Paul Hornung

Hornung was the top pick in the 1957 college draft, selected by the Green Bay Packers, the last place team in the NFL in 1956. His first two seasons were disappointing. Packer coach Lisle Blackbourn mistook Hornung's versatility for ineptness. After playing him at various positions, Blackbourn concluded that Hornung was too slow for halfback, couldn't pass well enough for quarterback, wasn't powerful enough for fullback. By the end of the 1958 season, Hornung was completely frustrated and wanted to be traded. His life changed when Vince Lombardi was brought in to replace Black-bourn as coach.

Lombardi, to the contrary, saw in Hornung a halfback who ran hard, could throw on the run and hence would open up a world of plays for the Packers. Lombardi also began using him to kick field goals and extra points. Hornung blossomed under Lombardi's mentorship. Abruptly he went from the player who couldn't do anything particularly well, to the NFL's leading scorer three years running, from 1959 to 1961. In 1960 Hornung led the Packers to their first-ever conference title. He threw two touchdown passes, ran for thirteen touchdowns, caught two touchdown passes, and kicked fifteen field goals and forty-one extra points for 176 points, a NFL record that no one since has come close to breaking. The following year he was almost as remarkable, scoring 146 points. He scored thirty-three of them in a single game against the Baltimore Colts.

Hornung might have challenged his 1960 record himself in 1961 except for the Cold War crisis in Berlin. A member of the Army Reserve, Hornung was called to active duty. Although he was able to play most games on weekend passes, he had to forego most workouts with the team and missed two entire games working as a truck driver and radio operator based in Fort Riley, Kansas. President John Kennedy himself arranged for a week's pass for Hornung so he could play against the New York Giants in the NFL title game. Just showing up for the game inspired the Packers. "When Paul got that leave from the Army and walked into that locker room, you could just feel the confidence grow in that room," recalled Packer Henry Jordan in Michael O'Brien's Lombardi biography Vince. Hornung's contribution to that game went much deeper than inspiration, though. He scored a touchdown in the second quarter that broke a scoreless tie, then kicked three field goals and four extra points, setting a record for championship play. The Packers whipped the Giants 37-0 and Hornung was the game MVP. After the game he told the New York Times, "This is the greatest day in my life." The paper asked him if the Heisman Trophy didn't hold that honor. "That was five years ago—this was today!" he answered.