1961 Green Bay Packers season

1961 Green Bay Packers season
Head coach	Vince Lombardi
General manager	Vince Lombardi
Home field	City Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	1st NFL Western
Playoff finish	Won NFL Championship

The 1961 Green Bay Packers season was their 42nd season in the National Football League. The club posted an 11–3 record under coach Vince Lombardi, earning them a first-place finish in the Western Conference. The Packers ended the season by defeating the New York Giants 37–0 in the NFL Championship Game, the first title game ever played in Green Bay. This was the Packers 7th NFL league championship.

The 1961 season was the first in which the Packers wore their trademark capital "G" logo on their helmets.^[1]

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	12	Herb Adderley	Cornerback	Michigan State
2	26	Ron Kostelnik	Defensive Tackle	Cincinnati
3	40	Phil Nugent	Back	Tulane
4	54	Paul Dudley	Back	Arkansas
4	56	Joe LeSage	Guard	Tulane
5	68	Jack Novak	Guard	Miami (FL)
6	82	Lee Folkins	Tight End	Washington
7	96	Lewis Johnson	Back	Florida A&M
9	124	Vester Flanagan	Tackle	Humboldt State
10	138	Buck McLeod	Tackle	Baylor
11	152	Val Keckin	Back	Southern Miss
12	166	John Denvir	Tackle	Colorado
13	180	Elijah Pitts	Halfback	Philander Smith
14	194	Nelson Toburen	Linebacker	Wichita State
15	208	Ray Lardani	Tackle	Miami (FL)
16	222	Clarence Mason	End	Bowling Green
17	236	Jim Brewington	Tackle	North Carolina Central
18	250	Arthur Sims	Back	Texas A&M
19	264	Leland Bondhus	Tackle	South Dakota State
20	278	Ray Ratkowski	Back	Notre Dame

• Green indicates a future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee
• Yellow indicates a future Pro Bowl selection

Personnel

Staff

1961 Green Bay Packers staff
	Front office President – Dominic Olejniczak Director of Player Personnel – Dick Voris Head coaches Head Coach – Vince Lombardi Offensive coaches Offensive Backs – Red Cochran Ends – Dick Voris Offensive Line – Bill Austin			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Phil Bengtson Defensive Backs – Norb Hecker

^[2]

Roster

1961 Green Bay Packers final roster
	Quarterbacks 10 John Roach 15 Bart Starr Running backs Wide receivers Tight ends		Offensive linemen Defensive linemen		Linebackers Defensive backs Special teams		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Depth chart

Defense CB Herb Adderley ⋅ CB Jesse Whittenton ⋅ Offense FL Boyd Dowler ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Bob Skoronski Fuzzy Thurston Jim Ringo Jerry Kramer Forrest Gregg ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Norm Masters TE Ron Kramer ⋅ SE Max McGee ⋅ QB Bart Starr ⋅ RB Paul Hornung ⋅ FB Jim Taylor ⋅ Special Teams PK Paul Hornung P Boyd Dowler KR Herb Adderley PR Willie Wood

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Game site	TV	Time	Record	Attendance
1	August 11, 1961	@ Dallas Cowboys	W	30–7	Cotton Bowl		9:00 PM CDT	1–0	30,000
2	August 18, 1961	@ St. Louis Cardinals	W	31–10	Sportsman's Park		8:30 PM CDT	2–0	31,056
3	August 26, 1961	Chicago Bears	W	24–14	Milwaukee County Stadium		8:00 PM CDT	3–0	42,560
4	September 4, 1961	New York Giants	W	20–17	City Stadium		8:00 PM CDT	4–0	33,452
5	September 9, 1961	vs. Washington Redskins (at Columbus, Georgia)	W	31–24	A. J. McClung Memorial Stadium		8:00 PM CDT	5–0	18,000

All times are CENTRAL time

Regular season

Despite being named NFL MVP, Paul Hornung was briefly lost to the military. In response to the construction of the Berlin Wall, the United States Department of Defense activated thousands of reservists. Two dozen football players were activated, including Paul Hornung, Boyd Dowler and Ray Nitschke.^[3] On November 14, Hornung was to report to Fort Riley in Kansas.^[4] Wisconsin residents were so upset that Republican senator Alexander Wiley and Democratic congressman Clement Zablocki requested deferments for the players.^[5] On October 18, the final word was that the players had to serve. Hornung missed the November 19 game against the Los Angeles Rams. He was flown from Fort Riley to Detroit for the November 23 Thanksgiving Day game against the Detroit Lions.^[6] Hornung would score a field goal and two extra points in the 17–9 victory.^[7]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Game site	TV	Time	Record	Attendance
1	September 17, 1961	Detroit Lions	L	13–17	Milwaukee County Stadium	CBS	12:30 PM CDT	0–1	44,307
2	September 24, 1961	San Francisco 49ers	W	30–10	City Stadium	CBS	1:00 PM CDT	1–1	38,669
3	October 1, 1961	Chicago Bears	W	24–0	City Stadium	CBS	1:00 PM CDT	2–1	38,669
4	October 8, 1961	Baltimore Colts	W	45–7	City Stadium	CBS	1:00 PM CDT	3–1	38,669
5	October 15, 1961	at Cleveland Browns	W	49–17	Cleveland Stadium	CBS	1:00 PM CDT	4–1	75,042
6	October 22, 1961	at Minnesota Vikings	W	33–7	Metropolitan Stadium	CBS	1:30 PM CDT	5–1	42,007
7	October 29, 1961	Minnesota Vikings	W	28–10	Milwaukee County Stadium	CBS	1:00 PM CST	6–1	44,112
8	November 5, 1961	at Baltimore Colts	L	21–45	Memorial Stadium	CBS	1:00 PM CST	6–2	57,641
9	November 12, 1961	at Chicago Bears	W	31–28	Wrigley Field	CBS	1:00 PM CST	7–2	49,711
10	November 19, 1961	Los Angeles Rams	W	35–17	City Stadium	CBS	1:00 PM CST	8–2	38,669
11	November 23, 1961	at Detroit Lions	W	17–9	Tiger Stadium	CBS	11:00 AM CST	9–2	55,662
12	December 3, 1961	New York Giants	W	20–17	Milwaukee County Stadium	CBS	1:00 PM CST	10–2	47,012
13	December 10, 1961	at San Francisco 49ers	L	21–22	Kezar Stadium	CBS	3:30 PM CST	10–3	55,722
14	December 17, 1961	at Los Angeles Rams	W	24–17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	CBS	3:30 PM CST	11–3	49,169

All times are CENTRAL time

Season summary

Week 1: vs. Detroit

1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 7 7 0 3 17 Packers 7 3 0 3 13 Date: September 17 Location: Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Game attendance: 44,307 Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C), wind 9 mph

Scoring summary 1 GB Jim Taylor 1-yard run (Paul Hornung kick) Packers 7–0 1 DET Nick Pietrosante 1-yard run (Jim Martin kick) Tied 7–7 2 DET Nick Pietrosante 15-yard run (Jim Martin kick) Lions 14–7 2 GB Paul Hornung 15-yard field goal Lions 14–10 4 GB Paul Hornung 26-yard field goal Lions 14–13 4 DET Jim Martin 44-yard field goal Lions 17–13

^[8]

Week 11: at Detroit

1 2 3 4 Total • Packers 0 7 0 10 17 Lions 3 3 3 0 9 Date: November 23 Location: Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan Game attendance: 55,662 Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C), wind 8 mph

Scoring summary 1 DET Jim Martin 13-yard field goal Lions 3–0 2 DET Jim Martin 34-yard field goal Lions 6–0 2 GB Jim Taylor 1-yard run (Paul Hornung kick) Packers 7–6 3 DET Jim Martin 16-yard field goal Lions 9–7 4 GB Jim Taylor 1-yard run (Paul Hornung kick) Packers 14–9 4 GB Paul Hornung 9-yard field goal Packers 17–9

^[9]

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Game site	TV	Radio	Time	Attendance
NFL Championship	December 31, 1961	New York Giants	W	37–0	City Stadium	NBC	NBC	1:00 PM CST	39,029

All times are CENTRAL time

Game summary

1961 NFL Championship Game vs. New York

1 2 3 4 Total Giants 0 0 0 0 0 • Packers 0 24 10 3 37 Date: December 31 Location: City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin Game attendance: 39,029 Game weather: 17 °F (−8 °C), wind 10 mph

Scoring summary 2 GB Paul Hornung 6-yard run (Paul Hornung kick) Packers 7–0 2 GB Boyd Dowler 13-yard pass from Bart Starr (Paul Hornung kick) Packers 14–0 2 GB Ron Kramer 14-yard pass from Bart Starr (Paul Hornung kick) Packers 21–0 2 GB Paul Hornung 17-yard field goal Packers 24–0 3 GB Paul Hornung 22-yard field goal Packers 27–0 3 GB Ron Kramer 13-yard pass from Bart Starr (Paul Hornung kick) Packers 34–0 4 GB Paul Hornung 19-yard field goal Packers 37–0

^[10]

Standings

NFL Western Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	11	3	0	.786	9–3	391	223	W1
Detroit Lions	8	5	1	.615	7–4–1	270	258	L1
Chicago Bears	8	6	0	.571	7–5	326	302	W2
Baltimore Colts	8	6	0	.571	6–6	302	307	W1
San Francisco 49ers	7	6	1	.538	6–5–1	346	272	L1
Los Angeles Rams	4	10	0	.286	3–9	263	333	L1
Minnesota Vikings	3	11	0	.214	3–9	285	407	L2

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Stats

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Kicking

Punting

Kick Return

Punt Return

Interception

Team

Total Yards and Turnovers

Passing

Rushing

Awards and records

• Paul Hornung, NFL MVP
• Paul Hornung, Bert Bell Award^[11]

References

1. Gridiron Uniform Database: Green Bay Packers
2. "All Time Coaches Database". Packers.com. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
3. When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss,p. 284, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
4. When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss,p. 286, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
5. When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss,p. 285, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
6. When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss,p. 287, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
7. When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss,p. 288, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
8. Pro-Football-Reference.com Retrieved August 20, 2015.
9. Pro-Football-Reference.com Retrieved August 20, 2015.
10. Pro-Football-Reference.com Retrieved April 21, 2013.
11. http://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/content/awards/bell/past_bell.htm

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