The Packers Greatest player - Don Hutson?

[Partial]

Rumor has it Tank was so traumatized after getting his ass kicked rather than face what occured he turned to drugs and has never since recovered

[KYPack]

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 the last of my posts about Don. 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. He moved so fast it was difficult to see the play, but all the fans along the sideline saw Hutson reach out and catch 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 written accounts of Don’s catch, it became an anecdotal legend.

Then, in 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 Don 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 ankle high, 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 “people get to telling stories over the years”. 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.

[woodbuck27]

KYPack .Those last two stories about the Legendary Don Hutson are just excellent.

You would have made an excellent Scout Leader and I certainly feel that your Grand Children will benefit from that talent you have to relate a good story. I certainly appreciated that ability from Mr. Eldon Bell my Maternal Grandfather. Many a time I would sit on the woodbox and take in his stories of his hunting and fishing exploits and years spent logging.

He was truly a fine gentleman and an excellent story teller as well as my Father was. The absolute two greatest men and best influences on my LIFE.

[the_idle_threat]

I dunno ... I vote for T.J. Rubley.

[woodbuck27]

I dunno ... I vote for T.J. Rubley.

Ahhhh. . . . Ole T.J.

[the_idle_threat]

Yeah, I almost feel sorry for the guy. He gets only a few minutes of playing time in his career, makes a boneheaded mistake, and now his name is a punchline in Packer lore.

That being said, I don't feel TOO sorry.

[woodbuck27]

Yeah, I almost feel sorry for the guy. He gets only a few minutes of playing time in his career, makes a boneheaded mistake, and now his name is a punchline in Packer lore.

That being said, I don't feel TOO sorry.

Here is a little bit of what happened to T.J. after he was with us. He's mentioned in this story below as the back-up QB with the Winnepeg Blue Bombers in 1998.

It's a decent story on what can happen to an Organization if you import the wrong man in charge of spending or not.


Septermer 30, 1998

"The only thing more pathetic then the 1998 Winnipeg Blue Bombers, is the
man behind them"

By Shashi Ramu, Guest Benchwarmer

In a season of ups and downs (well, mostly downs) and having witnessed some on-field miracles (well, two to be exact), the 1998 version of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is a pathetic joke. No, wait a minute - there's one thing that is more of a joke than the teams 2-11 record - it's the fact that the man behind it all is still employed.

The media, the fans, the other coaches - heck, even some of the
players - expected 'Coach Jeff' to be long gone after the possibility of
"playing .500" was flushed down the toilet. But the question which no one
has conclusively answered yet is, "Whose fault is it?" Well folks, here's
your answer.

Having been involved with the league and its teams over the years,
I am exposed to some, shall we say, "real" opinions and beliefs about what
on earth has gone wrong here in the "Peg" this year.

Commissioner John Tory and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Giles say
that they are letting Winnipeg finish the season without any interference,
no matter how brutal it becomes, because of the revenue that the Grey Cup
is going to bring in. But what's the use of all this extra money if there's
only 10 season ticket holders for the Blue and Gold next year? People are
not interested in watching a losing team. Look at Hamilton - they have the
best team in the whole league, but because of their awful performance on
the football field over the 1996 and 1997 seasons, they are still averaging
18,000 people per game.

Now, as a University of Manitoba graduate who was born and raised
literally worshipping the ground that the Blue Bombers walked on, I'm mad.
No, check that. I'm irate.

Coach Reinebold rode in on his Harley with his earrings, is very
loud voice (it's not so loud lately, is it?), press conference after press
conference, key slogans like "We're gonna be a hard-ass football team!" and best of all, those oh-so-attractive circles under his eyes - the guy either
never sleeps or he has a whole other career on the side that we don't even
know about.

What did he do over the past two years? He took out his pen and
clipboard and started firing people - some of the best football players
that have ever come through this town. Last spring he fired the team's
captain - who almost immediately signed with Saskatchewan. By the way, they made it to the Grey Cup.

Reinebold has gone through more quarterbacks than I can count on
two hands (all of which have been feeble on even their best outing). And
best of all he's allowed his lack of discipline and a failure to resolve
his conflicts with people affect his judgment.

Remember Gerald Wilcox? He was one of the best football players, not only for the team but for the city. More recently, remember Chris Armstrong? He went back to Montreal and, incidentally, has been one of the Alouettes' most productive players on offense, especially against the Blue Bombers. Last year, Kevin McDougall's "Don't give up on me, coach" cost the city close to $80,000.

This year, whether we like it or not, Reinebold has already paid in full
$150,000 for a guy (T.J. Rubley) who had never played a down of Canadian
Football before July (this QB now makes his home on the sidelines - he
sports the headset and clipboard quite well, I might add.)

A reliable source within the front office has been quoted as saying,

"It's gonna be a public relations nightmare to clean up everything
that he's done here." Another reliable player source has said, "I'm afraid
that every day when I walk in there, I'm gonna lose my job."

Here's the solution, Winnipeg. Just end it! Just cut your losses -
you won't have egg on your face, the CFL will probably throw a
wine-and-cheese banquet at Skydome to celebrate, and best of all, our
fake-and-baked insomnia-ridden wanna-be savior will climb his sorry ass
onto that Harley and drive back to the land of make believe. Or better yet
maybe he'll join Homer Simpson in his daydreams under the sea. Who knows?

Save this city the embarrassment of having to rush the field after every
(flukish) win. (Remember when we only used to do that after they won
play-off games?) Now the words "Bomber" and "play-offs" are the biggest
oxymoron anybody around here has ever heard.

And to close - a message to the lion tamer himself. Do us all a
favour and just accept your share of the responsibility. And at the same
time, look at this as an experience. Hopefully, somewhere in that brain you
realize that firing players, making empty promises, and being totally
self-absorbed for two years was not the right way to run a major
professional athletic organization. Take the lead from such noble men as
Joe Paopao and Adam Rita, and maybe (or maybe not) we'll meet again some day.

[KYPack]

Woodbuck, thanks once again for starting this thread. Any time I can see a thread about Don Hutson, it’s great. In an earlier post, you mentioned me sitting around a campfire with some boy scouts relating these tales of Don. That comment really knocked me out because that was how I heard about Don and his exploits. When I was in the boy scouts, our summer camp was at Twin Lakes in central WI. Every summer we would camp there. One of the Scout troops had a man named Champ Seibold as their scoutmaster. Champ played for the Packers and was teammate of Don’s for four seasons. Each summer there would be a big group campfire. Champ would be there and the scouts & soutmasters would prod him to tell us stories of Lambeau’s Packer and Don Hutson .
You’d have to poke him to talk about it, but eventually Champ would talk of the Pack and Don. Champ would impress us of two things:
1 What a great person Don was, Hutson was a genuinely nice person, shy, quiet, and a great friend.
2. Hutson was not just a great player, Don was a transcendent player. The game was much different after Don left it.
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.
Don also helped hold the team together. Players who were reluctant to approach the volatile Lambeau would go to Don when they had issues. After Don retired, an old Packer down on his luck knew he could get help from Hutson. A few of ‘em made a pilgrimage to Don’s Cadillac dealership in Racine for a little help. Don would be only too glad to help an old pal.
Few teams threw the ball in 1935 unless they were desperate or wanted to surprise the opponent. By the time he retired in 1945, passing was part of the game. 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. As for the receiving part, nobody played the game like Hutson. Statistically, his only rivals weren't born when Hutson left the game.
Champ told us a lot about Don as a person and a player. I wish I would’ve taken notes, I’m sure I’ve forgotten some gems, but I remember much of what was said.

This thread can use one bump. We’ll be pretty near camp before it falls off. If one person learns about Don Hutson and what an impact he had on the Pack & Pro Football, I’m happy.

[woodbuck27]

Yes KYPack. We must never forget, the really GREAT Packers, and in my humble mind, this man was the GREATEST PACKER of them all.

The stories in this thread and all other accounts of Don Hudson puts that fact, I feel, in full perspective. How much better can we keep some semblance of his reality alive in us Packer fans?

Don Hutson - ALL TIME GREATEST - GREEN BAY PACKER.

To all members.This thread is merely 'a testament' to support that 'as a fact'.

He gets my vote in that category.

[Harlan Huckleby]

DonHutson was one of my favorite posters at JSO, but he, uhhh, didn't make it here. I guess it is like European immigrants coming to America, a few of them died at sea before reaching Ellis Island.

[KYPack]

Bimp

(As inspector Clouseau would say)

[woodbuck27]

No one can say we don't keep it up KY.