#30

 

FORREST GREGG

Anyone who wins the Vince Lombardi derby is going to be in the top 65. Lombardi, one of the greatest coaches ever in any sport, had one favorite player—and it wasn’t Paul Hornung. Lombardi loved the running back and thought he was a great guy in the locker room, but he had more respect for Forrest Gregg than any of his other players.

Considering that Lombardi had Bart Starr, Willie Davis, Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke, and Willie Wood, that’s quite a compliment. “Forrest Gregg was simply the finest player I ever coached,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi, who had been an offensive lineman at Fordham during his college career and was one of the school’s legendary “Seven Blocks of Granite,” had a soft spot in his heart for undersized offensive linemen. That’s what he was and that’s what Gregg was when he anchored the Green Bay Packers offensive line. At 6-foot-4 and 249 pounds, Gregg was not considered big for his position, yet he kept pass rushers at bay because he had the quickest feet of any offensive lineman of his time. He also possessed a sense of tenacity that coaches want from their tackles but seldom see to the level that Gregg could provide.

Gregg was in Green Bay throughout Lombardi’s tenure and saw the team get better after a horrible season in 1958. The Packers went 1–10–1 under Ray “Scooter” McLean, but the team had the underpinnings of a decent offense with Bart Starr, Hornung, fullback Jim Taylor, tight end Max McGee, receiver Boyd Dowler, and another good blocker in Jerry Kramer. But Lombardi was taken by the blocking talents of Gregg, who had been used at guard by McLean.

Lombardi saw a nearly unbeatable tackle in Gregg and demanded only the best from him. Lombardi, whose legendary emotion invoked fear from nearly every player, saw that Gregg was just a bit more secure and a little more mature than most players. Gregg was unafraid of Lombardi’s outbursts and the coach soon adopted Gregg as an ally in the locker room.

That first season in Green Bay (1959) turned out to be vital for Lombardi as the Packers went 7–5 and finished tied for third in the Western Conference. Hornung and Taylor continued to make progress and Gregg turned out to be the dominant blocker at tackle that Lombardi had envisioned before taking the head job in Green Bay. Hornung, Taylor, and Starr knew that Gregg could handle his matchup no matter who he was playing against and that confidence turned out to be one of the key ingredients for the Packers’ growth to five-time NFL champion.

Gregg was anything but a superstar in his demeanor and considered himself a working man just doing his job. He knew, however, that he had come of age when he was able to hold his own against Baltimore Colts defensive end Gino Marchetti and Los Angeles Rams defensive end Deacon Jones in the early 1960s. Marchetti was a powerful pass rusher with plenty of athleticism, while Jones was a rookie with shocking quickness. Jones would later add the strength and moves that he would become famous for, but he was by far the quickest player in the league at his position at that time.

“Gino Marchetti was the best pass rusher I ever had to block and Deacon Jones was the quickest,” Gregg said. “If you could hold your own against Marchetti you knew you were doing your job well. He had everything you wanted in a defensive end and he was kind of mean. Jones was just so fast that you couldn’t believe how quick he could get out of his stance and up to full speed. He was the kind of guy who could test you on every snap. You felt good when you finished the game against the Rams with a win and you could get off the field and not have to stop him one more time.”

In the 1960 season, the Packers beat the Rams in the season finale to win the Western Conference and go into the NFL Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles with the momentum of having won their last three games. But the Packers lost that championship game, the first and only postseason game that Lombardi ever lost.

Gregg, who went on to coach the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Packers, was taking notes. He saw how his coach prepared and how he got his players ready. He noticed how fine-tuned the Packers were in future championship games against the New York Giants, Browns, and Dallas Cowboys, and in Super Bowl wins over the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. “I don’t think that it was any coincidence that we were at our best in most of those games,” Gregg said. “Coach Lombardi always got us ready.”

The Packers ground game operated at peak efficiency in those games and almost always rode the inside shoulder of Gregg at right tackle to get their famed power sweep going. “The guards did a lot of work on those sweeps, but so did Forrest,” said Starr. “It was simple but it was beautiful to be a part of it. To see the blocking develop and to watch them execute was so gratifying. Give Paul [Hornung] and Jim [Taylor] credit as well because they were running the ball. But the coordination of the blockers made it go.”

Gregg never asked for glory but he earned it on an every-game basis. He was a technician who operated at peak efficiency and had five championship rings to show for it. If there was ever any chance of remaining in the background, it was put away forever when Lombardi made his declaration.