Badgerinmaine
09-11-2007, 11:59 AM
I didn't see anyone else post this--
You probably have seen Ellis Hobbs' 108 yard KO return for the Patriots yesterday. What I didn't know was that the first man to set the mark he broke was Al Carmichael, who ran back a kickoff 106 yards for the Packers in 1956 (two others later ran back kickoffs for 106, most recently Roy Green). Here's a story from USA Today on him:
Long distance
Al "Hoagy" Carmichael wondered if and when his record would fall. He figured it might, as players grew ever faster. But he knew all too well how coaches hate it when kick returners bring the football out of the end zone's deepest reaches.
In 1956, Carmichael, playing for the Green Bay Packers, returned a kickoff 106 yards for a touchdown. Twice since that record has been tied. Ellis Hobbs of the New England Patriots broke it on Sunday when he sailed 108 yards against the New York Jets.
Carmichael, 78, said he remembered the Chicago Bears scoring against his Packers and then trotting out for the kickoff with bad intentions.
"I'd had some arguments with the assistant coaches, and I had made up my mind I was going to take it out no matter how deep," he said by phone from Laguna Niguel, Calif. "The players congratulated me, but none of the coaches would talk to me they were so mad."
Everything was patched up the next day, Carmichael got his due from Packers coach Lisle Blackburn, and the record stood unbroken for 51 years. He and his son Chris published a book last year called 106 Yards that is a collection of photographs and memories from Carmichael's life and career. His return can be seen at www.106yards.com.
Hobbs had no conflicting emotions about his epic sprint.
"They pay me to make plays," he said. "They don't pay me to take knees."
You probably have seen Ellis Hobbs' 108 yard KO return for the Patriots yesterday. What I didn't know was that the first man to set the mark he broke was Al Carmichael, who ran back a kickoff 106 yards for the Packers in 1956 (two others later ran back kickoffs for 106, most recently Roy Green). Here's a story from USA Today on him:
Long distance
Al "Hoagy" Carmichael wondered if and when his record would fall. He figured it might, as players grew ever faster. But he knew all too well how coaches hate it when kick returners bring the football out of the end zone's deepest reaches.
In 1956, Carmichael, playing for the Green Bay Packers, returned a kickoff 106 yards for a touchdown. Twice since that record has been tied. Ellis Hobbs of the New England Patriots broke it on Sunday when he sailed 108 yards against the New York Jets.
Carmichael, 78, said he remembered the Chicago Bears scoring against his Packers and then trotting out for the kickoff with bad intentions.
"I'd had some arguments with the assistant coaches, and I had made up my mind I was going to take it out no matter how deep," he said by phone from Laguna Niguel, Calif. "The players congratulated me, but none of the coaches would talk to me they were so mad."
Everything was patched up the next day, Carmichael got his due from Packers coach Lisle Blackburn, and the record stood unbroken for 51 years. He and his son Chris published a book last year called 106 Yards that is a collection of photographs and memories from Carmichael's life and career. His return can be seen at www.106yards.com.
Hobbs had no conflicting emotions about his epic sprint.
"They pay me to make plays," he said. "They don't pay me to take knees."