The 1977 Green Bay Packers - 4-10 (4TH - Central Division)

Head Coach: Bart Starr

1977 PRE-SEASON RESULTS (2-4)

                                                                                                                                                               OFF     DEF

AUGUST (1-3)                              RESULT    RECORD    ATT RSH PSS RSH PSS STARTING QB         LEADING RUSHER           LEADING PASSER         LEADING RECEIVER

6  G-CINCINNATI BENGALS                  W 23-20    1- 0-0 51,178                 Lynn Dickey         Barty Smith (36)         Lynn Dickey (147)      John Brockington (5-26)

13 M-NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS                L  3-38    1- 1-0 53,244                 Lynn Dickey         Terdell Middleton (19)   Lynn Dickey (47)       Terdell Middleton (3-31)

20 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers               L  7-10    1- 2-0 49,045                 Lynn Dickey         Terdell Middleton (25)   Randy Johnson (70)     Willard Harrell (4-11)

27 M-WASHINGTON REDSKINS                 L  9-13    1- 3-0 55,021                 Lynn Dickey         Nate Simpson (38)        Lynn Dickey (91)       Nate Simpson (3-9)

SEPTEMBER (1-1)

3  G-CLEVELAND BROWNS                    L 14-19    1- 4-0 53,180                 Lynn Dickey         Terdell Middleton (19)   Lynn Dickey (153)      Steve Odom (3-61)

9  G-PHILADELPHIA EAGLES                 W 24-16    2- 4-0 32,217                 Lynn Dickey         John Brockington (40)    Lynn Dickey (119)      Ollie Smith (2-61)

1977 REGULAR SEASON RESULTS

SEPTEMBER (1-1)

18 at New Orleans Saints (0-0)           W 24-20    1- 0-0 56,250  81 123 153 162 Lynn Dickey         Eric Torkelson (27)      Lynn Dickey (142)      Ken Payne (3-71)

25 G-HOUSTON OILERS (1-0)                L 10-16    1- 1-0 55,071  95 184  90 137 Lynn Dickey         Eric Torkelson (55)      Lynn Dickey (193)      Barty Smith (7-66)

OCTOBER (1-4)

2  at Minnesota Vikings (1-1)            L  7-19    1- 2-0 47,143  81 127 194 131 Lynn Dickey         Eric Torkelson (34)      Lynn Dickey (143)      Randy Vataha (2-20)

9  M-CINCINNATI BENGALS (1-2)            L  7-17    1- 3-0 53,653 112 115 159 174 Lynn Dickey         Barty Smith (53)         Lynn Dickey (115)      Barty Smith (3-30)

16 at Detroit Lions (2-2)                L  6-10    1- 4-0 78,452  67  82 133 129 Lynn Dickey         Barty Smith (35)         Lynn Dickey (127)      Randy Vataha (2-36)

23 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-5)         W 13- 0    2- 4-0 47,635 125  93  75 113 Lynn Dickey         Eric Torkelson (73)      Lynn Dickey (115)      Eric Torkelson (3-23)

30 G-CHICAGO BEARS (2-4)                 L  0-26    2- 5-0 56,002 101  96 375  44 Lynn Dickey         Barty Smith (54)         Lynn Dickey (96)       Ollie Smith (3-57)

NOVEMBER (0-4)

6  at Kansas City Chiefs (1-6)           L 10-20    2- 6-0 62,687  84 115 177 124 Lynn Dickey         Terdell Middleton (49)   Lynn Dickey (139)      Steve Odom (6-80)

13 M-LOS ANGELES RAMS (5-3)              L  6-24    2- 7-0 52,948  93 246 190 146 Lynn Dickey         Terdell Middleton (36)   Lynn Dickey (276)      Willard Harrell (5-49)

21 at Washington Redskins (5-4)          L  9-10    2- 8-0 51,498  89 107 159  95 David Whitehurst    Nate Simpson (47)        David Whitehurst (140) Steve Odom (4-48)

27 G-MINNESOTA VIKINGS (6-3)             L  6-13    2- 9-0 56,267 108  61 158  60 David Whitehurst    Eric Torkelson (53)      David Whitehurst (75)  Ollie Smith (2-27)

DECEMBER (2-1)

4  G-DETROIT LIONS (5-6)                 W 10- 9    3- 9-0 56,267 164  65 100  95 David Whitehurst    Nate Simpson (76)        David Whitehurst (65)  Steve Odom (3-46)

11 at Chicago Bears (7-5)                L 10-21    3-10-0 33,557 161 115 234 114 David Whitehurst    Barty Smith (86)         David Whitehurst (89)  Nate Simpson (3-22)

18 M-SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (5-8)           W 16-14    4-10-0 44,902 103 219 117 195 David Whitehurst    Eric Torkelson (35)      David Whitehurst (219) Barty Smith (5-63)

G - Green Bay  M - Milwaukee * - Overtime

1977 IN REVIEW

The Packers' offense in 1977 was a throwback to the low scoring early years of pro football. Green Bay ranked 27th in total yards and 27th in rushing yards. It scored an average of one touchdown per game. Its 134 points were the team's worst output since 1949. With such an unproductive attack, the team was fortunate to finish 4-10. The offensive woes could be traced to the preseason. New England manhandled the Packers 38-3 in a game in which Bart Starr accused Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks of running up the score. Tampa Bay, the doormat of the league, embarrassed Green Bay 10-7 on August 20th. During the regular season, the Packers struggled with injuries and continued to be among the worst teams in the NFL. QBs Lynn Dickey and David Whitehurst combined to throw 21 interceptions while connecting on just six touchdown passes.

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LYNN DICKEY AND ALL THOSE INJURIES

To say Lynn Dickey never reached his full potential in the NFL due to injuries would be an understatement. Dickey's ailments combined to cost him more than three full seasons. And it started back in college. After a stellar career at Kansas State, Dickey was selected for the 1971 Senior Bowl. Trying to impress the scouts, he failed to warm up properly and began to throw hard. A sore arm sent him from a probable first-rounder to the third round, where the Oilers selected him after taking QB Dan Pastorini in the first round. After sitting on the bench his rookie year, Dickey had a chance to start in 1972, but, in a pre-season game against the Cardinals, he tried to scramble but was grabbed from behind by a Cardinal defender. Dickey's left hipbone popped out of its socket, breaking off a piece of the socket bone and tearing ligaments in the process. A hip specialist reattached the broken piece of socket bone with two screws, and he would return to the Oilers in 1973. He started for the Packers in 1976, until the 10th game when he separated his throwing shoulder and underwent surgery in which a screw was implanted in the joint. The operation itself was routine, but the incision became infected. The following season, Ram DT Larry Brooks crashed into him on the last play of a game on November 13.  Brooks's hit shattered the tibia and fibula in Dickey's left leg, leaving his left ankle pointed in at a 90-degree angle. Doctors operated, screwing a metal plate to the broken bones to secure them while they knitted. After several months the plate was removed, and Dickey tried to run again. He worked up to a mile a day, but the pain in his leg never slackened. There was nonunion of the bones. In effect, the leg was still broken. Dickey had to undergo yet another operation, one in which a metal rod was hammered like a railroad spike down through an opening just below his knee and into his tibia. The rod strengthened the bone, but it left Dickey with such acute tendinitis in his knee that he could barely jog. Dickey went so far as to interview for a job as a sporting-goods sales rep, but he quickly dropped the idea. After missing all but a few plays of 33 consecutive games, he hobbled back into the Packers' starting lineup in November of 1979. In 1980 the rod was removed from Dickey's leg—it was his seventh operation—and the tendinitis in his knee cleared up. After his return, Dickey's injuries became less severe, if not less painful. In 1980 he had tendinitis in his right shoulder, which at times prevented him from throwing in practice. In 1981 he missed three games after getting speared in the back by Detroit's William Gay. The following summer, the back acted up, and then came a massive migraine headache the week of the Houston game to open the 1983 season. All in all, Dickey showed perseverance and determination in putting together a decent NFL career. (SOURCE: Sports Illustrated)