I'm checking to an R turn-in with Max, Coach. I think that works there.
Hmm. OK. Parilli, is this their base run defense disguised? Are they playing zone in the backfield?
Yes, sir. Look at the left end positioned where he is. That's the tipoff.
Starr and McHan would split time in this game, he said, and should seek to establish the run, not an easy chore against the Bears.
Excited about being the first quarterback to see action under Lombardi, Starr contemplated which plays to run as he completed his warm-ups. He knew all four quarterbacks would take many snaps during the exhibition season, but he wanted to make the most of this opportunity. He was, after all, competing for a job.
The mist turned into a steady rain as Lombardi gathered the players around him on the sideline and urged them to play hard and smart. He sent out his coverage team, mostly rookies, for the opening kickoff. The crowd cheered as Paul Hornung booted the ball through the end zone.
The Green Bay defense that trotted onto the field included seven returning starters from the 1958 unit that had been beaten so mercilessly: Hanner, Borden, and Jim Temp up front, linebackers Bettis, Forester, and Dan Currie, and backs Hank Gremminger and Jesse Whittenton. The newcomers included Tunnell, Quinlan, and Bobby Freeman, a cornerback Lombardi had picked up from Cleveland.
The defense stopped the Bears and forced a punt. The starting Packer offense took the field with Starr at quarterback, Jim Taylor at fullback, Hornung and Don McIlhenny as the halfbacks, and McGee as the wide receiver. Gary Knafelc set up as the tight end, outside the left tackle. The line had Norm Masters at left tackle, Fred "Fuzzy" Thurston at left guard, Ringo at center, Jerry Kramer at right guard, and Gregg at right tackle. Thurston, a second-year pro whom Lombardi had picked up from the Colts in a minor deal just before training camp, was the only newcomer.
Playing on the baseball infield, which quickly became a mud pit in the rain, the offense sputtered on its first possession. Taylor gained just a couple of yards on a run up the middle, and Hornung was tackled for a loss sweeping left. After Starr's third-down pass to McGee fell incomplete, McGee punted.
But when the offense got the ball back and started a new series a few minutes later, it began to assert itself. Since February, Lombardi had pledged to emphasize simple, straight-ahead, physical football—effective blocking and determined running. The strategy seemed improbable given how badly the Packers had been manhandled in 1958, but Lombardi had spent months telling reporters and community groups the Packers would play that way, and now, under the lights at County Stadium, his offense began to crystallize. It became clear that what seemed impossible at first was, in fact, quite realistic—the Packers could pound the ball.
Facing a punishing Bears defense that included Bill George, a superb middle linebacker, and Doug Atkins, a brutal end known as one of the game's roughest players, the Packer linemen opened holes with forceful blocks. Kramer, Masters, and Gregg leapt quickly from their stances with elbows out and fists balled against their chests. Ringo vaulted forward after snapping the ball. Openings appeared as big bodies collided, and Taylor and Hornung slammed into them, legs churning. Taylor crashed through a hole to Ringo's right and gained six yards; the linebacker who hit him first was jolted back before steadying and holding on. Taylor then ran again, behind Gregg, and pushed the pile forward three yards. On third-and-one, Hornung swept carefully to his left, looking for a hole as he moved parallel to the line of scrimmage. Seeing a slim opening just past Masters, he dove into the hole and gained three yards, enough for the first down.
Lombardi beamed. It was amazing, he thought, that Taylor had barely played as a rookie. The first tackler never brought him down.
Taylor and Hornung gained just eight yards on the next three rushes, though, forcing the Packers to settle for a forty-five-yard field goal attempt by Hornung, which fell short. The game remained scoreless until late in the first quarter when Whittenton intercepted a pass thrown by Bears quarterback Ed Brown and returned it twenty-one yards to the Chicago 19. Three plays later, as the second quarter began, Hornung ran left out of the backfield and circled behind the linebackers, breaking open as the Chicago secondary focused on McGee and Knafelc. Starr's pass was on target and Hornung grabbed it as he crossed the goal line. The fans cheered, surprised to see their team ahead. An audible buzz sounded as Hornung added the extra point.
Lombardi sought out Starr as the quarterback trotted to the sideline.
Way to go there. Way to find the open man and hit him.
Starr nodded, satisfied and encouraged. The touchdown pass had unfolded just as Lombardi drew it on the blackboard.
The Bears responded with their first positive drive, a mixture of runs by fullback Rick Casares and halfback Willie Galimore, and passes to receiver Harlon Hill. They controlled the ball for seven minutes, but then the Packer defense stopped a pair of runs inside the 20 and a third-down pass fell incomplete. Bears kicker John Aveni booted a field goal, and the Packers led 7–3.
McHan took over in the second quarter; he wasn't thrilled about Starr playing first, but reasoned that the honor was largely symbolic and he would still win the number one job in the end. His first two series went poorly, as his receivers failed to get open and the Bears yielded little on the ground. McHan did lead a drive into field goal range just before halftime, but the Bears blocked Hornung's last-second kick. Green Bay took a 7–3 lead into the locker room. Lombardi was pleased, the lack of offense notwithstanding. His team was playing hard and competing with a winning opponent.
Starr returned in the third quarter. He handed to Taylor, who burst through a hole off right guard for sixteen yards, then found Lew Carpenter open in the secondary and passed to him for fourteen. The drive moved deep into Bears territory. On second-and-goal at the 9, Knafelc faked a block, dashed to the goal line, and turned around. Starr saw him and threw low, and Knafelc reached down and grabbed the ball at his knees as he fell into the end zone. Another touchdown pass for Starr!
Lombardi patted the quarterback on the shoulder as he came off the field after the sixty-two-yard scoring drive.
Excellent job! Way to use the halfbacks out of the backfield.
Starr nodded. The pass to Lew was the same route that Paul scored on. It's there. It's open.
Hornung's extra point bounced off the left upright, leaving the lead at 13–3. The fans stood, some trying to recall the last time the Packers led anyone by this much.
Halas lit into the Bears on the sideline, telling them to get their asses in gear. It was just an exhibition game, but this was ridiculous. His words had an effect. The Bears immediately drove seventy yards to a touchdown, looking crisper with Zeke Bratkowski playing quarterback. Galimore provided the big play, a thirty-yard dash up the middle. The Packer defense stiffened again near the goal line and appeared to force a field goal attempt when Bratkowski overthrew a receiver on third down at the 3, but Bobby Freeman was called for interference, giving the Bears a first down at the 1. Casares carried the ball over for the score, knocking Tunnell over and stepping on his hand.
Up by three as the fourth quarter began, Lombardi sent Starr back out with a pair of rookie halfbacks.
Brown! Hawkins! Get in there!
Both Tim Brown and Alex Hawkins had waited all night for a chance to play and wondered if they would touch the ball. Starr completed a pass to McGee for a first down at the Packer 49 and then called for a pitchout to Brown around right end.
On his first carry as a pro, Brown caught the pitch, zipped between two Bears, and sprinted down the sideline. The crowd shrieked, and for a moment it appeared Brown would go all the way, but a safety bore down on him at an angle and tackled him at the 5, water from the wet field spraying as the players tumbled to the ground together.
Brown quickly stood, tossed the ball to an official, and knocked the mud off his pants, his forty-six-yard gain by far the game's biggest so far.
Yeah. I knew I could do that.
On the next pla
y Starr pitched to Hawkins going the other way, but the blocking failed and the play lost five yards. Then a holding penalty pushed the Packers back fifteen more yards. Lombardi, intolerant of mistakes, fumed as Starr tried to regain the lost ground with a long pass to McGee. The Bears' Pete Johnson intercepted at the 5 and returned the ball to the 33.
The game was on the line and both coaches wanted to win; even exhibition contests between the rival Bears and Packers stirred emotions. Galimore turned a pitchout into a thirty-yard gain. Bratkowski hit Hill with a pass for thirteen, moving the ball inside the Green Bay 20. When the Packers held, Aveni booted a field goal to tie the score at 13–13 with seven minutes to play.
Lombardi sent McHan in, telling the quarterback the rest of the game was his. Brown picked up a first down on a pitchout, McHan passed to McGee on the left sideline for nineteen. Brown, making something happen every time he touched the ball, took a pitchout on a fourth-and-four play and accelerated around left end for eight.
When the Bears held, Hornung sailed a forty-six-yard field goal toward the goalposts. The ball started out high and fell off sharply, but it had just enough oomph to clear the crossbar. The fans roared. The Packers led, 16–13, with two minutes left.
Galimore quickly quieted the cheers, returning the kickoff to the 50. Bratkowski went for the big play, hurling a long pass for Hill, who was briefly open near the goal line. The pass fluttered, giving Whittenton time to close and bat the ball away. Bratkowski dropped back again and hit a receiver across the middle for thirteen. The Bears were on the Green Bay 37 with less than a minute to play.
The next two plays produced a swing of emotions. Aiming a pass for Galimore in the right flat, Bratkowski threw right to Tunnell, but Casares had broken the veteran safety's right hand when he stepped on it earlier, and Tunnell dropped the easy interception. The Bears then made the most of their second chance. As Bratkowski faded to pass, the burly Casares slipped out of the backfield and circled undetected behind the linebackers, who didn't see him as a threat. Bratkowski threw him a pass at the 25, and Casares turned and ran for the end zone with blockers around him. He scored without being touched. With forty-one seconds left to play, the Bears had their first lead of the night. The score remained 19–16 when Aveni missed the extra point.
The Packers had time for a final drive. McHan threw to Brown for nineteen, but the Packers were out of timeouts and, with the clock running out, McHan lobbed a prayer far downfield, again toward Brown. The Bears intercepted, sealing the outcome.
Lombardi and Halas met at midfield and shook hands. Both were pleased, Halas because his team had shown heart, scoring sixteen points in the fourth quarter to come back and win, and Lombardi because his team had competed. Lombardi was especially happy about his defense, which had stymied the Bears for most of the night. Improving the defense had been his top priority, and if this game was any measure, his additions had made a difference. Quinlan was a disruptive force all evening, and Tunnell and Freeman had been solid in the secondary.
"We showed we have a scrappy club," Lombardi told reporters. "It would have been nice to win, but we made too many mistakes offensively, like those penalties that set us back when we were in scoring position. We gave away points there that would have made the difference. But overall, I'm pleased. It is a good start."
What about Tim Brown? He certainly had looked good, one reporter said.
"We know what he can do," Lombardi snapped.
Halas, speaking in the Bears' locker room, also praised the Packers. "As you can see, they're already a much, much better team because they have Vince Lombardi as their coach," he said. "He is doing the kind of job we knew he would do."
Halas paused. In six weeks, the Bears and Packers would open the regular season on a Sunday afternoon in Green Bay. City Stadium would be packed, and the game, Halas knew, would bear little resemblance to the lopsided affairs that had marked this rivalry in recent years. The days of taking the Packers for granted were over.
"Once the season begins," Halas croaked with a crooked smile, "the Packers are going to give a lot of teams a lot of trouble, starting with us."
10
THE PLAYERS TOOK a bus back to St. Norbert after the exhibition game in Milwaukee, arriving after midnight. They had Sunday off, but most just relaxed around Sensenbrenner Hall and went to bed early, knowing two-a-days would resume Monday. Boyd Dowler and the three other rookies who had played for the college all-star team against the Colts (and lost, 29–0, the night before, in Chicago) arrived, having missed the first three weeks of camp. Their teammates warned them to get ready to run. This guy is out of his mind. People have been going to the hospital.
Lombardi's mood was sour after he watched film of the loss to the Bears. "We made an error on every play," he fumed Monday. "There's a lot of work to be done here. Someone would miss an assignment or a block, especially when we were close to the goal line. We should have scored thirty points."
That evening, he showed the films to the players. They were used to theater-like quiet when they watched game films; Scooter had typically just let the projector run, occasionally offering suggestions; he even fell asleep once as an assistant. Lombardi, conversely, was like a tuba player in a library. With his voice rising in anger, he pointed out mistakes, castigated the perpetrators, and frequently rewound film to show the offenses again.
He aimed his most caustic remarks at the starting guards, Jerry Kramer and Fred Thurston. Their blocks had helped Green Bay runners gain 190 yards against a tough defense, but they also had been flagged for holding and missed blocks that led to quarterback sacks. Lombardi, the former guard, abhorred mistakes at "his" position.
What in the hell was that, Kramer? You call that a block? Damn! This is professional football! Are you a professional? Let's look at that again. There, that's a sorry excuse for a block, Kramer!
Yes, sir.
Kramer sunk lower in his chair and looked at Thurston. They shook their heads in dismay. It wasn't fair, they thought. They had played well but were getting crucified. When the session ended, they emerged with headaches and hollow expressions. Whew, what a nightmare.
The running backs also took their share of abuse.
Paul, we have to make that block there. Let's look at it again. See, Jimmy [Taylor] has no chance if you don't make that block. There's no excuse for not getting it done!
Yes, sir.
And Jimmy, you hit the wrong hole. That's just stupid. You need to think!
Yes, sir.
Obviously still annoyed, Lombardi halted practice the next morning after two receivers dropped easy catches. Catching a pass takes just a little effort! If you want to stay around here, we've got to have full effort on every play!
That day he ended practice with a goal-line drill. The starting units lined up opposite each other with the ball placed on the 5. Lombardi called out plays, mostly runs, and the offense tried to score while the defense dug in to make stops. Lombardi stood to the side with a thin smile, calling out plays and watching bodies collide.
The drill went on and on in the afternoon heat, lasting what seemed to the players like an eternity. The offensive linemen leapt forward to block as Taylor and Hornung slammed into the line behind them. As the defense held its ground, Lombardi grew agitated. We're going to run the damn draw until you get it right! Again!
The defense made another stop. Bettis and Hanner looked at each other as Lombardi chewed out the offense.
"You think he's going to run that draw again?" Bettis asked.
"Think so," Hanner replied.
"You think we should stop it?" Bettis asked.
"Yeah, we better," Hanner said.
After the defense made another stop, Ringo spoke softly to Bettis and Hanner in the middle of the line.
"We're all going to be here all day if we don't score pretty soon," he said.
Bettis and Hanner got the message. They quietly spread the word to the rest of the defense: don't make it obvious, but let them score.<
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The offense finally punched over a touchdown, then another. Satisfied, Lombardi blew his whistle. The exhausted players ran a set of sideline-to-sideline sprints to end practice. Then they raced to get on that first bus back to St. Norbert, thirsting to knock back a couple of beers.
The Packers' remaining five exhibition games would all be played either on the road or at a neutral site, in San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; Bangor, Maine; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The players would awake in strange beds and practice and play on dim fields as they slowly got in shape for the regular season, earning a small per diem, barely enough to buy lunch. Their regular salaries didn't kick in until the regular season.
The schedule afforded the Packers just a few days at home in the month before their regular-season opener on September 27, but it wasn't unusual for NFL teams to barnstorm through the exhibition season. The league's owners still worried about their sport's popularity, even after 40 million TV viewers watched the 1958 championship game. Major league baseball still had more fans, as did boxing, horse racing, and college football. The NFL was popular enough in cities with teams, but it generated little interest in regions where it had no presence or history, such as the Southeast; when Dave Hanner left Arkansas to become a pro in 1952, some of his friends didn't even know what a Green Bay Packer was. The NFL's owners sent their teams on barnstorming trips before the season in hopes of attracting new fans in out-of-the-way places and cities without franchises.
Babe Parilli started at quarterback against the 49ers in San Francisco on Sunday, August 23. Lombardi told him to focus on the running game, and Parilli followed orders, handing off on thirty-seven of Green Bay's fifty-four plays as eighteen thousand fans watched under sunny skies. The play calling—and sound execution—left no doubt that Lombardi had replaced Scooter's complex offense with simple, straight-ahead power. The Packers punctured the 49ers' veteran defense with a mixture of runs, Taylor off right tackle, Hornung around left end, Taylor up the middle, McIlhenny around right end. Ringo won his share of tangles with Leo Nomellini, the 49ers' squatty All-Pro tackle. Jerry Kramer and Fred Thurston pivoted hard out of their stances, got out in front of sweeps, and delivered crunching blocks.
That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory Page 13
