He wasnt the biggest or the strongest or the smartest, Robinson said. Hit him on the head. He played for 15 seasons before retiring in 1972. [6], Nitschke entered Proviso Township High School in Maywood shortly before his mother's death. "But I have the utmost respect for Ray Nitschke of all the players I ever played against," Ditka later said. Dad suddenly started having chest pains, Klaas said. He didn't always follow the defense. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. When he got up to speak, you knew he was speaking from the heart. Ray wanted everybody to know were all equal. Although Nitschke was known for his hard hitting, he was an athletic all-around linebacker who also intercepted 25 passes over his career. That was when I got Gale. Welcome tothe NFL 100,The Athleticsendeavor to identify the 100 best players in football history. That was a statement about how much he loved the game.. I became interested in Nitschke when after living in Wisconsin for 8 years I learned that he had become a Christian before he died. The helmet (with the hole) is currently on display in the Packer Hall of Fame in Green Bay. Grabo (Jim Grabowski) got $450,000. Ray Nitschke was 6 ft 3 inches, 235 lb (1.90 m, 106 kg). The men who speak try to recapture Nitschkes message. ", On playing with Bart Starr for at least parts of four seasons: "Nobody is tougher than Bart Starr. During his freshman year at Proviso, he played fullback on one of the school's three football teams. His father was killed in a car accident in 1940, and his mother died of a blood clot when Ray was 13. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. I have found his comments to be poignant for anybody.. Nitschke was known for his viciousness on the field, a ferocity that welled within him from childhood. [1] Enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978, he was the anchor of the defense for head coach Vince Lombardi in the 1960s, leading the Packers to five NFL championships and victories in the first two Super Bowls. He was a frequent golfer in retirement, and he loved to spend time with his children and grandchildren. He was a frequent golfer in retirement, and he loved to spend time with his children and grandchildren. 66 was retired in 1983, the fourth of six numbers retired by the Packers. Gillie took me under his wing and said Ray is going to mess with you. Death Nitschke died of a heart attack in Venice, FL, at the age of 61 in 1998. Proceeds from the documentary will help fund the center and provide two free scholarships each month. Not only is Ray Nitschke one of the best LBs in NFL history, he had an act at making something out of nothing. When he walked off the field and put on his horn-rimmed glasses, Robinson said, youd think he was a CPA unless he took his teeth out.. The Packers won 167 and finished the season with a 141 record. The excerpt above was from a 2019 interview. The second year, no more offensive and defensive guys rooming together. I was always trying to gain weight. None. (Focus on Sport / Getty Images). And whenever Nitschke met any of his admirers, he rewarded them handsomely for their loyalty. He had been the Buffalo News' enterprise reporter and previously covered the AFC East at ESPN and the Miami Dolphins at the Palm Beach Post. When was Ray Nitschke inducted to the Hall of Fame? In 1974, when he came back to Frankfort, he had become a movie star playing in The Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds. Fred was a great player. With his bald head, horn-rimmed glasses and impeccable attire, he could have passed for a business executive or a college professor. The loss of both parents enraged Nitschke, and the lack of a parental disciplinarian to quell his rage caused him to engage in fights with other kids in the neighborhood. He touched everyone he met with his kindness and generosity. In such a violent sport, thats a pretty elusive title to hold. Coming up the middle or filling a hole on a running play, I thought Nitschke was better than Butkus. Klaas walked inside to grab a few drinks, but Nitschke suffered a heart attack while sitting in the parked car. It felt like I was in the Wizard of Oz or something, Reed said afterward. And certainly, a week ago Sunday, he was smiling down on Cowboy Stadium and the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl victory. In 1973, Mean on Sunday: The Autobiography of Ray Nitschke ("as told to Robert W. Wells") was published by Doubleday. Ray Nitschke. Ray Nitschke was born on December 29, 1936, in Elmwood Park, Illinois, United States. When you die, youre still in the Hall of Fame.. His wife is Jackie Forchette (26 June1961 - 1996)( her death)( 3 children). A native of Elmwood Park, Nitschke lived in Green Bay, where he played middle linebacker from 1958-72 and became one of sport's few legends instantly identified solely by their last names. Fred and I remained close until about three, four years ago. He appeared in the comic film Head, starring The Monkees, as a footballer who repeatedly tackles Peter Tork in a mock war movie sequence. Birthplace: Elmwood Park, IL Location of death: Venice, FL Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: Cre. (pre-1974). I just want to get along.' Hall of fame middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers who was named MVP of the 1962 NFL Championship Game and was a 1964 Pro Bowl selection. It was his passion for the game, and the way he could flip a switch once he walked over the painted sideline. [31] Every year, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has a luncheon the day before its induction ceremony, attended by most of the living members and honoring the new inductees. Neither championships nor individual trophies weighed more. Left: Nitschke's helmet from the coaching tower incident in September, Ray Nitschkeawards, championships, and honors, "Ray Nitschke, 61, linebacker during Packers' glory years", "Packers get last laugh in slapstick game", "Chicago Tribune - Historical Newspapers", "Larger-than-life pro wrestling icon would love to have had career with Green Bay Packers", "Hard nosed Ray Nitschke just a softie over induction", National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ray_Nitschke&oldid=1142190700, Players of American football from Illinois, Illinois Fighting Illini football players, National Football League players with retired numbers, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, NFL player missing current team parameter, Infobox NFL biography articles missing alt text, Infobox NFL biography articles with old NFL.com URL, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 00:49. But he was a Hall of Famer from the tip of his toes to the top of his head. The Packers won the first two Super Bowls in NFL history thanks in large part to Nitschke. I was on one-year contracts and I was making like $25,500 and had started every game in Green Bay except my rookie year. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Ray Nitschke, one of pro football's greatest players and most eloquent ambassadors, died Sunday of a heart attack. However, he was chosen by the Green Bay Packers late in the third round (36th overall) of what is considered the greatest draft in the franchise's history. So we ran the slip block where Bowman would block the defensive tackle and I'd slip and block the middle linebacker. While at Illinois, Nitschke smoked, drank heavily, and fought at the drop of a hat. Upon the election of former teammate Henry Jordan to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the eve of Super Bowl XXIX in Miami Gardens, Florida, Nitschke flew down to Florida to participate in the game's coin-toss ceremonies, joining three other 75th Anniversary Team representatives--Otto Graham (1950s), Mean Joe Greene (1970s) and Gale Sayers (1960s), all three of whom had been announced as representatives of their respective decades in the ceremony months prior to the PFHOF electionas well as three of Jordan's fellow Class of 1995 newcomers, all of whom represented the 1980s: Kellen Winslow, Lee Roy Selmon, and then-U.S. Nitschke's wife, Jackie, died of cancer in 1996. Ray Nitschke Enshrinement speech. As soon as he forearmed me, I got my hand under his helmet and pulled it up, and yanked his chinstrap off and I've got it in my hand. I thought so (in 1971) even when I sat on the bench after coach Dan Devine gave Jim Carter my job. He was also a great family man, a devoted father to his three children. My second year, Gale Gillingham said, 'Bill, you're going to be the next guy who gets tested.' Lombardi molded the Bart Starrs, Jerry Kramers, Paul Hornungs, Jim Taylors and Nitschkes into the best football teams of the 1960s. The film's executive producer, Jim Rivett, said that Nitschke was the first Packer Wife to publicly acknowledge her alcoholism. Every day until the season begins, well unveil new members of the list, with the No. They said, 'Bill, we'll send you the paperwork and it will be done.' In Super Bowl I, Nitschke contributed six tackles and a sack. * In the NFL championship game of 1962, he would recover two fumbles and deflect a pass that was intercepted gaining MVP honors and a new Chevrolet Corvette. On defense, Nitschke played linebacker. My parents kept telling me to come back and go in the dairy business because they were ready to retire and all three of my brothers were in it. Ive been trying to get to the Emerald City, and the Emerald City was right in that room. pic.twitter.com/wy2S8g98pb, Packers Legend Jerry Kramer Worried for His Country When the Cowboys Were Named Americas Team. Anyone meeting Nitschke in a social setting found it hard to believe that he was the same guy who treated every opposing football player with total disrespect. We leave the huddle and Gale says, 'Watch out.' New inductees are encouraged to return every year to help maintain the Hall of Fames legacy. The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of He intercepted 25 passes and ran two of them back for touchdowns, and also recovered 20 fumbles. While he wasnt bombing his classes or getting into fistfights, he played quarterback and safety at Proviso High in suburban Chicago. 1 draft choice and in 1968, (personnel director) Pat Peppler called me. Ray grew up in Chicago and had a. I said, 'I admit I'm a dumb farm kid who just got back from milking cows, how does this process work? Also, the team has named one of its two outdoor practice fields "Ray Nitschke Field". Ray and Jackie had a winter home in Naples, Florida. Never a good student in high school, his grades suffered at college. He was your regular neighborhood nice guy living in Green Bay, the ultimate small town city of professional sports, and even after his retirement, his phone number and home address were always published in the citys telephone book and he would answer his phone personally. Thus he is the only linebacker to have made both the NFL's 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams. [2], His No. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Lombardi gave partial credit to Nitschke's success to Ray's wife, whose calming influence helped him focus on his career. In a poll conducted in conjunction with the NFLs 50th anniversary, Nitschke was voted the all-time best linebacker. Nitschke is considered one of the toughest NFL players to ever live. In that room full of alpha males is where Nitschke stood up and explained what it means to join footballs greatest team. Nitschke, his wife and family would come back to Frankfort every summer for a number of years and a few weeks before he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 1978 he sent me a personal invitation to join him for the ceremonies. We had one-on-one time together, his face right up in my grill, Munoz said. Nitschke never wore a face mask and one of the Buckeye's player's helmets hit him in the mouth knocking out two teeth initially; the other two were hanging by the roots. In 1997, the Green Bay Packers named one of their practice fields after him. ", On other members of a defensive unit coming off a third straight NFL championship: "I'll tell you the guy who did the most damage to the head was Ray Nitschke. I would journey with him and longtime TV 7 & 4 news and weatherman Dave Fortin to the Elberta beach to watch the hang gliders fly off the bluffs. An all-time great Packer/NFL player. Nitschke was known for his strength and toughness. But he had a sense about him. Champion:The Legacy of Jackie Nitschke,premiered in Green Bay this week. In 1996, with wife Jackie dying of cancer, Nitschke was in tears as he related to inductees that his wife had implored him to go to the ceremony in Canton, where he belonged. Ray Nitschke was born in Elmwood Park, Illinois. Your email address will not be published. So, how much is Ray Nitschke worth at the age of 62 years old? His part was of the tough prison guard named Bogdanski. The film's executive producer, Jim Rivett, said that Nitschke was the first "Packer Wife" to publicly acknowledge her alcoholism. I came out of the locker room and my wife is standing there, and this older gentleman has his arm around her. He is from USA. Hes always grabbing people, hitting people, throwing elbows.. He's got a helmet on and I've got a stocking cap, but I learned at the University of Arizona, the first thing you do is get the helmet off if you're going to have a fight or you're going to just bust your hands. Nearly killed during a 1960 practice when a 25-foot photographers' tower fell on him in a windstorm, Nitschke continued practicing after changing helmets. So I said (to Peppler), 'Well, do I need to come back there?' I got the $15,000 signing bonus and they paid us every two weeks and I got seven paychecks. They called me a mezzanine rookie the second year until you played in a certain number of games. 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