But that was short-lived.

There are many reasons, but today’s Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame posting for “Today in Packers History” gives us a glimpse into one of them.

Maybe it was the sign of the times, but Devine surely couldn’t see what was ahead of him as far as ways of doing things in the NFL.

Take a look at the post and draw your own conclusions about Devine’s statements and consider how different the NFL would be today if coaches continued the policy espoused by Devine.

Packers Quarterbacks Find Their Calling

August 1, 1972 – Green Bay Packers coach Dan Devine stresses that play calling will remain the quarterback’s responsibility even with Bart Starr on board as the team’s quarterbacks coach.

“It’s not sound coaching,” Devine says about calling the game from the sidelines. “I’ve always believed that the quarterback will do a better job on his own. Eventually, I’d like our quarterbacks to be entirely on their own.”

Devine believes Starr will be of great value to his young quarterbacks: Scott Hunter (24), Frank Patrick (25), Jerry Tagge (22) and Charles Napper (23). “These players must be disciplined to study film and defenses, and there’s no better person to teach them than Bart,” Devine says.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Seneca Wallace (6) looks to throw during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Steelers won 13-9. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

Not every team in the NFL has a franchise quarterback.

Ok, MOST NFL teams don’t have a franchise quarterback.

They’re difficult to find and even more difficult to develop. Just ask the Minnesota Vikings, the Washington Redskins, the Oakland Raiders, and the Kansas City Chiefs, to name only a few.

Another team one could add to the list is the Cleveland Browns. Not only has this team never made it to the Super Bowl (though they have been close, right, John Elway?), this team has been void of a quarterback who had any chance of leading the Browns to the promised land.

With last night’s announcement that the Washington Redskins had given away the farm to trade for this year’s first round second pick that once was the St. Louis Rams’ there were many fans in the league whose hearts sunk and minds raged.

What you will see below is one of those fans. His rant speaks for itself and should be viewed, if not for the entertainment value, but to understand what it might be like if your favorite team probably had a shot at pulling off what the Redskins did last night.

Packers fans who live with the security of a healthy Aaron Rodgers and years of success into the future have a difficult time understanding. But remember, we have also gone through the decades of failure brought on by a trade that involved John Hadl; we have played on through the years that included Scott Hunter, Jerry Tagge, David Whitehurst, Anthony Dilweg, and Blair Kiel.

So, yeah, many of us can understand.

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