The following article was on the front page of the Green Bay Press-Gazette today (see attached pdfs at bottom) and is celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the Packers 1972 team. Some of you I know remember that team and season well. I think you’ll find the article and related videos a wonderful tribute to what was arguably the best team and season in the 24 years post-Lombardi and pre-Favre – basically, the entire decades of the 70’s and 80’s. The link to the article is for PackersNews.com subscribers only. So if you’re not a subscriber, you can read the pdfs attached. You can get to the links for the excellent video at the beginning of the article, labeled “Packers reflect on 1972 team,” and a great one further down labeled “Former quarterback Scott Hunter talks about 1972 Packers.” There are two other wonderful videos in the article you can also get to, the 1972 Season Highlight Film and the recap of the Packers win over the Vikings that year that clinched the division title. Lastly, I actually raised the idea for this article back in June with Cliff Christl, the Packers' historian, and the author, Rich Ryman of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Rich liked the idea and decided to do it. I’ve added my exchange with both of them below, which I thought you might find of interest as well. Hope you enjoy Rich’s article as much as I did. Thought he did an incredibly thorough job and told the ‘72 team’s story in a very enlightening and compelling way. Would love to hear what you think of it. Thanks. Go Pack!
Article: 1972 Packers overcame all obstacles, except their own coach and Washington. Do they deserve more recognition? https://www.packersnews.com/st...een-bay/10183524002/
Video: Packers reflect on 1972 team (2:24) https://www.greenbaypressgazet...72-team/10527758002/
Video: Former quarterback Scott Hunter talks about 1972 Packers (1:40) https://www.greenbaypressgazet...packers/10527239002/
Video: 1972 Green Bay Packers Season Highlights – Part 1 of 2 (20:56) https://youtu.be/Yq6hS6mSMrE Part 2 of 2 (4:25) https://youtu.be/ndEMDDrZWiU
Video: NFL Game of the Week – Packers @ Vikings 12/10/72 (22:06) https://youtu.be/p0-va11Rnqk
From: Steven Schumer
Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2022 1:14 PM
To: Rich Ryman (rryman@greenbay.gannett.com) <rryman@greenbay.gannett.com>
Subject: RE: 1972 PACKERS: 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Rich, though I know you took great notes yesterday, I thought it would only help if I jotted down the key points I made to you, literally off the top of my head, to help answer the question of what made the ’72 Packer team and season special enough to write about. So I offer you the following. Again, please let me know if I can help further in any way. Otherwise, will look forward to hearing from you when appropriate. Thanks again Rich.
- Only full-season division championship in the 20+ years after Lombardi and before Favre/Wolf/Holmgren/White. Really, the one shining light from the entire 70’s and 80’s decades. (I mentioned that while as a Packer fan I loved that the ’82 team made the playoffs, doing so at 5-3-1 in the strike-shortened season just doesn’t compare to what the ’72 team accomplished)
- In the last 50+ years, what Packer team had a more dramatic turnaround? In ’71 the Packers were 4-8-2 and finished last in the division. No one predicted anything better for ’72. Yet they amazingly went from last to first, from 4-8-2 to 10-4.
- And the quality of those 10 wins was incredibly impressive. The Cowboys won the Super Bowl in ’71. The Packers were 4-8-2. Yet three games into the ’72 season, the Packers beat the Cowboys straight-up in Milwaukee. Other teams they beat that were playoff teams in ’71 and/or ’72: The Browns, Vikings and 49ers. And if not for a return of a muffed lateral that the NFL later determined was illegally returned for a TD, the Packers would have beaten another playoff team, the Raiders. Very impressive how that 10-4 record was achieved.
- Even more impressive: The Vikings were the class of the NFC throughout the 70’s. They won the NFC Central 10 out of 11 years from ’68 to ’78. In that timeframe they went to 4 Super Bowls (’69, ’73, ’74, ’76). They had many Hall of Fame players (Fran Tarkenton, Ron Yary, Mick Tinglehoff, Alan Page, Carl Eller, Paul Krause). The one year they didn’t win their division was ’72, when the Packers did. And the Packers did it by going to Minnesota at the end of the season, with the division title on the line, and though the Vikings led that game 7-0 at halftime, the Packers shut them out in the second half and went on to win convincingly 23-7. The single most significant regular season win between 1968 and 1992.
- Those that even remember the Packers ’72 team typically think first of the strength of their running game, with John Brockington and MacArthur Lane. And certainly it was one of the best in the NFL at the time. But most have no idea how good the Packers defense was that year. The Super Bowl winning, perfect season Dolphins had the #1 defense in ’72 (based on yards given up). The #2 defense in the NFL that year: Shockingly, the Packers. You can count on one hand how many times the Packers have been ranked in the top 5 defenses in the last 50+ years. That’s how good the Packers defense was that year. Bob Brown and Mike McCoy were stalwarts on the defensive line, with Alden Roche but especially Clarence Williams providing pass rush. The LB corps of Dave Robinson, Jim Carter and Fred Carr was superb. But the best unit on defense was the secondary, led by at that time the best set of CBs in the league in Ken Ellis and the Packers ’72 #1 pick and Defensive Rookie of the Year Willie Buchanon. Along with S’s Al Mathews and Jim Hill, that secondary gave up only 7 passing touchdowns the entire season – which was the least in the NFL that year.
- Consider that the Packers accomplished what they did in ’72 in spite of losing arguably the best player on the entire team to injury. Though OLB Dave Robinson is in the Hall of Fame and was a major contributor to making the defense what it was, he was no longer in his prime. Pound for pound the best player on that ’72 team was Guard Gale Gillingham. Yet he, along with 1970 #1 pick TE Rich McGeorge, were both lost for the year during the second game of the season. Without these two players, and led only by a 6th round pick at QB in his second year (Scott Hunter), the offense still was effective enough to contribute mightily to that 10-4 record – largely on the running of Brockington and Lane, and the extraordinary kicking of rookie revelation Chester Marcol.
- It’s a fascinating storyline, by the way, that Bart Starr, the Packers famous ‘17th round pick out of Alabama in ’56, was now the QBs coach of the ’72 Packers, molding Scott Hunter, a 6th round pick out of Alabama in ‘71
- Also, the ’72 team overcame what history would suggest was by far the very worst head coach the Packers have had in the last 50+ years post-Lombardi. The players had little respect for Devine, who was in over his head as a long-time college coach in his second year in the NFL. They won in spite of him, in spite of this enormous handicap. How many other NFL playoff teams have there ever been where this was the case?
- And in the spirit of the NFL’s “The Lost Rings” series (most famously led by those aforementioned 70’s Vikings), a compelling argument can be made that the ’72 Packers had a very real chance at winning the Super Bowl that year if Dan Devine had not taken the play calling away from Bart Starr as they took on the Redskins at Washington in the playoffs. Though Starr had acted as offensive coordinator and called the plays most all season, once the Packers won the division title Devine felt that Starr got too much credit for that success. So out of jealously and spite, he took over the play calling duties against the Redskins. And as George Allen deployed a 5 man line to thwart the Packers ground game, Devine refused to implement Starr’s plan to attack it and spent the entire game having Brockington and Lane try to run at it. As Scott Hunter has explained to me in detail, if Starr had been allowed to call the plays, they were confident they could move the ball against the Redskins. That confidence was built partly on losing narrowly to the Redskins in late November 21-16 in Washington when rookie QB Jerry Tagge played the majority of the game instead of the injured Scott Hunter and the Redskins took specific advantage of injured CB Ken Ellis’ replacement Ike Thomas to win that game, and by the fact that in spite of the Packers offense doing effectively nothing in the playoff game and the Redskins having the ball seemingly all game long, the Packers defense held the Redskins to only 16 points. If the Packers had gotten past the Redskins, they would have hosted the Cowboys in Green Bay on December 31st – a team the Packers had beaten earlier that season. That would have pitted the ’72 Packers against the unbeaten Dolphins. And though most may understandably scoff, the Packers had beaten the Dolphins in that ’72 Pre-Season when both teams played most all their starters. The truth is those ’72 Packers matched up very well with that Dolphins team, and quite possibly may have shocked the sports world and re-written NFL History if not for one man’s ineptness and ego.
- Why do I think this Packers ’72 team is mostly unknown and vastly underappreciated? A couple of reasons. First, I believe those that lived through the 70’s prefer to not be reminded how truly awful that decade was for the Packers, made even more painful coming off the dominance they enjoyed under Lombardi throughout the 60’s. Secondly, they prefer to not be reminded of Dan Devine, who as I mentioned earlier was not only the worst coach the Packers have had in the last 50+ years (and arguably ever), but also the very worst General Manager. In making what most any NFL observer would rank as the worst trade in NFL history -- when he gave away 2 1’s, 2 2’s and a 3 for 34 year old QB John Hadl -- he doomed the Packers to mediocrity for many years afterwards. Worse, he made that trade behind the entire Packer organization’s back, the same way he was underhanded and disingenuous in the way he left for Notre Dame at the end of the ’74 season. He is not only the worst head coach and GM in Packers history, he is the most despised and hated – by both his players and Packers fans. For all these reasons, the ’72 Packers do not get the credit for what they – the players – achieved.
- Who would I recommend to interview about that ’72 Packers team and season? I’d lead with QB Scott Hunter and RB John Brockington from the offense, OLB Dave Robinson and CB Willie Buchanon from the defense. Other players to consider that were key contributors that season: C Ken Bowman, DT Mike McCoy, CB Ken Ellis, PK Chester Marcol. And, of course, Cliff Christl for a historical perspective.
From: Steven Schumer
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2022 6:59 PM
To: Rich Ryman (rryman@greenbay.gannett.com) <rryman@greenbay.gannett.com>
Subject: RE: 1972 PACKERS: 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Rich, look forward to talking tomorrow. Some additional background in the meantime:
Cliff Christl (Packers Historian) 4/25/22: “Steven: Good to hear from you. To start, I'll pass on your suggestion about honoring the team to the higher ups. It's a good idea.” 6/28/22: “Steve: Hope all is well. My understanding is that they may bring back some '72 players to maybe be honorary captains, but there's apparently a thought that team celebrations should be limited to league championship teams.” FYI, Cliff Christl’s take on Packers 1972 team: “1972 Packers were a talented bunch” https://www.packers.com/news/1972-packers-were-a-talented-bunch
Scott Hunter (Starting QB of Packers ’72 Team) 2/17/22: “Steven; FYI…we are lobbying the GB Packer Alumni Director to host a reunion of the ’72 team back for Packer Alumni Weekend this fall. I will keep you posted.” 7/17/22: “Appears my suggestion didn’t fly….tried.”
From: Steven Schumer
Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2022 1:43 PM
To: Rich Ryman (rryman@greenbay.gannett.com) <rryman@greenbay.gannett.com>
Subject: RE: 1972 PACKERS: 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Rich, haven’t heard back from Cliff yet, so with two months since my last email to him I just sent him another today. Will of course let you know what I hear back. And staying in contact with Scott Hunter, who’s still chasing the Packers Alumni Director. So lots of irons in this fire!
From: Ryman, Rich <rryman@greenbay.gannett.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2022 1:16 PM
To: Steven Schumer <sschumer@us.ibm.com>
Subject: Re: 1972 PACKERS: 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Steve, that is an interesting idea. Let me do a little research and I will let you know. Any luck with Cliff?
Rich
Richard Ryman
Packers Business Reporter
Office: (920) 431-8342
Mobile: (920) 737-6713
Twitter: @RichRymanPG
From: Steven Schumer
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2022 1:19 PM
To: Rich Ryman (rryman@greenbay.gannett.com) <rryman@greenbay.gannett.com>
Subject: RE: 1972 PACKERS: 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Hey Rich, hope this finds you well, hope you had a nice Father’s Day yesterday! Wanted to know if you had any interest to discuss the attached? I am trying at minimum to get the Packers to recognize the 50th anniversary of my most favorite of all Packer teams, the 1972 squad. I am doing that through Cliff Christl, per below (who I’ve known since the early ‘70s), but also have been talking about with Scott Hunter (the QB from that team, who I’ve known for years and who said he’ll raise with the Packers Alumni Director). At best, I’d be invited to the event to share a fan’s perspective. And maybe an in-between is you doing a feature article on? They really were the brightest light in the 20 years of the entire ‘70s and ‘80s decades, and yet a Packers team few really know about, i.e. post-Lombardi and pre-Favre.
From: Steven Schumer
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2022 2:49 PM
To: Cliff Christl (history@packers.com) <history@packers.com>
Subject: RE: 1972 PACKERS: 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Cliff, thanks not only for the fast reply but taking the time to share all your great insights. Ate it all up! I so appreciate your not only passing on my suggestion to the higher ups, but also asking around about game footage from that year. No rush on. But can’t tell you how much it would mean to me to have an opportunity – if any of that exists – to view it somehow/someday. I’d come to Green Bay just to do that if allowed. Either way, thanks in advance for following through on these things. And very much look forward to those additional articles you’ll be writing soon. Thanks again Cliff!
From: MbxHistory <History@packers.com>
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2022 2:09 PM
To: Steven Schumer <sschumer@us.ibm.com>
Subject: Re: 1972 PACKERS: 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Steven: Good to hear from you. You raise a lot of good questions. To start, I'll pass on your suggestion about honoring the team to the higher ups. It's a good idea. I'm heading back to GB later this week and I'll ask around about game footage. One, as I understand it, NFL Films controls all video so that kind of shuts the door to that possibility. Plus, the video guys really have no offseason anymore – with draft preparation, offseason workouts, etc. – so I don't request anything from them that would take time away from their job. I have been working on the 1970s bios and that's the plan for me moving forward: To complete all of our Hall of Fame bios and a couple of other projects. So those bios will be my Thursday posts, although I have interviewed some of the people you mentioned and hope to interview some more. As for your summary of that team, I agree with many things you wrote. And I believe the team's biggest weakness was the coaching. But I also believe in the playoffs, your weaknesses get exploited and you need stars to step up. So I'm not so sure that team had the ability to go any further in the playoffs. No doubt, the Packers could pound the ball. But Scott Hunter told me once that even when Starr was calling the plays, the plan was to play conservatively even on the opponents' side of the 50. Take no risks and set Marcol up for FGs. Hunter had a shoulder injury in college and he was limited. Plus, Dale was over the hill and Glass was marginal at best. And Garrett caught four passes as a starting tight end. Brockington was the offensive star, but his average dropped from 5.1 to 3.7. And the team's best offensive player – Gillingham – was hurt and his sub, Malcolm Snider, was also marginal at best. Lot of weaknesses on offense and Allen exposed them and I think he would have no matter who was calling plays. Defensively, it was a good team. Buchanon was a shutdown corner as a rookie. Bob Brown was often unblockable. Carr was maybe at his peak. Robinson was smart and still good. Roche and Carter were underrated. Jim Hill was the weak link. He didn't tackle anyone. That was a glaring liability.
Cliff
From: Steven Schumer
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2022 10:44 AM
To: Cliff Christl (history@packers.com) history@packers.com
Subject: 1972 PACKERS: 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Cliff, been a while, hope this finds you and yours all doing well! Had a couple of questions I wanted to run by you regarding the 1972 Packers:
- As that team was my childhood favorite, I much loved reading your perspective on them a year ago: “1972 Packers were a talented bunch” https://www.packers.com/news/1972-packers-were-a-talented-bunch I know I’m biased, but what always fascinated me about that team was my strong belief that if Devine had allowed Starr to call the plays in that Redskins playoff game, I think the Packers not only would have won, but would have then beaten the Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game at home (as they had done earlier that season) and had a great chance to upset the Dolphins in the Super Bowl.
- As this year marks that team’s 50th anniversary – and considering it was one of only two teams of the entire 70’s and 80’s to make the playoffs (along with the ’82 team in that strike-shortened season) – any plans you know of by the Packers to commemorate that special team and season? Anything you personally plan to do, write about them/that season, etc?
- Perhaps you’ve already been doing that, as I have always thoroughly enjoyed reading your “Profiling the Past” and related articles at https://www.packers.com/news/cliff-christl-history, and have absolutely noted a number you’ve done from that team, like John Brockington, Carroll Dale, Rich McGeorge, Gale Gillingham, Ken Bowman, Bill Lueck, Dick Himes, Clarence Williams, Mike McCoy, Fred Carr, Dave Robinson, Willie Buchanon, Ken Ellis and Chester Marcol. A few more I’d love to read your take on (in priority order): MacArthur Lane, Scott Hunter, Bob Brown and Jim Carter. Maybe Jim Hill and Al Matthews. Thought Lane’s running that year was as good as Brockington’s, but he also led the Packers in receiving, and his blocking for Brockington was a critical success factor. The fact he was traded straight up for legend Donny Anderson makes his story all the more interesting. Hunter guiding the Packers that year to a divisional championship in only his second year under Starr’s tutelage was memorable. Brown was a key reason that defense was #1 in the NFC that year, #2 in the NFL only behind the Super Bowl champ Dolphins. Carter dealt with having to replace Nitschke and the ire of many fans, but became a darn good MLB in his own right. Hill and Matthews at safety, along with Buchanon and Ellis at corner, formed perhaps the best secondary in the NFL that year. All good stories perhaps to consider?
- Cliff, other than the annual half hour highlight film NFL Films produces every year, are you aware of any other video that exists of that team and season? I would love to view the full game replay for many games from that year, most especially the late season wins over the Lions and Vikings that clinched the division, but as well the great comeback against the Lions on Monday Night Football, the early season upset of the Cowboys, the exciting mid-season win over the 49ers, and more. I don’t believe any of that exists anywhere, do you? Other than those season highlights, an NFL Game of the Week segment on that Vikings game, and short snips of each game from This Week In The NFL, I’ve never found anything. I thought if anyone might know, it might be you Cliff.
All that said, I take a step back and can’t believe it’s been 50 years since I watched that team on my TV as a 15 year old in New Jersey. Have known you about as long, met you right around that time. So nice to be able to reflect back with you now about that era, all these years later. Will welcome your take on any and all of the above when you find the time. Thank you my friend.
