Heisman winner at NotreDame was Green Bay’s ‘Golden Boy’
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Paul Hornung, the dazzling “Golden Boy” of the Green Bay Packers whose singular ability to generate points as a runner, receiver, quarterback and kicker helped turn the team into an NFL dynasty, died Friday. He was 84.
In July 2016, Hornung sued equipment manufacturer Riddell Inc., saying football helmets he wore during his professional career failed to protect him from brain injury. Hornung suffered multiple concussions with the Packers and had been diagnosed with dementia, the lawsuit said.
Hornung won the 1956 Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame. He was the NFL MVP in 1961 and played on four championship teams (1961, ’62, ’65 and ’66).
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.
Hornung and another of the league’s top stars, Detroit’s Alex Karras, were suspended for 1963 by Commissioner Pete Rozelle for betting on NFL games and associating with undesirable persons. They returned to the NFL the next year.
Hornung won the Heisman as a quarterback. But he switched to halfback in the pros andwas one of the NFL’s most dynamic players in Green Bay.
Playing alongside numerous future Hall of Famers, the blond, fun-loving Hornung was a favorite of Packers coach Vince Lombardi, who thought of the young star as a son and singled him out for praise and chastisement. Frequent fines for missing curfew were forgiven once the game started, especially when the dashing No. 5 got close to the end zone.
“In the middle of the field he may be only slightly better than an average ballplayer,” Lombardi once said, “but inside the 20-yard line he is one of the greatest I have ever seen. He smells that goal line.”
Hornung already was on the team when Lombardi arrived in Green Bay in 1959. The Packers made Hornung the first pick of the 1957 draft after he won the Heisman Trophy for a Notre Dame team that went 2-8.
Hornung teamed with bruising fullback Jim Taylor for one of the NFL’s greatest backfields. They were known for the unstoppable power sweeps led by guards Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston. But Hornung was also a force as a passer, blocker, receiver and kicker. He finished his nine-year career with 760 points on 62 touchdowns, 66 field goals and 190 extra points.
For three straight seasons from 1959-61, Hornung led the NFL in scoring. In 1960 he totaled 176 points, which stood as a league record until LaDainian Tomlinson broke it 46 years later. Hornung would later point out that his record came in 12 games, while Tomlinson needed 16.
Hornung also passed for two touchdowns in 1960, meaning he had a hand in 188 points, an average of 15.6 per game.
His talent was noticed even in the White House. Hornung almost missed the Packers’ 1961 title game when he was summoned to duty by the Army, but a call from Lombardi to President John F. Kennedy led to Hornung being granted leave.
Said Kennedy in arranging the leave, “Paul Hornung isn’t going to win the war on Sunday, but the football fans of this country deserve the two best teams on the field that day.”
Hornung scored 19 points — then a title game record — on one touchdown rushing, three field goals and four extra points in the Packers’ 37-0 win over the New York Giants.
A pinched nerve sidelined Hornung during Super Bowl I in 1967, and he chose not to enter the game when given the chance in the fourth quarter. He was the only Packer who didn’t play as Green Bay defeated the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.
Hornung was selected by New Orleans in the 1967 expansion draft, a heartbreaking moment for Lombardi. But Hornung never played a game for the Saints, instead retiring.
After his suspension by Rozelle, Hornung believed Lombardi’s constant lobbying of the commissioner got him reinstated for the 1964 season. In exchange for Lombardi’s efforts, Hornung agreed not to have anything to do with gambling, to stay out of Las Vegas, and even stop attending the Kentucky Derby — something he used to do annually in his hometown of Louisville.
Hornung is survived by his wife of 41 years, Angela. Due to COVID restrictions, there will be a private funeral mass at St. Louis Bertrand Church in Louisville followed by a private burial. A public celebration of his life will be held at a later date, the Packers said.