1982 IN REVIEW

A 57-day strike by the NFL players shortened the 1982 season to nine games. At the end of the abbreviated season, Green Bay rolled into the playoffs with a 5-3-1 record, good for third in the NFC. It was their first playoff berth since 1972. The union called for a strike immediately following the Packers' Monday night win over the New York Giants on September 20. At that point, Green Bay was 2-0, having opened the season with a record-setting come-from-behind win. Trailing the Rams 23-0 at the half, the Packers scored 35 unanswered points to win. There were changes on the coaching staff, as Bob Schnelker was named offensive coordinator in February. Schnelker had been a Packer assistant from 1965-1971. Assistant coach Zeke Bratkowski left to become the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Colts. There were also changes in the front office. Packer President Dominic Olejniczak, who had been in office since 1958, was replaced in May by Judge Robert Parins, the eighth president in team history. In the playoffs, Green Bay would crush St.Louis, then lose a heartbreaker to Dallas in the NFC Semifinals.

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THE PLAYER'S ALL-STAR SEASON (P.A.S.S.)

Green Bay LB Jim Laslavic is the answer to one of the toughest trivia questions in history. Who was the only Packer to take part in the NFL Players' Association All-Star Games held during the 1982 strike? Laslavic, who was acquired off waivers from San Diego on September 14, is the only answer. The linebacker had played five years with Detroit after being picked in the third round of the 1973 draft. He was traded to the Chargers in 1978. Following the start of the player's strike, the NFLPA announced plans to host a series of All-Star games to fill the void. The NFL immediately tried to crush those plans, but, on October 6, federal judge John Penn declined to issue an immediate injunction against the all-star games, so the new league could commence operations pending a review of Penn's judgment. The PASS league, as it was known, signed a television contract with Ted Turner, and scheduled 19 games, with teams being made up of all-stars from each division. In the first replacement contest set for Sunday October 17 in Washington, the National East would host American East. The new league had everything – big league players with guaranteed paychecks, equipment, a TV contract, major league stadiums. All it needed now was fans.  RFK Stadium had 55,000 seats. The union hoped to sell 30,000 tickets, but fewer than 5,000 fans were willing to pay $8 to $15 for a seat. Mark Moseley booted a 45 yarder to win the game for the National East, 23-22. The second game on October 18 was a disaster. Tickets to the Los Angeles Coliseum were priced from $6 to $12, but only 680 fans paid to get in. Even a ticket giveaway brought a crowd of only 3,000 in the 90,000 seat stadium. To save money, the league left the scoreboard clock dark. The bigger issue, though, was players. The American West and National West teams were short of players, so participants were brought in from all over the country. Among those was Laslavic. The American West won 31-27. Ted Turner lost an estimated $500,000 in making the games possible, but was ready to continue. Games were scheduled for Toronto and Atlanta, but the league was apparently down to four teams, no National Central or American Central. The league died on October 20, when a three judge panel of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Penn by a 2-1 vote and held that the NFL was not limited to a single federal court in suing players. The union could not afford to take on 28 teams in federal courts across the nation, and cancelled the remainder of the schedule. The Players' AII-Star Season was history after playing two games.