long, he conceded, had done well "as far as I could tell." Jim Taylor also had been employed as a receiver more often than customary, it was noted. "No, than wasn't planned either," Lombardi said. "It just worked out that way." The Bears had wrought considerable damage in the latter stages with a weak side slant, it was mentioned. Vince nodded agreement and said, "I don't know if they were going inside Willie Davis, or what. I 'll have to find out from the pictures." He had not been entirely unhappy with the defense, however, he noted in reply to another question. "We shut 'em out in the first half," Lombardi pointed out. "That's pretty good any time." Did he think the Packer pass protection, in view of Bart Starr's vastly superior statistical performance, had been better than in the Baltimore match? "I don't remember. I thought the pass protection against Baltimore was pretty good. I thought it was about the same today." The Pack's running game,
which has produced only 78 yards on this occasion, had yet to assert itself in the league season, a Milwaukee writer ventured. Did Lombardi feel injuries had been a factor here? "I don't know why we haven't been running well, but injuries have nothing to do with it," he said. "If they have, I don't believe it." Speaking of runners, what did he think of Gale Sayers, the Bruins' prize rookie? "Sayers is a real good back," the Packer chieftain acknowledged. "I think about him just what I thought before the game - that he's a great back."...Down the hall, George Stanley Halas sadly scanned the game's statistics (most of which substantially favored his hirelings) in mute disbelief. Breaking away from this bittersweet diversion, he agreed, "We did make a fine comeback in the second half. In fact, it was quite a second half - it was no indication of the score," Papa Bear said, a trifle wistfully. "I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of the way we played the game." "Vince," he appended, "has a great ball club there. They should go on to win it." Taking note of the first quarter fumble which stalled a major Bear drive on the Packer 12-yard line from where the Pack subsequently drove 88 yards to score, Halas said, "Kostelnik (Ron) hit Wade (quarterback Bill) at the time of the handoff. It wasn't Wade's fault. I don't see how Kostelnik got in there," he continued, shaking his head, "without being offside. It was either a great play by Kostelnik, or he was offside. Sayers, incidentally, would have pranced in if it hadn't been for the fumble." Asked which Bruin had been accused of holding on the recall of a third quarter Bear touchdown, Halas dryly retorted, "You mean that questionable play? The referee said it was Wetoska (Bob)." Mountainous Abe Gibron, the Bears' offensive line coach, interjected from a nearby bench, "He wasn't holding, George. It was a bad call." Many of the Midway Monsters' second half plays appeared to have been called via the shuttle system, it was noted. "That's right," Halas replied. "We tried a little new technique today. Luke Johnson was sick so we had Abe Gibron upstairs with Jim Dooley for the first two series. Then Gibron came down to the sidelines to handle his duties there." Why had he led with a "second string" backfield (Jon Arnett and Andy Livingston) in the second half? "It was a natural thing to do," the pro football pioneer said, "because we did work Sayers pretty hard in the first half." And his estimate of Sayers? Had a star been born in Lambeau Field? "I don't know if I would say that," said Halas, ever cautious. "But he improves every Sunday. He's a good football player - and a fine competitor."...DISTINGUISHED GUEST: Clark Shaughnessy, generally acknowledged to be the father of the modern-T formation and a frequent visitor to Green Bay as a coach with the Rams and later the Bears, viewed yesterday's hostilities as a spectator. He was a guest of Jerry Atkinson, a member of the Packer executive committee...'MR. BASKETBALL": Bill Howard, former sports director of Channel 5 and Press-Gazette station WJPG, who is on vacation from his Salt Lake City TV assignment, took a busman's holiday and checked the view from the press box...ANOTHER 'SMASH': The 140-place West High School Wildcat marching band, a shining example of masterful maneuvers and musicianship, did not let superstition affect its performance. Making its 13th appearance at a Packer game, Director L.A. Skornicka's well-schooled unit made a resounding hit with the capacity house, which enthusiastically applauded the blue and gold Wildcats' intricate efforts.
PACKER FANS 'TOO SATISFIED?' QUIET VS. BEARS
OCT 5 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - There was something missing at Lambeau Field Sunday. The place was filled to its new capacity (50,852) and the Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Bears. It was a wonderful day. But you could hear the proverbial pin drop (well, maybe not quite) and, like somebody asked in the press box, "what's the matter with these people?" It was a rather strange reaction for a stadium full of what we like to boast are the best football fans in the land. Vince Lombardi, in the course of discussing the game today, brought up the quietness. "We received a perfunctory hand clap when we were introduced before the game. And the Bears got as much of a hand clap as we got," Vince pointed out, adding: "People are getting too satisfied. They are becoming blasé or maybe they think they are blasé." Lombardi wasn't referring to the "still" that engulfed the Field when the Bears went wild in the second half, explaining "we didn't do anything to excite them then. But it was at the start." Needless to say, this is a time for a revival of that old-time Packer fan spirit. And the Bay Backers won't have to wait long - next Sunday when the 49ers invade Lambeau Field. Lombardi found nothing in the pictures to change his original view of the 23-14 win over the Bears - "good first half but nothing in the second half." The Packer coach found a bit of a precedent for what happened to Green Bay "This is no excuse for our play in the second half but the Colts had a 24 to 7 lead on the 49ers and they just won; the Lions were ahead of the Redskins 14-0 and did nothing after that; and last night the Cardinals got away 14-0." The Colts eked it out 27-24, the Lions skinned through 14-10, and the Cards won 20-13. The St. Lous victory left Green Bay and Detroit as the unbeatens left in the league, each with 3-0 records, prompting Vince to remark, "We're happy to be in first place." The Lions now visit Baltimore and next Monday the Bays could be up there along - if, of course, the Packers and Colts win. But San Francisco presents a formidable task and Vince noted that "the 49ers will be the best team we will have played thus far." The Packers came out of the Bear game with one injury, Max McGee, and unfortunately it centers on an area where the club has other injuries. Boyd Dowler has a bad ankle and Carroll Dale a muscle pull. Dowler wasn't supposed to play Sunday but was forced into duty when McGee suffered a dislocated collar bone. Dale was held out entirely. The availability of all three for next Sunday isn't known at the moment, of course, although the fast-healing McGee likely will need an extra week to recover. The Packers have one real healthy flanker and that would be the sprightly sophomore, Bob Long, who caught a touchdown pass, 48 yards from Bart Starr, in his first start in a league game. Long seemed as much a surprise to the Bears as Gale Sayers was to Green Bay. Six passes were thrown to Long and he caught three, though one was nullified by penalty. On his first attempt, Long went deep and got half a step on Bennie McRae but the Bear defender made a last-ditch save. Starr sent Long deep in the second quarter and he got a few steps on Roosevelt Taylor but the ball was a bit short. Long's first catch was ruined by a penalty, and No 4 went for the TD as he got behind Dave Whitsell. The fifth pass went incomplete off to the left and the sixth was a 19-yard gain for one of the Pack's four first downs in the second half.
PACK MOUNTED 130-YARD (CORRECT) TD PUSH AGAINST BEARS
OCT 5 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers put on a 130-yard touchdown drive against the Bears Sunday. One hundred and thirty yards? Look, man, the field is only 100 yards long. We always figure it was tough for GB to score TDs, but this is ridiculous. The Packers started on their own 2-yard line and scored their third TD in 13 plays, Bart Starr throwing to Bob Long for a 48-yard teedee. The whole business covered 98 yards, but the Packers had to labor 130. The extra yardage resulted from loss of a 13-yard completion from Starr to Long due to a penalty, the setback of 11 yards on the penalty, and a 13-yard loss for Paul Hornung on an option pass attempt. The three losses added up to 37 yards, which, with the 98-yard distance, made for 135. The Bears contributed, too, with a defensive holding penalty of five yards on a Starr incompletion on second down. This dropped it down to 130 and, of course, gave the Pack an automatic first down. As a sort of last straw, after the Packers did score, Dick Butkus blocked Don Chandler's extra point kick. But it all turned out well - to the tune of 23-14. Let's transcribe some notes from the play book: FLOPPING ENDS - Max McGee lined up at right flanker
on the opening play and Bob Long was at "split" (left) end. On the next play, they traded positions...SAVED SAFETY - Bob Skoronski got one of those in-the-nick-of-time blocks to keep Bart Starr from being tackled in his own end zone. Starr managed to just get his pass away...BUSY MEASURES - The official measured for first down yardage on three out of four plays when the Bears made two first downs in the first quarter...HANDOFF MISSED - Starr found himself all along with the ball and nothing to do with it but run - into a horde of Bears. On the next down, a third and five, Starr called a screen pass on the anxious Bears for an 8-yard gain...ADDERLEY-BUTKUS: Herb Adderley gave Duck Butkus a word of warning when the Bears' rookie linebacker flopped needlessly on Willie Wood when he caught a punt and slipped and fell...FIVE RECEIVERS - Starr was putting down five receivers (Hornung, Taylor, Marv Fleming, McGee and Long) on most of his pass plays on the third TD drive...INTERCEPTION? - Packer defensive backs didn't intercept a pass, but Doug Hart almost had one. He caught a Bill Wade pitch in the second quarter but the official ruled he was out of bounds. The crowd groaned...HALAS ON FIELD - Owner-Coach George Halas of the Bears stormed nearly 10 yards onto the field when the Bears were ruled holding on Rudy Bukich's TD pass in the third quarter. The Bears lost the ball on downs two play later...STRONG WIND - When Roger LeClerc kicked off into the wind late in the third quarter, Packer receivers Tom Moore and Herb Adderley stood on their own 12-yard line instead of the 2. The 15-mile wind held up the kickoff and Moore took it on the 13 and returned 19 yards...TWO TAYLORS - The game's two Taylors, Jim of the pack and Roosevelt of the Bears, collided late in the game. Jim flipped up in the air for a seven-yard gain and Roosevelt was out cold and had to be reviced on the field.
PACKERS' KOSTELNIK FINDS SECURITY
OCT 5 (Green Bay) - Ron Kostelnik has finally found security in Packerland after years of watchful waiting on the bench. The 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive tackle has not only found a home in Green Bay; he's bought one. And judging from the way Kostelnik has been playing in his first NFL season as a full-fledged starter, he'll be commuting to work for many a season to come. "For the first few seasons, I was trying to push someone else," said Kostelnik, a five-year veteran who became a regular last season only after an injury had sidelined tackle Henry Jordan. "Now someone else is trying to push me." Although starting at tackle for most of the 1964 season, Kostelnik's job wasn't locked up as the Packers began preparing for the current campaign. Ron, who learned how to knock heads on the high school playing fields of Pennsylvania, had plenty of competition, including the 13-year veteran Dave Hanner, the Packer favorite he nudged to the sidelines after Jordan recovered from his injury in 1964. But competition was nothing new to the 25-year-old Kostelnik, a Cincinnati graduate who didn't believe he had a chance to make the Packers as a rookie in 1961. "I anticipated being cut at least twice," said Kostelnik. "The second day in cap I injured my knew and believed it was over then. But, fortunately, everything turned out well." Things turned out well for Kostelnik again in 1965. Before the season opened, Hanner was named a full-time assistant coach. He credited the play of Kostelnik as a prime reason for his retirement as a player. Meanwhile, Kostelnik is enjoying Hanner's old job like a pleasure long deferred. "We're all enthusiastic about playing football," said Kostelnik of himself and the entire Packer defense. "Naturally we want to go out there and stop the other team in three plays, but we hate to have to leave the field. We want to get back out there and play football."...BIGGEST MOMENT: Kostelnik played a great deal of football last Sunday against the Packers' arch foes, the Chicago Bears. His biggest moment came in the first period when, with the score 0-0, the Bear rolled to a first down on the Packers' eight. Quarterback Bill Wade called a trap play on Kostelnik, but the Bear guard who was to spring the trap arrived a step late and Ron barreled in on Wade before he could hand off. The ball popped free. Jordan grabbed it for the Packers, who proceeded to move back upfield for a touchdown, their first in the 23-14 victory. Kostelnik's credo as a defensive player is a simple one: "You really want to crack someone as hard as you can. It's temporary madness. You want to lay into a ball carrier. They want to lay into you. They'd rather run over you than around you."
PERSONALITY PARADE
OCT 6 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Jet-like Doug Hart, a one-time taxi squad tenant who made good, may be pardoned if he finds recent events somewhat mystifying. As the newest member of the Packers' defensive outfield, he fully expects to be the prime target of enemy air strikes. And he has been - he was, at least, in the Pack's harrowing 20-17 decision over the Baltimore Colts in Milwaukee 10 days back, when the talented Texan has the traumatic assignment of shadowing the wraith-like Raymond Berry the length and breadth of County Stadium. Much to his surprise, however, Chicago's Bears avoided his sector almost entirely in last Sunday's match, a 23-14 Packer success. Whether by accident or design, the wiry cornerback has not the faintest clue. "I was covering Dick Gordon and Jimmy Jones (the Bruins' split ends), who alternated throughout the game, and neither one of them caught one on me," Doug, now officially a sophomore after spending 1963 in cab squad anonymity, noted with pardonable pride. "I really don't know why they didn't throw more - I expected them to thrown a lot more than they did. In fact, in most games, I expect them to work on me a whole lot more than they do Herb (Adderley, his companion cornerback)," he volunteered. His encounter with Berry was a decidedly different experience, the engaging Arlington State (Texas) alumnus confessed. "It was the first time I've worked against him, and I guess it's an education any time you face him," Hart informed with a grin. "He's a master of the fakes and position, and he can catch the ball no matter where it is." Doug, next schedule to contend with San Francisco's Dave Parks, who invades Lambeau Field Sunday afternoon, fresh from collecting three touchdown passes in Baltimore, actually fared much better than any of the Packer faithful had right to expect. The canny Colt did manage on touchdown reception - with an assist from Dame Fortune. "I fell down on that," Doug explained. "Berry's pretty smart, you know. The third base line runs through the end zone in County Stadium and, of course, the coach's box is in that particular area, too. Smart as he is, Berry ran to the box, which hadn't been rolled and was loose, to make his cut. He made me react in that stuff - he made me cut in it and I couldn't follow him." Having philosophically accepted this misadventure as part of the educational process, Happy (as he is known to his colleagues because of his perpetually sunny nature) says, "Every game you gain a little confidence. The main thing is to learn to keep your concentration throughout the the game and recognizing offensive formations and adjusting your defense to them. We help each other in the secondary. There's a lot of talk between Willie (Wood) and me and Bob Jeter and me, and with Herb. And you keep in pretty close contact with your linebackers, just trying to solidify the defense on that side so you know where everybody is and can depend on their being there. That way, you have a lot more freedom. You don't have to worry about some patterns that are hard for you to cover because you know you'll have help. We get a lot of help from Norb Hecker (defensive backfield coach), too. Whenever we come in to the sidelines, we talk to him on the phones - he's in
the press box, of course - and he tells us if we're not as deep as we should be or reminds us of a situation like we might have forgotten, things like that." Possessor of a lively sense of humor, Hart find pursuing the NFL's premier pass receivers "fun. I can't think of a better way to get your kicks," he quipped. "It's even more fun if you're doing things right."
NEW CHALLENGE: PACK FACES NFL'S TOP ATTACK IN 49ERS
OCT 7 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The 49ers won only four games all last season. The current Prospectors already have won two and feel it should be three. What made the big improvement? George McFadden, the 49ers' new publicity chief, have these reasons today:
1 - The rushing of Ken Willard, a rookie 230-pounder with amazing take-off speed, and John Crow, obtained from the Cardinals.
2 - The pass receiving of Dave Parks, the AP's player of the week who is averaging 20 yards a catch, and the passing of John Brodie, presently the league's leader.
3 - The presence of Y.A. Tittle, who is coaching the quarterbacks.
4 - A Jack Christiansen-inspired "to hell with the respect we want to win" attitude.
5 - A defense that suck together despite the loss of regulars Dan Colchico and Matt Hazeltine.
6 - Perhaps a more daring approach to the game.
The Big Story is the offense where Brodie can claim the honest of defense with the running of Willard, Crow, Gary Lewis and Dave Kopay. They average slightly over 225 pounds and McFadden added "Willard is as quick as getting into the hole as anybody I've ever seen." Willard is averaging 3.9 on 37 carries. Lewis 7.2 on 14, Crow 3.6 on 21, and Kopay 3.5 on 16. "We always knew that Brodie was a good quarterback, but now he has less pressure on him because he can gain with rushers." said McFadden. Brodie's three leading receivers are Parks, who plays left end; flanker Bernie Casey; and tight end Monte Stickles. Parks has made four touchdown catches but he has a special gift besides good hands and speed - the ability to break tackles in the open. He broke two for TDs vs. the Colts. Brodie likes to throw to his backs, too. Willard caught five for 31 yards, Crow four for 96 and Kopay seven for 86. Casey caught eight for 152 yards (almost a 20-yard average) and Stickles nine for 131. The 49ers have discovered that Crow has a good arm. The pile-driver pitched twice and completed both of them - one to Parks for a TD. The 49er interior line is all veteran - tackles Len Rhode and Wal Rock, guards Howard Mudd and John Thomas, and center Bruce Bosley. Mudd was hurt vs. the Colts and a rookie, Jim Wilson, had to be used, hurting the 49ers' wide rushes. Mudd, who was kicked in the knee, will be okay for the Packer battle at Lambeau Field. Defensively, the 49ers will present one rookie - Jack Chappple at right linebacker, who replaced Hazeltine. Karl Rubke, a former linebacker, has stepped in at left end for Colchico. Jery Mertens has replaced Abe Woodson in the secondary. Woodson went to the Cards for Crow. Colt writers were high in their praise of the 49ers and noted that other teams now have much more respect for them. The unhappy 49ers proclaim that "you can have the respect, we want the wins." Tittle, who has never beaten the Packers as a Giant quarterback, has added a lot of moxie to the 49er attack and, ironically, Sunday's game gives Yats a chance for revenge vs. Green Bay. McFadden noted that the 49ers "have plenty of team leaders." He mentioned Parks, Crow, Bill Kilmer, who is the third quarterback. Crow is serving as something of an inspiration. He reported in good shape and apparently has escaped the injury jink, though he broke a hand in an exhibition game. He wears a protective pad on the hand. The 49ers tried a surprise on the Colts - an onside boot on the opening kickoff. "It was a perfect kick, and three of the 49ers had a shot at it before the Colts recovered. The Colts went on to a field goal from there." That three-pointer turned out to be the difference in the 27-24 game. Christiansen, the publicist said, was "not downheartened after the game because he felt everybody played well."
PACK WILL 'GET MOVING,' KRAMER
OCT 8 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packer offense hasn't been knocking down any fences. Despite the club's fine 3-0 record. Jerry Kramer, the medical marvel, realizes the 49ers will put up a lot of barbed wire at Lambeau Field Sunday. But "we'll get moving," he
observed the other day and added: "We've talked about out offense and tried to analyze it and now we feel that we'll start putting things together." Making a remarkable comeback after missing virtually all of 1964 - not to mention a winter of surgery, Kramer explained that "I really feel good but I don't think I'm as strong as I was two years ago." Kramer expects to regain his strength gradually during the season...There was this 12-year-old girl in Louisiana whose father bought a Packard car back in 1951. Somehow she associated the words Packers and Packard and, you guessed it, she grew up to be a red hot Packer fan. She is Mrs. Myrna Bailey of Indianapolis, now 26, and still crazy about the Pack, which she confessed is "her team." She developed two connections with Green Bay. First, she met Myron Deadman of Green Bay, who stopped at the Howard W. Sams Co., where she works, on business. Second, "I read a story about Bart Starr in our Methodist church magazine and I wrote to Bart and Cherry. They were kind enough to answer." Several months ago, Deadman made arrangements for Myrna to watch the Packers meet the 49ers and she arrived by plane (her first air trip) yesterday. "I had dinner at the Starrs last night, and I'm going out to practice today," she said, adding: "I'm awed by the kindness everybody has shown me." Myrna left her husband, Charles, at home. "He's a hunter, and he'll use his vacation to go hunting," she said...Tom Brown, the Packers' expert on baseball, having played with the Senators, confessed yesterday that he picked the Dodgers to win in five. "But if the Twins win today (Thursday, which they did) then I think I'll be wrong," Tom laughed, adding: "The Twins can hit all right but wait until they get in that big park in Los Angeles. A lot of those home runs will be outs."...The 49ers are on the cover of the current Sports Illustrated, and the title of the story is "49er on The Move." The story, by Tex Maule, kind of scares a guy and it certainly points up the job the Packers have on their hands Sunday...The Prospectors will arrive in town this evening, flying in by charter from Chicago after the jet flight from San Fran. The team, which will drill here Saturday, is headquartering at the Northland Hotel.
PACK HAS 1 EDGE ON 49ERS; MOST TDS ON FEWEST YARDS
OCT 9 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The 49ers may be leading the Packers in the individual figures presented herewith today. But the Bays have the edge in at least one category: Most Touchdowns Scored With the Least Amount of Yardage! Elijah Pitts holds the "record." The Pack's speedy rusher has carried 14 times for a minus 2 yards and two touchdowns. Pitts lugged the ball five times in the opening victory against the Steelers and nine times in the tight squeeze over Baltimore. Elijah didn't play against the Bears last Sunday - other than on the opening kickoff, which he fumbled, picked up and returned 16 yards. Pitts lost 21 yards in five carries, including 13 on the last two trips vs. the Colts, and gained 19 yards in nine attempts, resulting in the minus two. He scored TDs vs. Pitt on his last two rushed that day - on two and three-yard plunges. Here's the order in which Elijah gained and lost: Pitt - 1 for 3, 1 for minus 7, 1 for 1, 1 for 2 (TD), 1 for 3 (TD); Baltimore - 1 for 1, 1 for 2, 1 for 0, 1 for 3, 1 for minus 1, 1 for 4, 1 for 0, 1 for minus 8, 1 for minus 5. The 49ers, who meet the Packers at Lambeau Field Sunday, are leading the Packers in the three major yardage departments. Ken Willard has rushed for the most yards, 147 in 37 attempts, while Paul Hornung of the Pack is next with 103 stripes. The Packs' Mr. Yards, Jim Taylor, is second to Hornung with 87, but he played in only two games, missing the Colt test. Gary Lewis, the 49ers' strong sophomore, has 93 yards. Dave Parks, the 49ers' highly-touted pass catcher, leads in his specialty with 16 for 340 yards and four TDs. Boyd Dowler is next with 10 for 157 yards, though he missed just about all of the Bear game with an injury. John Brodie and Bart Starr rank one-two in the league. Brodie has pitched the most TD passes, seven, against Starr's three, but the 49er thrower has three interceptions and Starr has none. In fact, Bart now has upped his league record of passes thrown without an interception to 277. The old mark was 208 by Milt Plum with Cleveland in 1959 and 1960. Starr has completed 65.4 percent of his passes, Brodie 63.2 percent.
PACKERS FACE TWO BIG 'IFS' AGAINST 49ERS TODAY
OCT 10 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers have their work cut out today. Both ways. They must (1) make their offense produce points and (2) stop the league's leading offense. If this comes to pass, the Packers can beat the 49ers and thus remain atop the Western Division with a 4-0 record. But "if" is a giant word. And the best word of warning is that competent observers now feel San Francisco is a definite championship threat. The 49ers polished off the Bears and Steelers with no particular strain and then came within an eyelash of tying or nipping the Colts. The Packers beat the same threesome - with plenty of anxious moments. Lambeau Field will be packed with 50,852 noisy (we hope) fans and kickoff is set for 1:05. Scoring points and stopping the other guy may be quite elementary, but both represent major challenges for Green Bay. The Packer offense has had only three concerted touchdown drives in their three wins - one vs. Pitt and two against the Bears. The Bays' chances look good in this category since Bart Starr will have a healthy Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung together for the first time this season. Taylor was below par vs. Pitt and Chicago and didn't get into the Colt game. Hornung was hurt against the Colts. While the rushers are back in form, the receiving corps has been thinned. Max Mcgee is recovering from a shoulder injury and probably won't play while Carroll Dale has a muscle pull. Boyd Dowler is about recovered from an ankle injury that kept him out of the Bear game - except for a few plays, but Bob Long is at full speed. The Packer defense gets its chance to hold off a team that leads the league in points (103), yards (1,238) and first downs (67). The John Brodie-driven offense is wrapped around two 225-pound crashers, fullback Ken Willard and halfback John David Crow, the former Cardinal; and three strong pass catchers - left end Dave Parks, chosen by the AP as the player of the week despite the loss to Baltimore, flanker Bernie Casey and tight end Monte Stickles. Brodie is leading the league in passing and Willard and Parks are among the leaders. To keep pressure on, Willard and Crow are backed up by two 225-pounders, Gary Lewis and Dave Kopay. The job of hawking Parks, who has four TD catches already - plus a reputation for breaking tackles, rests with Doug Hart and Willie Wood on he right side. The whole defensive gang, headed by Ray Nitschke, will have to go after the 49ers' strong rush game. The Bay defense, besides scoring three TDs, has permitted only 40 points in three games and despite
the job the unit did on John Unitas and Co., the 49ers "score" game seems even more formidable. The 49ers lead in the Packers series, with 15 wins against Green Bay's 13, and the Packers find it hard to forget one defeat in particular. That would be the 24-14 loss in San Francisco last season. And a rookie QB, George Mira, engineered it.
