Legendary senior writer jclombardi reflects about the 1st Packers super bowl to Super Bowl XLVII.
Long ago, far away in the gone prosperous golden age of the greatest generation facing the counterculture of "these times are changing" in the 1960s, legendary head coach Vince Lombardi and future legend quarterback Bart Starr led the juggernaut Packers dynasty to five NFL championships and two "AFL-NFL Championship Game". In the first super bowl, the National Football League champion Packers met the American Football League champion Chiefs on January 15, 1967 in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. In 1966, Packers veteran quarterback Bart Starr was the top-rated quarterback in the NFL. He won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award completing 156 of 251 (62.2 percent) passes for 2,257 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. His great wide receivers were Boyd Dowler and Carroll Dale who combined for 63 receptions for 1,336 yards. The great fullback Jim Taylor led the team with 705 rushing yards. Early in the year, running back Elijah Pitts replaced the injured great Paul Hornung and gained combined 857 rushing and receiving yards.
The Packers offensive line was the reason for their winning offensive ways led by all-pro guards Jerry Kramer and Thurston and tackle Forrest Gregg. Vince Lombardi said "Forrest Gregg is the finest player I ever coached!" in his book Run to Daylight. Also, Lombardi rebuilt the defense into a solid all-pro unit, especially through the big trade with the Cleveland Browns that brought three players to the team who became cornerstones of the defense line: Henry Jordan, Quinlan, and Willie Davis. The legendary linebackers included Dave Robinson, Lee Roy Caffey, and of course the great all-pro legend Ray Nitschke who excelled in run stopping and pass coverage. The secondary was led by the great cornerbacks Herb Adderley and Willie Wood.
In the game, the Packers (14–2) scored three second half touchdowns in the 35–10 win against the Chiefs (12–3–1). In the turning point of the game, during their first drive of the second half, the Chiefs drove to their 49 yard line. On a third down pass play facing a heavy blitz by linebackers Dave Robinson and Lee Roy Caffey, Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson threw a bad pass intercepted by cornerback Willie Wood who went 50 yards to the Chiefs 5 yard line. On the Packers first play, running back Elijah Pitts scored on a 5 yard touchdown run. The Packers led 21-10 riding to an easy win. Packers quarterback Bart Starr was brilliant picking apart behind the legendary offensive line. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 250 yards, two touchdowns, and 1 interception being named Super Bowl MVP.
The best memorial inside story from the game is about the late Max McGee. Although he was shaky from a night out on the town, Max went into the game to replace injured wide receiver Boyd Dowler. He caught seven passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns including the one-handed catch for the super bowl highlights film. The McGee catch is a legendary historical tidbit in the history of the super bowls. In 1968, the Packers beat the Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II. Packers quarterback Bart Starr was again named MVP. Later, the trophy became called the Lombardi trophy.
Over the decades, the Packers were the only team to win four Super Bowls. With Lombardi leaving Green Bay to coach the Redskins, life went on and moved on. Gregg closed his career with the Dallas Cowboys along with cornerback Herb Adderley. They helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl VI making them the only players (including former teammate Fred Thurston who played on the 1958 Baltimore Colts world championship team) in professional football history to play on six teams that won World Championships.
In 2012 Super XLVI, the Giants beat the Patriots 21-17 led by "Aw Shucks" MVP quarterback Eli Manning getting a final last-minute comeback score and winning their 4th super bowl. Our congratulations to the Giants and eastern fans for their great comeback victory. Now the NFL teams prepare for the next super bowl, while the Packers look forward to the first game rematch. Already, the online oddsmakers listing the favorites to win Super Bowl XLVII have the Packers to be 6/1 top favorites led by MVP QB Aaron Rodgers. For the Packers to return to the super bowl, management must make several offseason free agency, resignings, and draft moves to shore up the defense. We shall see.
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