The Holy Grail — Part III

Moving right along to Part III of our 1960 Green Bay Packers Yearbook installment, we start off with an article on Emlen Tunnell, who Vince Lombardi brought to town from the New York Giants.

Comin’ up tomorrow — Part IV.

The Holy Grail — Part II

We continue on today with Part II in our presentation of the 1960 Green Bay Packers Yearbook. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy this look back and learn quite a few things as well.

Tomorrow, Part III.

The Holy Grail — Part I

For those of you collectors of Packers’ memorabilia out there in Packerville, U.S.A., you know that one of the rarest and most valuable finds is the 1960 Green Bay Packers Yearbook. That is mainly because it was the first issue ever, and a lower quantity was printed since they wanted to see how well it would sell. They are very rare, and the average price you might see one in an online auction could be upwards to $650 or more. But, luckily for you, we’re going to share the entire issue (with the great old ads included) over the next several days here on the blog. So, sit back and enjoy reading about your team as they were preparing to play the 1960 season, the second season with Vince Lombardi in charge as coach and manager.

Tomorrow, Part II.

Run, Jimmy, Run!

Hall of Fame FB Jim Taylor goes around the end for some yardage against the Lions in Detroit in this undated photo that we’re sharing today. Isn’t it fun to look at these old photos from the Packers’ past? Let’s hope that we have some current football activity to follow soon.

A Bowl of Ice

Here is a fine photo of Green Bay legendary LB Ray Nitschke coming onto the field for the classic “Ice Bowl,” the 1967 N.F.L. championship game. After having attended the third coldest game in league history (the 2007 N.F.C. Championship loss to the Giants) while wearing modern winter clothing, we find it amazing that folks could sit through the ’67 game, which was ten degrees colder. If anyone who was at the game ever reads this blog, our hats are off to you.

Packerville on Twitter

You can now follow Packerville, U.S.A. on Twitter (@packerville), if you're interested. You can also check out our Tweets through the feed on the right hand side of the blog. Just click on the links, and you will access the articles that we think might be of interest to Packer fans. We will also Tweet from games and Training Camp, etc. (if there is one), so you can get more up to date info from your Packerville staff!

Those Pesky All-Americans

As our current-day N.F.L. owners are meeting this week to try and find a solution to the labor issue that threatens the 2011 season, we’re taking a trip back to the 1940’s, when the owners gathered for another reason. As stated in the wire-service caption: “New York City — National Football League leaders who plan to fight the new All-America pro conference as they attend meeting here. Left-right: John Mara, president N.Y. Giants; Dan Reeves, owner Cleveland Rams; George Marshall, owner Washington Redskins, and Earl Lambeau, coach of the Green Bay, Wisc., Packers.”

From Wikipedia: “The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations to the game. However, the AAFC was ultimately unable to sustain itself in competition with the NFL. Three of its teams were admitted to the NFL: San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts (not related to the later NFL team that would play in Baltimore from 1953 through 1983, now the Indianapolis Colts). The Cleveland Browns were the AAFC's most successful club, having won every annual championship in the league's four years of operation.” To read the full article, please click here.

Action in the Coliseum

In the sunny afternoon weather of January 15, 1967, QB Bart Starr is dropping back to pass in the first N.F.L.-A.F.L. World Championship Game (also known as Super Bowl I). Some of the fellows who were his long-time protectors and can be seen doing just that are T Bob Skoronski (#76, mostly hidden), G Fuzzy Thurston (#63), G Jerry Kramer (#64, mostly hidden), and T Forrest Gregg (#75).

Bart Starr Day

We’ve had a post or two on this event before, but not with this photo, which we found recently on a sports memorabilia auction site. Bart Starr was given his own day (yes, “Bart Starr Day”) on October 18, 1970 as his career wound down. In this photo, Starr is getting congratulated by team president Dominic Olejniczak (right) and Wisconsin Governor Warren Knowles (left). Unfortunately, the team had a subpar day in the ensuing game against the Los Angeles Rams. Starr and the Packers were on the losing end of that day’s battle, 31-21, in front of 56,263 fans on a 59-degree Fall day.

Summer Means Previews

Regardless of the ongoing lockout, we are starting to see some N.F.L. preview magazines on the newsstands. Yesterday in Milwaukee, we picked up The Sporting News’ issue, which has QB Aaron Rodgers and LB Clay Matthews on the Wisconsin “regional” cover. There are 17 different covers, so we always try to pick up football preview magazines while in God’s Country. Down here where the Packerville, U.S.A. offices are located, we have only the issue with a pouting Jay Cutler on the front. We’re certainly not going to waste our cash on something like that. Oh, and by the way... The Sporting News picks the Packers to repeat as Super Bowl champions!

Also on the newsstands, and it was highlighted in the national sports media headlines this past mid-week, is the latest copy of ESPN — The Magazine. This double issue ranks 122 professional sports franchises in several categories, and guess who is ranked on top? You guessed it — your very own Green Bay Packers!

The rankings were based on the following: Bang for the Buck (Wins during the past three years [regular season plus postseason] per revenues directly from fans, adjusted for league schedules); Fan Relations (Openness and consideration toward fans by players, coaches and management); Ownership (Honesty and loyalty to core players and local community); Affordability (Price of tickets, parking and concessions); Stadium Experience (Quality of arena and game-day promotions as well as friendliness of environment); Players (Effort on the field and likability off it); Coaching (Strength of on-field leadership); Title Track (Championships already won or expected in the lifetime of current fans).

There has been no action on the practice fields this offseason, but the Packers have still added another “championship” to go along with their Super Bowl XLV title.

To read the whole article on the Packers being the best franchise, click here.

To see the complete list of rankings, click here.

And where do our N.F.C. North Division rivals rank?

Chicago Bears — 74th

Detroit Lions — 94th

Minnesota Vikings — 106th

(Rank of 122 total)

The Hardware Has Arrived!

In case you weren’t looking for it in the news last evening, the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl championship rings were presented in a ceremony at Lambeau Field. Above and below are some various views of the commemorative hardware.

It’s too bad that they don’t present Super Bowl rings to folks who run historical websites devoted to the team (although all full-time employees — yes, even the custodians — got a ring). The Packers Pro Shop has many “fan” rings available, however, as well as special exclusive versions for both shareholders and season ticket owners. You can take a look at all the selections here.

Here is a nice view of the new rings, plus the team’s previous Super Bowl rings:

Some information from Jostens, the ring manufacturer:

Four Super Bowls. One Legacy.

“Members of the Green Bay Packers organization received their Super Bowl XLV World Championship rings at a celebration on June 16, 2011 in the Lambeau Field Atrium. The Packers selected Jostens to create the team's 4th Super Bowl Championship ring to symbolize their win in Super Bowl XLV and capture iconic elements of the Packers' football legacy.

The ring is cast in platinum with a crest featuring the Green Bay "G" logo cast in 18-kt. yellow gold set on a green stone tablet. Thirteen diamonds are embedded in the logo, each one representing a Green Bay NFL Championship. The familiar logo is illuminated by round brilliant cut diamonds and four marquis cut diamonds adorn the perimeter of the ring, representing the Packers' four Super Bowl triumphs.

The Green Bay Packers' relationship with Jostens dates back to legendary coach Vince Lombardi, who chose Jostens to commemorate the Packers' historic victory in Super Bowl I in 1967. The newest ring will join the team's collection including rings representing team victories in Super Bowl I (1967), Super Bowl II (1968) and Super Bowl XXXI (1997).

Jostens is proud to have created 29 of the 45 Bowl ring to date.”

This doesn’t feature the Packers only, but it’s a nice video showing some of the process of making Super Bowl rings for the National Football League teams:

And, in case you need yet another view of the Super Bowl XLV ring, here it is:

Congratulations to all who received their rings last evening!