The
1966 Green Bay Packers
season resulted in a 12-2 record and victory in
the inaugural AFL-NFL
Championship Game. The team beat the Dallas Cowboys in the
1966 NFL Championship
Game. The Packers were coached by
Vince Lombardi and led by quarterback
Bart Starr.
In 2007, the 1966 Packers were ranked as the 6th greatest Super
Bowl champions on the
NFL Network's
documentary series
America's Game: The
Super Bowl Champions.
Offseason
The Washington Redskins made overtures to Vince Lombardi about
becoming their new head coach. Lombardi refused their offer and the
Redskins had to settle for
Otto Graham
as their new head coach.
NFL Draft
In the
first round of the 1966 NFL Draft the
Packers selected running back Jim
Grabowski out of the University of Illinois
. The Packers would find themselves in a
bidding war for Grabowski. With the first pick overall, the
Dolphins selected Grabowskiin the AFL Draft. Lombardi's plan was to
groom Grabowski so that he could take over for Jim Taylor. Despite
being offered more money by the Dolphins, Grabowski said it was an
honor to be drafted by the Packers. Grabowski would sign with the
Packers and land on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The signing of
Grabowski upset Taylor. He felt that he was underpaid and made it
publicly known that he would leave Green Bay once his contract
expired. Taylor had been given an offer by the Atlanta Falcons but
would honor his contract before moving to another team.
| Round |
Selection |
Overall |
Player |
College |
| 1 |
9 |
9 |
Jim Grabowski |
Illinois |
| 1 |
13 |
13 |
Gale Gillingham |
Minnesota |
| 2 |
14 |
30 |
Tom Cichowski |
Maryland |
| 3 |
13 |
45 |
Fred Heron |
San Jose State |
| 3 |
14 |
46 |
Tony Jeter |
Nebraska |
| 4 |
14 |
62 |
John Roderick |
Southern Methodist |
| 7 |
13 |
108 |
Ray Miller |
Idaho |
| 8 |
14 |
124 |
Ken McLean |
Texas A&M |
| 9 |
13 |
138 |
Ron Rector |
Northwestern |
| 10 |
14 |
154 |
Sam Montgomery |
Southern |
| 11 |
13 |
168 |
Ralph Wenzel |
San Diego State |
| 12 |
14 |
184 |
Jim Mankins |
Florida State |
| 13 |
13 |
198 |
Ed King |
USC |
| 14 |
14 |
214 |
Ron Hanson |
North Dakota State |
| 15 |
13 |
228 |
Grady Bolton |
Mississippi State |
| 16 |
14 |
244 |
Bob Schultz |
Wisconsin–Stevens Point |
| 17 |
13 |
258 |
David Hathcock |
Memphis State |
| 18 |
14 |
274 |
Jim Jones |
Nebraska-Omaha |
| 19 |
13 |
288 |
Dave Moton |
USC |
| 20 |
14 |
304 |
Ed Maras |
South Dakota State |
|
Regular season
The Packers finished the regular season with a league best record
of 12-2, advancing them to the NFL Championship game.
Schedule
Division standings
Postseason
NFL championship game
Green Bay took an early 14-0 lead on two first-quarter scores; a
17-yard touchdown pass from
Bart Starr to
Elijah Pitts and a 17-yard fumble
return by Jim Grabowski on the ensuing kickoff. The Cowboys tied
the score with two touchdowns towards the end of the quarter.
Starr's third touchdown pass of the game gave the Packers a 34-20
lead with 5:20 left in the game, but the Cowboys responded with a
68-yard touchdown pass from
Don
Meredith to Frank Clarke. Dallas advanced to the Green Bay
22-yard line on their next drive, when a pass interference penalty
gave the Cowboys a first down at the Packer 2-yard line. But Green
Bay's Tom Brown intercepted a Meredith pass in the end zone with 28
seconds left to play to preserve the victory for the Packers.
With the win, the Packers earned their 10th NFL championship. It
was their second in a row and fourth in six seasons.
Scoring summary
- GB - Pitts 17 pass from Starr (Chandler kick)
- GB - Grabowski 18 fumble return (Chandler kick)
- DAL - Reeves 3 run (Villanueva kick)
- DAL - Perkins 23 run (Villanueva kick)
- GB - Dale 51 pass from Starr (Chandler kick)
- DAL - FG Villanueva 11
- DAL - FG Villanueva 32
- GB - Dowler 16 pass from Starr (Chandler kick)
- GB - McGee 28 pass from Starr (kick blocked)
- DAL - Clarke 68 pass from Meredith (Villanueva kick)
Super Bowl I
The first
ever AFL-NFL World
Championship Game in professional American football, later to
be known as Super Bowl I, was played on January 15, 1967 at the
Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum
in Los
Angeles
, California
. The Packers faced the
Kansas City Chiefs from the
AFL who finished their season
11-2-1.
The Packers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead with Bart Starr's
37-yard touchdown pass to reserve receiver
Max
McGee, who had been put into the game just a few plays earlier
to fill in for injured starter
Boyd
Dowler. Early in the second quarter, Kansas City marched 66
yards in 6 plays to tie the game on a 7-yard pass from quarterback
Len Dawson to
Curtis McClinton. But the Packers responded
on their next drive, advancing 73 yards down the field and scoring
on fullback
Jim
Taylor's 14-yard touchdown run with the team's famed "Power
Sweep" play. The Chiefs then cut the lead with a minute left in the
half, 14-10, on Mike Mercer's 31-yard field goal.
Early in the second half Dawson was intercepted by defensive back
Willie Wood. He
returned the interception 50 yards to the Kansas City 5-yard line.
On the next play
Elijah Pitts rushed
5-yards for a touchdown, giving the Packers a 21-10 lead. Max McGee
scored his second touchdown of the game with a 13-yard reception
from Bart Starr. The Packers held the Chiefs' offense to 12 yards
in the third quarter. Elijah Pitts scored another touchdown for the
Packers in the third quarter on a one yard touchdown run. The
Packers would win the game 35-10. Quarterback Bart Starr was name
the MVP of the game, completing 16 of 23 passes for 250 yards and
two touchdowns.
Scoring Summary
- GB - McGee 37 pass from Starr (Chandler kick)
7-0 GB
- KC - McClinton 7 pass from
Dawson (Mercer kick)
7-7
- GB - Taylor 14
run (Chandler kick) 14-7 GB
- KC - FG Mercer 31 14-10 GB
- GB - Pitts 5 run (Chandler kick)
21-10 GB
- GB - McGee 13 pass from Starr (Chandler kick) 28-10
GB
- GB - Pitts 1 run (Chandler kick) 35-10 GB
Season statistical leaders
- Passing Yards: Bart Starr, 2257
- Passing Touchdowns: Bart Starr, 14
- Rushing Yards: Jim
Taylor, 705
- Rushing Touchdowns: Elijah Pitts,
7
- Receiving Yards: Carroll Dale,
876
- Receiving Touchdowns: Carroll Dale, 7
- Points: Don Chandler, 77
- Kickoff Return Yards: Donny
Anderson, 533
- Punt Return Yards: Donny Anderson, 124
- Interceptions: Bob Jeter and Dave Robinson, 5
Awards and records
References
External links
Wikis
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