The First America's Team. Bob Berghaus
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over.”
Defense steps up again
Packers 17, Cardinals 0, Milwaukee County Stadium
September 23, 1962
Remarkably, the Packers left the field at halftime leading just 3–0 against a Cardinals team that would finish the season with a 4–9–1 record.
Playing at Milwaukee County Stadium, the Packers’ part-time home, the team from Missouri caught the Packers by surprise with a strong defensive effort through the first two quarters, holding the Packers to a 13-yard field goal by Hornung. The Packers drove to the 30 or closer three other times, but Starr had 2 passes intercepted and also lost a fumble.
“Their defense upset us in the beginning,” Lombardi told reporters after the game. “We had a helluva time trying to find them. They did a lot of stunting in there. We knew they would be tough defensively. It was new to us. We hadn’t seen it before this year.”
The new defensive look came from the Cardinals’ new coach, someone familiar to those around the Milwaukee area. Wally Lemm was a standout running back at Carroll College, a small school located in Waukesha, twenty-five miles west of Milwaukee. After graduating from college he joined the service and began his coaching career as an assistant at Notre Dame in 1945.
Following one season in South Bend, he returned to Carroll as an assistant for two years and then coached for one season at Waukesha High, which played in the Milwaukee Suburban Conference. He left for the college ranks again and eventually landed in the NFL as an assistant with the Chicago Cardinals in 1956. Lemm later coached the Houston Oilers to the AFL title in 1961 and then returned to the Cardinals, this time as a head coach.
Lemm’s defense kept the Packers out of the end zone for a half, but it wasn’t strong enough to do it for an entire game.
Lemm actually thought the Cardinals had a chance at upsetting the reigning champs. He didn’t think the Packers looked sharp when the teams played during the preseason, and he saw some things while watching film of the Packers-Vikings game that told him Green Bay was vulnerable.
“We all thought the champions were ripe for the taking,” he said.
As it turned out, Lemm was wrong, and he was impressed with the Packers.
“They’re tough to beat because they have the best balanced team in football,” Lemm told reporters. “Great runners in Taylor and Hornung, excellent passing, at least five dangerous receivers, tremendous defense, outstanding kicking. All that plus experience. What else can you have in this game?”
Taylor eventually found openings in the St. Louis line and finished the day with 122 yards in 23 attempts, although he didn’t reach the end zone for the second straight game.
Hornung scored on a 3-yard run halfway into the third quarter, and Starr tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Max McGee midway through the final quarter for Green Bay’s final score.
Henry Jordan (74) collars St. Louis quarterback Sam Etcheverry (14) with help from Bill Forester (71) during the Packers’ 17–0 victory over the Cardinals on September 23. Bill Quinlan (83) closes in at left.
The Green Bay defense was stellar, limiting the Cardinals to 16 yards rushing and sacking quarterback Sam Etcheverry five times.
The Packers forced 5 turnovers, 3 fumbles, and 2 interceptions, giving them 12 after just two games.
Lemm singled out defensive tackle Henry Jordan, who was on his way to becoming a consensus All-Pro.
“That Jordan is everywhere and he does everything,” Lemm said.
“Willie Davis was hitting ’em before I got to ’em,” Jordan said after the game.
That season the Cardinals signed a rookie from the University of Wisconsin named Jim Bakken, who had been a quarterback with the Badgers. Bakken, who had been drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, also was an accomplished kicker and would go on to a seventeen-year career with the Cardinals. He was twice named All-Pro and played in the Pro Bowl four times. He was the first player in NFL history to kick 7 field goals in one game.
After Bakken was cut, the Packers contacted him and wanted to sign him. But since the Packers were the champion team, they had to wait to see if other teams put a claim on him. The Cardinals did and signed the native of Madison.
Recalling that Jerry Kramer booted 3 field goals in the 1962 title game, Bakken said, “That could have been me. I know if I would have been signed by the Packers I would have been their kicker when Hornung got hurt. It’s something I don’t dwell on, but it certainly crossed my mind.”
He very well could have been their kicker for three other championship teams and in the Super Bowl wins over Kansas City and Oakland had the Packers signed him in 1962. Green Bay eventually signed Don Chandler as their full-time kicker and punter in 1965.
“A sleepless night”
Packers 49, Bears 0
City Stadium
September 30
Lombardi had an inordinate amount of respect for Chicago Bears owner and coach George Halas, not only for his contributions to the NFL but also because of what “Papa Bear” did when the Packers were searching for a coach following the 1958 season
It was Halas who strongly recommended to Packers President Dominic Olejniczak that he hire Lombardi, the Giants’ forty-five-year-old offensive coordinator.
Halas hated losing, especially to the Packers, but he respected Lombardi for how he turned around the Packers. Green Bay being relevant again helped the National Football League, which was important to Halas, who with others had helped create the league.
During the spring of 1962, he made the two-hundred-mile trip from Chicago to Green Bay to help roast Lombardi, who was being honored by the Green Bay Elks Club.
“We’re delighted to be part of this richly deserved tribute to Vince Lombardi,” Halas said that night. “Although my role is out of character. In the past when we have come to Green Bay it was not to praise Caesar. It was to bury him. But due to our notable lack of success in arranging the football demise of Vince Lombardi and the Packers, we know that his record will continue for quite some time.”
Lombardi was touched, and in his mind nothing could have been finer than to have Halas be part of his special night.
Almost six months later the Bears came to Green Bay for the first of two regular-season games with their most hated rivals with a 2–0 record and a banged-up team.
“Lombardi loved Halas for what he meant to the National Football League, but he also loved beating the Bears,” Hornung said. “I loved Halas, too.”
Chicago came into the game without linebacker Bill George, who was sidelined with a back injury. Halfback Willie Galimore was also injured and unavailable. Fullback Rick Casares, whom Hornung referred to as “one of the toughest sons of bitches I know,” was bothered with a heel injury. Defensive back J.C. Caroline was also hobbling. Had the Bears been at full strength they would have had trouble beating the Packers that day. Without several key players, they were defenseless.
After a scoreless first period the Packers rolled to a 49–0 win. The Green Bay defense was relentless, holding the Bears to 217 yards while recovering 1 fumble and intercepting 5 passes, the last returned 50 yards for a touchdown by Herb Adderley.
The offense was at the top of its game as well, totaling 21 first downs and 409 yards. Taylor needed just 17 attempts to rush for 126 yards. He scored on runs of 1, 2, and 11 yards. Elijah Pitts had his best game as a pro, scoring on a 26-yard run and finishing with 64 yards on 9 carries.
Bart Starr completed 9 of 12 passes, one a 54-yard scoring pass to tight end Ron Kramer. Starr also rushed for a touchdown.
Pitts played the entire second half after both Hornung and his backup, Tom Moore, were injured.