Heeeeeeyyyyy....Originally Posted by vince
Heeeeeeyyyyy....
Johnny wasn’t a very good card player, but I think he enjoyed BSing with the guys. He’d stop in the middle of the game and ask me a question like, ‘Hornung, what have you learned about life?’ He’d throw in philosophy on me all the time. We (the Lombardi-era Packers) all loved Johnny Blood — he was one of a kind.
- Paul Hornung,
former Green Bay Packer halfback
We were at an NFL alumni event, and Hornung, Max, and Fuzzy and I played poker with him all night long. We heard all the stories, breaking curfew, walking out on the ledge of the Northland Hotel. He was doing some Hornung-esque things 40 years before Hornung.
- Jerry Kramer,
"There was nothing boastful about Blood or synthetically erudite. He argued on things because he really knew them and because he happened to hold strong opinions. He traveled with bums on occasion because he wanted their company. He recited poetry - and he could do this by the hour - because he liked it."
- Oliver Kuechle, Milwaukee Journal
"Contrary to popular opinion, I never did see him play, but met and interviewed him in my days at the (Green Bay) Press-Gazette. He was probably the most colorful character to ever wear a Packer uniform and one of the most interesting and intelligent people I've ever met. I don't think there will ever be another one quite like him. I believe the best summation of Johnny Blood was authored by his wife (Marguerite) who said: 'Even when Johnny does the expected, he does it in an unexpected way.' "
Remmel laughed as he recalled some of McNally's stunts.
"Johnny gave Curly (Lambeau) fits over the years with his nocturnal escapades, of which there were many," he said. "On one occasion, Lambeau locked him in his hotel room the night before a game against the Bears in Chicago so he wouldn't break curfew and go out on the town.
"Being resourceful, Johnny had other ideas and reportedly tied bed sheets together and climbed down through the hotel window. Though I can't confirm it, another story told of Johnny missing the team train and then stopping it with his car.
"Before the 1929 season, Johnny Blood played for the Pottsville Maroons, and Curly offered him $100 per game to play in Green Bay via a letter, with a P.S. that if he stopped drinking by Wednesday night of each game week he'd pay him $110 per game. Johnny wrote back: 'I'll take the $100.' That was typical Johnny Blood."
Dan Rooney, Pittsburgh Steelers' Chairman of the Board, has fond memories of McNally.
"I remember going to training camp with my father (Art, team founder) and first going to games in 1937, so I did see Johnny Blood play when I was 4 or 5 years old," Rooney said.
"I remember him well. As a coach, he didn't experience much success with us. But I always thought of the guys from the past that could play in the NFL today, Johnny Blood was one of them. In my opinion, he'd have been a first-round draft choice. He was fast and versatile and an excellent receiver. And he was versatile off the field as well."
One exploit stands out in Rooney's mind.
"One thing I'll never forget about Johnny is that he became friends with the famous actor, John Barrymore," he said. "Barrymore would do a show at the theater in Pittsburgh and he'd call Johnny up out of the audience and they'd recite Shakespeare together. Not too many player/coaches in that day could recite Shakespeare."
Another favorite story of Rooney's involved the Pittsburgh players' friendly wagering on who could telephone a girlfriend from the farthest city.
"There'd be so much money on the table and guys would be calling girls from Chicago or California or New York," Rooney recalled with a laugh. "Johnny Blood picked up the phone and called a girl in South Africa."
From his humble childhood in New Richmond, Wis., McNally would literally travel around the country and world during and after his professional football career. He was married twice, had no children, and spent nearly a decade each in New Richmond and St. Paul before moving to Palm Springs in 1979 until his death in November 1985.
Long-time friend John Doar, a New Richmond native and former U.S. assistant attorney general and Watergate prosecutor now residing in New York, described McNally as "a free spirit who was a very kind person. As a 16-year-old kid, I asked him if I could be the water boy at training camp in Pittsburgh. He let me, but only after getting the approval of my parents. He would never intentionally hurt anyone, and had a grace and charm that quickly endeared himself to people.
"Johnny basically did it all, from professional football to visiting the White House to traveling the world."
Gerald Holland of "Sports Illustrated" wrote the following summary of McNally's resume:
"McNally had been around a bit. He had taught history and economics at his alma mater, St. John's University in Minnesota. He had entered the University of Minnesota to study for his Master's degree at the age of 50. He had started writing a book on economics, a work still in progress. He had read law as a clerk in his uncle's law firm. He had run (unsuccessfully) for sheriff of St. Croix County, Wis., on a platform promising honest wrestling.
"He had been an Air Force staff sergeant and cryptographer in India and China during World War II. He had done a few things calling for less intellectual challenge. He had tended bar in Shanty Malone's place in San Francisco. He had been a stickman, a croupier in a gambling house. He had been a seaman, a newspaper stereotyper, a miner, a farmhand, a feed salesman, a floor waxer, a sportswriter, a hotel desk clerk, a pick-and-shovel worker on a WPA project in Los Angeles during the Depression. He had spent a night in jail in Havana for fist-fighting over a matter of principle.
"In between all this, he played some football - a lot of extraordinary football."
After his playing and coaching career, McNally enjoyed returning to Green Bay for NFL alumni events.
"I met Johnny Blood a couple of times," former Packer guard Jerry Kramer recalled. "Johnny was quite a character. Very bright. Proud. Opinionated. A sharp storyteller. I thought he was something really special. I enjoyed being around him.
"At one point, Johnny was getting on me, saying, 'So you're a writer?' He asked me if I knew the Seven Pillars of Wisdom. I said, 'No, I don't.' He said I should look it up."
Another famous Packer running back noted for testing curfews, Paul Hornung, chuckled as he thought of a picture of him and McNally hanging in his Louisville, Ky., office.
"It's a picture of Johnny Blood and me that was taken up in Wisconsin," Hornung said, "And it's signed: 'Two of a Kind.' I think Johnny outdid me, but then I played under Vince Lombardi."
Dick Schaap, the late sportswriter and author, said: "Curly Lambeau, Cal Hubbard, Don Hutson, and Clark Hinkle were four of the first five Packers elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's not hard to understand why they haven't named a boulevard after the fifth, Johnny Blood. There is, however, a local beer named after him. You can get a glass of Johnny Blood Red at Titletown Brewery."
The Packers honored McNally by naming a banquet room after him in 2003 within the Lambeau Field Atrium. Bart Starr, Paul Horning, and Willie Davis were also recognized in this fashion.
"It seemed very fitting," Packer president Bob Harlan said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't reach any of Johnny's relatives to get their blessing, but we wanted to honor Johnny Blood for his Hall of Fame career. He's a special part of our team's early history."
"I think football was an escape from another kind of life, and I enjoyed it so thoroughly I was always congratulating myself that I was able to find an escape so tolerable to me. To maximize my life. In Green Bay I was intoxicated with the freedom . . . I had no more thought of the future. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Let the morrow take care of itself."
- Johnny Blood, (as told to John Doar)
After lunch the players lounged about the hotel patio watching the surf fling white plumes high against the darkening sky. Clouds were piling up in the west… Vince Lombardi frowned.
Holy Crow ! Was he into ' the Jim Beam '?
and Fritz how old ... are you? You wrote that as if you were there.
** Since 2006 3 X Pro Pickem' Champion; 4 X Runner-Up and 3 X 3rd place.
** To download Jesus Loves Me ring tones, you'll need a cell phone mame
** If God doesn't fish, play poker or pull for " the Packers ", exactly what does HE do with his buds?
** Rather than love, money or fame - give me TRUTH: Henry D. Thoreau
" Fled a towel fight with Lavvie Dilweg by climbing on top of a fast-moving train and crawling across car tops until he reached the engine. "Johnny “Blood” McNally:
He played on four Packer championship teams in seven seasons.
He took the name “Blood” from the movie marquee of a popular Rudolf Valentino picture of the era, “Blood and Sand.”
In 1929, “Blood” signed on with the Green Bay Packers. In addition to scoring 224 points as a Packer, he also became known for his antics:
• Jumped across a narrow ledge six stories from the ground to gain access to a Los Angeles hotel room.
• Fled a towel fight with Lavvie Dilweg by climbing on top of a fast-moving train and crawling across car tops until he reached the engine.
• Played almost an entire game with a collapsed kidney.
• Pushed rookie Don Hutson to the limit in a 100-yard dash at age 33.
• Was rescued by teammates while he was hanging on a ship’s stern flagpole on a Packer trip to Hawaii.
• Blew the top off a testing machine in a test for lung capacity.
• Danced, cart-wheeled and delighted a New York night club audience for over an hour.
• Once ran 50 yards for a touchdown on a lateral and when QB Red Dunn called the same play later in the game, “Blood” simply smiled and lateraled the ball back to Dunn.
Uhhh!? What did they make their towels of back then? Towel fights were never that scary back in the 50's-60's.
** Since 2006 3 X Pro Pickem' Champion; 4 X Runner-Up and 3 X 3rd place.
** To download Jesus Loves Me ring tones, you'll need a cell phone mame
** If God doesn't fish, play poker or pull for " the Packers ", exactly what does HE do with his buds?
** Rather than love, money or fame - give me TRUTH: Henry D. Thoreau
Yea!
They'd sometimes get really pissed off and spit chewing tabacco into the face of the pisser; maybe do additional damage giving Indian Burns while popping bubble gum into their face.
These fellas were really tough. They could split 4 1/2 cords of hardwood from sunrise to sunset with only water breaks eating bread and molasses.
** Since 2006 3 X Pro Pickem' Champion; 4 X Runner-Up and 3 X 3rd place.
** To download Jesus Loves Me ring tones, you'll need a cell phone mame
** If God doesn't fish, play poker or pull for " the Packers ", exactly what does HE do with his buds?
** Rather than love, money or fame - give me TRUTH: Henry D. Thoreau
I saw a documentary about the Packers several years ago and it said Rockwood Lodge was a disaster. Evidently the EC wasn't pleased and the grounds around it were awful. Players were getting injured playing on that horrid rock riddled plot of land!
Vince, can you ID the other folks in this photo of the 1919 team? I think that is Curly in the middle...? Thnx.George W. Calhoun
The cigar-chomping former Green Bay Press-Gazette sports and telegraph editor was a cantankerous man whose enjoyment of a cold beer was surpassed only by his love and dedication to the professional football team he covered, promoted and was the business manager for.
Calhoun was as instrumental behind the scenes as Lambeau in building the Packers into one of the National Football League's great franchises, winning six world championships from 1921-'44, including three consecutive titles from 1929-'31.
He gave the club the name "Packers," publicized the team and created interest in the community and later across the nation with his Packer Football News publication.
He passed a hat among spectators at games to help support the organization in tough financial times.
As a newspaper reporter and team secretary, "Cal" traveled with the team through 1944 and became a popular national sports figure.
Calhoun attended every home game for nearly 40 years, from the first contest against Menominee North End A.C. in 1919 to the finale in City Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers in 1956.
He had a great respect for statistics and amassed one of the most complete collections of NFL game results during his career.
When the Green Bay native who dedicated his life to the Packers franchise died in December 1963, his ashes were strewn over the City Stadium field adjacent to Green Bay East High School along the banks of the East River.
Calhoun was paralyzed for a time after being tackled and striking a goal post. Instead of playing sports, he helped cover them or organize them. After graduating from college, he began his newspaper career at the Buffalo Times before moving back to his hometown in 1915.
"Cal had been a football player in his youth and a good one, but the game had given him the injury that crippled him for life," Jack Rudolph wrote in a 1963 Press-Gazette article. "A sentimental softy beneath his irascible exterior, Cal still loved football, and the Packers gave him the chance to enjoy it secondhand.
When the present corporation was formed in 1921, Calhoun was designated the traveling secretary and publicity director.
Calhoun had a unique method of networking with his colleagues in other NFL cities.
Sportswriters were eager to meet with Calhoun when Green Bay would visit their city, as Calhoun would fill his hotel room bathtub with ice and beer. He'd then call the newspapers and let them know where he was staying. From Chicago to New York, the sportswriters flocked to his room to hear the Packer news and have a few.
After a tough loss to the Giants, Calhoun invited Lambeau up to his hotel room to drown his sorrows.
"Lambeau did so, and my recollection is that Curly and I each drank about two or three bottles of beer and went to the case for another when we found it empty," John Torinus said in his book, "Packer Legend."
"Cal had finished off about 18 of those 24 bottles all by himself."
As part of his role as the team's traveling secretary, Calhoun was guardian to the pass gate at stadiums home and away. He took great pride in his reputation as a vigilant watchdog that let no unauthorized personnel into a game free.
"To him, trying to see the Packers play for nothing always was the most heinous form of treason, and he could spot a freeloader as far as he could see one," Rudolph said.
He was inducted in the Packers Hall of Fame in 1978 and his plaque, designating him as the team's co-founder, is on display in the Hall's ultimate showplace, the Trophy Room.
Calhoun, standing far right in this 1919 team photo, was one of the most colorful and influential characters in the history of the Green Bay Packers.
Does any know what a share of Packer stock cost back in the 1950 sale? My Dad can't recall. I have the one share that my grandfather bought in 1950 so I'm just curious.
Left to Right
Vince, can you ID the other folks in this photo of the 1919 team? I think that is Curly in the middle...? Thnx.
Back Row - N. Murphy...Herbert Nichols...Sam Powers...Jim Coffeen...Al Martin...Charlie Sauber...Herm Martell...Wes Leaper...Wally Ladrow...Jim DesJardien...Martin Zoll...Andy Muldoon...Gus Rosenow...Al Petcka...George Calhoun
Middle Row - Curly Lambeau
Front Row - Nate Abrams...Fritz Gavin...Ray McLean...Henry (Tubby) Bero
Speaking of legends, Sunday is Alumni Day at Lambeau. Biggest ovation usually goes to Bart Starr.
Jim Taylor will be signing copies of his new book on Saturday at The Packer Pro Shop.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen
And speaking of Bart Starr, the Starr's this week donated championship memorabilia to the Packer Hall Of Fame, including Bart's championship rings from 1961, 65 and 66. http://packersnews.greenbaypressgaze...s-Hall-of-Fame
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen
Do any of you Green Bay people know if that building is the same one still standing just a bit east and north of Green Bay East's football field?
[QUOTE=George Cumby] ...every draft (Ted) would pick a solid, dependable, smart, athletically limited linebacker...the guy who isn't doing drugs, going to strip bars, knocking around his girlfriend or making any plays of game changing significance.
Ray McLean? Any relation to 'Scooter'?
I had my hubby look at the photo and he doesn't think that building the players are in front of is still there anymore. Hubby is an East High grad.
Verne Lewellen
Legendary punter and all-around halfback, was one of the first stars of the Green Bay Packers.
At the University of Nebraska, he captained the 1923 football team as an All-Conference halfback and was also an outstanding pitcher on the baseball team.
Lewellen played nine years and 102 games for the Packers 1924-to-32 and earned all-league first team honors from 1926-29.
The 6'1", 180-pound halfback was a leading member of the Green Bay squad that won three straight NFL championships in 1929-30-31.
In addition to his booming punts, slashing runs, and all-around offensive play, he was regarded as one of Green Bay's best defensive players.
Although official statistics were not kept during his career, reconstruction of all but two of his games from play-by- play accounts in newspapers show that he rushed 708 times for 2,410 yards and 37 touchdowns, modest figures by today's standards but outstanding for his time.
His 83 pass receptions for 12 more TDs are also excellent for the period. And, although he was never the Packers' main passer, he nonetheless gained 2,076 yards via the air.
His 307 points scored ranked him first among Packers for ten years after his retirement.
Old-timers credit Lewellen with numerous 60 and 70-yard punts.
George Calhoun, who covered the Packers for the Green Bay Press-Gazette during these years, described a 1929 kick at the Polo Grounds as the greatest he ever saw: with the line of scrimmage the Packers' 12-yard-line, Lewellen booted the ball out of bounds at the New York six.
While playing with the Packers, Lewellen passed the bar. In 1928, he ran successfully for Brown County district attorney against teammate Lavvie Dilweg.
Re-elected in 1930, he was swept out of office in the Democratic landslide of 1932. He continued his law practice after his retirement.
In 1950, he rejoined the Packers as a member of the executive committee. He was general manager from 1954-60 and business manager from 1961-67.
This caught my eye about Calhoun: "As a newspaper reporter and team secretary..."
My, how times have changed. I know that was a kind of conflict of interest, but I used to enjoy the more descriptive, less antagonistic renderings of the game stories. You know, the old "Two storied teams took to the field Sunday against the autumn gold background of Lambeau Field" and all that.
I couldn't agree more.
HOFer
"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army football team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds yesterday afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread on the green plain below.
A cyclone can’t be snared. It may be surrounded, but somewhere it breaks through to keep on going. When the cyclone starts from South Bend, where the candle lights still gleam through the Indiana sycamores, those in the way must take to storm cellars at top speed." -Grantland Rice
You mean like that?
"Greatness is not an act... but a habit.Greatness is not an act... but a habit." -Greg Jennings
And that brings up another Packer legend. Jim Crowley, the horseman on the left, Green Bay East Hish School graduate and Green Bay Packer in 1925."Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army football team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds yesterday afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread on the green plain below.
A cyclone can’t be snared. It may be surrounded, but somewhere it breaks through to keep on going. When the cyclone starts from South Bend, where the candle lights still gleam through the Indiana sycamores, those in the way must take to storm cellars at top speed." -Grantland Rice
You mean like that?
He only played three professional football games before going into coaching at the college level.
And that brings up another Packer legend. Jim Crowley, the horseman on the left, Green Bay East Hish School graduate and Green Bay Packer in 1925."Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army football team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds yesterday afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread on the green plain below.
A cyclone can’t be snared. It may be surrounded, but somewhere it breaks through to keep on going. When the cyclone starts from South Bend, where the candle lights still gleam through the Indiana sycamores, those in the way must take to storm cellars at top speed." -Grantland Rice
You mean like that?
He only played three professional football games before going into coaching at the college level.
Coincidently, Crowley played high school football in Green Bay and was coach by Curly. Crowley later went on to coach college football at Fordham and coached Vince Lombardi.
After lunch the players lounged about the hotel patio watching the surf fling white plumes high against the darkening sky. Clouds were piling up in the west… Vince Lombardi frowned.
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