Packers’ ‘Golden Boy’ could do it all
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 teamintoan NFL dynasty, died Friday in Louisville, Ky., at 84.
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 Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
Hornung won the Heisman as a quarterback. But he switched to halfback in the pros and was 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 called him the greatest player he ever coached.
Lombardi 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 hemay be only slightly better than an averageballplayer,” 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 teamwhenLombardi arrived in Green Bay in 1959. The Packers made Hornung the first pick of the1957 draft after he won the Heisman Trophy for a Notre Dame team that went 2-8.
Hornung teamed with bruising fullback Jim Taylor in 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 760points on 62 touchdowns, 66 field goals and 190 extra points.
For three straight seasons from 1959 to 1961, Hornung led the NFL in scoring. In 1960 he totaled 176 points, a league record until LaDainian Tomlinson broke it 46 years later. Hornung later noted that his record came in 12 games, while Tomlinson needed 16.
Hornung also passed for two TDs 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 TD rushing, three field goals and four PATs in the Packers’ 37-0 win over the New York Giants.
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.
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.