Moving through the Forrest Gregg era, we come to the 1986 Yearbook. On the cover is linebacker Randy Scott, shown during a game with the Miami Dolphins on December 8, 1985. The Packers lost that game 34-24. Scott played for the team from 1981-1986, making this the second year in a row that the player on the Yearbook cover was playing his last with the team.
In 1986, the Packers went from a .500 team to a 4-12 last-place-in-the-NFC-Central-Division team. The Gregg era was not working out like anyone had anticipated. After an 0-6 start, the Packers ended up beating only Cleveland, Tampa Bay (twice), and Detroit. Finishing out the year in grand style, they lost to the New York Giants 55-24 four days before Christmas. Happy Holidays, Packer fans!
Lynn Dickey was now gone, so Randy Wright was “leading” the team — passing for 3,247 yards, 17 TD’s, and 23 INT’s. The other quarterbacks this year were Vince Ferragamo and Chuck Fusina. Leading the rushing department was rookie Kenneth Davis with 519 yards on 114 carries — and 0 TD’s. Veteran James Lofton, also in his last year with the Packers, led the receiving corps with 840 yards on 64 receptions, with 4 TD’s.
These were obviously not great years for the Green Bay Packers organization. In his recent book “Green and Golden Moments,” Packers’ president Bob Harlan wrote, “There weren’t a lot of times when Forrest was really happy, to be quite honest about it. A couple of years after his regime was over, I asked a player what it was like. He said Forrest was stern, vocal, and at times intimidating. He told me it was negative motivation, and it was a negative time in Packerland. I think that described it very well.”
After a 1985 Monday night game with the eventual Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears in which William “The Refrigerator” Perry scored a touchdown, Harlan said, “I saw Forrest in the locker room... and he was livid. And that wasn’t just in the locker room. He let everyone in the (Packers’ headquarters) building know how upset he was for the next couple of weeks.” There also was an incident after a loss at the Indianapolis Colts that season where it was close to “total chaos” in the locker room, and strength coach Virgil Knight hurled a full can of soda at linebacker Mike Douglass. Ah, those were the good old days.
Some of the stories in the 1986 Yearbook were: “Pack May Put Emphasis on Rushing”... “Getting Ready for a Game — With Coach Forrest Gregg”... “Nose Tackle — The Eye of the Storm”... “Gary Ellerson Still Learning”... “Hornung Enters Hall of Fame”... “(Dominic) Gentile is More than a Trainer”... ““The Great Packer-Bear Rivalry”... “Bears Once Owed Packers $1,500”... “Big Shoes May Fit Mark Cannon”... “The Quarterback Derby”... “Your 1986 Packers”... “Captains Clark and Scott Earned It”... “The Draft — First Two Selections Help Offense”... “Lofton Near Untouchable Record”... “Brian Noble — Tenacious, Strong”... “The Abominable Snow Game — Lambeau Field, Dec. 1, 1985”... “A Historic Trip to Madison”...
