Lanier took over when Jones died in 2013. Lueck, 74, lives in suburban Phoenix. ", On whether Nitschke ever messed with Gillingham on the practice field: "Never. The Hall of Famers want to say whatever is on their minds. Nitschke guided a Packers defense that won five NFL championships, including the first two Super Bowls. Their success rate is like 78 percent.. Every year, in a private space only Hall of Famers may enter, Nitschke presided on the first afternoon of induction weekend until his death in March 1998. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In a poll that marked the leagues 75th year, he was voted to the all-time all-star team. Am I in trouble? In 1999, he was ranked number 18 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, making him the highest-ranked player coached by Vince Lombardi, second among Packers behind Don Hutson, and third among linebackers behind Lawrence Taylor and Dick Butkus. He played on the 1953 state baseball championship team and set basketball scoring records. But he was a Hall of Famer from the tip of his toes to the top of his head. Your email address will not be published. I'm drying off and he's four, five lockers away and he's drying off. Nitschke was known for his strength and toughness. He had some of the best football instincts. I was always scared to death of him. Here was a guy, who made a living for 15 years in the pros being a mean, tough linebacker, in awe of these young adults flying off from the bluffs. You know the first time I met Vince Lombardi, my wife met him at the College All-Star Game. What is said in the room stays in the room. Ray Nitschke attended the University of Illinois. I used to be a bouncer in a bar and so I knew you can't let a guy up. His bad grades and temper couldnt derail such a phenomenal athlete. Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke comes in at number 47 on NFL Films' "The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players" list produced in 2010.Subscribe t. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Ray Nitschke. I know your brother is with the Calgary Stampeders.' Lombardi gave partial credit to Nitschke's success to Nitschke's wife, whose calming influence helped him focus on his career. In 1969, he was named the NFL's all-time top Linebacker by the NFL in honor of the NFL's 50th Anniversary. The late Jackie Nitschke was married to Lombardi-era Packer Ray Nitschke. In a poll taken recently to pick the Packers greatest player ever, he placed fourth behind Don Hutson, Brett Favre and Bart Starr. Rivett says up to 14 people can live at the Jackie Nitschke Center for a month while they get sober. Nitschke appeared on the television show, Whats My Line following the 1962 NFL championship game, wearing his standard black rimmed glasses and not looking at all like one of the most feared players in pro football. He could throw the ball. His character is listed in the credits as "Private One" because his jersey is emblazoned with the number "1". I was on one-year contracts and I was making like $25,500 and had started every game in Green Bay except my rookie year. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay and I never want to finish second again. Even when he was relegated to backup duty in the twilight of his 15-year career, they cheered his every move. " Champion: The Legacy of Jackie Nitschke, " premiered in Green Bay this week. Emotionally impactful is just what Nitschke would appreciate in order to hammer home as forcefully as stuffing Joe Don Looney in the backfield what it means to be a Hall of Famer. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. In the 2005 version of the movie, there is no Bogdanski- probably because they couldnt find as mean a person as Ray Nitschke to play the part. He took time for anybody.. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. But usually by the time we got done with the preseason, I'd be down to 250, 255. Lionel Aldridge, a defensive end, died Feb. 12 at age 57. They called me a mezzanine rookie the second year until you played in a certain number of games. Their rookie season in 1958 under first-year head coach Ray "Scooter" McLean was dismal, with just one win and one tie for the worst record in the 12-team league. We would stay at the Elberta beach until darkness. Encyclopdia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them. You cant have a conversation about the greatest NFL linebackers of all time without Ray Nitschke. Then Chicago Bears middle linebacker Dick Butkus went to eight straight. The Eagles paid me my last year. Ray and Jackie had a winter home in Naples, Florida. 448-449. Coming up the middle or filling a hole on a running play, I thought Nitschke was better than Butkus. At 62 years old, Ray Nitschke height 66 in the open field. (pre-1974). $750,000. Then what year did the World Football League come in? The Ray Nitschke Memorial Bridge, a twin-leaf bascule bridge over the Fox River on Main Street (US 141) in Green Bay,[32] was named in honor of Nitschke. We always wondered why Zeke wasn't with another team starting. Gale said, 'Bill, it's coming up on your turn. Congressman Steve Largent, who ended the pregame ceremonies by flipping the coin. He once scored four times in a game against Iowa State, all on long runs. "Ray was a ballplayer's ballplayer," former teammate Willie Wood said. I thought (Nitschke) was more versatile, the way he could cover and everything. He played for 15 seasons before retiring in 1972. He had football smarts. Never a good student in high school, his grades suffered at college. 1 player to be crowned on Wednesday, Sept. 8. He would lament this embarrassment for the rest of his life.[7]. The Jackie Nitschke Center is named in honor of Jackie Nitschke, wife of former Packers great Ray Nitschke. Ray Nitschke was born in Elmwood Park, Illinois. Remembering the mean, tough Packer Ray Nitschke, who loved Frankfort. 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I walk up to the car and he says, 'Bill, I want to apologize. In 1974, Lueck's final season with the Packers, he was bothered by an assortment of injuries and started eight of 14 games. One guy, Grant Smith of Detroit, asked Nitschke if he wanted to learn how to hang glide and the Packer, then 36 years old at the time, said it looked too dangerous for him. I chuckle to myself, `Well, yeah, OK.' But when it came down to the business of football, he was as tough as they come.". He wasnt the biggest or the strongest or the smartest, Robinson said. Nitschke was married on June 26, 1961 to Jackie Forchette. 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AKA Raymond Ernest Nitschke. We'd run through the plays and Ray would always tee-off on Hyland. [31] Every year, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has a luncheon the day before its induction ceremony, attended by most of the living members and honoring the new inductees. The Packers had so much talent that there were not always enough honors to go around. "But it turned out all right," Remmel said. ", On Ray Wietecha, his first line coach: "I thought he was a very good coach. Ray Nitschke. They've been kind of the best-kept secret in Green Bay for a long time, said Rivett. Packers Experiences powered by QuintEvents. I hit him about three times. "Ray Nitschke had a style of play, a personality, a consciousness about being fully imbued into that which brought life to something called professional football," said Hall of Fame linebacker . He was a beloved member of the Packers organization throughout his career and into retirement. He'd get in the huddle and he doesn't know where he is. I got the $15,000 signing bonus and they paid us every two weeks and I got seven paychecks. Lueck, who played at the University of Arizona, was chosen No. I thought maybe I'll get $75,000, $100,000. Ray Nitschke, according to Hall of Fame quarterback and teammate Bart Starr, was a "classic example of Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde." Off the field he was a thoughtful caring person. He knows which Hall of Famers speak with fire, which are circumspect. He was 61. Nitschke remained a starter through the 1970 season, but in 1971 he was benched by new coach Dan Devine and became a reserve to Jim Carter. Hall of fame middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers who was named MVP of the 1962 NFL Championship Game and was a 1964 Pro Bowl selection. That was a statement about how much he loved the game.. The personification of gruff and tough, the bald-headed Nitschke's voice and manner remained intimidating 25 years after he left the field. Nitschke always spoke at this luncheon, telling the new inductees what a great honor they were receiving, and that they were now members of the greatest team of them all. Lombardi molded the Bart Starrs, Jerry Kramers, Paul Hornungs, Jim Taylors and Nitschkes into the best football teams of the 1960s. Sign up now! But along the way, Nitschke became an all-around athlete, and turned down a $3,000 bonus from baseballs St. Louis Browns to accept a football scholarship to Illinois. Wood remembered Nitschke working at his image on and off the field. [6], Nitschke entered Proviso Township High School in Maywood shortly before his mother's death. In her lifetime, Jackie was a recovering alcoholic and an outspoken advocate in the recovery community, sharing her stories of treatment and rebuilding her life. The linebacker went on to play all 15 of his professional seasons in Green Bay. Nitschke died of a heart attack in Venice, Florida at the age of 61 in 1998. Other surviving children include his sons John and Richard. * In high school, he played quarterback and at the University of Illinois actually played fullback, along with the linebacker position. had a luncheon the day before its induction ceremony, attended by most of the living members and honoring the new inductees. This must be the 1st quarter because Ray Nitschke barely has any blood on him yet. He was your regular neighborhood nice guy living in Green Bay, the ultimate small town city of professional sports, and even after his retirement, his phone number and home address were always published in the citys telephone book and he would answer his phone personally. (Carr) could play every position. We're going to pay you a $15,000 signing bonus and a $15,000 salary your rookie year. Raised by two older brothers, Nitschke praised Proviso coach Andy Puplis and other high school coaches for keeping him on the right track. Heres some tidbits about him that a lot of people dont know: * As a young teenager, he was orphaned. I was the executive secretary of the National Soaring and Hang Gliding Festival and Paul Alfred Corey and his sister Carol, the owners of the PAC Inn, and Gustafson Oil Company had arranged through Detroit Lions general manager Nick Kerbawy to have the perennial All-Pro linebacker, who had recently retired, in the Port City to be part of a five-judge panel to select the first National Soaring Queen. Nitschke, his wife and family would come back to Frankfort every summer for a number of years and a few weeks before he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 1978 he sent me a personal invitation to join him for the ceremonies. The contact he made with Larry Csonka impressed me, but what I remember was Ray Nitschke getting up and laughing like he just won the $1 million lottery. As a microphone is passed around the room, elders explain the magnitude of the honor. "I thought I was the best middle linebacker even when I was a rookie, trying to beat my good friend Tom Bettis out of a starting job. I kept telling melf. Nitschke became a full-time starter in 1962, the anchor of a disciplined defense that helped win five NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls in the 1960s. "He was one of the most popular Packers ever," said Packers public relations director Lee Remmel. Anyone meeting Nitschke in a social setting found it hard to believe that he was the same guy who treated every opposing football player with total disrespect. Dad suddenly started having chest pains, Klaas said. Nitschke also made the NFLs 75th and 100th anniversary rosters. he recalled the time when his father Robert Sr. passed away due to a fatal car accident, When the two men played in the pro football ranks years later, Dallas Cowboys center Dave Manders said (via Nitschkes 2002 biography), Hall of Fame halfback Paul Hornung said (via Gruver), The Packers head coach even thought Ray might kill somebody,, No less than future Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr dubbed Nitschke a classic example of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, The Life And Career Of Don Majkowski (Story), The Life And Career Of Forrest Gregg (Story), The Life And Career Of Paul Hornung (Story), The Life And Career Of Bobby Dillon (Story), The Life And Career Of Don Hutson (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Matt Flynn (Story), The Life And Career Of Gilbert Brown (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of James Lofton (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Antonio Freeman (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Sterling Sharpe (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Vince Lombardi (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Donald Driver (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Max McGee (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Brett Favre (Complete Story), The Life and Career Of Johnny "Blood" McNally (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Safety Chuck Cecil (Complete Story), What Happened To Tony Mandarich? Nitschke and his family, who were staying at the PAC Inn and the Crystal Beach Resort that week, fell in love with the town and in particular, the sport of hang gliding. Do I need to get an agent?' 66 dash onto the field. What position did Ray Nitschke play? When he came into the game, he was in charge. How many Super Bowls did Ray Nitschke win? Ray Nitschke most personified what the Hall of Fame really meant, Robinson said. Ray Wietecha was still the line coach and he had seen (Nitschke) do that to Hyland so he didn't pull me off. Ray Nitschke was born in Elmwood Park, Illinois. When Nitschke became a born-again Christian in 1995, his wife Jackie told Ray he wore that number because there are 66 books in the Holy Bible, per Gruver. Those are the ones that would piss Ray off. Welcome tothe NFL 100,The Athleticsendeavor to identify the 100 best players in football history. His wife died shortly thereafter. 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