Willie Wood
Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame photograph

We all know that Ted Thompson is a pretty good evaluator of talent – it will be interesting if any of his finds in the undrafted ranks will stand the time like one who played with the Green Bay Packers 50 years ago.

You see, there was another pretty good evaluator of talent who spent some time managing and coaching the Packers – a guy by the name of Vince Lombardi.

While Thompson has brought in guys like Sam Shields and Dezman Moses as undrafted free agents, Lombardi also brought in a couple of guys who also made a difference with his teams.

One of them was a guy by the name of Willie Wood who went on to a Hall of Fame career. The other was another defender by the name of Emlen Tunnell. Though Tunnell played the bulk of his career with the New York Giants, he spent the last three seasons in Green Bay with Lombardi.

But it was Wood who was a major contributor to the Packers and their championship teams of the 1960s. Playing across the field from another Hall-of-Famer, Herb Adderley, Wood not only locked down receivers in the defensive backfield, but was also a punt returner extraordinaire. Heck, he even kicked an extra point in 1964 and tried a field goal – it was unsuccessful.

As a defender, Wood only returned two of his 48 interceptions during his 12-year career for touchdowns, but he returned those interceptions for a total of 699 yards.

As a punt returner, he fielded 187 kicks in 166 games, returning them 1,391 yards. He also had two returns for touchdowns and a 7.4 yard average per return. His best season was 1962 when he had a 16.1 yard average – it was also the season when he posted those two returns for touchdowns, the longest being 72 yards.

Wood was one of, if not the best free safeties in all of football during the 1960s. He was named to the All-NFL nine years straight and to the Pro-Bowl eight times. He was a champion – in all, he played in six championship games with the Packers and was a member of the winning team in all except the first when the Packers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1960.

He also had the distinction of playing in the first two Super Bowls against the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. In the first Super Bowl, it was his interception in the second half that helped seal the game for Green Bay. He also returned five punts in Super Bowl II. His 31-yard return was the longest in the game’s history until it was broken by Darrell Green, who returned a 34-yarders in Super Bowl XVIII.

Wood was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989

As published in wikipedia, here are Wood’s career highlights:

Here are his career statistics as published on pro-football-reference.com:

Here are all of the undrafted free agents who have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of fame:

Football legend and Hopkins County, Texas, native, Forrest Gregg, autographs copies of his new book, “Winning in the Trenches,” at a North Dallas book signing.
Photo courtesy of www.frontporchnewstexas.com

Forrest Gregg is a Pro Football Hall of Famer who doesn’t forget his past.

It’s his family, friends, and former colleagues and coaches who mean the most to him. In fact, those are the things in his life he cherishes. The championships were great and rank up there among his memories, but it’s his roots from where he draws his greatest strength.

Forrest Gregg was known for his intensity on the football field.
Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame photograph

And because of that, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate Insurance have teamed up to arrange for a gathering at his home hometown high school in Sulphur Springs, Texas, on Monday, April 8. Gregg will be honored at the high school as part of the “Hometown Hall of Famers,” a national program honoring the hometown roots of the sport’s greatest coaches, players, and contributors with special ceremonies and plaque dedication events.

“This is very special time for us – the whole family,” Gregg said in an interview with lombardiave.com. My daughter, Karen, is going to present me and we’ll have all those old friends there. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate Allstate and the Hall of Fame. I feel like this is an award not just for me, but for Sulphur Springs and Sulphur Springs High School and all the people I went to school with.”

Gregg, who resides now in Colorado Springs, Colo., has suffered the past couple of years with Parkinson’s disease, but one couldn’t tell from talking to him. He seems content and loves recalling the days from 50-plus years ago when his strength and endurance as a young man allowed him to play 16 seasons and 188 straight games with the Green Bay Packers.

Gregg is old school not just because that’s the way he was taught, it’s because that’s who he is. When describing where and how he grew up at a gathering to recognize his book, “Winning in the Trenches,” Gregg said,  ”I grew up in a small community, north of Sulphur Springs, that most of you don’t even know where it is. Birthright was 10 miles north of the county seat, Sulphur Springs … and at the time, Sulphur Springs had only about 6,000 people, and Birthright was ‘pushing it’ to have 250 or more, but you knew almost everyone.”

He remembered his high school days in Sulphur Springs when the coaches and teachers he worked with had such an instrumental role in determining his life’s passion. He remembered his coaches who challenged him and inspired him. There was Skinny Davis, the man who coached him in high school and helped convince him to attend Southern Methodist University from where he was selected in the second round by Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers – another coach who greatly influenced his life path.

When asked what he may have done with his life had he not gone into professional football, Gregg said, “I think about that and especially now I think about that – what I would have done. I think because I always admired the coaches and teachers that I had, I think maybe I would have been a school teacher and coach. I guess at the time I didn’t know I liked coaching, but that’s probably what I would have done.”

Forrest Gregg

And after thinking about that statement a moment, he said he realized that he had spent a great deal of time in the coaching ranks. Gregg started his pro coaching career in Cleveland with the Browns in 1975, where he stayed three years. He then moved on to the Cincinnati Bengals where he coached four years (1980-83). His best season with the Bengals was in 1981 when they won the AFC Championship and had it not been for the famous Joe Montana-led drive late in the Super Bowl, that team could have been world champions.

Gregg was hired in 1984 by the Green Bay Packers where he coached through 1987 before resigning and taking a job at SMU where he finished his coaching career.

As a player, Gregg is known as one of the best offensive lineman in the league’s history. Vince Lombardi called him the “finest” player he ever coached.

And he talks freely and openly about the respect and love he had for Lombardi – and especially the influences he had.

“First of all, I think the most influence he [Lombardi] had  … he always said three things were most important in life: you religion, your family and your job … those are your priorities, he told us. No question he made those priorities while he was with us in Green Bay. He lived by it,” Gregg said.

With that in mind, Gregg recalled an important day decades ago:

“The day I was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I really didn’t have a speech and I didn’t know what I was going to say until I got up there. It was a very emotional time for me. I said I was going to tell the people how I felt. But as I was riding in that parade and there were people yelling at you and you try to act like you’re not nervous … I saw my wife, my two children, and … I saw a friend of mine from high school, Bill Pogue, and Bill Forester a great linebacker at Green Bay … I saw those two guys and my family and that really touched me. When I made my speech that ‘s what I thought about – the people who are important. They were there for me.”

Among those people who have been so important to him were the players with whom toiled on the field of play.

Gino Marchetti

He remembered Gino Marchetti, the Baltimore Colts‘ defensive lineman who was the toughest player he lined up against. “Gino Marchetti – Baltimore Colts – maybe the purest pass rusher of all time. Marchetti was a great pass rusher who had strength, speed, and quickness and was also great against the run. There wasn’t one scond during a ball game against Gino Marchetti when you could relax. He was always in your face – always ready to come off the ball to make a tackle or sack the quarterback.”

He also singled out Deacon Jones of the Los Angeles Rams as another of the toughest players he lined up against, but said that Marchetti was the toughest.

But it was his own teammates that he thought highly of … they were the players he practiced against every day – the players who made him into the man he became.

“We had a lot of physical ball players. Willie Davis – an incredible man and player – and we had a guy by the name of Ray Nitschke [who] was a pretty tough guy …

“Playing and practicing against them – yes, absolutely. Whatever position they played, they made you better. Whether it was Bill Forester in the outside position and then there was Dave Robinson who came in … they maybe didn’t go 110 percent in practice like they would in the ball game, but they went all out and made you work harder and made you a better football player.”

Gregg also coached some pretty good players during his days in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Green Bay. But the best player he ever coached was another hall of famer that he drafted in the first round (3rd overall) of the 1980 NFL Draft - Anthony Munoz.

He recalled the day prior to the draft when he first met Munoz:

Anthony Munoz, a hall of famer drafted by Forrest Gregg, is the best player Gregg ever coached.

I went out to California before the draft and worked him out. There were some questions on well he could move [because he had knee surgery that offseason]. I kind of wanted to see how he would do. So, I was the defensive guy and I set up different situations so he could block me. I told him that I was going to rush the passer on third and nine. He set up on me and I did an inside move and then was going to do an outside move – he jammed me and knocked me right on my butt … I know that he thought, ‘there goes my chance in the draft.’”

Gregg was impressed and knew right away that Munoz was a special player – not only was he special, but Munoz joined Gregg in the Hall of Fame with his induction in 1998 after a 13-year career – all with Cincinnati and all at left tackle.

But Gregg didn’t forget all of the players he coached through the years, including Cris Collinsworth with the Bengals and James Lofton with the Packers -Lofton is also a hall of famer.

“That Lofton, he was pretty good, and so was Collinsworth. I  was just lucky to work with guys of that caliber.”

In talking about how the game has changed, especially the play of offensive linemen, Gregg said that two major rules have decidedly changed how the game is played today.

“The difference is that they have the ability to use their hands now. We couldn’t use your hands at all when I played. Now they can use their hands and on the other side of the ball the defensive linemen can no longer use the head slap against offensive linemen. I think that’s for the better – these rules have made the game better.”

And as far as the changes in the game that surround the amount of money involved, especially when it comes to player salaries, Gregg said, “That’s the times. The guys now – they play football well – there are great players in this league and I will never begrudge a player in making as much money as they can make. I made what I made and had the chance to play.”

Clearly, Gregg is pleased with what life has brought him – championships, friendships and a chance to be part of a football generation that made the game what it is today.

“It was a great time,” he said as he remembered the changes and influences he and his colleague’s brought about. “We saw a chance for a pension;  we saw two leagues come together to form one big league; and we saw quite a few rule changes that really made the game great. Those were great days.”

What he didn’t say was that it was his generation that set the game up for success. Bolstered by the influence of television and games being beamed into households across the country every Sunday made professional football not just a game, but a huge business – one of the biggest and most popular businesses in the world today.

But all that doesn’t mean much to Gregg as he gets set to go back to his roots Monday – to go back to his high school and to be honored by those from where he began.

It’s the people who matter most to him; the influences, his family, and those who have stood by him, in health and sickness.

Over the years, thousands and millions have said thanks to him.

On Monday, he gets to say thanks – and that pleases him more than anything.

Below are some videos of Gregg that may be of interest …

Dave Robinson has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If planning to attend the induction ceremony, you will want to visit the handy website mentioned in this blog post.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Last month, former Green Bay Packers linebacker Dave Robinson was one of two senior candidates finally elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Robinson, like Vince Lombardi-era  guard Jerry Kramer, was one of those important cogs of those 1960s  championship teams not inducted in the HOF.

Until this summer.

Robinson and Curly Culp, a defensive tackle with those dominant Hank Stram-coached Kansas City Chiefs teams from the 1960s, were the two senior members nominated and chosen to be inducted this summer.

Curly Culp
Pro Football Hall of Fame photograph

So, if you are a Packers fan looking to make a trip to the HOF induction ceremonies this coming August, you will want to head on over to the Pro Football Hall of Fame website where you will find one of the coolest pages devoted to visitors.

Everything you will want to know about visiting the Hall in Canton, Ohio, is located here. To plan a visit, you will find travel information, a place to order tickets, preferred lodging, packages and special offers, a museum map and a listing of upcoming events, among many other options.

If you’re a Packers fan, you may have visited the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, the blue chip facilities of the NFL for honoring its own. You will find the same at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Though there are so many players who have not been inducted – Jerry Kramer – and many who have been curiously inducted – Warren Sapp – it’s still a wonderful place to visit. In fact, it’s a destination at which you probably want to spend a couple of days exploring.

And what better reason to make this summer you time. Not only can you revel in the history of the National Football League, but this summer you would be able to see one of our own – Dave Robinson – inducted.

Jim Tayjor
Pro Football Hall of Fame photograph

Thursday, March 7, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate Insurance will team together in its ongoing program to honor Hall of Fame inductees by focusing on Jim Taylor as part of the Hometown Hall of Famer program.

The national program selects pro football legends and gives them a special day of recognition in their home town – this time for Taylor in Baton Rouge, La.

Taylor was described in a special press release issued this week:

A Baton Rouge native, Taylor was a standout fullback at Louisiana State University, and an All-American player in 1957. Taylor was a second round draft pick (15th overall) in the 1958 NFL Draft where he was selected by Green Bay. At the same time that the legendary Vince Lombardi took over the coaching reigns, Taylor quickly became a key player for the Packers, best known for his rugged fierceness on the field.

Thousand-yard seasons became a specialty for Taylor. He went over the 1,000-yard mark in five straight seasons beginning in 1960, reaching his peak in 1962 with a career-high of 1,474 yards and was named NFL Player of the Year. Taylor was a member of four Green Bay Packers NFL Championship teams, the Super Bowl I Packer team, and was selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls. He won the NFL rushing title in 1962, and remained the Packers’ all-time leading rusher until his record was broken in 2009.

After playing nine seasons with the Packers, Taylor played one final season with the New Orleans Saints before retiring from pro football in 1967. He ended his career with 8,597 yards and 83 rushing touchdowns.

Taylor was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976.

Here are Taylor’s career statistics:

For more information about the program, visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, and view event videos at www.youtube.com/allstate.

Here’s some rare 1960 season newsreel highlights including Jim Taylor …

The Packers of the 1960s …

Jim Taylor …

Dave Robinson was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame 50 years after being selected as a rookie out of Penn State in 1963.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Dave Robinson, a linebacker who played for Vince Lombardi in the 1960s, and finished his career, along with Lombardi, as a Washington Redskin, was selected this afternoon as one of two senior nominees after more than 30 years of eligibility. Robinson and Curly Culp were both selected today as senior members to the Hall.

Robinson was selected out of Penn State by Lombardi in the first round as the 14th overall pick in the 1963 Draft.He was also drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the American Football League draft, but ended up signing with the Packers.

He was a three-time Pro Bowler and 1-time First-Team All-Pro. He played 12 years, 10 with Green Bay. He started at left outside linebacker in three consecutive NFL championship wins, 1965-67 … He was the starting outside linebacker in the Packers’ victories in Super Bowls I and II.

The athletic Robinson intercepted 27 passes during his career and is best known for pressuring Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith into an interception in the end zone on the final play of the 1966 championship game to seal the win for the Packers.

Another interesting statistic of Robinson’s was that he returned seven kickoffs for 80 yards … ah yes, those were the days.

In addition to Robinson and Culp, others selected to the Hall today are Coach Bill Parcells, Minnesota Vikings WR Cris Carter, Tampa Bay defensive tackle Warren Sapp, Dallas Cowboys OL Larry Allen, and OL Jonathan Ogden.

Dave Robinson in the tunnel at Lambeau Field just before being introduced prior to the Packers vs. Vikings game.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Today, Saturday, Feb. 2, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee will meet to pare down the list of finalists to be elected to the 2013 Class.

The announcement of those selected from a group of 17 finalists will be made tomorrow, Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 3, at 4:30 p.m. CST (5:30 p.m. EST).

To be elected, a finalist must receive 80 percent of the vote. Rules stipulate that between four and seven members can be inducted at one time and no more than five modern-day nominees can be elected in a given year.

Among the 17 are one longtime Green Bay Packers great and one who has strong current ties with the team.

Dave Robinson, a linebacker who played for Vince Lombardi in the 1960s, and finished his career, along with Lombardi, as a Washington Redskin, has been nominated for the first time as a senior candidate after more than 30 years of eligibility.

Kevin Greene (center) with linebackers Clay Matthews III and Frank Zombo during a recent game at Lambeau Field. Greene, one of 17 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is the Packers outside linebackers coach.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Kevin Greene, the Packers current outside linebackers coach and the man who has guided Clay Matthews III to stardom, is also among the finalists. He started his career with the Los Angeles Rams, and also played in Pittsburgh, Carolina, and San Francisco.

Robinson was selected out of Penn State by Lombardi in the first round as the 14th overall pick in the 1963 Draft.He was also drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the American Football League draft, but ended up signing with the Packers.

He was a three-time Pro Bowler and 1-time First-Team All-Pro. He played 12 years, 10 with Green Bay. He started at left outside linebacker in three consecutive NFL championship wins, 1965-67 … He was the starting outside linebacker in the Packers’ victories in Super Bowls I and II.

The athletic Robinson intercepted 27 passes during his career and is best known for pressuring Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith into an interception in the end zone on the final play of the 1966 championship game to seal the win for the Packers.

Another interesting statistic of Robinson’s was that he returned seven kickoffs for 80 yards … ah yes, those were the days.

Greene was one of the linebackers in the 1980s who used speed to turn the position into a consistent sack threat. His presence was always on the minds of offensive linemen and offensive coordinators as he was always a threat, like Lawrence Taylor, to disrupt an offense and to get to the quarterback.

NFL fans will remember Greene for his long, flowing golden hair. Packers fans will remember Greene as a member of the Carolina Panthers in 1996 who came into Lambeau Field on a frigid afternoon in January for the NFC Championship Game won by the Packers to propel them to their first Super Bowl since 1967.

Greene was drafted in the 5th round (113th overall) of the 1985 NFL Draft. He played 15 years in the league, eight of them with the Rams, three with Pittsburgh, one with San Francisco and four with Carolina. He played in 228 games and started 176. He recorded 160 sacks, had five interceptions, forced 23 fumbles, had 26 fumble recoveries, and made 669 tackles. He scored three touchdowns in his career, one on an interception return and two on fumble recover returns.

 Here is the complete list of the 17 finalists:

Is there any player more popular than Donald Driver? Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

Jennings, Nelson, Cobb, Jones, Gurley, Borel.

Those are the names most people point to when they talk about the Green Bay Packers wide receiver position.

But one name, Donald Driver’s, keeps getting erased. Nobody feels he has a chance to make the team – if he is even invited back for an opportunity.

But don’t tell Head Coach Mike McCarthy that. “I would anticipate he would be involved in the workouts next week,” McCarthy said when asked about Driver’s role with the team.

After winning Dancing with the Stars, Driver is now focusing on the football field and is hoping, as he has said all along, that his role will be with the Green Bay Packers. Could we bear to see him in any other colors? We all know how we felt when Brett Favre was wearing other colors.

While Driver is an entirely different situation than that of Favre, seeing him move on would be disappointing and disturbing. To me, it is incumbent on the Packers to do all they can to keep the 37-year-old in the fold.

Most will say the NFL is a business with the ultimate goal to win a Super Bowl. To do that, you need the best players on the field.

I agree.

And while most will say the Packers would have a better chance of winning a Super Bowl by keeping their young studs, Borel and Gurley, over Driver. With that, I don’t agree.

I can certainly see the team keeping Gurley as he holds the upper hand over Borel. But to keep Borel over Driver? That would be a mistake.

Remember this catch by Donald Driver last season? That's what he brings to the team - clutch catches and incredible leadership. John O

Yes, Driver had his least productive season last year with 37 catches. But remember back on some of those catches … some of them were huge and clutch. Can the Packers rely on rookies to make the same types of plays? No way. Can they rely on rookies to lead in the locker room like a Donald Driver? No way.

Yes, Driver needs to take a pay cut – he’s already said he would. That end of the situation shouldn’t even play into the Packers’ decision. Get him into camp, let him compete and then make a decision about the roster spot. If the rookies shine so much as to make the decision easy, then keep the rookies. If Driver comes in and does what he’s always done, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be on the field when the Packers play host to the West Division Champions San Francisco 49ers on opening day.

Donald Driver has fast become the face of the franchise … at least he’s right up there with Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson.

And so, my guess is that the pundits will continue to hammer on the fact that the depth of the Packers’ wide receiver position will leave Driver as the lone man out, I counter by saying all that talk will only provide even more incentive for the veteran.

In fact, I’m going out on a limb here by saying the Packers will not only keep him, but he will help lead this team to another World Championship. When he does so, then he will certainly retire as not only one of the Packers most popular players, but one that has a legitimate shot at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Not bad for a seventh round draft choice.

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Brett Favre was joined on the field by former Packers QB Don Majkowski, the player from which Favre replaced at the position back in 1992. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Will Green Bay Packers fans ever have those warm, fuzzy feelings they felt for Brett Favre not so many years ago while he led the team to two Super Bowls, won three straight Most Valuable Player awards and broke just about every passing and endurance record on the planet?

Packers president Mark Murphy thinks that within a year or two the team will consider formally retiring Favre’s number and bringing him back to Wisconsin for the event.

That’s what he told Lori Nickel of JSonline in a story published by the Milwaukee newspaper.

You have to believe that by that time the opinions of so many Packers fans who soured on Favre may be changed by then. With Favre announcing his retirement so many times, eventually being shunned by the team, playing one year in New York and then finishing up his final two seasons in Minnesota didn’t sit well with Packers fans who had come to view him as god-like for so many years.

But Murphy seems to think that the number of fans who might be inclined to boo him today will have softened by the time a formal ceremony could be planned in a year or two.

I have to agree.

Brett Favre during a December game back in 2007. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Personally, I feel Favre is the best quarterback ever to wear the Green and Gold. While Aaron Rodgers is fast on his way to matching and maybe eclipsing Favre’s popularity, he still has a long, long way to go to match what Favre accomplished on the field. Whether Rodgers can stick around or whether he will want to hang out with the Packers for as long as Favre did remains to be seen. If he does, there’s no reason to believe he couldn’t at least match what Favre did.

Favre is a first ballot Hall of Fame player. He will go in as a Packer, no doubt. His day of honor will come at Lambeau Field and my hope is that the fans remember the good days, not his final days in purple. Those days are a mere blip on Favre’s career radar.

Packers fans are better than that and will come around to honor him for what he did for the team, the franchise and the entire league.

For the sake of everyone, my hope is that the ceremony, the cheers for him one last time will come sooner than later and will bring full circle the man and his intimate relationship he had with the city of Green Bay and the fans of the Green Bay Packers.

Here’s a reminder of what the man meant to the Packers and the NFL: