Thirty Sundays to NFL football: 30 reasons why we love the Green Bay Packers

Max McGee

If you, like I, were one of the lucky ones to watch that first Super Bowl – that Championship of the American Football League and the National Football League – you remember Max McGee.

He was that receiver you forgot was on the team because his appearances on the field were few and far between.

Up until that point in the season, McGee had, what, four receptions or something ridiculous like that?

Not on this day.

Had Bart Starr not won the Super Bowl MVP, it could have easily gone to McGee, the playboy who had spent the previous night carousing Los Angeles into the wee hours of the morning.

He figured he wasn’t going to play in the game, so he should play around town.

Boyd Dowler got injured very early in the game, so it was McGee’s turn.

And what he did with that turn while hung over is pretty remarkable. He caught two touchdowns on the day, the first a one-handed catch while reaching behind him to pull it in; the second was a slant pattern over the middle that McGee batted, juggled and caught.

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McGee’s heroics in that first Super Bowl endeared him to Packers Nation and helped cap a long and productive career in Green Bay.

Rest in peace, Max.