Don Hutson Tribute (for Don Hutson)

[KYPack]

Here is a lesser known story about the great Don Hutson and his exploits for the Green Bay Packers.

Most Hutson bio’s tell of Don’s rookie year (1935) and his debut against the Bears. All the Packers (& Pro Football, for that matter) were awed by Don’s catch of an 83 yard bomb for his first Packer catch which beat the Bears in Green Bay, 7-0. However, many of the old Packers will tell you that Don’s SECOND Bear game in ’35 was even more amazing. The rest of the ’35 season, George Halas was complaining about Hutson and the Bear’s fluke (according to Halas) loss to GB in September. Halas felt Hutson was a gimmick player, a part-timer that couldn’t stay on the field for 60 minutes. Halas also railed at the Bears that they had to beat the Packers in the ’35 rematch in Chicago. The other thing that Halas demanded was that the Bears stop Don Hutson.

Halas’s orders were followed to a “T”, for 57 & ½ minutes. The Bears mauled both the Pack and Hutson all game long. With 2 minutes and 30 seconds to go, the Bears were in control 14 -3. When Hutson went in for a final series, Halas and the Bears bench were screaming at the defense to stop Hutson and maim him if they could. Don was triple teamed and couldn’t even get off the line. Then, on third down, Arnie Herber brought Hutson from one side to the other and threw Don a quick strike in the flat. The whole Bear defense converged on Hutson. Don ducked, faked , made full pivots and eluded tackler after tackler. Don finally worked his way into the Bear secondary, faked to the middle, and cut to the sideline alone. There, he went into his sprinter gear, and out-ran the entire Bear team to make it 14 - 10. Accounts of the game stated that all 11 Bear defenders had shots at Hutson, but nobody could tackle the “Alabama Antelope”.

The Packers kicked off to the Bears who proceeded to run out the clock. On the second plunge into the line, the Bears fumbled the ball. It was GB’s ball, deep in Bear territory, with only seconds to go. Wrigley field was now a madhouse as the fans and the Bear bench were screaming at their players to stop the Pack. Arnie Herber was at his finest as he had Hutson slant over the middle. As half the Bear D converged on Don, he swiftly pivoted and ran the equivalent of the “fade” pattern to the back corner of the end zone. Observers estimated Herber had a window about a foot in which to put the ball. Arnie threw it in there and Don dove and made his usual once in a lifetime catch for the Packer victory. The Packer players would always talk about that victory & how great it was to run off the field to total silence!

That game raised Don’s status from a good rookie to a respected player, one you could count on in the clutch. All the veterans realized that they had to protect Don, because he could make them all a lot of money.

In 1999 Paul Zimmerman picked the All Time NFL team. His wide receivers? Don Hutson, Lance Alworth, Raymond Berry, and Jerry Rice. In his comments about Don included this statement “ I'd never forgotten a story told to me by a Green Bay fan who swore he saw Hutson snatch a ball with one hand -- with the palm turned down.”
I know about that catch, the story of the catch and its legacy will be long be remembered in Packer lore. It tells what a great player Don was, but also what a great man he was.
Like Paul Zimmerman, I never saw Don play. But I, too, heard about that catch. This is the story as I heard it.

The Packers were losing to the Chicago Cardinals in the opening game of 1939. This was a game they had to win. A loss to the Cards would be a blot on their record that could knock the Pack out of the ’39 race. Not many teams would lose to the Cards that year (they’d only win one game) so a loss would be a huge negative.

The Pack finally got the ball in the last two minutes, down 10 -7. There was no time to run, and kicking a field goal was a pretty iffy proposition in 1939. The Packers needed to score on this possession. On third and long, Arnie Herber tried to get off a desperation pass to Hutson. The Cardinals had Don double covered on the sideline. Herber misfired on his pass as it was way ahead of both Hutson and the two defenders. But Hutson performed a miracle. He lunged out and picked the pass off to make a one handed catch. He moved so fast it was difficult to see the play, but all the fans along the sideline saw Hutson reach out and snare the pass. The ball was maybe a foot or two off the turf, but Hutson was able to catch the back of the ball at ankle height with his palm down, a foot or so from the sideline! He then sprinted down near the Chicago goal. The Packers soon scored to turn the near upset loss into a win, 14 – 10.

When I was a kid, I would hear the tale of Hutson’s miracle catch from several people, my dad, old time Packer fans, Champ Seibold, and the odd broadcaster. The catch fell into the area of Packer lore. There were no photographs or even written accounts of Don’s catch, it became an anecdotal legend.

Then, in July 1994, GM Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren dedicated the new Don Hutson indoor practice facility. They invited Don to the dedication and made a presentation to him in front of the invitees and the media. Ron Wolf was perfect as he stated he felt he “was in the presence of Pro Football Royalty” by being up there with Don. At the mention of being royalty, Don blushed with embarrassment and dropped his head. After all these years, he was still the shy country kid from Arkansas!

Other light remarks were made to relax Don, then Wolf spoke once more.

“Don, I’ve always heard people tell about that miracle catch against the Cards, could you tell me a little bit about that”?

(I was always a Ron Wolf man, but I’m a Wolf fanatic now. That was the perfect question. After years of hearing about the catch, now I’d hear about it from the man himself.)

But, it wasn’t to be. Don just hemmed and hawed and made a statement that “Aw, people get to telling stories over the years”. This comment wasn’t made with false modesty, but with true humility. The shy guy from the U of Alabama was no braggart and wasn’t about to start now. A world class athlete, a HOF football player, but an even better human being, that was Don’s legacy, and it a great one. A legacy for all time.

[oregonpackfan]

KY,

Don Hutson was also my Dad's favorite player.

I remember my Dad telling me he was at the game where Don Hutson caught 4 touchdown passes in one QUARTER! He said that after the second TD, the opposition put two corners on him. One corner was lined up on the line of scrimmage. His job was to either hold up Hutson at the line or knock him off his route.

The second corner was lined up directly behind the first corner. His job was to actually try to cover Hutson if he got by the first corner.

When I toured the Packers Hall of Fame, there was one small alcove which showed a looped trailer of Don Hutson. I remember marveling at his moves and catches thinking, "Hutson would still be an all-pro in modern day pro football!"

[GrnBay007]

That was great KYPack!!

[Joemailman]

To really appreciate Hutson, you need to compare what he did compared to the other top players at his position. He truly was the Babe Ruth of football. In 1942, his greatest year, he scored more passing TD's than all but 2 teams. Check out the stats


Receptions
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 74
2. Pop Ivy* · CRD 27
3. Dante Magnani*+ · RAM 24
4. Jim Benton · RAM 23
Dick Todd* · WAS 23
6. Johnny Martin · CRD 22
Bob Masterson*+ · WAS 22
8. Andy Uram · GNB 21
9. Lou Brock · GNB 20
Al Coppage · CRD 20


Receiving Yds
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 1211
2. Ray McLean+ · CHI 571
3. Andy Uram · GNB 420
4. Jim Benton · RAM 345
5. Dick Todd* · WAS 328
6. Fred Meyer · PHI 324
7. Hampton Pool · CHI 321
8. Ben Hightower · RAM 317
9. Johnny Martin · CRD 312
10. Bob Masterson*+ · WAS 308


Receiving TD
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 17
2. Ray McLean+ · CHI 8
3. Hampton Pool · CHI 5
4. Steve Lach · CRD 4
Dante Magnani*+ · RAM 4
Dick Todd* · WAS 4
Andy Uram · GNB 4
8. Neal Adams · NYG 3
Hugh Gallarneau · CHI 3
Ben Hightower · RAM 3

Long Reception
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 73
2. Perry Schwartz*+ · BKN 71
3. Johnny Martin · CRD 69
4. Ray McLean+ · CHI 68
5. Dante Magnani*+ · RAM 67
6. Bert Johnson · PHI 65
7. Hampton Pool · CHI 64
Andy Uram · GNB 64
9. Hugh Gallarneau · CHI 60
Fred Meyer · PHI 60
Will Walls · NYG 60


Yds/Reception
1. Andy Uram · GNB 20.0
2. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 16.4
3. Jim Benton · RAM 15.0
4. Dick Todd* · WAS 14.3
5. Johnny Martin · CRD 14.2
6. Bob Masterson*+ · WAS 14.0
7. Dante Magnani*+ · RAM 11.5
8. Pop Ivy* · CRD 9.6


Receiving Yds/Game
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 110.1
2. Ray McLean+ · CHI 51.9
3. Jim Benton · RAM 38.3
4. Andy Uram · GNB 38.2
5. Fred Meyer · PHI 32.4
6. Ben Hightower · RAM 31.7
7. Dick Todd* · WAS 29.8
8. Hampton Pool · CHI 29.2
9. Hugh Gallarneau · CHI 29.1
10. Steve Lach · CRD 29.0


Touchdowns
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 17
2. Ray McLean+ · CHI 9
3. Gary Famiglietti*+ · CHI 8
4. Hugh Gallarneau · CHI 7
5. Harry Clarke · CHI 6
Bill Dudley*+ · PIT 6
Andy Farkas*+ · WAS 6
Pug Manders · BKN 6
9. Merle Hapes · NYG 5
Dante Magnani*+ · RAM 5
Hampton Pool · CHI 5
Chuck Sample · GNB 5
Andy Uram · GNB 5

Points Scored
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 138
2. Ray McLean+ · CHI 54
3. Gary Famiglietti*+ · CHI 48
4. Frank Maznicki* · CHI 45
5. Hugh Gallarneau · CHI 42
6. Ward Cuff · NYG 39
Andy Farkas*+ · WAS 39
8. Merl Condit*+ · BKN 37
9. Harry Clarke · CHI 36
Bill Dudley*+ · PIT 36
Pug Manders · BKN 36


Rushing/Receiving TD
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 17
2. Gary Famiglietti*+ · CHI 8
Ray McLean+ · CHI 8
4. Hugh Gallarneau · CHI 7
5. Harry Clarke · CHI 6
Pug Manders · BKN 6
7. Bill Dudley*+ · PIT 5
Andy Farkas*+ · WAS 5
Merle Hapes · NYG 5
Dante Magnani*+ · RAM 5
Hampton Pool · CHI 5
Chuck Sample · GNB 5





Yds From Scrimmage
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 1215
2. Merl Condit*+ · BKN 758
3. Bill Dudley*+ · PIT 720
4. Ray McLean+ · CHI 634
5. Dante Magnani*+ · RAM 620
6. Andy Farkas*+ · WAS 611
7. Hugh Gallarneau · CHI 583
8. Dick Todd* · WAS 523
9. Dick Riffle · PIT 517
10. Gary Famiglietti*+ · CHI 515

All-Purpose Yds
1. Bill Dudley*+ · PIT 1289
2. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 1215
3. Merl Condit*+ · BKN 1140
4. Andy Farkas*+ · WAS 1036
5. Marshall Goldberg · CRD 930
6. Dante Magnani*+ · RAM 897
7. Ray McLean+ · CHI 858
8. Hugh Gallarneau · CHI 835
9. Merle Hapes · NYG 827
10. Dick Todd* · WAS 758


Touches
1. Bill Dudley*+ · PIT 194
2. Merl Condit*+ · BKN 167
3. Andy Farkas*+ · WAS 156
4. Marshall Goldberg · CRD 146
5. Lou Brock · GNB 132
6. Dean McAdams · BKN 126
Dick Riffle · PIT 126
8. Merle Hapes · NYG 125
9. Gary Famiglietti*+ · CHI 120
10. Bud Schwenk · CRD 113


Yds/Touch
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 15.8
2. Dante Magnani*+ · RAM 9.3
3. Hugh Gallarneau · CHI 8.7
4. Harry Clarke · CHI 8.6
5. Curt Sandig · PIT 7.7
6. Dick Todd* · WAS 7.4
7. Andy Tomasic · PIT 6.9
8. Merl Condit*+ · BKN 6.8
9. Bill Dudley*+ · PIT 6.6
Andy Farkas*+ · WAS 6.6
Merle Hapes · NYG 6.6


Extra Points
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 33
2. Frank Maznicki* · CHI 21
3. Lee Artoe*+ · CHI 20
4. Ward Cuff · NYG 18
5. Bob Masterson*+ · WAS 17
6. Chet Adams*+ · RAM 14
7. Merl Condit*+ · BKN 10
8. Armand Niccolai · PIT 9
9. Bill Daddio · CRD 8
Dick Erdlitz · PHI 8

Extra Pt Att
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 34
2. Lee Artoe*+ · CHI 22
Frank Maznicki* · CHI 22
4. Bob Masterson*+ · WAS 19
5. Ward Cuff · NYG 18
6. Chet Adams*+ · RAM 15
7. Merl Condit*+ · BKN 10
8. Armand Niccolai · PIT 9
9. Len Barnum · PHI 8
Bill Daddio · CRD 8
Dick Erdlitz · PHI 8
Jack Sanders · PIT 8
Joe Stydahar+ · CHI 8


Field Goals Made
1. Bill Daddio · CRD 5
2. Ted Fritsch · GNB 4
Frank Maznicki* · CHI 4
4. Chet Adams*+ · RAM 3
Len Barnum · PHI 3
Merl Condit*+ · BKN 3
Ward Cuff · NYG 3
8. Armand Niccolai · PIT 2
9. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 1
Bob Masterson*+ · WAS 1
Ted Pavelec · DET 1
Dick Poillon* · WAS 1
Milt Simington*+ · PIT 1
Roy Zimmerman* · WAS 1


Interceptions
1. Bulldog Turner+ · CHI 8
2. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 7
3. Charley Brock* · GNB 6
Merl Condit*+ · BKN 6
Cecil Isbell*+ · GNB 6
Johnny Martin · CRD 6
7. Sammy Baugh*+ · WAS 5
Curt Sandig · PIT 5
9. Danny Fortmann*+ · CHI 4
Buckets Goldenberg+ · GNB 4
Jack Jacobs · RAM 4
Steve Lach · CRD 4
Sid Luckman*+ · CHI 4
Frank Maznicki* · CHI 4
Dick Riffle · PIT 4


Intercept. Ret. Yds
1. Merl Condit*+ · BKN 117
2. Sid Luckman*+ · CHI 96
Bulldog Turner+ · CHI 96
4. Curt Sandig · PIT 94
5. Sammy Baugh*+ · WAS 77
6. Andy Tomasic · PIT 75
7. Ray McLean+ · CHI 74
8. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 71
9. Joe Laws · GNB 67
10. Neal Adams · NYG 66

[mission]

DH is my dad and grandfather's favorite player too... old man says they used to mow the yard together just to have beers afterwards. I left a message in his welcome thread. I wonder if he recalls any of this ... would be awesome since they've both passed on me.

[twoseven]

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=25564

"Those who weren't overseas supported the war effort at home by selling war bonds. People connected to the NFL sold bonds that generated $4 million worth of sales in 1942 alone. At one rally in Milwaukee, three Green Bay Packers sold $2,100,000 worth of war bonds. For their efforts, hall-of-fame coach Curly Lambeau, Cecil Isabell and hall-of-famer Don Hutson received Treasury Department citations. "

On the field..a lengthy article, sorry, but worth the read..

http://www.rosebowllegends.org/don-hutson.php

"Don Hutson

Donald Roy Hutson, Wide Receiver
Alabama, 1932-1934
(Green Bay Packers, 1935-1945)

As a baseball player, Don Hutson was a darn good receiver.

Arriving at Alabama on a baseball scholarship, Hutson played centerfield for the Tide and also made a name for himself running track. On the football field, Hutson became something special walking on to the team and changing the way college football teams looked at the forward pass.

Back in the 1930s, college football still wasn't purely a running sport. Few had used the forward pass as a weapon and no one had run routes with speed and precision like Hutson.

Alabama head football coach Wallace Wade had little interest in the small Hutson and didn't use the 160-pounder much until his junior season. By his senior year, Hutson grew to 6-1 and 175 pounds turning into a superstar as one of the most fluid route runners college football had ever seen. To say Hutson was ahead of his time is an understatement as he was really the inventor of the way modern wide receivers play football.

The 1934 Crimson Tide was 9-0 on its way to a national championship season. Facing Stanford in the 1935 Rose Bowl, the Tide scored 22 second quarter points on the way to a 29-13 win as Dixie Howell and Hutson combined to finish off the unbeaten season. In that second quarter, Howell gained 96 yards on the ground running for a 67-yard touchdown while Hutson caught four passes from Howell for 96 yards and a touchdown. With six catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns, Hutson had one of the great receiving performances in college football history and one of the great days college football had ever seen.

Hutson is considered one of the greatest NFL WRs of all-time and the first real star receiver to play professional football as a nine-time All-Pro and a charter member of the pro football Hall of Fame. He set the NFL record with 99 career touchdown catches that lasted until Steve Largent came along.

Don Hutson’s first touchdown came on an 83-yard pass from Arnie Herber in just his second game as a Green Bay Packer. He wound up with 99 career touchdown receptions, a record that stood for more than four decades. When Hutson retired in 1945 after 11 superb seasons, he held 18 NFL records, including 488 career receptions.

That was 200 more than his closest competitor. Hutson invented modern pass receiving. He created Z-outs, buttonhooks, hook-and-gos, and a whole catalog of moves and fakes. Although he had been an All-America at Alabama in 1934, there were plenty who doubted the skinny speedster could stand the pace of pro football. But it wasn't long before his mere presence on the field had changed the defensive concept of the game.

Don could outmaneuver and outrace virtually every defender in the league. He led the NFL in receiving in eight of his 11 seasons and in scoring five straight years. Twice, in 1941 and 1942, he was named the league’s MVP.

Like everyone in the days before free substitution, Hutson was a 60-minute player who spent most of his career as a very fine safety on defense. In his final six seasons, he swiped 30 opposing quarterbacks’ passes. Often after scoring a touchdown, he would kick the extra point. In one quarter of a 1945 game, he caught four touchdown passes and kicked five PATs for an amazing 29 points.

Had it not been for a unique decision by NFL President Joe Carr, Hutson might never have become a landmark pass-catcher. After college, Don signed contracts with both the pass-minded Packers and the NFL’s Brooklyn Dodgers, a team that rarely passed. Carr ruled the contract with the earliest postmark would be honored. The Packers' contract was postmarked 8:30 a.m., 17 minutes earlier than the Dodgers' pact. Thus Hutson became a Packer.

His best seasons were from 1941 through 1945, or when World War II was taking many of America's most able bodied young men away, when Hutson made 284 of his 488 catches, had five of his six best yardage seasons and caught 56 of his 99 touchdowns.

Honors:

* College Football Hall of Fame - 1951
* All-America - 1934
* All-SEC - 1934
* NFL Hall of Fame - 1963
* NFL 75th Anniversary Team
* Rose Bowl Hall of Fame - 1993 "
(Hutson notched 2 MVPs and the Packers won 3 titles in his 11 year career)

[twoseven]

http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014269.html

Hutson was first modern receiver
By David Whitley
Special to ESPN.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before there was Jerry Rice, before there was Steve Largent, before there were even pass patterns, there was Don Hutson.

He was a receiver ahead of his time by a half-century. That's how long it took for the National Football League to catch up with the "Alabama Antelope." Hutson didn't merely catch more passes and score more touchdowns than anybody imagined possible. He changed the way football was played.

Few teams threw the ball in 1935 unless they were desperate or wanted to surprise the opponent. Hutson was football's Copernicus, proving that the universe did not revolve around the run.

By the time he retired in 1945, passing was part of the game. As for the receiving part, nobody played the game like Hutson. Statistically, his only rivals weren't born when Hutson left the game.

He led the NFL in touchdowns eight times. More than 50 years later, nobody else has led the league more than three times.

He also led the league in catches a record eight times, including 1942, when he had a then-astonishing 74 receptions. His nearest rival caught 27 passes that season.

In nine seasons he was the top touchdown receiver in the league (Rice is second all-time with six). Amazingly, not only is Hutson listed first for most consecutive years (five) leading the NFL in touchdown catches, he also is second with four.

Hutson finished his career with 99 touchdown receptions, an astounding 62 TDs ahead of his closest competitor. Largent finally broke Hutson's record 44 years later. Largent, Rice and other modern-day receivers simply traced the footsteps that Hutson blazed.

He began setting records when the NFL had nine teams and little offensive imagination. It was single-platoon football, and Hutson had 23 interceptions in his final four seasons as a defensive back. He also scored 193 career points as a place-kicker.

Hutson retired with 488 receptions and 7,991 yards. The second-place receiver had 190 catches and 3,309 yards. Hutson played in an era of 10- to 12-game seasons, so his records might have stood forever if he had the 16-game opportunities enjoyed today. As it was, Hutson was still an obvious choice to be a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

"I love to see my records broken, I really do," he said in 1989. "You get a chance to relive a part of your life, the whole experience."

Hutson was born on Jan. 31, 1913, in Pine Bluff, Ark. As a Boy Scout he played with snakes. He said that's where he got his quickness and agility. While he didn't start for Pine Bluff's high school football team until his senior year, he was a star in baseball.

He came to the University of Alabama on a partial baseball scholarship and was an outstanding centerfielder. He also ran track. But it was on the gridiron that Hutson made his most lasting impression. A walk-on, he became an All-American end in 1934.

In the 1935 Rose Bowl, he caught six passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns in Alabama's 29-13 victory over Stanford.

"Don had the most fluid motion you had ever seen when he was running," said the other end on that Alabama team, some player named Bear Bryant. "It looked like he was going just as fast as possible when all of a sudden he would put on an extra burst of speed and be gone."

Hutson was 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds when he showed up in Green Bay in 1935, and people wondered if he could take the pounding of pro football. Defenders weren't limited to a five-yard zone in which they could legally hit a receiver back then. It turned out, the pounders were the ones in trouble.

The only reason he was in Green Bay was because most of the other coaches in the league thought he was too fragile. The Chicago Bears were the first team to change their mind, in the Packers' second game of 1935.

Before a crowd of 13,600 at City Stadium, on the first play from scrimmage, Green Bay quarterback Arnie Herber threw a pass deep downfield. Beattie Feathers, Chicago's defensive back, was sure it was out of everyone's reach. Then a rookie flew past him, caught the ball without breaking stride and scored the game's only touchdown in a 7-0 Packer win.

Defenses couldn't contain Hutson. He ran a 9.7 100-yard dash and could shift and shake. His precise routes were revolutionary. Defenses began double and triple-teaming him, concepts that were unheard of at the time.

"He would glide downfield," Packers coach Curly Lambeau said, "leaning forward as if to steady himself close to the ground. Then, as suddenly as you gulp or blink an eye, he would feint one way and go the other, reach up like a dancer, gracefully squeeze the ball and leave the scene of the accident -- the accident being the defensive backs who tangled their feet up and fell trying to cover him."

They kept falling over themselves for 11 seasons.

"Hutson Does It Again!"

"Don Paces Packers to World Title!"

"Amazing Hutson Can't Be Stopped!"

Those were the headlines Green Bay fans were treated to during the World War II era. Perhaps Hutson's greatest performance came on Oct. 7, 1945. He caught four touchdown passes and kicked five extra points -- in one quarter. The 29-point quarter is a record that may never be broken.

"He had all the moves," said teammate Tony Canadeo. "He invented the moves. And he had great hands and speed, deceptive speed. He could go get the long ones; run the hitch, the down-and-out. He'd go over the middle, too, and he was great at getting off the line because he always had people popping him."

In that era, sportswriters usually did not get comments from players. That was fine by Hutson, a humble man who liked to let his feats speak for themselves.

About his 29-point quarter, he later recalled, "Well, the wind was blowing hard and straight downfield, and you couldn't throw the ball 20 yards the other way. Those defenders just couldn't get that in their heads, that's all."

The weather always seemed to work in his favor. Like the afternoon he had 14 catches against the New York Giants, or 237 receiving yards against Brooklyn. Hutson caught passes in 50 straight games from 1941-45.

Twenty percent of all his receptions were touchdowns. He scored a total of 105 touchdowns in just 117 games. The Packers won three NFL championships (1936, `39 and '44). He retired with 19 NFL records, was named to the all-pro team in 8 of his 11 seasons and was NFL MVP in 1941 and '42.

Following his retirement as a player, Hutson was an assistant coach for the Packers under Lambeau for three seasons (1946-48). He served on the club's board of directors from1952-80, when he was elected a director emeritus.

When the Packers built their indoor practice facility in 1994, they needed a name. Despite the many great names that played for the storied franchise, there was never any doubt which athlete the place would honor.

It was christened the Don Hutson Center.

"I don't know if there is such a thing as royalty in professional football," said Packers general manager Ron Wolf as he stood next to Hutson at the dedication ceremony, "but this is the closest I've ever come to it."

The king of receivers died three years later, on June 26, 1997, at age 84. At the time, he still held 10 NFL records and 18 team marks.

"He most certainly was the greatest player in the history of this franchise," Wolf said. "In the era he played, he was the dominant player in the game."

[DonHutson]

Ah the memories...

[ND72]

Receptions
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 74
8. Andy Uram · GNB 21
9. Lou Brock · GNB 20


Lambeau didn't mind chuckin the ball around :lol:

[Joemailman]

Receptions
1. Don Hutson*+ · GNB 74
8. Andy Uram · GNB 21
9. Lou Brock · GNB 20


Lambeau didn't mind chuckin the ball around :lol:

That Lou Brock guy could steal a base too.