he Green Bay Packers of the 1960s are near mythical figures. Even before they won the first two Super Bowls, Vince Lombardi's teams had won three NFL championships. The Packers lost only twice in the postseason under Lombardi in his nine years at the helm.
They are revered to this day nearly anywhere they go. In Wisconsin they are deities walking the earth.
But there apparently is one dark day which they choose not to remember: July 23, 1963. That's the day the legendary Packers, the 1962 NFL champions with a record of 13-1, a team that featured no less than 10 future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, lost to a bunch of college kids who had practiced together for only three weeks.
Vince Lombardi was definitely not smiling when his Packers lost to the College All-Stars. The game was the
old College Football All-Star game. It pitted a team of NFL draft picks against the defending NFL champion.
And on that fateful day in 1963 at Soldier Field in Chicago, the all-stars won 20-17.
"I'm recently retired, I've done a lot of interviews through the years, and I've decided to cut back on them," former Packers QB Bart Starr said. "I respectfully decline this interview (on the subject of the 1963 all-star game)."
Fellow Hall of Famers Jim Taylor and Willie Wood said they had no recollection of the game. Perhaps they don't. But in light of how miserable Lombardi made their lives because of it, it's somewhat curious.
"Maybe they've repressed it," said Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss, author of the book When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi. "(Lombardi) rode them mercilessly. It was brutal. He kept replaying the film over and over again and chewing out the veterans. Practice was hell all of that week."
Dave Robinson saw the results of the 1963 all-star game from both sides. The Penn State defender was a part of the college team that beat the Packers, but he also already was signed to play for Green Bay as its first-round pick.
Robinson went on to play 10 seasons for the Packers. He was a three-time Pro Bowl linebacker.
"Vince often said that was his most humiliating loss," Robinson said. "He would say, 'All of the great things we did around here, all of the championships, and all they want to write about is the time we lost to the all-stars.' It really bothered Vince."
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Originally Posted by Vic Mackey
