Covering the birth, rise, and fall of the pro football team from little Green Bay, The Packer Legend: An Inside Look is written by John B. Torinus, Sr., “a retired newspaper executive who once worked as a ball boy for the Green Bay Packers and went on to join the football team's board of directors. A member of the Packers board of directors since 1949, Torinus also served on the National Football League club's seven-member executive committee. In 1962, he left his position as executive editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette to become editor and general manager of the Appleton Post-Crescent until his retirement in 1983. As a youth, Torinus worked as a ball boy for the team and later covered it for decades as a newspaperman. In the mid-1950s, when the Packers were in financial trouble, Torinus sold stock for the team to raise money.” These facts serve to prove that this story of the Packers was written by someone who was there. Torinus died in October 1985.
Source of quoted material: AP obituary, 1985
This book is one of the first covering the Packers long and storied history that we purchased, and contains many great photos — some of which you’ve seen numerous times, and some that will be new to you. We love the headline on this newspaper front page from 1929!
Packer game action from 1928.
Newspaper front page from 1959, announcing the hiring of head coach Vince Lombardi.
A view of the north end of the stadium that you don’t see too often. This shows the Packers’ administration building in an unspecified year of the 1970’s. Note Lambeau Field without any skyboxes behind the offices. Things look a little different today, eh?
Some of the Packers’ longtime staff are recognized in the book. Here, trainer Dominic Gentile shows off the tools of his trade.
The hiring of former QB Bart Starr as head coach headlines the news at Christmas time in 1975.
Coach Starr meets with some of his offensive players in a Lambeau Field classroom. The book ends with optimism expressed about the coming 1982 season, but Starr would be relieved of his coaching duties at the end of 1983 to be replaced by another Lombardi pupil, Forrest Gregg. And the long slide continued.
The back cover.
Find your copy here.
The Packer Legend: An Inside Look
By John B. Torinus
Laranmark Press (1982)
253 pages
