The “Pack” Will Be Back — 1969

In another installment from the October 1969 issue of Quarterback magazine, we have this preview article on the prospects of the Green Bay Packers in their second year under the command of Head Coach Phil Bengston.

1968 Packers Season Preview

Here’s a look at how the NFL saw the prospects for the Green Bay Packers in 1968. Vince Lombardi had stepped down to the GM role, naming longtime assistant Phil Bengston as head coach. Would they challenge for a fourth straight title? Read the season preview as it was presented in Sports Illustrated that September 16, 1968.

Wow. Just take a look at the latest technology for musical entertainment that year!

The state of the National Football League in ’68. What might be most interesting is the final paragraph. 

Some stars. Some not.

More Auction Goodies

From time to time, we look at online auctions for Packer-related stuff. We came across these photos from a previous auction that was closed. But it’s fun to look at all of the fine photos in large format. Above, Ray Nitschke playing fullback at the University of Illinois.

Head Coach Bart Starr during his coaching era. 

QB Bart Starr from his earlier playing days. 

Head Coach Phil Bengston with Starr on the sideline.

Starr coaching on the sideline. 

FB Jim Taylor against the lions in Detroit in 1962. 

Starr in an undated photo. 

Head Coach Vince Lombardi in an undated photo. 

Starr barking out the signals later in the Sixties. 

Starr coaching on the sideline in cold weather. 

Starr ready to hand off the ball. 

Starr along the sideline on a nice Fall day. 

Starr rides the blocking sled during Training Camp. Note vintage Lambeau Field in the background.

Jim Taylor looks for some daylight to run into. 

Starr at a contract-extending press conference. 

Great shot of Starr on the road after having thrown the ball downfield.

Photos courtesy of Mears Online Auctions.

Preseason Packers-Bears ’69

For something to watch in preparation for Sunday’s big NFC North divisional showdown, here’s a look at the NFL on CBS in 1969. This preseason game from August 16th of that year was the second of four exhibition games, and saw the Bears come out on top, 19-9 at Milwaukee’s County Stadium.

Packers vs. Bears 1970

To tie in with the important match-up with the Chicago Bears, we’re posting this program from November of 1970. The Bears traveled to Green Bay that Sunday to take on Phil Bengston’s Packers team. Above is the game program cover for that day.

Head coach Bengston and his staff are profiled on this page. 

Coach Phil has a lucrative endorsement deal. 

 In those days, they’d take several pages of the program to feature photos of the players.

Apparently, the team photo for 1970 was not used for some reason. It seems that they would’ve had it by November, since it looks like the 1969 team photo (seen above) was shot in warm, sunny weather.

Those behind-the-scenes fellows who ran the organization in those years.

Still located a stone’s throw away from Lambeau Field, WLUK had quite a line-up of football programs. We’d love to see some tape of these shows today.

Your Packers’ Board of Directors. 

 Above and below, more stars from your 1970 team.

Don’t forget to fill out your NFL Man-of-the-Year entry blank. 

There’s a few Packers listed among the “NFC Leaders” stats. Not as many as a few years before.

Anyone up for some pizza at Bob Long’s restaurant? And a bit about the Bears’ coaching staff. 

Dig those slacks! 

 Your Packers’ stat leaders.

 A few more Packers… and who can forget Electric Football?!

 A whole Page-’O-Packers!

Before the days of Jim Irwin and Max (McGee), it was Jim and Gary (Bender). 

Your full 1970 Green Bay Packers roster. 

The program’s centerspread has the rosters and the starting line-ups.

The 1970 Chicago Bears roster. 

 Another Page-’O-Packers.

Those legendary men behind the Packers who kept them healthy and equipped through the Lombardi years and beyond.

Some of the Bears’ “stars” and a scouting report (above and below) on the 1970 squad. 

Packer bandleader extraordinaire, Wilner Burke. And does anyone still have one of those copper plaques laying around their basement or attic? 

We had not heard about Bart Starr’s “Huddle” restaurant, but boy would we love to eat there now! 

This is interesting… an ad for AstroTurf™. Better living through chemicals. 

An interesting article about the NFL Draft at the dawn of the Seventies. 

Some more Packers and some pickles. 

Green Bay’s Channel 2 is still there.

We wonder how many people actually bought these “stadium suits and boots”? 

A letter from NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle (below) follows this multiple exposure shot of the Packers (above) from what might be the 1966 NFL title game in Dallas. 

Your two Packers’ stadiums — Lambeau Field in Green Bay and County Stadium in Milwaukee. 

The complete 1970 NFC teams’ schedules. 

A colorful ad for old-fashioned, low-definition Zenith televisions closes off this program on the back cover. So what happened in this game, you ask? Well, on a 30-degree November day, the Packers edged the Bears by one point — 20-19 — in front of 56,263 fans at Lambeau.