Lombardi: Winning Is The Only Thing (1970)

Subtitled “The Men Who Made Football An American Obsession Talk About The Game’s Most Unforgettable Figure,” this large sized volume of Lombardi: Winning Is The Only Thing features tributes to former Packers’ head coach Vince Lombardi by Frank Gifford and Kyle Rote (who played for him in New York), Emlen Tunnell (New York and Green Bay), Bart Starr and Paul Hornung (Green Bay), Sam Huff and Sonny Jurgenson (Washington), and many more. It is “illustrated with almost 200 dramatic and memorable photos.” It is a great book.

The back cover. 

The front and back flaps. 

Title spread.

Find your copy here.

Lombardi: Winning Is The Only Thing

Edited By Jerry Kramer 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company (1970)

261 Pages

Bart Starr — The Cool QB (1970)

Another youth-oriented book is next in our timeline of Packers literature. This one is focused again on Green Bay’s all-star quarterback, Bart Starr, and his upbringing and career in the NFL. Our particular copy of Bart Starr — The Cool Quarterback was obtained when it was withdrawn from a library collection. 

Introductory page.  

Title pages. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Bart Starr — The Cool QB

By George Sullivan

G.P. Putnam’s Sons (1970)

186 Pages

Packer Dynasty (1969)

Another lesser-known book in the collection of Green Bay Packers volumes is this one by former assistant and head coach Phil Bengston. Packer Dynasty starts with his journey from the San Francisco 49ers to Vince Lombardi’s staff in Titletown, and has great insight into those years from the viewpoint of an assistant. It was written while he still had one year to go as Packers head coach. 

Front and back flaps.  

Coach Bengston and QB Bart Starr. 

The back cover. 

Find your copy here.

Packer Dynasty

By Phil Bengston with Todd Hunt

Doubleday and Company, Inc. (1969)

278 Pages

Carroll Dale Scores Again (1969)

Today we have a much lesser known work in our presentation of books about the Green Bay Packers. Carroll Dale Scores Again! is about the life (up to that point) of the Packers’ All-Pro WR in the Lombardi Era, with an emphasis on his Christian faith. It even boasts a Forward written by Coach Lombardi himself. 

Carroll Dale with one of his award footballs. 

An unfamiliar sight — Dale with the Los Angeles Rams, where he played from 1960-64 before he was traded to Green Bay. He played for the Packers from 1965-72, and finished his career with one season in Minnesota. 

Dale was honored with this sign outside Wise, Virginia, his hometown, in the 1960s. 

A more familiar sight to Packer fans — Dale makes a catch in the green and gold against the Bears. 

The back cover. 

Carroll Dale today in his role as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Athletic Development at the University of Virginia-Wise. 

Lastly, here’s an article about his book that we found in the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1969.

Find your copy here.

Carroll Dale Scores Again!

By Dan Harman, with a forward by Vince Lombardi

The Warner Press (1969)

124 Pages

Farewell to Football (1969)

On the heels of his very successful diary of the 1967 season, Instant Replay, Green Bay Packers legendary G Jerry Kramer wrote Farewell to Football. After eleven seasons with the Packers, Kramer had decided to retire from the National Football League and enter the business world. This book tells of that transitional season of 1968 and his moving on in life. 

Front and rear flaps. 

The inside front and back covers have this photo treatment. 

 Jerry Kramer during the 1968 season.

Back cover — the Kramer family in 1969.

Find your copy here.

Jerry Kramer’s

Farewell to Football 

By Jerry Kramer; Edited by Dick Schaap

The World Publishing Company (1969)

199 Pages

We had a request from the Ron Kramer family (no relation to Jerry) to give a nod to their upcoming auction of Green Bay and University of Michigan memorabilia (and some Lions items too). Kramer, who played for the Packers in 1957, and then from 1959-64, passed away in 2010 at the age of 75. At the bottom of the following images are the links for the auction.

To see many more items for auction, and to find out more about the memorabilia seen above, visit the site here.

For the auction details, please go here.

Young Sports Photographer (1969)

Next up in the vast collection of books about the Green Bay Packers is a rare volume that we didn’t know existed until a few years ago. It is Young Sports Photographer with the Green Bay Packers, by John Biever (with George Vecsey). Biever is the son of long-time Packers official team photographer Vernon Biever, who sadly left us during the team’s championship season of 2010. Still behind the camera, John Biever currently works for Sports Illustrated. 

The book’s title page.

 A photo of John at work on the sideline during the Lombardi Era.

John (at right) shoots game action at Lambeau Field alongside his father, Vernon. 

John’s brother Jim (seen here) currently serves as the Packers’ official team photographer.

Find your copy here.

Young Sports Photographer 

with the Green Bay Packers

By John Biever with George Vecsey

W. W. Norton and Company (1969)

186 Pages

Winning Football (1968)

This youth-oriented “how to” book — Winning Football — by Green Bay Packers QB Bart Starr has been in our collection since, well, 1968. It is a neat book, and since it’s Super Sunday, we’re sharing the entire thing for your education and enjoyment! 

Find your copy here.

Winning Football

By Bart Starr

Grow Ahead Sports (1968)

36 Pages