Eddie Lee Ivery

[Thirteen Below]

JB was such a hard runner with power. I recall him paralyzing a defensive back, possibly an Oiler, with a collision that he stepped out of. Don't recall the after effects to the player but it was serious with mid 70's medical tech.

Ken Dyer, of the Bengals, and he never did fully recover. Over a period of years, he did get back most of his functionality, and later coached high school football, but that hit was the last play of his career. Brockington felt terrible about it, but when you tackled a player like Brock at the knees, yer gonna take a hit. In fact, I remember at the time reading that the doctor who first read his X-rays was shocked he was alive. He told Dyer something like, "you should have died out there."

As for Ivery... he was an incredible talent, but what a hard luck story... in his first NFL game, the 79 season opener in Chicago, he tore his left ACL. He fought back and had a decent 1980 season, but then in the 81 season opener (again at Soldier Field), he tore the MCL in the same knee.

He struggled with alcohol and drug addiction his entire career after that, and in 1983 he failed a drug test. Bart Starr called him into his office for a "this has to stop" meeting, and Bart started by asking, "Eddie, are you OK?" Ivery tried to ******** his way through it. But he said later that as he looked across the desk at Starr, he saw that he literally had tears in his eyes because he knew Ivery was lying to him and playing him. Ivery felt something wash over him, and started crying too, and then broke down and said "Coach Starr - please help me."

And so he did. Starr personally worked with Eddie to guide him through a long rehab, including more than one stay at a treatment facility. Ivery often said in later years, "I owe Bart Starr my life".

He was always deeply moved by how supportive, loyal, and compassionate Starr and the entire organization were during this period. Ivery was so greatly and deeply moved by that that there were times when that was the only thing that got him through it - that he couldn't let the people who helped him down.

Had it not been for those 2 knee injuries, Ivery would probably be remembered today as one of the all-time greats - IMO almost certainly a Hall of Famer, assuming his career followed a reasonable arc for RBs of his caliber.

 

[milani]

Ken Dyer, of the Bengals, and he never did fully recover. Over a period of years, he did get back most of his functionality, and later coached high school football, but that hit was the last play of his career. Brockington felt terrible about it, but when you tackled a player like Brock at the knees, yer gonna take a hit. In fact, I remember at the time reading that the doctor who first read his X-rays was shocked he was alive. He told Dyer something like, "you should have died out there."

As for Ivery... he was an incredible talent, but what a hard luck story... in his first NFL game, the 79 season opener in Chicago, he tore his left ACL. He fought back and had a decent 1980 season, but then in the 81 season opener (again at Soldier Field), he tore the MCL in the same knee.

He struggled with alcohol and drug addiction his entire career after that, and in 1983 he failed a drug test. Bart Starr called him into his office for a "this has to stop" meeting, and Bart started by asking, "Eddie, are you OK?" Ivery tried to ******** his way through it. But he said later that as he looked across the desk at Starr, he saw that he literally had tears in his eyes because he knew Ivery was lying to him and playing him. Ivery felt something wash over him, and started crying too, and then broke down and said "Coach Starr - please help me."

And so he did. Starr personally worked with Eddie to guide him through a long rehab, including more than one stay at a treatment facility. Ivery often said in later years, "I owe Bart Starr my life".

He was always deeply moved by how supportive, loyal, and compassionate Starr and the entire organization were during this period. Ivery was so greatly and deeply moved by that that there were times when that was the only thing that got him through it - that he couldn't let the people who helped him down.

Had it not been for those 2 knee injuries, Ivery would probably be remembered today as one of the all-time greats - IMO almost certainly a Hall of Famer, assuming his career followed a reasonable arc for RBs of his caliber.

And we do not hear about all the young boys whose lives were turned around from staying at Bart's special treatment home for wayward youth. I met one of them. So unfair that Bart lost a son in such a way.

 

[Thirteen Below]

And we do not hear about all the young boys whose lives were turned around from staying at Bart's special treatment home for wayward youth. I met one of them. So unfair that Bart lost a son in such a way.

Two of them were somewhat friends of mine, although sadly one of them died at Rawhide. Todd was one of those kids who just was not able to stop irritating the hell out of people and running his mouth, no matter how many times people warned him that he was pushing it way too far. He just insisted on provoking people. That's probably not smart in a place like Rawhide, where you have a lot of "troubled youth", and some of the other kids finally decided "not today" and threw him headfirst into a manure pit. This was about 72, 73.

I don't blane Rawhide at all, of course. If those kids had not killed him then, some other kids would have a year or two later. They just were the first to go nuclear on him. Knowing Todd, I completely understand how that would happen. FAFO.

Hell of a way to die, though.

I've mentioned that I lived in Green Bay for a few years in the early 70s, and had the dream summer job of a lifetime working as a part of a cleanup crew at the old Brown County Arena. My first job, around 13 years old. At that time, the Packer Hall of Fame was located in the Brown County Arena, so we kids often met people from the Packer organization - including Bart Starr.

I remember a number of things about him, but one of the things I remember most clearly is how incredibly much he cared about us kids when we would mob him. He was sooo kind, warm, calm, quiet, laid back, and genuinely interested in how we were doing, what did we enjoy doing in our lives, how were our parents doing, did we have a lot of good friends, what we were looking forward to studying in school that fall. The man truly cared about every 13-year old child he met that summer at Brown County Arena. Nobody could possibly fake that.

I mean, instrad of being bothered by kids swarming around him, he seemed to feel honored by it. Literally grateful that he'd had that effect on so many kids. Not a burden, but a privilege, every single autograph that he signed. He almost always thanked the kids for asking him, and seemed to never fail telling them "you work hard in school, now." And sometimes add, "you'll be glad for it later". I can't explain it, but I've never seen that in any celebrity, before or since. He wanted to make a difference in kids' lives, and saw his celebrity as a way to do that. Maybe a small way, but... a way.

A lot of people don't know this, but as the MVP of both the first 2 Super Bowls, he won a brand new Corvette Stingray. When he won the second one, he decided one was enough because Cherry didn't like driving them. So he raffled the 2nd one off, and used the $40,000 to help found Camp Rawhide.

That was a man.

Edit: why is it that no matter how many times I proofread a comment before hitting "submit", I miss so damned many typos that literally jump off the page and claw madly at my eyeballs the instant I post it and read it for the first time?

 

[milani]

Two of them were somewhat friends of mine, although sadly one of them died at Rawhide. Todd was one of those kids who just was not able to stop irritating the hell out of people and running his mouth, no matter how many times people warned him that he was pushing it way too far. He just insisted on provoking people. That's probably not smart in a place like Rawhide, where you have a lot of "troubled youth", and some of the other kids finally decided "not today" and threw him headfirst into a manure pit. This was about 72, 73.

I don't blane Rawhide at all, of course. If those kids had not killed him then, some other kids would have a year or two later. They just were the first to go nuclear on him. Knowing Todd, I completely understand how that would happen. FAFO.

Hell of a way to die, though.

I've mentioned that I lived in Green Bay for a few years in the early 70s, and had the dream summer job of a lifetime working as a part of a cleanup crew at the old Brown County Arena. My first job, around 13 years old. At that time, the Packer Hall of Fame was located in the Brown County Arena, so we kids often met people from the Packer organization - including Bart Starr.

I remember a number of things about him, but one of the things I remember most clearly is how incredibly much he cared about us kids when we would mob him. He was sooo kind, warm, calm, quiet, laid back, and genuinely interested in how we were doing, what did we enjoy doing in our lives, how were our parents doing, did we have a lot of good friends, what we were looking forward to studying in school that fall. The man truly cared about every 13-year old child he met that summer at Brown County Arena. Nobody could possibly fake that.

I mean, instrad of being bothered by kids swarming around him, he seemed to feel honored by it. Literally grateful that he'd had that effect on so many kids. Not a burden, but a privilege, every single autograph that he signed. He almost always thanked the kids for asking him, and seemed to never fail telling them "you work hard in school, now." And sometimes add, "you'll be glad for it later". I can't explain it, but I've never seen that in any celebrity, before or since. He wanted to make a difference in kids' lives, and saw his celebrity as a way to do that. Maybe a small way, but... a way.

A lot of people don't know this, but as the MVP of both the first 2 Super Bowls, he won a brand new Corvette Stingray. When he won the second one, he decided one was enough because Cherry didn't like driving them. So he raffled the 2nd one off, and used the $40,000 to help found Camp Rawhide.

That was a man.

Edit: why is it that no matter how many times I proofread a comment before hitting "submit", I miss so damned many typos that literally jump off the page and claw madly at my eyeballs the instant I post it and read it for the first time?

And Bart will never be forgotten. He is in that special place now.