Green Bay Packers: Top 10 DBs in team history
By Kenn Korb
#3 – Bobby Dillon
Speaking of doing better than that, here’s Bobby Dillon.
He may not have the same name recognition as many of those prior to him on this list, but he deserves to be thought of as highly as them.
His efforts put up tons of records for the team, some of which still stand alone in Packers history. Some of those still standing include his 52 career interceptions, the seven seasons (total and consecutive) that he led the team in INTs, the most INTs in a single game, and most defensive return yards gained in a career (976).
Beyond the still-standing-at-the-top accolades, Dillon also stands strong among a number of other areas. He had six seasons with at least six-plus interceptions, which included three seasons where he had nine and two others wherein he accumulated seven.
Dillon also still manages to rank second in total INTs for a season (nine) THREE DIFFERENT TIMES (I know I mentioned that about a sentence ago, but it is so ridiculously impressive in deserves extra emphasis), second in total season INT return yards gained (244), and tied for third in most career defensive touchdowns in Green Bay history (five).
With all this amazing statistical prowess, it is difficult to believe that Dillon isn’t quite as revered as other players of his stat-packing ilk. I think that can be blamed on the over-emphasis everybody (fans, media, players, really anyone associated with the game) tend to place on championships when it comes to rating individuals in a 53-man team sport.
If we weren’t all so handcuffed to the idea that someone has to win a championship (or championships in many cases) to really “deserve” to be considered great, then players such as Dillon could be given the kudos they deserve for being excellent in their own right, even if the teams around them weren’t able to live up to that same level of ability.
But since the vast majority of publicly shared opinion tends to stick to this shallow definition – and Dillon’s career was entirely in the slog that was the 1950s for Green Bay (a career that unfortunately ended literally right before the team took off to dominate most of the 1960s) – Dillon probably won’t ever get that kind of recognition.
Except maybe in spaces like this.