Green Bay Packers: 50 greatest players in franchise history

Greatest players in Green Bay Packers history: 30. Bill Forester

The Packers have certainly had their fair share of great linebackers over the years. The next guy we will touch on with this all-time list is Bill Forester. Forester played his entire 11-year NFL career with Green Bay after being a third-round pick by the Packers out of SMU in the 1953 NFL Draft.

While in college, Forester played both ways for the Mustangs: along the defensive line and at fullback. However in the pros, he would play just in the middle of the Packers defense. Though Forester was a serviceable linebacker, his career would really take off once Vince Lombardi arrived in Green Bay in 1959.

Forester made his first of four Pro Bowls with the Packers that fall. He was a first-team All-Pro three straight years from 1960 to 1962. Forester had two other All-Pro second team nods in 1959 and 1963. In the midst of his prime, the Packers won back-to-back NFL championships in 1961 and in 1962. Forester would retire after the 1963 NFL season at age 31.

Though Canton evades Forester, he has been nominated for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of fame before. He resides in the Hall of Very Good. Perhaps a late start to his career dings his football legacy? Forester is a member of the Packers Hall of Fame. Most importantly, he was an important part of the Packers defense in the early years of the Lombardi era in Green Bay.