 Hornung in 1961 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Positions | Halfback Kicker | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1935-12-23)December 23, 1935 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | November 13, 2020(2020-11-13) (aged 84) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school | Flaget (Louisville, Kentucky) | ||||||||||||||||
| College | Notre Dame (1954–1956) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1957: 1st round,1st overall pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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Paul Vernon Hornung (December 23, 1935 – November 13, 2020), nicknamed "the Golden Boy", was an American professionalfootballhalfback andkicker who played for theGreen Bay Packers of theNational Football League (NFL) from 1957 to 1966 (except the 1963 NFL season, for which he was suspended after a scandal involving gambling and associating with gamblers).
He played on teams that won fourNFL titles and thefirst Super Bowl. He is the firstHeisman Trophy winner to win theNFL Most Valuable Player award and to be inducted into both thePro Football Hall of Fame andCollege Football Hall of Fame.[1] Packers coachVince Lombardi stated that Hornung was "the greatest player I ever coached".[2]
A versatile player, Hornung was a halfback,quarterback, and kicker. He was an excellent all-around college athlete at theUniversity of Notre Dame, where he playedbasketball in addition tofootball.
Hornung was born and raised inLouisville, Kentucky. He was the son of Paul Vernon Hornung Sr. and Loretta Williams. He was an outstanding athlete atFlaget High School in Louisville, andlettered all four years infootball,basketball, andbaseball. He was recruited byBear Bryant atKentucky in nearbyLexington, but chose to attendNotre Dame instead.
After spending his sophomore season of1954 as a backupfullback, Hornung blossomed as ahalfback andsafety during his junior year in1955. He finished fourth in the nation in total offense with 1,215 yards and six touchdowns. His two touchdowns on offense and two interceptions on defense spurred a victory over No. 4Navy, and his touchdown pass and field goal beatIowa. In a loss toSouthern California, Hornung ran and threw for 354 yards, the best in the nation in 1955.
In the 1956 season he led his team offensively in passing, rushing, scoring, kickoff and punt returns, and punting. He also played defense, led in passes broken up, and was second in interceptions and tackles made. In spite of Notre Dame's2–8 record, Hornung won theHeisman Trophy in 1956 as the season's outstandingcollege football player – the only time a player from a losing team has been so honored.[3] Nicknamed "The Golden Boy", the highly versatilequarterback could run, pass, block, and tackle. Many consider Hornung the greatest all-around football player in Notre Dame history.[4][5][6]
Hornung also playedbasketball during his sophomore year at Notre Dame.[7] He has said that he attended Notre Dame in part for the opportunity to play basketball, and that he was asked not to continue playing in order to help keep his grades up.[8]
At the 1957College All Star game in August in Chicago, Hornung had a famous match race withAbe Woodson. Woodson said, "We hadJim Brown, Jim Parker,John Brodie,Jon Arnett,Len Dawson, Paul Hornung, andTommy McDonald, withCurly Lambeau andOtto Graham as our coaches, and we still lost 22–7 to theNew York Giants. Oh, well." Just for fun, Woodson, one of the fastest players ever to put on pads, and Hornung agreed to a 100-yard (91 m) match race. Hornung won by five yards.[citation needed]
After graduating from Notre Dame with a degree in business, Hornung was the first selection overall in the1957 NFL draft. He was taken by theGreen Bay Packers, with whom he went on to win four league championships, including thefirstSuper Bowl in January 1967.
Hornung was the only Packer on the roster who did not play inSuper Bowl I. A pinched nerve sidelined him, and he chose not to enter the game in the fourth quarter.
As a professional, Hornung played thehalfback position as well asfield goal kicker for several seasons. Hornung led the league in scoring for three straight seasons from1959–61. During the1960 season, the last with just 12 games, he set an all-time record by scoring 176 points. Hornung also passed for two additional touchdowns, which did not add to his point-scoring total. The record stood until the2006 season, whenrunning backLaDainian Tomlinson of theSan Diego Chargers broke the record with 180 points by scoring his 30th touchdown on December 17, leaving him with four points more than Hornung's record with more than two games to play (but in his 14th game, compared to Hornung's 12 games).
In1961, Hornung tied the scoring record for a player in a postseason game (held byPat Harder in 1952) with a 19-point effort in theNFL championship game.[9][10][11][12] That record stood for nearly 33 years untilRicky Watters scored 30 points in the1994 NFC Divisional Round. In Green Bay's1965 championship win, he rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown on a very muddy field against theCleveland Browns.[13][14][15] In October of that same year, he set a record for most points in a calendar month with 77. This was also broken by Tomlinson, who posted 78 points in November 2006.
Hornung was voted the league'sMost Valuable Player in 1961 and was chosen as anAll-Pro twice and named to thePro Bowl twice. He is one of only nine players to have won both the Heisman Trophy and the NFL's Most Valuable Player Award.[16] He is also the first player to ever make a 50+ yardfair catch kick, which is a rule that allows a team that has just made a fair catch to attempt a free kick from the spot of the catch. This came in1964 on September 13, at the end of the first half of the opener against rival (anddefending champion)Chicago.[17][18][19]
In1965 the 29 year-old Hornung scored a team-record five touchdowns (three rushing and two pass receptions) in a 42–27 road win over theBaltimore Colts on December 12.[20][21] Hornung's five TD's were overshadowed by the record-tying six touchdowns scored byChicago'sGale Sayers later that same day againstSan Francisco atWrigley Field.[20][22] But the Packers' victory over the Colts proved important for the Packers, as they wound up tied with the Colts in the Western Conference standings at season's end (forcing an extra playoff game on December 26 which the Packers won in overtime to advance to the NFL Championship). In that NFL championship game against theCleveland Browns on January 2, Hornung ran for 105 yards and a touchdown in the Packers' 23–12 win for their third league title under Lombardi.[13][14][15]
A pinched nerve in Hornung's neck severely curtailed his playing time in1966,[23] and Hornung did not see action inSuper Bowl I, when the Packers defeated theKansas City Chiefs, 35–10. Hornung was selected in theexpansion draft by theNew Orleans Saints,[23] who later traded for Hornung's backfield mate at Green Bay,Jim Taylor. Hornung never suited up for the Saints, as the neck injury forced him to retire during training camp. Taylor & Hornung were affectionately known as "Thunder & Lightning" by Packer fans of the early 1960s.
Hornung holds the record for most games with 30+ points (2), the most games with 25+ points (3), and the most games with 13 points in a season (8 games in1960). He also holds the dubious distinction of having missed an NFL record 26 field goals in a season, doing so in 1964.[24]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| APNFL MVP | |
| WonNFL championship | |
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Y/G | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | |||
| 1957 | GB | 12 | 60 | 319 | 5.3 | 72 | 3 | 26.6 | 6 | 34 | 5.7 | 16 | 0 |
| 1958 | GB | 12 | 69 | 310 | 4.5 | 55 | 2 | 25.8 | 15 | 137 | 9.1 | 39 | 0 |
| 1959 | GB | 12 | 152 | 681 | 4.5 | 63 | 7 | 56.8 | 15 | 113 | 7.5 | 19 | 0 |
| 1960 | GB | 12 | 160 | 671 | 4.2 | 37 | 13 | 55.9 | 28 | 257 | 9.2 | 33 | 2 |
| 1961 | GB | 12 | 127 | 597 | 4.7 | 54 | 8 | 49.8 | 15 | 145 | 9.7 | 34 | 2 |
| 1962 | GB | 9 | 57 | 219 | 3.8 | 37 | 5 | 24.3 | 9 | 168 | 18.7 | 83 | 2 |
| 1963 | GB | Missed season due to suspension | |||||||||||
| 1964 | GB | 14 | 103 | 415 | 4.0 | 40 | 5 | 29.6 | 9 | 98 | 10.9 | 40 | 0 |
| 1965 | GB | 12 | 89 | 299 | 3.4 | 17 | 5 | 24.9 | 19 | 336 | 17.7 | 65 | 3 |
| 1966 | GB | 9 | 76 | 200 | 2.6 | 9 | 2 | 22.2 | 14 | 192 | 13.7 | 44 | 3 |
| Career | 104 | 893 | 3,711 | 4.2 | 72 | 50 | 35.7 | 130 | 1,480 | 11.4 | 83 | 12 | |
Hornung was elected to theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1975,[25] theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1985,[26][27] thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1986,[28] and theWisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990. Also, the "Paul Hornung Award" is given out annually to the state ofKentucky's tophigh school player. Starting in 2010,an award named in Hornung's honor is given out to the most versatile college football player in the nation.[29] Hornung's number 5 was also unofficially retired by Lombardi on July 10, 1967,[30][31] as there has not been a ceremony to have his number on the wall ofretired numbers atLambeau Field.[32] A large number of his awards and honors, including his Notre Dame diploma, can be found in the basement of a close friend and old Army buddy (Wallace Peters) living in Indiana.
Hornung was obliged to serve in theU.S. Army and he was called to active duty during the1961 season,[33] but he was able to get weekend passes to play on Sundays. Head coachVince Lombardi was a friend of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, and a pass was arranged so Hornung could play in theNFL championship game against theNew York Giants.[34]
Sport magazine named Hornung the most outstanding player in the 1961 championship game, which led to a tax dispute between Hornung and theInternal Revenue Service that cemented the tax status of awards to athletes. Hornung was awarded a 1962Chevrolet Corvette, but the car'sfair market value was not included on his tax returns for either 1961 or 1962. The dispute went to theUnited States Tax Court in the case ofHornung v. Commissioner. The court determined that because it would have been impossible for Hornung to take possession of the Corvette in 1961 – the game was played on December 31 in Green Bay and the car was in a closed dealership in New York – the car should have been included in income in 1962. More importantly for the athletic community, the court also determined that awards for achievement in the field of athletics do not fall under the exceptions provided under section 74(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. From this point on, it became impossible for athletes to exclude any awards they are given for athletics from their gross incomes.[35]
Hornung's penchant for high-living proved disastrous when, in1963, a major scandal erupted and Hornung and another of the league's top stars, defensive tackleAlex Karras of theDetroit Lions, were suspended from football indefinitely in April 1963 bycommissionerPete Rozelle for betting on NFL games and associating with undesirable persons.[36][37][38] Forthright in admitting to his mistake, Hornung's image went relatively untarnished, and in1964 his suspension, and Karras's, were re-evaluated by the league and both were reinstated in March.[39][40][41]
In a September 2006 interview withBob Costas, Hornung stated that it was his belief that it was Lombardi's constant lobbying of Rozelle that got him reinstated for the1964 NFL season. In exchange for Lombardi's efforts, Hornung agreed not to have anything to do with gambling, to stay out ofLas Vegas and to even forgo attending theKentucky Derby which he had done annually.[42]
Hornung was employed as acolor analyst onMinnesota Vikings radio broadcasts from 1970 to 1974, as well asTVSWFL telecasts in 1974,CBS NFL telecasts from 1975 to 1979, andABC RadioUSFL broadcasts from 1983 to 1985. He also worked as asideline reporter for CBS' coverage ofSuper Bowl XII. Hornung did college play-by-play for TigerVision,LSU's pay-per-view broadcasts in 1982 with ex-Green Bay Packers teammateJim Taylor.[43][44] Hornung also performed color commentary for games onCollege Football on TBS in the early 1980s.
Upon Rozelle's retirement in 1989, Hornung wrote him a letter crediting him with promoting the NFL's rise and for having been "the best commissioner of any [sports league]".[42]
During a radio interview on March 30, 2004, Hornung, speaking about the recent lack of football success at Notre Dame, said, "We can't stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we've got to get the black athletes. We must get theblack athletes if we're going to compete."[45] The response was immediate. TheUniversity replied, "We strongly disagree with the thesis of his remarks. They are generally insensitive and specifically insulting to our past and current African-American student-athletes."[45] Famed former Notre Dame head coachAra Parseghian also disagreed with Hornung, saying that Notre Dame did not lower admission standards for him. Hornung said that he was not differentiating between races. "We need better ball players, black and white, at Notre Dame."[45]
Hornung's lifetime dream was to have a horse compete in the Kentucky Derby. He had a horse on the2013 Road to the Kentucky Derby by the name of Titletown Five, trained by friend andhall of fame trainerD. Wayne Lukas. Although the horse did not earn enough points to gain entry to the race, the horse was entered in the2013 Preakness Stakes, finishing last.[46][47]
In 2019, Hornung appeared on the Nissan Heisman House commercial titled Delay of game.[48]
Hornung died on November 13, 2020, at the age of 84, in Louisville, Kentucky[49] fromdementia, which he felt was caused by multiple concussions.[50] He was survived by his wife of 41 years, Angela (Cervilli) Hornung.[51]
Hornung is one of at least 345NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE),[52] which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[53][54]
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