Our annual commemoration of the 1967 NFL Championship game — the Ice Bowl — played on this date in Green Bay, Wis. Check out our 50th anniversary post HERE.

Ken Bowman Passes Away at 81

We learned last evening that former Packers center Ken Bowman died on December 27, 2023.

From ESPN: “Bowman, who played center for the Green Bay Packers from 1964 to 1973 and was part of three consecutive championship teams, has died. He was 81.

The Packers announced Tuesday that Bowman died last Wednesday in Oro Valley, Arizona. The team did not disclose a cause of death, but the Packers' statement cited Bowman's wife, Roseann, saying he died of natural causes.

Bowman was part of the Packers' NFL title-winning team in 1965, the year before the first Super Bowl, and the Super Bowl-winning teams of the next two seasons.

He is perhaps best known for snapping the ball to Bart Starr and delivering a block on the Hall of Fame quarterback's game-winning, 1-yard touchdown sneak in the "Ice Bowl," the Packers' 21-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in a 1967 NFL championship game that had a kickoff temperature of minus-13 degrees Fahrenheit.

That sent the Packers to the Super Bowl, where they beat the Oakland Raiders. A year earlier, Bowman stepped in for an injured Bill Curry at center during the first Super Bowl, helping the Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Packers selected Bowman out of Wisconsin in the eighth round of the 1964 draft. He played in 123 games and made 107 starts, all with Green Bay.

Bowman was the Packers' player representative for part of his career. He also was an NFL Players Association vice president.”

The Packers’ official team historian Cliff Christl posted this story.

Our condolences to his family, friends, and teammates.

Ice Bowl Anniversary

As the Packers will play the Minnesota Vikings today, it is also the anniversary of the 1967 NFL Championship Game, commonly known as “The Ice Bowl.” If you’re interested, check out our extensive post for the 50th Anniversary back in 2017. I’ve updated the video and audio links (don’t believe anyone who says that everything you put on the internet stays there forever). Enjoy!

The Sounds of December 1967

On this 55th anniversary of the iconic “Ice Bowl” game (the 1967 NFL Championship game), we came across these items which give some context to the culture of the time. This is what would’ve been on the local jukeboxes as Packers fans celebrated into the night following the thrilling 21-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Here are the Billboard music charts from the week ending December 30, 1967. Thought maybe one or two of you might find it interesting.

Lombardi Denies Retirement

Three days after the 1967 NFL Championship Game, known to history as “The Ice Bowl,” the Associated Press published this report in which Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi stated a television report that he would retire after this season was “completely without verification.” That report came from Minneapolis sportscaster Hal Scott, brother of CBS broadcast announcer Ray Scott, who worked the Packers games in that era. Hal Scott said that Lombardi would retire from coaching, but retain his general manager position, which is what really did happen. At the time of this article, the Packers had yet to play the AFL champions Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II.

Happy Ice Bowl Day!

Today is the 53rd anniversary of the “Ice Bowl” — the 1967 NFL Championship game. Considered one of the top moments in NFL history, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 with a Bart Starr QB sneak touchdown with only 13 seconds left to play. 

The conditions were less than idea, according to the National Weather Service: “The game was played in brutal cold and windy conditions. The kickoff temperature in Green Bay was -13°F, with a wind chill of 36 below zero. Temperatures were so cold, in fact, that referees had to shout signals so that the metal whistles wouldn't stick to their lips. Even so, nearly 51,000 fans watched the coldest game in league annals.”

We’ve read extensively about the Ice Bowl, and there are varying accounts as to what the wind chill was at its lowest point. From the Packers’ perspective, the cafe under Ariens Hill is named “46 Below,” with this description: “This bistro is named in homage to the Ice Bowl, the legendary 1967 NFL Championship game at Lambeau Field during which the wind chill temperature famously plummeted to 46 below zero.”

Regardless, the game will live forever in NFL lore, but will one day be no longer remembered by the generation which attended it, watched it, listened to it, and read about it at the time. Hopefully, future generations of Packers fans will marvel at what happened that day, and at the ability of fans to watch the game in those conditions without any of the cold weather gear that came about decades later.

For any weather history geeks out there (from the National Weather Service):

— The coldest and longest cold stretch (nine days) during the 1967-1968 winter season began the day of the Ice Bowl. Seven of nine days during that stretch did not exceed 0°F.

— The winter in which the Ice Bowl was played (1967-1968) ranked 2nd all-time for the least snowiest (20.6 inches). The record is 19.2 inches during the winter of 1960-1961.

— The Ice Bowl ranked 1st all-time for the lowest average temperature for any December 31 in Green Bay: -6.5°F for the day.

— The Ice Bowl ranked 1st all-time for the lowest minimum temperature for any December 31 in Green Bay: -19°F reached just before midnight that evening.

— The Ice Bowl ranked 5th all-time for the lowest maximum temperature for any December 31 in Green Bay: +6°F reached at midnight early that morning.

Below are a few video screen captures of crowd scenes just before the game-winning play, from CBS live coverage, of which only a few minutes are know to exist. Networks routinely taped over broadcasts to save money, even if what they taped over was irreplaceable history. The “bottom line” is always the most important thing.

View our 50th Anniversary tribute to the Ice Bowl HERE.

See the 1967 NFL Championship game program HERE. 

Happy Ice Bowl Day!

Today marks the 52nd anniversary of the legendary Ice Bowl — the NFL Championship game on December 31, 1967, played in frigid sub-zero Green Bay, Wisconsin on New Year’s Eve. It was the last championship of the Vince Lombardi era, and is consistently ranked as one of the top two games in NFL history. Please visit our comprehensive post on the 50th anniversary of the game here.


Watch the ENTIRE GAME HERE, with original radio play-by-play from WTMJ radio in Milwaukee. This is an incredible production, since the original television broadcast was recorded over later (standard practice in those days).

Bart Starr Official Obituary

Bart Starr 1934 – 2019

Bryan Bartlett “Bart” Starr, 85, of Birmingham (Ala.) passed away, surrounded by his family and close friends, on Sunday, May 26, 2019. He is survived by his loving and supportive wife of 65 years Cherry, his son Bart Starr, Jr., three granddaughters (Shannon, Jenny, and Lisa) and three great grandchildren (Bryan, Teddy, and Violet). He was preceded in death by his parents Benjamin Bryan Starr and Lula Tucker Starr, his brother Hilton, and his son Bret.

Bart was honored to attend and play football at Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery, and at the University of Alabama. During the next 16 years, he was blessed to be a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. He always stressed to his family, friends, and fans that he received far too much credit for the five NFL championships the Packers achieved under Coach Vince Lombardi. He knew that without the unselfishness, focus, and determination of every member of the team, including the coaching staff and the organization, none of that success would have been possible. His respect for his teammates was profound and enduring. One, Zeke Bratkowski, became as close as a brother.

During his time with the Packers, Bart fell in love with the residents of Green Bay and the entire state of Wisconsin. Because he came from such humble beginnings, Bart had the greatest respect for the work ethic, generosity, and true sense of family values that permeate Wisconsin. After praying with Cherry about their desire to give back to the community they so cherished, he met John Gillespie. John asked Bart to help build Rawhide, a ranch for at-risk teenage boys who needed spiritual support. In his office, Bart displayed a photograph of a group of young men who were working their way through Rawhide with the guidance of God and their counselors. Nothing could exceed the joy he received when, decades later, he met the men who were once residents at Rawhide and had become wonderful fathers and role models.
Upon his return to Alabama in the early 1990s, he found immense meaning in supporting the missions of Children’s of Alabama and Cornerstone Schools for underserved students. He and Cherry also became deeply involved with the Humane Society of Birmingham. Each of these charitable causes filled Bart’s soul with inspiration and gratitude, for they reflected the selfless qualities he witnessed daily by the residents of Alabama.

Following the serious strokes he suffered in September 2014, his daily challenges provided yet another occasion for thankfulness; he recognized that the opportunity to again see his beloved friends in Green Bay would be well worth the extraordinary effort required to make those trips happen.

As he left this world, he did so in peace, having never lost his faith, and having always trusted in the goodness of humanity.

A Birmingham service, “Celebrating the Legacy of Bart Starr,” will take place from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday, June 9, at the Wright Center, Samford University. The Starr family is making arrangements for an additional celebration in Green Bay, with details to be finalized as soon as possible. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choosing, or to the Bart and Cherry Starr Foundation, which supports the causes noted herein.

Bart Starr Passes Away at 85

We’re been posting on our social media channels lately, but the original Packerville, U.S.A. blog has been resting as the new season approaches. As everyone now knows, legendary Packers QB Bart Starr has passed away at the age of 85. We are putting together a Bart Starr Tribute for this space, so stay tuned. Until then, the above photo is of your editor and Starr in 2001.

Here is an obituary from the Associated Press in the mean time:

Bart Starr, Quarterback Who Led the Packers to 60’s Greatness, Dies Sunday at 85

Associated Press
May 26, 2019

Bart Starr, the earnest and determined leader of the great Green Bay Packers teams of the 1960s who became one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in history — the in-the-huddle incarnation of their fierce and masterly coach, Vince Lombardi — died on Sunday in Birmingham, Ala. He was 85.

His death was announced by the Packers. He had been in poor health since suffering a stroke in 2014, the team said.

Starr, the son of a strict military man who used to tell him that he wished he were tougher, was an underperforming bench-warmer when Lombardi first arrived in Green Bay in 1959. Like Starr’s father, Lombardi worried, as he later said, that the young man might be “too polite and maybe just a little too self-effacing to be the real bold, tough quarterback that a quarterback must be in the National Football League.”

More than a half-century later, the annual N.F.L. award given to a player, and voted on by players, for outstanding character and leadership on and off the field is called the Bart Starr Award.

Starr’s name may have been the most flamboyant thing about him. But he proved to be skilled, sly and, by at least one measure, incomparably successful: He won three N.F.L. championships (for the seasons played in 1961, ’62 and ’65) in the pre-Super Bowl era, and then the first two Super Bowls, in January of 1967 and ’68. That Packers’ run of N.F.L. championships helped bring new attention to professional football as it moved into the Super Bowl era. (With his victory in 2019, Tom Brady has won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.)

Starr was named the league’s most valuable player in 1966 and received the same honor in Super Bowls I and II. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four times. And on a team known for running — with the flashy Paul Hornung and the rugged Jim Taylor (who died in October) — Starr was one of the league’s most efficient passers. He led the N.F.L. in that crucial category in three seasons and, on average, for all of the 1960s — even though his rival Johnny Unitas of the Baltimore Colts was often viewed as better. Starr set career records for completion percentage, 57.4, and consecutive passes without an interception, 294.

Those records were eventually broken in a league transformed by precision-passing offenses and increasingly coddled quarterbacks, many groomed since childhood and arriving at the annual N.F.L. draft as celebrities. Starr, by contrast, was drafted in the 17th round in 1956 after barely playing his senior year at Alabama, and he may not have been the most talented player on the Packers during their glory years. Many teammates from that era — including Hornung, Taylor, Willie Davis, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer and Ray Nitschke — are in the Hall of Fame. (Gregg died in April.)

Yet Starr became the Packers’ most essential player. Lombardi was a new kind of coach — comprehensive, obsessive, relentless — and he needed a new kind of quarterback, serious and studious enough to put the coach’s grand plans into motion, to make crucial decisions when the game, and maybe the season, was on the line, and to endure Lombardi’s sometimes harsh criticism. Starr became a passionate student and a superlative field general, and he never stopped giving Lombardi credit for his success.
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“I loved it,” he recalled in David Maraniss’s 1998 book, “When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi.” “I loved the meetings. I never, ever was bored or tired at any meeting we were in with Lombardi. I appreciated what he was trying to teach. He was always trying to raise the bar.”

With Lombardi writing the script, Starr directed the offense, calling the plays. His most memorable was his boldest.

It happened in the frigid twilight at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on Dec. 31, 1967, in the league championship game between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, now known as the Ice Bowl. The temperature was 13 degrees below zero, and a new heating system installed beneath the turf had failed. Players slipped and fell all afternoon. Starr fumbled disastrously, leading to a Dallas touchdown.

With less than five minutes to play, the Packers trailed, 17-14, with nearly 70 treacherous yards between them and the end zone. Mixing short passes with run plays, Starr calmly marched his team within two feet of a touchdown. But in the final minute, the Cowboys twice stopped the Packers when they tried to run the ball into the end zone. Sixteen seconds remained when Starr called a timeout and walked to the sideline to confer with Lombardi.

There was no talk of kicking a field goal to tie and force overtime. As Lombardi later recalled, he was worried that Green Bay’s benumbed fans could not endure an extra period. Starr told the coach that the running backs were struggling to get traction, but that he thought he could sneak the ball across the line himself.

“Then run it!” Lombardi told him. “And let’s get the hell out of here!”

Starr returned to the huddle and called for a run play without telling his teammates that he intended to keep the ball.

The ball was snapped. Starr hesitated for the slightest moment. Then he dived into the end zone behind big blocks by Jerry Kramer and Ken Bowman. The Packers won, 21-17.

“Texas has the lone star,” read a homemade sign in the stands, “but we have the bright Starr.”

Two weeks later Green Bay defeated the Oakland Raiders, 33-14, at the Orange Bowl in Miami in Super Bowl II. It was the final championship for the Starr-Lombardi Packers. Lombardi resigned as coach and became general manager in February 1968, joined the Washington Redskins as coach and part-owner a year later, and died of cancer in 1970 at the age of 57.

“The dirty little secret of those days,” said Steve Wright, an offensive tackle for the Packers, as quoted in “America’s Quarterback: Bart Starr and the Rise of the National Football League” (2011), by Keith Dunnavant, “was that during the week it was Lombardi’s team, but on Sunday it was really Starr’s team.”

Bryan Bartlett Starr was born on Jan. 9, 1934, in Birmingham, the eldest of two sons of Ben Starr and Lulu (Tucker) Starr. Starr’s father, who was of Native American lineage, served in the National Guard before establishing a career in the Air Force and settling his family in Montgomery, Ala.

Ben Starr believed that Bart’s brother, Hilton, who was two years younger and known as Bubba, had more athletic potential, and he often said so to Bart. When Hilton was 11, he cut his foot on a dog bone while walking barefoot. Three days later he died of a tetanus infection. His death devastated the family, and Bart Starr would later say that it put more distance between him and his father.

When Starr was a junior in high school and playing for the varsity squad, he became the starting quarterback only after the coach’s first choice was injured. But he led the team to an undefeated season and as a senior was heavily recruited.

He nearly chose to attend the University of Kentucky, where the celebrated Bear Bryant was coaching at the time. Instead, to be close to his girlfriend, Cherry Louise Morton, he accepted an offer from Alabama. Starr married Ms. Morton in 1954, after his sophomore year.

Playing under Red Drew, Starr became the starter as a sophomore and led the Crimson Tide to the Cotton Bowl. But he missed nearly all of his junior season with a back injury, and as a senior was demoted to a backup role under a new coach. When the 1956 draft arrived, Jack Vainisi, the personnel manager for the Packers, decided to take a chance on Starr, though not much of one: The Packers made Starr the 199th college player chosen in the N.F.L. draft.

Starr floundered in his early years in Green Bay. Then Lombardi arrived. After a few stops and starts, Starr became the starter for good in 1960.

As his star rose on the field, the public began seeing what Lombardi saw: a loyal, dependable leader who worked hard away from the game as well. Unlike many of his teammates, Starr lived year round in Green Bay, where he received “Mr. Nice Guy” awards from community groups — a label that frustrated him but that he never risked contradicting. In 1965 he helped found the Rawhide Boys Ranch, a faith-based nonprofit residential care center for at-risk youth.

Survivors include his wife, Cherry; a son, Bart Jr., and several grandchildren.

A second son, Bret, died of cardiac arrest after taking cocaine in 1988. His death prompted the family to move to Birmingham to be closer to Bart Jr.

In Birmingham, Starr owned car dealerships, built hospitals and was a pitchman for Ford and other companies.

He played four more seasons after Lombardi retired, but he never again made the playoffs as a quarterback. He retired after the 1971 season, his 16th. He was 37.

Starr returned to coach the Packers in 1975 and stayed for eight seasons, but he was not as effective on the sidelines as he had been in the huddle. The Packers, their roster depleted, had just one winning season and won a single playoff game with Starr as head coach. He was devastated when he was fired in 1983, after finishing second in the division with an 8-8 record, but he remained loyal to Green Bay.

In 2000, when the team sought a local tax break to renovate Lambeau Field, Starr’s main stage, it recruited him to lobby for the legislation. He was an emphatic advocate. The legislation passed.

Ice Bowl 50th Anniversary

50 years ago today, the legendary “Ice Bowl” (the 1967 NFL Championship game) was played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Dallas Cowboys were the visiting team, vying for their first NFL title against the Green Bay Packers — who were trying for their third NFL title in a row. To commemorate this monumental event, we are presenting these videos, audio, and photos from that historic, frigid day. First, we have a re-created broadcast featuring the voice of the 1960’s Packers, Ray Scott, who originally called the game for CBS on December 31, 1967. Watch it here.

An incredible merge of WTMJ radio and film of the entire game is HERE.  YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THIS!!!


This segment is from the NFL Network’s episode of “Vince Lombardi — A Football Life.”

Surviving CBS footage from the game on that day.

The Dallas Cowboys radio network broadcast.


The WTMJ Green Bay Packers radio network broadcast of the game can be found here. It features Ted Moore (above) with the play-by-play.

Some amateur 8mm film from the game.

Here is the NFL Films biography of Vince Lombardi that was done after his death in 1970.

Or, if you’d like the Hollywood version of Lombardi, the 1973 TV film “Lombardi: Legend in Granite” can be seen HERE.

And now, a huge gallery of images from that day:

This is the cover of the 1967 NFL Championship Game — “the Ice Bowl.” Check out our previous presentation of the entire program here.


The National Weather Service chart for December 31, 1967.


This photo of fans at Lambeau Field tells you all you need to know about the conditions on that December Sunday.


Two hearty souls — perhaps twins?


The Green Bay Packers Band on the field.


Two aerial photos (above and below) from that day, which just came to light in 2017.




QB Bart Starr (#15) hands off to HB Travis Williams (#23).


QB Bart Starr (#15) looks over the Dallas defense at the line of scrimmage.


QB Bart Starr (#15) gets a pass off over DE George Andrie (#66) and a fellow defender.


A look at the Packers on offense, with FB Chuck Mercein (#30) providing protection for QB Bart Starr (#15). Note the exposed Packers’ old administration building in the background, behind the north end zone. The Packers’ locker room was located there.


Dallas QB Don Meredith (#17) just after the snap.


WR Boyd Dowler (#86) catches a touchdown pass over the coverage of DB Mel Renfro (#20)


RB Dan Reeves (#30) fights for some yardage with DE Willie Davis (#87), DB Tom Brown (#40, partially hidden), and LB Dave Robinson (#89) in pursuit.


The Packers gang-tackle RB Don Perkins (#43) — with LB Lee Roy Caffey (#60), LB Ray Nitschke (#66), and DB Willie Wood (#24) in on the fun.


WR Boyd Dowler (#86) scores another touchdown in the south end zone.


RB Don Perkins (#43) makes a gain against the Packers’ defense. LB Ray Nitschke (#66) looks to perhaps be the eventual tackler.


Another view of the loyal Green Bay Packers fans watching the frozen action. A total of 50,861 people were in attendance — with at least double that number claiming later to have been there.


QB Dan Meredith (#17) is sacked.


QB Bart Starr (left) on the sideline with Coach Vince Lombardi.


Another view of one of WR Boyd Dowler’s (#86) two touchdown receptions. He had four receptions for 77 yards on the day.


QB Bart Starr (#15) is sacked by LB Dave Edwards (#52).


The view you would’ve had of QB Bart Starr (#15) as a Dallas defensive player.


DE George Andrie (#66) scoops up a Packers’ fumble, which he returned seven yards for a touchdown.


WR Carroll Dale (#84) is driven into the hard turf by LB Dave Edwards (#52).


FB Ben Wilson (#36) gets into the game, trying here to elude the tackle by LB Dave Edwards (#52).


LB Dave Robinson (#89) stops RB Don Perkins (#43) cold (no pun intended).


QB Bart Starr (#15) looks to pass under good protection by T Bob Skoronski (#76).


Dallas players huddle by a heater under the makeshift “dugout” constructed on the sideline.


On the final drive, FB Chuck Mercein (#30) gains a big chunk of yards inside the Dallas “red zone.”


Coach Vince Lombardi watches his team get closer to a third straight championship.


QB Bart Starr (#15) drives the Packers’ offense towards the south end zone with time running down in the fourth quarter.


QB Bart Starr (#15) barks out the signals as the Packers faithful in the stands watch and pray.


QB Bart Starr (#15) begins his unexpected (by his own players) sneak.


QB Bart Starr (#15) crosses the goal line due to the blocks by G Jerry Kramer (#64) and C Ken Bowman (#57).


QB Bart Starr (#15) lays safely in the south end zone, as expected ballcarrier FB Chuck Mercein (#30) holds his hands in the air to show the officials that he was not assisting Starr on his sneak play.


The Packers’ sideline erupts in celebration as the Packers take the lead, 21-17 (after the extra point).


Another less famous view of the post-sneak touchdown.


Coach Vince Lombardi is congratulated on the sideline following the go-ahead score.


Yes, they did... and he was laying across the south end zone goal line.


Above and below, ecstatic fans tear down the goal posts following the game.




An exhausted and thawing QB Bart Starr talks with reporters in the Packers’ locker room following the game.


FB Chuck Merecein (#30), a late-season pick up, is congratulated by Coach Vince Lombardi.


The following day’s front page from the (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal.



Also:

Box score and statistics from the 1967 NFL Championship.

Photo credits in this post: The Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys, Vernon Biever, John Bieber, National Football League, the Wisconsin State Journal, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, and the Associated Press. This post is presented for historical purposes only.