VINCE'S RETIREMENT DISAPPOINTS HALAS

FEB 3 (Chicago) - Vince Lombardi has quit coaching at 54, a fact deplored by an arch enemy of the Green Bay Packers, George S. Halas, patriarchal coach of the Chicago Bears, as he turned 73 Friday. "I'm sorry to hear it - I don't think he should have done it," said Halas of Lombardi's announcement he was yielding the Green Bay coaching reins to concentrate on the Packer general managership. A matter of hours after Lombardi's abdication, Halas lunged into another workday at his Bear office scarcely pausing to accept birthday best wishes. "Age has nothing to do with coaching," said the NFL pioneer. "Not as long as the spirit is there and you think and do young." The best explanation of Halas' determination is to tackle his 41st Bear coaching season next fall, and Lombardi's exit after nine magnificent Packer seasons might be found in a favorite Halas slogan. It's one Papa Bear lifted from Louis Nizer, famed lawyer, for his personal bulletin board and reads: "Nothing is work, unless you'd rather be doing something else." Lombardi's farewell speech at Green Bay Thursday night indicated the pressure of championship coaching and wheeling and dealing as a general manager was a lot more work than pleasure. George Halas, of course, is responsible only to George Halas - on and off the field - as major domo of the club he launched in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys. Halas lauded Lombardi as "a perfectionist, a great, great competitor, and one of the great coaches in the history of football." But the Bear boss also had praise for Lombardi's replacement, Phil Bengtson, commenting: "He is a tremendous football mind. Green Bay has an excellent successor to Lombardi." Halas "retired" several times during his long Bear regime, but never for long. "The only sidelines for me are on that football field, I guess," he said in a birthday interview. "When I can't contribute anymore, can't help, I'll be the first to know and then I'll step down." He didn't sound like a man about to step down. "We ended last season with an upbeat (5-1-1 for the last seven games) and we'll be ready to go from the first day of practice," said George, waving a cast-encased left hand slightly fractured in a recent fall on a slippery floor. Many of the other pro coaches expressed regret about losing a respected foe but relief at not having to play Lombardi's teams anymore. Comment included: Norb Hecker, Atlanta head coach and former Lombardi assistant: "There are a couple of ways to look at it. As an opposing coach, one who has to play against his team, I'm glad he is retiring. But as a member of the NFL, we have lost one of the most important and most respected coaches in the league. I worked under him for seven years, and it was the most fruitful seven years of my life. Perhaps the most important thing I learned from him was organization and dedication to the game. He had probably the greatest knack of getting the team ready to do battle. When we walked on that field, we were ready to do battle with anybody."...Paul Brown, owner-coach of the Cincinnati Bengals: "I'd like to say Vince Lombardi was more than a great coach. He was a wonderful man. I hope he doesn't miss coaching as much as I did. It won't seem quite the same because he was Green Bay."...Pete Rozelle, commissioner: "I'm extremely please, after his remarkable coaching career, that Vince will now be able to direct his capabilities full tome to the management of the Green Bay Packers and, though those administrative talents, make an even greater contribution to professional football."...Blanton Collier, coach of the Cleveland Browns: "I hate to see Vince Lombardi get out of coaching. I have a very high regard for him as a football coach. He has made such a tremendous contribution to professional football. And yet I understand why because I think pro football has becomes so complicated that the pressures of trying to be a general manager and coach at the same time leave a man mentally and emotionally worn out at the end of the season."...Tom Landry, Dallas coach and former associate of Lombardi's on the New York Giants: "We're going to miss Lombardi as a coach because he's given a tremendous amount to the NFL through the Packers. I think the reason he gave to step down - the burden of being general manager and head coach - is justified in our times. I can understand him doing this."...Bud Grant, coach of the Minnesota Vikings: "With his thoroughness and his organization, he has set the standard for a long time to come. I admire him as a coach and a man...but I can't say I'm sorry to see him leave the coaching position."...Wally Lemm, Houston coach: "I'm very sorry to see Vince Lombardi retire because he is one of the greatest coaches, finest competitors and finest gentlemen in the game. He is a great man to compete against."...Joel Collier, coach of the Buffalo Bills: "Any man who has compiled the record that Lombardi has certainly demands the respect of those in the professional football field. It is nice that he can step out when he, his team and his town are on the top of the football world."...Hank Stram, Kansas City coach: "His retirement is a great loss to the coaching profession and football in general."...Tom Fears, coach of the New Orleans Saints and former assistant under Lombardi at Green Bay: "We have lost a great man from the coaching ranks. I don't know of anyone who has contributed more and who has put professional football at its present status than him. Personally, I think very much of Vince Lombardi. He is cunning, astute, firm, fair and, above all, successful. In the years I coached under him, he was a great teacher. I would feel my football education would have been short had I not coached under him. I consider that experience a postgraduate course in coaching."

VINCE RETIRED TOO SOON? PERHAPS, BUT TIMING WAS MASTERFUL

FEB 4 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - There is, at first thought, the inclination to agree with venerable George Halas, who contends that Vince Lombardi's retirement from coaching is premature. Certainly, it appears, the ex-Block of Granite could continue to guide the Packers' on-the-field destinies for years to come. A man of great physical vitality, he obviously enjoyed the daily practice regimen, which he conducted on a rigid time schedule and with considerable gusto. And, had it not been that he also must function as the Packers' general manager, a complex and demanding role in itself, Lombardi perhaps would have to come to a different decision at this stage of his lustrous career. From the standpoint of history, however, his exit was masterfully timed. Although there have been somewhat comparable situations through the years, Frank Leahy and Red Blaik for pertinent example, no football coach ever has retired on a more lofty plateau or as a more dominant figure in his profession. Not even Notre Dame's immortal Knute Rockne, whose stature was unquestionably enhanced by the fact he died tragically in a plane crash at the height of his career, enjoyed a greater pre-eminence on the national sports scene. Lombardi's retirement at this point is, of course, another example of the personal discipline which has contributed mightily to his success. The temptation to continue, to seek yet another championship, must have been all but overpowering. Halas himself was unable to resist it - after directing his beloved Bears to an eighth world championship in 1963 at the age of 69, which obviously would have been an ideal time for Papa Bear to call it a career. This consideration does not appear to have been a factor in Lombardi's decision, which he first hinted at more than a year ago, but the fact remains he now will occupy a unique niche in the history of sports - a legend in his own time. Who else has bowed out after winning three consecutive major league championships, a truly incredible parlay, and two successive world titles?...Packer quarterback Bart Starr, just back from a tour of Army bases in Japan, Saturday expressed regret over Lombardi's departure from the coaching ranks. "You hate to see a man of Coach Lombardi's position and reputation get out of the game," Starr, who has attributed much of his success to the dynamic Fordham alumnus, declared, "because he's contributed so much and given so much of himself. But I think we all have felt he would not have done it without thorough consideration...Knowing him as I do, I know he would not content to let things to slip away from his as general manager, with the possibility they would reflect the image he would not want the club to have. As I have said many times, before, playing for him has been the greatest experience of my life. At the same time, I'm really looking forward to playing for Coach Bengtson. I think he has a tremendous football mind and, I am sure, all of the players have a great respect for him." Starr, who spent ten days touring Army camps in the Tokyo area, said the trip had "a very educational experience...very interesting. I saw some pretty bad cases...somebody shot all to pieces, or in a cast, or badly burned...But the kids were just in excellent attitude...We saw very few whose attitudes were not what they should be. It makes you so proud to be an American...They're all so young...19, 20 and 21...They were just unbelievable."

VINCE HAS TOUGH TIME EXPLAINING RETIREMENT TO FATHER

FEB 5 (Pittsburgh) - Harry Lombardi wanted his son, Vince, to coach forever. He could not understand why Vince stepped down as head coach of the world championship Green Bay Packers. And he was keenly disappointed. "For what have you give up coaching," Vince Lombardi said his 83-year-old father asked him when he announced his resignation. Lombardi, in Pittsburgh Sunday night for the Dapper Dan dinner, said he tried to explain to his father - in the same manner as any son would. But he said he did not do a very good job. "Dad wanted me to stay on forever as coach of the Packers," Lombardi said. "He thinks that coaching the Packers is the greatest position going. And I agree with him." Vince said he told his dad he gave up the coaching end of his dual duties as coach and general manager because both jobs, with their administrative duties, were too taxing. "It was an emotional decision, my giving up the coaching position," said Lombardi, who turned over the job to long-time assistant Phil Bengtson after nine years at the helm. "After all, I have been in football as a coach for a long time, and you don't just give up and quit without giving it plenty of sincere thought," he said. "But the Packers will go on. No one man is that important that the team's success can't continue," he said. Lombardi stressed he will stay in the front office. "I'm going to sit in the press box and enjoy the games," Lombardi said. "I definitely will not go down on the field. The job now belongs to Phil. He's been with me for nine years, and I know he will go the job." But Lombardi figures to have little idle time on his hands. He says he'll be just as busy. "Don't forget all the front office responsibilities are mine alone," he said. "There's more than enough work for one man. I will have to handle all of the contracts the club will make with the signing of players, trades, making of schedules, television and radio arrangements and attending the various regular league meetings and the interleague confabs with the AFL concerning the 1970 merger." But Lombardi says the toughest job is over - telling his dad he was giving up coaching.

PHIL - WE'RE ALL BEHIND YOU

FEB 6 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Dear Coach: Are you beginning to feel a little lost on that spot? I mean, can you feel the wadding in your shoes you are filling? I'm sure you must know what I'm talking about. Every word that is written about Vince Lombardi's retirement, about fabulous record expands that spot and calls for more wadding. It's nobody's fault, of course. It's just a fact. It's part of the game. You accepted the spot; you accepted those shoes when you accepted the job. While it's doubtful if the words about Lombardi's accomplishments will stop flowing for some time, I hope they do. For your sake, I hope they do. Rather than talk about Lombardi and the past, I hope we all begin talking about you and the future...NO BETTER CHOICE:  I think I can speak for all the folks here in Packerland and say that we feel no better choice could have been made for the head coaching position. Over the years, you have done such a remarkable job with the defense that every one of us has been filled 100 percent with confidence in the defense. And, as I understand it, you had full control of the defense. I mean full control. The record speaks for itself. Now, of course, you will be concentrating only on defense. It seems to be traditional for head coaches to be more concerned with offense. I don't really understand why...but it seems to be that way. You have said yourself that you will have to study up on offense and that you hope one of your assistants will eventually take over the defense...NOT WORRIED ON DEFENSE: This has stirred some concern that the defense under anybody else might not be quite the defense we have known. Well, I'm not worried about that. And as for your knowledge of the offense, I'm equally sure we have nothing to worry about. What was it somebody said: The best offense is a good defense....or was it the best defense is a good offense. It doesn't make any difference which is which because if anybody should know how to attack a defense, it should be you. All that expertise on defense should be just the ticket for a good offense. All we have to do is take a look at Tom Landry, the Dallas coach. He was the defensive genius with the old Giants. Now his offense is considered one of the strongest and most explosive in the league. So what I'm trying to say, Coach, is that anytime you seem to have trouble getting off that spot or anytime you stumble in those big shoes, just remember, we're all behind you. We KNOW that the day will come when that spot will shrink to nothing and you feel will grow into those shoes. We're behind you all the way...Best of luck.

STARR TOUCHED BY 'AMAZING ATTITUDE' OF WOUNDED GIS

FEB 7 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Bart Starr, one of the planet's great gentlemen, is neither a hawk nor a dove. After talking with thousands of wounded Vietnam veterans on a visit to Japan, however, he finds it difficult to appreciate those members of the younger generation who burn their draft cards or demonstrate against the war. The Packers' peerless field general, who returned last weekend from an eight-day tour of six military hospitals in the Tokyo area, came away profoundly impressed by the courage and dedication of the nation's fighting forces. "We (Bart, the Detroit Lions' Wayne Walker, Ernie Green of the Cleveland Browns and the San Diego Chargers' Lance Alworth) visited several thousand people and I met only two or three - I mean literally two or three - who felt we shouldn't be in Vietnam," Bart reported...AMAZING ATTITUDE: "Everyone else we saw had done his best to serve his country  in the best way we knew how...Everyone else felt that it was a commitment we were obligated to honor, and that is was better to fight there than perhaps having to do so closer to our own shores later on." Starr was particularly touched, he said, by the "amazing attitude" of the most seriously wounded. "We met one or two who were literally burned from head to toe...Those who arranged the tour weren't going to let us go into their ward because they looked so gruesome, but two of them heard we were going through the hospital and they came out to see us. If you could see how they accepted what had happened to them, it would make you almost want to cry...They were able to laugh and joke about it."...WHITE LIGHTNING: "They had some preparation put on their bodies that they called white lightning. The first time it is put on, they explained, it burns for eight hours, the second time for about five hours, the third time for about three hours and so on until it no longer burns when it is applied. Each one is normally given a shot for pain after the application. One of those two burn cases told me, 'I was hurting so after they put it on me the first time, I couldn't get a word out. The guy on the next grunted and they gave him the shot.' And," Bart added, shaking his head in wonder, "he's telling this to us and laughing about it."...ARM BLOWN OFF: "There was another boy from South Milwaukee who had his left arm blown almost off in a helicopter action...it was hanging only by the ligaments. Several of the people in the helicopter were more seriously wounded than he was, so he tucked the shattered arm into his belt and dragged them away. He got them to cover about dark. They were in a rice paddy and, as I understand it, it began to fill up with water and his buddies were in danger of drowning, so with one arm, he dragged 'em across the rice paddy and leaned up against a dike. He had just finished this when he saw three Viet Cong came over the wall of the dike. Fortunately, he had just put a new clip in his machine gun, so he shot them point blank - he said he just cut them in half."...REAL GOOD FIGHTERS: "He was given the Distinguished Service Cross for it...And, if you could see this boy's attitude," Starr said with fervor, "you would be amazed. He just looks upon it as the part he had to play in the overall operation. One sergeant who had been through the Korean War as well as this one told me, 'These kids are real good fighters. They get shot at a few times, and they really go after 'em...You'd be real proud of these young boys.' I asked one Marine who got shot up and was going home if he was happy to be going. He said, 'Yes, but I'll be back...They were dropping mortar shells on the hospital I was in. Anybody who does that, I want a piece of them.'" "I could see in his eyes," Bart appended, "that he meant it. Another Marine who was paralyzed from head to toe told me, 'I'm not in a very good position now, but I'll walk again.'...SICK TO STOMACH: "When you see things like that - these tremendous guys fighting so we can continue to enjoy our way of life - it irritates you to see these pseudo-intellectuals running around burning their draft cards," Starr declared. "Sure, nobody wants the war, and everybody wants to see it end as soon as possible, but we're in it and we have to do the best we can. Seeing these demonstrations, after seeing things like that, it just makes you sick to your stomach. They have a right to do what they want to do, but I can't appreciate their attitude. We have many rights and freedoms, but the whole basis of those rights and freedoms stems from the philosophies this nation this was built on. And along with those rights go certain responsibilities, which means you have to die some time for those beliefs. I haven't died, of course, and I'm sure someone who has lost a son might take me to task for saying this - and perhaps rightly so," Mr. Quarterback admitted, "but these demonstrators irritate me. Of course, I guess a majority always make the most noise." The enemy, Starr learned, is both savage and ingenious. "A very large percentage of the wounds is from booby traps," he said. "The Viet Cong have such an ingenuity, our guys told me. They actually build these booby traps - they make homemade bombs. They'll take a 50-gallon barrel and coat the bottom with wax, then fill it with anything they can get - nails, glass, rocks, anything. And if they go off, they cut you all to pieces." The Yanks' pursuit of the war is compounded, he also discovered, by the fact the enemy "is just like an animal...They have no way of taking care of the wounded, so they just don't take any wounded - they kill everybody. Our boys felt we're being too nice, that too many restrictions are placed upon them. A Marine told me the Viet Cong are never found where the South Korean troops are. He said if you're near a South Korean group, you've got it made. You won't see any Viet Cong because the South Koreans are just like the Viet Cong, they kill everybody." There also, frequently, is confusion over who the enemy is. "Some of these people might be working in the fields around you during the day and then get their homemade equipment out at night and be fighting you. Then they go back home, put their equipment away and are back working the fields the next day." As a result, Bart confided, "It's a real team effort for our forces - they take care of you. They all told me that. If you're new, they teach you the ropes real fast. 'You couldn't survive without buddies,' they say. As far as the South Vietnamese are concerned, it's a long and somewhat discouraging educational process - our boys are trying to teach them honor and integrity. You may fight alongside a South Vietnamese at one point and later he will steal all your equipment. But our men feel they are making a little progress. To illustrate the point, one of them told me his group was fighting one day, and a little girl was caught in the middle of the fire. She got hit and a lieutenant went out to rescue her and was seriously wounded himself. They got her out of there - she was a very young girl, perhaps 8 or 9 - and to a hospital. She didn't say anything for several hours. Finally, she asked, through an interpreter, how the lieutenant was. They told her he had died. She still didn't say much - the Vietnamese have gotten hardened to death and destruction - but a little later tears started to trickle down her cheeks. She said, 'I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to thank him. I wanted to stay alive long enough to find out how here was.' And then she died."

HIGHLAND AVE. RENAMED BY CITY IN LOMBARDI'S HONOR

FEB 7 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Green Bay City Council honored retired Packer Coach Vincent T. Lombardi by voting to change the name of Highland Avenue to Lombardi Avenue Tuesday night. The name change will become effective about Aug. 1, to allow residents and businesses to make the address changes gradually. The resolution, passed unanimously, said, "He has richly earned the plaudits and gratitude of the city and is highly deserving of being signally honored by having his name perpetuated in this community." Highland Avenue runs from South Broadway, past Lambeau Field, to Military Avenue.

NO TELLING ABOUT DRAFTEES

FEB 7 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - How many rookies can be expected to crash the world champion Packers' roster in '68? "Nine or ten," said balding Albert (Pat) Peppler, a droll fellow who is a master of the deadpan delivery, tongue-in-cheekly when asked this question during Tuesday's Mike and Pen Sports Club luncheon at the Beaumont Motor Inn. Then, switching the pitch, the Pack's personnel director rolled a big, greenish-brown cigar in his left hand and seriously observed, "There's no way of saying. Five made it last year - Bob Hyland, Travis Williams, Jim Flanigan, John Rowser and Don Horn - and seven, I believe, the year before." The important thing, said Pat, called upon to assess the quality of last week's selections, is "more the circumstances on your club than the way you've gone in the draft. You could pick a lot of good people and have a lot of 'em not make it. There is a certain amount of luck involved when a fourth or fifth choice does an outstanding job. The Travis Williams thing - which luck has to enter into it - is a pretty good example. He was a fourth choice and did a great job for us. It really doesn't matter if you miss on four or five guys if you get one in that position who is outstanding for you."...CARR HAS OUTSIDE CHANCE: Turning to the current crop, he facetiously observed, "Carr (No. 1 choice Fred of Texas-El Paso) has an outside chance...and there's Lueck (No. 2 choice Bill of Arizona). Phil (Head Coach Phil Bengtson) couldn't find him for a while when he was in Arizona over the weekend," Pat noted with a puckish smile, "because he couldn't pronounce his name. It's pronounced 'Luke.' This boy looks a lot like Flanigan, Phil tells me. He's 6-3 and 243 right now, so you would have to say he looks like a football player at this point. Last season was his first at guard. His first year in college, he played fullback and the following year he was used at both tackle and linebacker. Our area scout said he was the best offensive lineman in the area. And from the films we saw, he does a lot of things well." This last prompted Peppler to append, "There is a great chance for young offensive linemen with us. We have old people in our offensive line, although as one opposing coach says, there's not old enough. That's the obvious place to get ready."...LINE NOT OLD ENOUGH: "Other than that, we don't have much of an age problem. We have two young fellows in our defensive line (Jim Weatherwax and Bob Brown), a relatively young secondary, several young running backs and we don't have any real age in our flankers." There is a possibility, the amiable Michigan State alumnus admitted, that Carr, whom he termed a "great athlete," will emerge as a tight end. "He played only linebacker in college, so anything else is just a projection. But he has size and speed and, from what we've seen of him, he does have fine hands. From there, whether he is a tight end is hard to say. It is, of course, probably the position where we're shallowest right now. Allen Brown, who has been playing behind Marv Fleming, has been injured; we don't know what his status is at this point. He hasn't been ruled out of football, but I suppose there is some question in his mind (Brown's spleen had to be removed following injuries in the Pack's regular season finale against Pittsburgh) about returning and, of course, there probably is in ours, too. Somebody also will have to come along at flanker. It could be Dunaway (Dave) or Claudis James (both members of the taxi squad last season). Or it could be Robinson (John), Geiselman (Frank) or Farler (John)." Robinson, of Tennessee A&I, was the Pack's second choice in the fourth round, while Geiselman and Faler were tabbed in the 13th and 14th rounds, respectively. "As far as retirements are concerned, I don't think there will be too many," Peppler said. "Max McGee has announced his, I guess, but I don't know of anyone else at the moment." The coaching change, he said, is not likely to have any effect in this area. "The approach will be pretty much the same as it has been. If somebody had come in from the outside, it might have made a difference. Most of them want to play as long as they can do well."

VINCE-JET RUMOR DIES HARD

FEB 9 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Some rumors, it appears, die hard. Like the one, launched in a national magazine several months ago, that Vince Lombardi would leave the Packers this year to become head coach and general manager of the New York Jets. Inevitably, this item came up for discussion in the wake of the ex-Block of Granite's announcement last week that he was retiring as head coach to devote his energies exclusively to his manifold duties as GM. When the question was posed, Lombardi made no attempt to evade it. "No one has talked to me seriously about going any other place," he declared during the informal press conference following his emotion-filled announcement. "There's been a lot of scuttlebutt around," Vince added with a smile, "but no one has come to me...I don't know I can put it any more plainly than that." At least one skeptic remains, however. Morris Siegel, veteran Washington Evening Star columnist, is convinced Lombardi will leave Green Bay for the Jets, but he has revised the timetable. "I find it hard to believe that Vince Lombardi is finished as a football coach," he observed in a recent issue, "except, naturally, at Green Bay. Even in Packertown, he is through just technically. St. Vincent is not one to stand on formality. If the Pack ever gets in a rut, which is hopeful thinking, don't think Lombardi won't climb out of his general manager's office and let successor Phil Bengtson know what's wrong. Coaching football never got to Lombardi's gut, as it does to his contemporaries. It's an awfully tough game but it must be remembered Lombardi is an awfully tough man. They will find it almost impossible to contain this man once the game begins next fall," Siegel predicted. "He'll miss every moment of anguish and every second of that wonderful exhilaration that accompanies Packer victories. It's part of him. His predictable exit from the Packer coaching department has all the trappings of a buildup to further conquest, way east of Green Bay, however. For this Brooklyn-born, nice, wise tough man there is no place except New York. Despite the many denials, I still believe Lombardi eventually will wind up in the driver's seat at Shea Stadium running the Jets but really running 'em. It says here in my future book that Vince will wind up as part owner and fulltime coach and general manager of Joe Namath & Co. one of these days." This prediction, of course, flies in the face of Lombardi's declaration, at the time of his retirement press conference, that his coaching days are over. Asked if his announcement meant he was committed to not coaching again, Lombardi replied without hesitation, "Yes, it does." Continuing his forecast, Siegel said, "His exit from Titletown, U.S.A., will be gradual, starting with his resignation as coach. He could be waiting for 1970 to make it official. This is the year the merger, using the term loosely, between the NFL and AFL becomes formally sanctified and binding. It could also be the year when Lombardi checks in his snowshoes and checks into the Jet high command, itching to lend his talents to establish parity for the AFL. This course of events would be a great boon to pro football, generally, even in Green Bay, where obviously they would hate to see their hero go. Nothing since NBC whipped out its TV bankroll and saved the AFL from certain collapse could be bigger and healthier for that 'other league' than listing Lombardi as one of its members. Its reputation, to say nothing of its ability, would escalate a million fold. Only a Lombardi could do it. By that time there could be little for the Green Bay residents to protest. He gave them his best, raised the Packers from abysmal decline to unprecedented prominence. He will be missed more as a coach than as a general manager, although he is no second-division donkey in this phase of the operation either. I honestly believe Lombardi wanted to make the Jet move immediately but was held back by a firm moral commitment. In Lombardi's book this is mighty important, something his players learn quickly or they don't stay. But two years from now whatever moral commitment Lombardi had at Green Bay no longer will exist."

BENGTSON NOT FOLLOWING ACT, HE'S BEEN PART OF IT, HANNER EMPHASIZES

FEB 11 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The nation's sportswriters, as expected, have expended thousands of words in comment on the Packers' recent and historic coaching changeover. It has remained, however, for Joel David Hammer, the Pack's mountainous defensive line coach, to come up with a pithy, yet penetrating appraisal of the history development. Without exception, the pro football experts have predictably noted, with unassailable logic, that Phil Bengtson has " a tough act to follow" in succeeding Vince Lombardi as head coach of the world champions. When a scribe suggested this to Hanner, however, the ruddy-cheeked former Packer great took amiable but positive issue with the premise. "Phil is not following," Dave was quick to point out, "He's been a part of it all along - ever since Coach Lombardi came to Green Bay...He's not following." "I'm sure the leadership is going to be great. And I hope," he added, speaking for himself and his fellow aides, "the coaching is going to be great...I'm sure everybody will give a little extra. I know the players, as well as the coaches, have all the respect in the world for Coach Bengtson." Taking an overall view of the situation, Hanner observed, "As far as leadership is concerned, Coach Lombardi is still going to be here - he's still going to head of the organization and I'm sure he's going to have a lot of influence on the personnel." A sentimental citizen beneath that massive exterior, Dave soberly appended, "It's going to be hard enough that he's not going to be on the field." Groping for the phrase to describe his feelings, the former all-pro tackle said, "It's hard to put in words..." Later, comparing Lombardi and his new field boss, Hanner said, "I think he and Coach Phil are a lot alike. They think a lot alike. They say the old man was tough and hard - and he is - but he's also as softhearted as anyone you ever saw...He forces himself to be tough. As far as that's concerned, Phil can be as tough as anybody, if the occasion arises where he has to. Nobody will take advantage of him. Another thing about Phil - he's cool. He doesn't get excited." Summing up his appraisal, Dave said, "I think we lost the greatest coach in America, and it's going to be hard to get used to being without him...But I think we gained the second best, with the potential to be as good."

STARR HAS HIS DAY

FEB 14 (Tuscaloosa, AL) - Bart Starr, football's premier quarterback, returned Tuesday to Tuscaloosa for the first time since he left 12 years ago with "a bitter taste" in his mouth. This was Bart Starr day in Alabama, and the leader of the world champion Green Bay Packers put in a busy day speaking to various groups, holding a news conference, appearing at a public reception, and visiting the Boys Club of Tuscaloosa. He ended his day by addressing the Tuscaloosa Quarterback Club at its awards banquet honoring the Alabama football team...CERTIFICATE TO HOMAN: At the banquet, an All-American certificate was presented to Alabama end Dennis Homan by Bill Lumkpkin of the Birmingham Post-Herald, this state's member of the AP All-America Advisory Board last fall. Dr. Pat Trammell, quarterback of Alabama's first national championship team in 1961, presented permanent team captain awards to quarterback Ken Stabler for offense and defensive halfback Bobby Johns for defense. Starr said, "I had a wonderful four years at Alabama. I received a good education. It was the best four years I ever spent despite a poor football record. I had the distinction of playing on the first Alabama team that didn't win a game. I don't mind admitting that I left here with a bitter taste in my mouth. But since then, it's been a great source of satisfaction to look at Alabama's success under Coach Paul Bryant in recent years."...COMPARES BRYANT, LOMBARDI: Starr added that he would compare his coach, Vince Lombardi, with Bryant. "Both are very sound. They are good coaches, and they are successful," he said. He said he foresees no major changes in the Green Bay team under Coach Phil Bengtson who has succeeded Lombardi as coach. Starr was asked what the team was thinking when it began its game winning drive against Dallas that gave the Packers the NFL title last season. "We had a goal since last July of winning three straight NFL championship because no other team had ever done it," Starr said. "That's what we were thinking when we began the drive." On the game winning play, when Starr went into the end zone on a keeper, he said he told his teammates in the huddle, "We'd better damn well score this time."...ALMOST CHOOSE KENTUCKY: Starr said that when he finished high school in Montgomery, he came close to going to Kentucky instead of Alabama. "Bryant was there, and I had it in my mind I was going there." But he said his fiancé went to Auburn and he didn't want to be that far away from here. Starr just returned from a tour of U.S. military hospitals in the Far East, where he visited hundreds of wounded servicemen. "I was never prouder to be an American than I was during that tour. I left feeling 10 feet tall." Starr was non-committal when a newsman mentioned that he might be considered as Alabama's next coach when Bryant retires.

JERRY BURNS LEAVES PACKERS FOR VIKINGS

FEB 19 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Jerry Burns, Packer defensive backfield coach the last two years, resigned today to become offensive coach of the Minnesota Vikings. The 41-year-old Burns, former head coach at the University of Iowa, was introduced in his new role at a press luncheon in Minneapolis this noon. The move reunites Burns with Bud Grant, a longtime close personal friend, who is beginning his second year as head coach of the Vikings. They previously worked together for five years in Canada, where Grant coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, a span during which Burns installed the Iowa offense for the Bombers. Packer General Manager Vince Lombardi, currently attending the NFL's annual meeting in New York, is expected to announce a replacement within a short time, Publicity Director Chuck Lane reported. Burns, who served as head coach at Iowa for five years before joining the Packers, made a successful debut with the Packers in 1966, a season which saw the world champions' defensive backs tie a league record with 6 touchdown runbacks of interceptions and lead the NFL in both yardage on interceptions as well as fewest TDs permitted passing. A native of Detroit, Burns graduated from the University of Michigan, where he quarterbacked the Rose Bowl team of 1950. He later coached at the University of Hawaii and Whittier, Calif., College before returning to Detroit to coach at Redford High School, where he was named area "coach of the year" in 1953. He joined the Iowa staff in 1954, coaching freshman football before becoming backfield coach in 1959...Elsewhere on the Packer front over the weekend, No. 1 draft choice Fred Carr of University of Texas-El Paso paid his first visit to Green Bay for contract discussions with Head Coach Phil Bengtson, but no agreement was reached.

ROBINSON LOOKS FORWARD TO SUCCEEDING OLD BOSS
FEB 20 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Wayne Robinson, a one-time Packer rival, is openly delighted to be succeeding his old boss on the world champions' coaching staff. "I'm very much looking forward to it," Robinson confided today via long distance telephone from Houston, "because of the opportunity - knowing the Packer defense is the finest in football and that Phil Bengtson is a tremendous teacher...I've respected him for a long time." The 38-year-old former Philadelphia Eagle, who has been linebacker coach of the AFL's Houston Oilers the last two years, also noted there is "a little irony" in the fact that he is replacing Jerry Burns, the man he previously served under at the University of Iowa...MAKES PACKER HISTORY: Burns, the Packers' defensive backfield coach since '66, resigned Monday to become overall offensive coach with the Minnesota Vikings for Bud Grant, a longtime close personal friend of the ex-Hawkeye coach. Some Packer history was made with the addition of Robinson, whose signing was announced by General Manager Vince Lombardi from New York, where is attending the NFL's annual meeting. Wayne, who once starred at the University of Minnesota, is the first AFL-grown coaching aide ever to become an assistant with the Packers, whose only prior contact with the junior league had been in the Super Bowl...DEFENSE KEY TO TITLE: The new Packer aide joined the Oiler brain trust in '66, the same year Wally Lemm returned to Houston as head coach. The Oilers finished last in Robinson's first season, but in '67 they rebounded to win the AFL's Eastern Division championship, and their defense was rated a prime factor in the title drive. Although it may be assumed that Robinson had first heard of the Packer opening from Burns, such was not the case. "I knew nothing of it until Coach Bengtson called one day last week and asked me if I would be interested," Wayne reported, "and if I would come up for a visit." He doesn't expect to change in responsibility, from linebacker with Houston to the secondary with the Packers, to present any difficulties, he said...COACHED JETER: "I coached defensive backs before," the articulate Minneapolis native said, "so it's not new to me...And I've also had charge of the overall defense elsewhere. I coached Bob Jeter, I might add - I had him up in Vancouver when I was coaching in Canada. He played offense primarily there, but when we got into a tight situation, we put him in there on defense...He was a strong tackler." Robinson began his coaching career in the Canadian League at Winnipeg, where he assisted Bud Grant with the Blue Bombers in 1957 and '58 - following his retirement from pro football after five seasons with the Eagles...COACHED B.C. LIONS: He left Winnipeg in '59 to become head coach of the British Columbia Lions. Following the '60 season at Vancouver, he was out of coaching for three years, a period in which he served as enrollment director of the Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation. Robinson returned to football as assistant to Burns at Iowa, then joined the Oiler staff two years later. Wayne, who succeeded the Immortal Clayton Tonnemaker at middle linebacker with Minnesota' Gophers in 1951, won all-Western Conference and all-Midwest honors as a senior and captained the East team in the 1952 Shrine game. Married and the father of three children (Roseann, John and Jill), Robinson expects to officially join the Packer staff next week "so I'll have time to spend with Dave Hanner and Phil Bengtson before the annual spring scouting tour, which begins the first week in March. I won't move my family up, however, until the children are out of school in June."