sheepshead
09-12-2008, 08:14 AM
Packers lose old friend
Hanner, ex-player, coach, scout, dies at age 78
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 11, 2008
Green Bay - Dave "Hawg" Hanner, the tobacco-chewing Arkansan whose career as a player, he was 78.
A resident of Land O' Lakes, Fla., Hanner suffered a massive heart attack Tuesday and died Thursday afternoon at a Florida hospital. He had been in ill health for about 18 months.
"Dave was just a country boy who was playing football and this was a perfect spot for him," retired Packers President Bob Harlan said. "I don't know where else he could have gone and been as comfortable as he was. Easy-going, laid-back. He was a perfect Green Bay Packer guy."
Hanner's career had no equals in Green Bay for his years of service.
Twice a Pro Bowl selection, Hanner played defensive tackle for the Packers from 1952-'64.
Almost immediately, Hanner joined Vince Lombardi's coaching staff tutoring the defensive line. In 1972, Dan Devine appointed Hanner as the first defensive coordinator in club history, a post he held for eight seasons.
Then, after being fired by Bart Starr in early 1980, Hanner returned to spend 15 years as a scout until his retirement in May 1996.
"It was all about being what's best for the Packers," said Ron Wolf, the retired general manager who served as Hanner's boss for five years. "That's a rare quality in people. He lived by that code."
A massive man, Hanner possessed a sweet, gentle side. He had an infectious laugh, loved to socialize at the family cottage on Keyes Lake near Florence and never took himself too seriously.
"He was really a warm, wonderful human being," said Charley Armey, the retired general manager of the St. Louis Rams who worked alongside Hanner from 1985-'87 on Dick Corrick's scouting staff in Green Bay. "If you scoured the whole world you couldn't find one guy to say anything bad about him."
Thus, Hanner was broadsided shortly after the '79 season when Starr, with whom he had played and coached, gave him the pink slip.
"I remember the night he was let go by Bart," Harlan said. "He actually came to our house and sat on the couch in the living room. He actually cried. He was just so hurt and just wanted to talk to somebody. He was crushed that that had ended."
Years later, Hanner revealed that he learned of his firing from several people a day before he was informed by Starr. Fifteen years later, Hanner said he had hardly spoken to Starr, and never about the firing.
Needing a paycheck to feed his large family, Hanner accepted a scouting job for the Chicago Bears.
Hanner came back to Green Bay as a scout in 1981, spent '82 breaking down film in quality control and became a Packers scout for good in '83.
"I guess I hope people remember me as a damn good player and coach because I worked and gave everything I knew to it," Hanner told the Journal Sentinel in April 1996. "Not the greatest or anything like that, but to the best of my ability. That's all you can ask."
Hanner played 160 games for Green Bay, making the Pro Bowl in 1953 and '54. In 1976, he and Henry Jordan were named defensive tackles on the club's all-time "modern era team."
He was part of the fourth induction class to the Packers Hall of Fame in January 1974.
"He was a heck of a football player, a heck of a coach and a heck of a scout," Armey said. "He touched everybody, anybody that had anything to do with him.
"I'll never forget going to breakfast (during training camp) and watching him grab two slices of bread and having him throw three great big pieces of sausage on it. That was his sausage sandwich."
Harlan recalled sitting in draft meetings, some of which were attended by Wolf and Armey, and being amazed by how Hanner, often called "Coach Dave" in his later years, stood his ground when colleagues challenged his opinion.
"He'd say, 'Oh (expletive), he can't play,'" Armey said. "Then we might as well move on to the next guy."
Hanner had no use for slackers, the faint of heart or prima donnas.
"He stressed toughness," Wolf said. "He really believed that in order to play the game you had to be tough. He had such respect for the tradition and the people who came before him."
Hanner is survived by his wife, Jane, and six children, including Joel, of Marinette; Ed, of Safety Harbor, Fla.; Sammye, of Clearwater, Fla.; Mike, of Texas; Hollye, of Atlanta; and Jimmy, of Green Bay.
Arrangements are being handled by Roller-Citizens Funeral Home in West Memphis, Ark.
His name was mentioned along with the Packers as much as anyone's growing up as a Packer fan.
Hanner, ex-player, coach, scout, dies at age 78
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 11, 2008
Green Bay - Dave "Hawg" Hanner, the tobacco-chewing Arkansan whose career as a player, he was 78.
A resident of Land O' Lakes, Fla., Hanner suffered a massive heart attack Tuesday and died Thursday afternoon at a Florida hospital. He had been in ill health for about 18 months.
"Dave was just a country boy who was playing football and this was a perfect spot for him," retired Packers President Bob Harlan said. "I don't know where else he could have gone and been as comfortable as he was. Easy-going, laid-back. He was a perfect Green Bay Packer guy."
Hanner's career had no equals in Green Bay for his years of service.
Twice a Pro Bowl selection, Hanner played defensive tackle for the Packers from 1952-'64.
Almost immediately, Hanner joined Vince Lombardi's coaching staff tutoring the defensive line. In 1972, Dan Devine appointed Hanner as the first defensive coordinator in club history, a post he held for eight seasons.
Then, after being fired by Bart Starr in early 1980, Hanner returned to spend 15 years as a scout until his retirement in May 1996.
"It was all about being what's best for the Packers," said Ron Wolf, the retired general manager who served as Hanner's boss for five years. "That's a rare quality in people. He lived by that code."
A massive man, Hanner possessed a sweet, gentle side. He had an infectious laugh, loved to socialize at the family cottage on Keyes Lake near Florence and never took himself too seriously.
"He was really a warm, wonderful human being," said Charley Armey, the retired general manager of the St. Louis Rams who worked alongside Hanner from 1985-'87 on Dick Corrick's scouting staff in Green Bay. "If you scoured the whole world you couldn't find one guy to say anything bad about him."
Thus, Hanner was broadsided shortly after the '79 season when Starr, with whom he had played and coached, gave him the pink slip.
"I remember the night he was let go by Bart," Harlan said. "He actually came to our house and sat on the couch in the living room. He actually cried. He was just so hurt and just wanted to talk to somebody. He was crushed that that had ended."
Years later, Hanner revealed that he learned of his firing from several people a day before he was informed by Starr. Fifteen years later, Hanner said he had hardly spoken to Starr, and never about the firing.
Needing a paycheck to feed his large family, Hanner accepted a scouting job for the Chicago Bears.
Hanner came back to Green Bay as a scout in 1981, spent '82 breaking down film in quality control and became a Packers scout for good in '83.
"I guess I hope people remember me as a damn good player and coach because I worked and gave everything I knew to it," Hanner told the Journal Sentinel in April 1996. "Not the greatest or anything like that, but to the best of my ability. That's all you can ask."
Hanner played 160 games for Green Bay, making the Pro Bowl in 1953 and '54. In 1976, he and Henry Jordan were named defensive tackles on the club's all-time "modern era team."
He was part of the fourth induction class to the Packers Hall of Fame in January 1974.
"He was a heck of a football player, a heck of a coach and a heck of a scout," Armey said. "He touched everybody, anybody that had anything to do with him.
"I'll never forget going to breakfast (during training camp) and watching him grab two slices of bread and having him throw three great big pieces of sausage on it. That was his sausage sandwich."
Harlan recalled sitting in draft meetings, some of which were attended by Wolf and Armey, and being amazed by how Hanner, often called "Coach Dave" in his later years, stood his ground when colleagues challenged his opinion.
"He'd say, 'Oh (expletive), he can't play,'" Armey said. "Then we might as well move on to the next guy."
Hanner had no use for slackers, the faint of heart or prima donnas.
"He stressed toughness," Wolf said. "He really believed that in order to play the game you had to be tough. He had such respect for the tradition and the people who came before him."
Hanner is survived by his wife, Jane, and six children, including Joel, of Marinette; Ed, of Safety Harbor, Fla.; Sammye, of Clearwater, Fla.; Mike, of Texas; Hollye, of Atlanta; and Jimmy, of Green Bay.
Arrangements are being handled by Roller-Citizens Funeral Home in West Memphis, Ark.
His name was mentioned along with the Packers as much as anyone's growing up as a Packer fan.