The man who kept Lombardi from a Championship.

Helmets

Cheesehead
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
Messages
616
Reaction score
161
Location
Milford, MI
One class act.
Went to an autograph signing at the Hall of Fame. Asked him to sign a helmet of mine. I handed him a sheet of paper with his statistics on it and asked him to add those to the helmet. He said, "oh boy" and proceeded to take five minutes to write it all on there. I thanked him and he stated, "my pleasure."

Conversely I asked Raymond Berry to do the same. He took one look at the sheet and stated, "I'm not writing all that $#!+". He then scribbled his name across the helmet and handed it back to me.

Concrete Charlie, R.I.P.
 

PackerDNA

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 8, 2014
Messages
6,428
Reaction score
1,499
A helluva guy, and the last true ironman in the NFL.
I like the story of that last play in the 1960 title game. Starr dumped the ball to Taylor, who turned upfield with a head of steam. Him and Charlie had a collision at the 9 yard line, where Bednarik put him down. Bednarik pinned Taylor from getting up while he squirmed furiously. As the clock hit zero and the gun went off, Bednarik said "Okay, you can get up now", and pulled Taylor to his feet .
 

TJV

Lifelong Packers Fanatic
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
5,389
Reaction score
954
Didn't read the link but according to Lombardi, the man that kept him from his first championship was Lombardi.
 

JBlood

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Messages
3,159
Reaction score
467
Bednarik was the last of the 2 way players and a great one. But the Packers outgained, out first-downed and won the turnover battle with the Eagles that day. Lombardi blamed himself for going for it on 4th down instead of taking the points on several occasions during the game, where the field goals would have sealed the win.

For those fans criticizing MM for taking the field goals against Seattle, maybe he was aware of Lombardi's mistake 55 years ago.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!
 

PackerDNA

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 8, 2014
Messages
6,428
Reaction score
1,499
Hornung was a terrible FG kicker. In 1964, his misses- about 2/3rds of his attempts, most very makeable- cost the Packers at least 3 wins.
 

JBlood

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Messages
3,159
Reaction score
467
Hornung was adequate from '58 to '61. Had a bad leg in '62 and Kramer kicked half of that year and all of '63 while Hornung was suspended. He was bad in '64. All of this is overshadowed by his ability to score TDs, and his scoring record of 176 in 1960 (in 12 games) stood until L.T. broke it in 2006 in 16 games. There's a reason he was a favorite of Lombardi's.
 
OP
OP
P

Packerlifer

Cheesehead
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Messages
1,782
Reaction score
118
Didn't read the link but according to Lombardi, the man that kept him from his first championship was Lombardi.

Perhaps it would be better to say Bednarik was the man who made the clock run out on Lombardi. After he tackled Taylor at the 9 he laid on him while the Packer fullback struggled to get to his feet to run another play. After the clock had run out Bednarik said to Taylor, "All right you can get up now you just lost."
 
Last edited:

TJV

Lifelong Packers Fanatic
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
5,389
Reaction score
954
Lombardi blamed the loss on his decisions not to kick FGs earlier in the game instead of "going for it", and I'll take his word for it.
 
D

Deleted member 6794

Guest
Lombardi blamed the loss on his decisions not to kick FGs earlier in the game instead of "going for it", and I'll take his word for it.

You mean it doesn't automatically work out going for it on fourth down??? Amazing!!!
 

Mondio

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 20, 2014
Messages
15,893
Reaction score
3,795
Wonder what he'd have said if Starr didn't punch it in at the end of the Ice Bowl.
maybe that's the difference in playing at home or on the road? maybe it's just second guessing, from fans to coaches when things don't work? What if Starr was stopped? Then what? Or maybe you win some, you lose some because nobody is perfect?
 

TJV

Lifelong Packers Fanatic
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
5,389
Reaction score
954
Wonder what he'd have said if Starr didn't punch it in at the end of the Ice Bowl.
He would have said, "****!!!".

But that has nothing to do with going for it on fourth down early in the game.
 

Half Empty

Cheesehead
Joined
Oct 29, 2014
Messages
4,467
Reaction score
599
maybe that's the difference in playing at home or on the road? maybe it's just second guessing, from fans to coaches when things don't work? What if Starr was stopped? Then what? Or maybe you win some, you lose some because nobody is perfect?

A. Isn't that what I asked?

B. So, we can't be sure going for it in the Seattle game wouldn't have worked?

C. Maybe there are (at least) two answers to each question?
 

Members online

Latest posts

Top