I decided to finish it with some small edits as a post devoted entirely to the Golden Boy.
I'll continue to try to catch up over what seems to be an incoming huge snowstorm.
Paul Hornung's recent passing at the age of 84 was more than the loss of yet another legend of days past, it brought memories of what sports used to be, and how sometimes a player is more than just the numbers.
The 1956 Heisman winner from Notre Dame as the only Heisman winner to ever play for a team with a losing record (2-8) is a member of both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame and was the first overall pick by the Packers in the 1957 draft.
Hornung didn't hit his stride until Vince Lombardi was hired before the 1959 season and was considered a disappointment after two mediocre seasons with bad Green Bay teams.
Hornung's 176 points scored in 1960 with the Packers set a league record that survived until 2006 when LaDanian Tomlinson exceeded that number by ten points.
Hornung's total is still second in that category as of this writing.
When you look at Hornung's numbers through a modern lens, Hornung's numbers aren't Hall-worthy.
He never rushed for more than 681 yards (1959, Pre-Lombardi), caught more than 19 passes only once (28 in 1960), and scored eight or more touchdowns only twice ( thirteen in 1960, eight in 1961).
However, there are more than just numbers involved with players from the pre-merger era.
Hornung played only four seasons with double-digit games played under Vince Lombardi, only once did he play an entire 14 game season, missed the entire 1963 season (for gambling reasons) with his loss likely costing the Packers another title, considering the 1963 Bears were the weakest champions of the decade and he was the definition of the "Swiss Army Knife" player before the Swiss Army Knife became a term for versatility.
What Paul Hornung did for the Packers is to keep every team that played against him prepared for every aspect of the offensive game- run, throw, block. and kick.
Hornung was at his best in big games with the best example being his performance against the Browns in the 1965 NFL championship game, the last one before the Super Bowl started.
Hornung's all-around game was also on display in the 1961 NFL Championship game as Lombardi's Packers won the first of their five titles with Hornung scoring a record 19 points in the game.
That record wasn't broken until James Wilder's 20 points 56 years later.
Hornung rushed for over one hundred yards against the Browns in the 1965 game compared to a season total of 299 yards in twelve games.
After Hornung was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the 1967 expansion draft, but never played due to injury, Hornung retired and commentated on the NFL for CBS and the WFL in syndication for TVS.
Hornung also didn't mind tweaking his nose at the NFL either as Hornung did commercial work for years for a gambling tip service.
Hornung would deliver his lines and his pager would go off with Hornung turning to the camera saying "Dallas QB injured, excuse me, I've got to go make a call" with a big smile.
To this day on occasion, I'll contact Ryan (or even vice-versa) and say/type "Dallas QB injured" and the other will respond with the other part of the line.
On occasion, some players are more than the numbers and Paul Hornung was one of those players.
Hornung was glamorous for the time as Namath before Namath image as the "Golden Boy"
Those types of players are more than the statistics that they leave behind in notebooks, files, and websites.
They reside in our memories more than players with superior statistics and arguably at times even superior players- Paul Hornung was that memorable...
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