The Green Bay Packers are older than the National Football League NFL E L Curly Lambeau founded the team in 1919 That was one year before the NFL’s first season Green Bay joined the league in 1921 Lambeau was the Packers first coach He also played tailback for the team from 1921 to 1929 In his last year as a player-coach Lambeau led the Packers to their first championship As a coach he led them to titles in 1930 1931 1936 1939 and 1944 as well The Packers struggled after Lambeau left in 1949 But a new dynasty began when Vince Lombardi took over as coach in 1959 The team featured hall of fame players such as quarterback Bart Starr He guided them to NFL titles in 1961 1962 and 1965 They also won the first two Super Bowls The games were held after the 1966 and 1967 seasons Green Bay became known as Titletown USA After Lombardi’s death in 1970 the NFL renamed the Super Bowl trophy the Vince Lombardi Trophy GREEN BAY PACKERS CAPTURE MOST NFL TITLES Curly Lambeau in 1919 1 4
No team could match the Packers success A 1991 trade for quarterback Brett Favre began a new era of success Favre helped Green Bay win the Super Bowl after the 1996 season It was the Packers first NFL title in 29 years Then quarterback Aaron Rodgers led another title run in the 2010 season Rodgers guided Green Bay past the Pittsburgh Steelers 31 25 in Super Bowl XLV The win gave the Packers a record 13 championships The Lombardi Trophy was back in Green Bay That is where it belongs Packers linebacker A J Hawk said THINK ABOUT IT Nine of the Packers championships came in the era before the Super Bowl Meanwhile all six of the Pittsburgh Steelers titles came in the Super Bowl era Should the Packers still be considered the NFL’s most successful team Why or why not 9 NFL championships won by the Chicago Bears second only to the Green Bay Packers All but one of the Bears championships came before the Super Bowl era The Pittsburgh Steelers lead all teams with six Super Bowl wins Aaron Rodgers celebrates after leading the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XLV 5
GEORGE BLANDA PLAYS RECORD 26 SEASONS George Blanda of the Houston Oilers looks to pass in 1965 2 6
The Chicago Bears signed 21-year-old George Blanda in 1949 No one could have predicted how long he’d play Blanda began as a quarterback and placekicker for the Bears He became the team’s top quarterback in 1953 But a shoulder injury the next year set him back He would serve mainly as a kicker the next four seasons Blanda retired after the 1958 season But he returned to pro football in 1960 Only he didn’t come back to the NFL Instead he signed with the Houston Oilers of the new American Football League AFL The AFL was a rival league to the NFL Blanda became the Oilers quarterback and placekicker He helped Houston win the AFL’s first two titles in 1960 and 1961 In March 1967 the Oilers released Blanda But the AFL’s Oakland Raiders signed him He was a successful kicker and backup quarterback for another nine seasons Blanda finally retired before the 1976 season He was nearly 49 years old And he had played an amazing 26 seasons No other player has matched that Over those 26 seasons Blanda threw 236 touchdown passes and scored 2,002 points The points total was a record at the time Blanda’s points came from nine rushing touchdowns 335 field goals and 943 extra points 36 George Blanda’s touchdown passes in 1961 This stood as a pro football record until 1984 The AFL and NFL merged in 1970 Blanda won the AFL Most Valuable Player MVP Award in 1961 HOT STRETCH AT AGE 43 In 1970 the 43-year-old George Blanda had an amazing stretch In a five-game stretch he provided the Raiders with four wins and one tie Each one came on a last-second touchdown pass or field goal 7
