Since we recently presented the film highlights of the 1965 N.F.L. title game between Green Bay and Cleveland, we thought we would post the coverage of the contest as presented in Sports Illustrated magazine. This is the January 10, 1966 issue.
We’ll finish with an ad from the magazine featuring Browns’ legendary Hall of Famer Jim Brown. The 1965 title game loss to the Packers was his last game in the N.F.L.
Before the kickoff of tonight’s NFC Divisional Playoff game between the Packers and Falcons, we’re here to post the rest of our presentation of the 1965 title game program. This page has Packer player portraits, plus an ad featuring Browns’ QB Frank Ryan. Although he led the Browns to their last National Football League title in 1964, Ryan is best remembered for being perhaps the only Ph.D. in mathematics to play in the league, completing a doctorate at Rice University (1965) with the dissertation A Characterization of the Set of Asymptotic Values of a Function Holomorphic in the Unit Disc. He played with Cleveland through the 1968 season.
Game action from the previous week’s Western Conference Playoff game. The Packers beat the Baltimore Colts on a overtime field goal by Don Chandler to come out on top, 13-10. Chandler’s field goal to tie the game is still disputed today, and resulted in the goal post uprights being extended vertically for the 1966 season.
Meet your Green Bay Packers Board of Directors, 1965 version.
The Cleveland Browns’ 1965 complete roster.
Starting lineups for both teams, from the game program’s center spread.
We liked this Coca-Cola ad with all of the team logos on the insides of the bottle caps. Bottle caps... remember them?
Some of the stars of the ’65 Cleveland Browns.
Your 1965 Green Bay Packers complete roster.
Your 1965 Green Bay Packers coaching assistants.
Your 1965 Green Bay Packers team photo.
More stars of the ’65 Cleveland Browns.
Along with more Packer portraits, we see an ad for the Hotel Northland. This building is still there, now used as lower income housing. About 150 seniors and disabled people live in the Port Plaza Towers (the Northland’s newer name), but not for much longer. City leaders plan to restore it to the historic hotel it once was. “Some people will say we have a lot of hotel rooms. Sure but do we have the right hotel rooms? There's a call from conventioneers, people and they're going to support this renovated first class hotel,” said Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt.
Packer portraits.
Packer portraits.
Packer portraits.
Some Packers administrative information.
Your Packers Executive Committee for 1965.
And we finish up this subject matter with some final portraits of your 1965 Packer stars. Good luck to our 2010 team as they take on the Atlanta Falcons in tonight’s playoff game!
When we posted the multi-part film highlights of the 1965 championship game a couple of weeks ago, you may have noted the adverse weather conditions on that day in Green Bay. As a result, almost all of the game programs you can find are water-damaged in some way. Such is the case with our copy that we obtained a number of years ago, as you can see by the cover above.
And now, an important word from then-N.F.L. commissioner Pete Rozelle.
Head coach Vince Lombardi and his 1965 Western Division champions staff.
The 1966 National Football League Draft was held on November 27, 1965. It was the last draft in which the N.F.L. and the A.F.L. drafted their players separate of one another. As a result, many players selected by teams from both leagues would choose to play for the more established N.F.L., or in a rarer case, the A.F.L. The expansion Atlanta Falcons were awarded the first pick in the draft as well as the final pick in each of the first five rounds. The league also provided the Falcons with an expansion draft six weeks later
Here is the 1965 coaching staff of the Eastern Division champion Cleveland Browns. They won the title with an 11-3-0 record.
Art Modell owned the Cleveland franchise from 1961-1995 and the Baltimore Ravens franchise from 1996-2004. Modell is the grandson of the late Morris Modell who founded the northeast sporting goods store chain Modell's in 1889. He is also the son of late Modell's executive Henry Modell. Unlike the Browns' previous owners, Modell immediately took an active role in the management of the team, and fired legendary coach Paul Brown on January 9, 1963. He did so because Brown ignored his suggestions and overshadowed Modell. Paul Brown had won 7 league championships prior to Modell's acquisition of the team. After firing Brown, Modell quickly named Brown's assistant, Blanton Collier, as the new coach on January 16, 1963. Of course, he became the most hated man in Cleveland when he moved the team out of the city after the 1995 season.
As the programs of the day usually did, there are portrait shots of favorite players throughout, but this page is also interesting as it has an ad for “Pappy’s,” a Milwaukee-area establishment which was owned by former Packer great Charles “Buckets” Goldenberg, who played for the team from 1933-1945. Many Green Bay players from the earlier era stayed in the state when their career was over. A fullback his first two years as a Packer, Goldenberg was converted to guard on the recommendation of Mike Michalske. He played in the 1936, 1938, 1939 and 1944 N.F.L. championship games. The Packers won three of those title games. After playing for 13 seasons, from 1933-1945, he owned a successful Milwaukee restaurant and served for many, years on the Packer Board of Directors.
Local sporting goods store features Packer players’ endorsements.
More mini-portraits of your 1965 team.
The local newspaper (still the only one in town) offers encouragement to the team. Part II of this 1965 championship game program comes your way tomorrow.
Not long ago, we decided to view the 1968 film Paper Lion, which is based upon the 1966 book by George Plimpton. The author had become known for participating in sporting events in order to write about the experience from the “inside.” In doing a series of articles on pro football, Plimpton set out to imbed himself as a rookie free-agent quarterback (and a 36-year-old one at that) on an actual N.F.L. franchise.
The film’s title screen as Alan Alda, later of M*A*S*H fame, played author George Plimpton.
And now we’re getting to the point of why we’re featuring this subject on our blog post today. See the listing above of “actors” who were “featured” in this film.
Plimpton: “That’s it! And then at the end, I go into a real game and run off a few plays at quarterback.”
Lombardi: “And you mean to tell me that you went three rounds with Sugar Ray Robinson? Pitched to the All-Stars, huh? Well, I will say it’s an interesting idea, a real interesting idea.”
Lombardi: (Continuing) But you know, George, we carry four quarterbacks now. And to ask us to carry five, I think that would be a real headache. I just don’t think it will work.”
The setting is not decorated to appear as his office in Green Bay (where he was still the general manager after stepping down as head coach), as the football artwork, etc. is non-descript, except for the painting in the waiting room we glimpse as Plimpton leaves. It looks a bit like it might be Bart Starr.
Shortly after, there is a scene with Frank Gifford, where Plimpton asks him to help him get “in” with the Giants, but no go. Finally, Plimpton is given the “O.K.” by the Detroit Lions (see below).
It’s not Academy Award material, but it’s interesting from a 1960’s football standpoint. For those of you who have NetFlix, it can be watched online. Happy viewing.
Green Bay head coach Vince Lombardi meets with the assembled media following a 1966 game in today’s photo. The 1966 Packers’ season was their 46th in the NFL and it resulted in a 12-2 record. They beat the Dallas Cowboys in the 1966 NFL Championship Game, the Packers' 10th NFL title. They then recorded a 35-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the inaugural AFL-NFL Championship Game (the first “Super Bowl”). In 2007, the 1966 Packers were ranked as the sixth greatest Super Bowl champions on the NFL Network's documentary series America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions.
