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Over the years I have always remembered interviews from the old Packers of the 1950's and 1960's and in particular Willie Davis. Want to hear about humble beginnings? He was born the son of sharecroppers and spent his youth in Louisiana, Jim Crow for sure. As he excelled in high school football, he got a scholarship to go to Grambling Univ. He always remembered his dad saying to him, "the road to success runs uphill."
He was a 15th round draft choice of the Cleveland Browns in 1958 and actually played both sides of the line as a rookie. And in one of the earliest team meetings he remembered head coach Paul Brown saying, "you think this is a tough training camp and you don't like it here?" You can be sent to Siberia", referring to Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was easy to make that statement as Green Bay struggled on the field for the last several years, was in trouble financially while drawing poor attendance. The 1958 Packers under head coach Scooter McLean finished 1-11. Vince Lombardi replaced him the next year.
He kept that saying in mind when he was traded to Green Bay in 1960. By that time Vince Lombardi was turning the franchise around in a big way and that year they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles to win the NFL Championship. The year previous Lombardi traded for defensive back Emlen Tunnel, an African American from the New York Giants. Emlen's skills were slowly eroding but Lombardi wanted Tunnel for his experience and to mentor the rookies as Lombardi got active drafting African Americans in a big way, Davis being the first (I think.) Davis went on to a 12 year career, was a 5 time NFL all-pro, was named to the NFL Team All Decade Team of the 1960's, and was voted to the NFL Hall Of Fame.
Davis worked hard to get his degree in business administration from the University of Chicago and used it in a big way, eventually getting into a variety of vocations, probably the most noted was him being named president of All Pro broadcasting who sported a half dozen radio stations. Davis always credited Lombardi for pushing him to success as Lombardi wanted his players to be the best ON the field and also OFF the field. Davis certainly was that--and more, much more.
RIP, sir.
Last edited by DOUBLE H; 04-16-2020 at 08:21 AM..
Reason: addition
Thanks for the post, H. Saw a sobering fact at Packers.com today (yes, I realize these guys are up there in years):
From Packers daily Q & A column:
Slowly, Coach Lombardi is calling his greats back home. RIP Willie Davis.
Eighteen months ago, nine of Lombardi's 12 players enshrined in Canton were still with us. Now it's down to just four. The era will always be with us, though.
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