Thank You, Ray, for all your efforts and years of leadership and inspiration.
Ray Nitschke, a key
member of coach Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packer teams that won the first two Super
Bowls, died at 61 in 1997, of a heart condition.
He was not only a standout football player, but also, an athlete
of good character and warmth. Though he earned a reputation as an extremely rough player,
Nitschke had a more tender, emotional side that never showed on the playing field.
Off the field, he was a gentle giant. In his dark horn-rimmed
glasses and traditional business suit, he was thoughtful, intelligent, and
soft-hearted, traits that his opponents rarely, if ever, saw.
Lombardi once talked about it: "I could not chew Ray out on
the practice field, before the other players," the coach revealed. "I had to do
it in privacy, back in the office. I couldn't bawl him out publicly as I did Paul Hornung
or Jerry Kramer or most of the other guys. If I did that, I was afraid I'd lose him."
Both of Nitschke's parents died when he was a kid. He played at
the University of Illinois and married a girl from Green Bay. He remained there the rest
of his life, doing much charity work for the community.
His name was in the Green Bay phone book. Fans often called him
to talk football. Once in a while, a fan would invite him out for a beer and he would
accept. In 1978, Ray Nitschke became the first Green Bay
defender from the 1960s to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Nitschke never missed an
opportunity to return to Canton, Ohio, for induction ceremonies and reunions with old
friends.
Football citizens can justifiably claim, "They don't make
'em like Nitschke nowadays."...
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