The 1967 Green Bay Packers season was their 49th season overall and their 47th season in the National Football League (NFL) and resulted in a 9–4–1 record and a victory in Super Bowl II. The team beat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Championship Game, a game commonly known as the "Ice Bowl," which marked the second time the Packers had won an NFL-record third consecutive NFL championship, having also done so in 1931 under team founder Curly Lambeau. In the playoff era (since 1933), it remains the only time a team has won three consecutive NFL titles.
The Packers were led by ninth-year head coach Vince Lombardi and veteran quarterback Bart Starr, in his twelfth season. Green Bay's victory in Super Bowl II over the Oakland Raiders was the fifth world championship for the Packers under Lombardi and the last game he coached for the Packers.
The 1967 Packers became the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive championship games, and the second team in NFL history to three-peat as champions, after the 1929–1931 Packers. Through , no team has won three championships in a row since.
On April 16, 2007, NFL Network aired America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions, the 1967 Green Bay Packers; it narrated by Tom Selleck with team commentary from Chuck Mercein, Dave Robinson, and Jerry Kramer.
Offseason
Expansion draft With the expansion New Orleans Saints entering the league in , the Packers had to leave 11 players unprotected for the expansion draft. One of the players that Lombardi left unprotected was a future hall of famer, halfback Paul Hornung. Lombardi was distraught when the Saints selected Hornung in the draft.When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p. 407, Simon & Schuster, 1999, In later years, Hornung revealed that he spoke to Saints coach Tom Fears prior to the draft. Fears was a former assistant in Green Bay and Fears felt that Hornung would help sell tickets in New Orleans. Several weeks later, the Saints also signed Jim Taylor, the Packers fullback. Taylor, a Louisiana native and future hall of famer, had felt underpaid and underappreciated under Lombardi.When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p. 408, Simon & Schuster, 1999, While Taylor did see action for the Saints, Hornung never did play a single down for New Orleans due to a neck injury he sustained the previous year and retired during the team's inaugural training camp.
NFL draft
In the first round of the 1967 NFL/AFL draft in March, the Packers selected guard Bob Hyland and quarterback Don Horn.This was the first common draft with the AFL, following the merger agreement of the previous June.
Undrafted free agents
+ 1967 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeSteve BurattoCenterIdahoStan KempWide receiverMichiganDick WernerDefensive tackleBemidji State
Roster 1967 Green Bay Packers roster Quarterbacks Zeke Bratkowski Don Horn Bart Starr
Running backs Donny Anderson P Jim Grabowski Chuck Mercein
Ben Wilson
Wide receivers Carroll Dale Boyd Dowler Bob Long Max McGee
Tight ends Allen Brown Marv Fleming Offensive linemen Ken Bowman C Gale Gillingham G Forrest Gregg T Bob Hyland C Jerry Kramer G Bob Skoronski T Fuzzy Thurston G Steve Wright T
Defensive linemen Lionel Aldridge DE Bob Brown DE Willie Davis DE Henry Jordan DT Ron Kostelnik DT Jim Weatherwax DE/DT Linebackers Lee Roy Caffey OLB Tommy Joe Crutcher OLB Jim Flanigan MLB Ray Nitschke MLB Dave Robinson OLB
Defensive backs Herb Adderley CB Tom Brown SS Doug Hart CB Bob Jeter CB John Rowser CB/S Willie Wood FS
Special teams Don Chandler K Taxi squad Jay Bachman C Dick Capp TE Mike Dennis RB Claudis James WR
Reserve list Dave Dunaway WR (Military) Elijah Pitts RB (IR)
Note: Player names in italics indicate rookie
Coaching staff Name Title Age College Vince Lombardi Head coach 54 Fordham Phil Bengtson Defensive Coach 54 Minnesota Jerry Burns Defensive Backfield Coach 40 Michigan Dave Hanner Defensive line coach 37 Arkansas Tom McCormick Offensive Backfield Coach 37 College of Pacific Bob Schnelker Offensive End Coach 39 Bowling Green Ray Wietecha Offensive line coach 39 Northwestern Instant Replay, The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer, Jerry Kramer and Dick Schapp, p. 7, Doubleday, New York, 1968 (reprint 2006),
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 August 4 College All-Stars W 27–0 1–0 Soldier Field Instant Replay, The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer, Jerry Kramer and Dick Schapp, p. 66, Doubleday, New York, 1968 (reprint 2006), 2 August 12 Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–20 2–0 Lambeau Field Instant Replay, The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer, Jerry Kramer and Dick Schapp, p. 78, Doubleday, New York, 1968 (reprint 2006), 3 August 18 Chicago Bears W 18–0 3–0 Milwaukee County Stadium Instant Replay, The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer, Jerry Kramer and Dick Schapp, p. 92, Doubleday, New York, 1968 (reprint 2006), 4 August 28 at Dallas Cowboys W 20–3 4–0 Cotton Bowl Instant Replay, The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer, Jerry Kramer and Dick Schapp, p. 104, Doubleday, New York, 1968 (reprint 2006), 5 September 2 at Cleveland Browns W 30–21 5–0 Cleveland Stadium Instant Replay, The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer, Jerry Kramer and Dick Schapp, p. 109, Doubleday, New York, 1968 (reprint 2006), 6 September 9 New York Giants W 31–14 6–0 Lambeau FieldInstant Replay, The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer, Jerry Kramer and Dick Schapp, p. 119, Doubleday, New York, 1968 (reprint 2006),
Regular season The Packers finished the regular season 9–4–1. The NFL season saw the addition of a sixteenth team (the New Orleans Saints) and the two conferences of eight teams each were subdivided into two divisions. The Packers played in the Western Conference and in the Central Division, with the Lions, Bears, and Vikings; each division foe was played twice, and each team in the Century Division and Coastal Division was played once (and no teams in the Capitol Division). Each of the four division winners advanced to the playoffs.
The Packers clinched the Central division title at Wrigley Field on November 26 at 8–2–1, with three games remaining, as the second-place Chicago Bears fell to 5–6. With the rotational system (in place until ), they had home field advantage for the playoffs in 1967, with the first round (conference) scheduled at Milwaukee against the Coastal division champion.
Green Bay closed the regular season at home for the first time since 1942. The Packers played their final regular season game in Los Angeles or San Francisco every season from 1950-1966.
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 17 Detroit Lions T 17–17 0–0–1 Lambeau Field 50,861 2 September 24 Chicago Bears W 13–10 1–0–1 Lambeau Field 50,861 3 October 1 Atlanta Falcons W 23–0 2–0–1 Milwaukee County Stadium 49,467 4 October 8 at Detroit Lions W 27–17 3–0–1 Tiger Stadium 57,877 5 October 15 Minnesota Vikings L 7–10 3–1–1 Milwaukee County Stadium 49,601 6 October 22 at New York Giants W 48–21 4–1–1 Yankee Stadium 62,585 7 at St. Louis Cardinals W 31–23 5–1–1 Busch Memorial Stadium 49,792 8 November 5 at Baltimore Colts L 10–13 5–2–1 Memorial Stadium 60,238 9 November 12 Cleveland Browns W 55–7 6–2–1 Milwaukee County Stadium 50,074 10 November 19 San Francisco 49ers W 13–0 7–2–1 Lambeau Field 50,861 11 November 26 at Chicago Bears W 17–13 8–2–1 Wrigley Field 47,513 12 December 3 at Minnesota Vikings W 30–27 9–2–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,693 13 at Los Angeles Rams L 24–27 9–3–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 76,637 14 December 17 Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–24 9–4–1 Lambeau Field 50,861 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
Game summaries Week 1
Week 2 vs Bears
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Postseason Western Conference Championship
The Green Bay Packers defeated the Los Angeles Rams 28–7 on December 23, 1967, at Milwaukee County Stadium, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.The Packers scored four touchdowns, including two touchdown runs by Travis Williams. With the win the Packers advanced to the NFL Championship game. Packers go to the NFL Championship Game and win to the Cowboys in the Ice Bowl 21-17. And win Super Bowl II to the Raiders 33-14.
NFL Championship (“Ice Bowl”)
The Packers advanced to the NFL Championship game and faced the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Championship Game. The game was played on December 31, 1967, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The official game-time temperature was , with a wind chill around . The bitter cold overwhelmed Lambeau Field's new turf heating system, leaving the playing surface hard as a rock and nearly as smooth as ice. The officials were unable to use their whistles after the opening kickoff when a whistle stuck to a referee's lips.
Early in the game, the Packers jumped to a 14–0 lead with a pair of touchdown passes from Bart Starr to wide receiver Boyd Dowler. Green Bay committed two costly turnovers in the second quarter that led to ten Dallas points. Neither team was able to score any points in the third quarter, but then on the first play of the final period, the Cowboys took a 17–14 lead with running back Dan Reeves' 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Lance Rentzel on a halfback option play.
Starting from his own 32-yard line with 4:54 left in the game, Starr led his team down the field to the one-yard line. Running back Donny Anderson attempted two runs into the end zone, but fell short. Facing a third down with sixteen seconds left in the game, Starr executed a quarterback sneak behind center Ken Bowman and guard Jerry Kramer's block through defensive tackle Jethro Pugh, scoring a touchdown that gave the Packers a 21–17 win and their unprecedented third consecutive NFL championship. Packers go to Super Bowl II and win 33-14 to the Raiders.
Super Bowl II
After beating the Cowboys in the NFL Championship game, the Packers advanced to the AFL-NFL World Championship Game to face the American Football League champions, the Oakland Raiders. The Packers scored early with two field goals from kicker Don Chandler. Later in the second quarter, quarterback Bart Starr threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to receiver Boyd Dowler to give the Packers a 13–0 lead. Oakland struck back on their next possession when quarterback Daryle Lamonica completed a 23-yard touchdown pass to receiver Bill Miller. At the end of the half, Don Chandler added another field goal, making the score 16–7.
In the second half, Starr completed a 35-yard pass to receiver Max McGee, which was the last reception of McGee's career. The pass helped set up Donny Anderson's two-yard touchdown run. Early in the fourth quarter, Chandler kicked his fourth field goal, making the score 26–7. After the field goal, Starr was injured on a sack and was replaced by Zeke Bratkowski. Later in the fourth quarter, Packers defensive back Herb Adderley intercepted a Raiders pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown, making the score 33–7. The Raiders managed to score a second touchdown on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Lamonica to Bill Miller late in the fourth quarter. The Packers went on to win the game 33–14. Coaching his last game for the Packers, Vince Lombardi was carried off the field in victory. Packers win but in 1968 finished 6-7-1 to miss the playoffs.
Season statistical leaders Passing yards: Bart Starr, 1823 Passing touchdowns: Bart Starr, 9 Rushing yards: Jim Grabowski, 466 Rushing touchdowns: Elijah Pitts and Donny Anderson, 7 Receiving yards: Boyd Dowler, 836 Receiving touchdowns: Carroll Dale, 5 Points: Don Chandler, 96 Kickoff return yards: Travis Williams, 533 Punt return yards: Donny Anderson, 98 Interceptions: Bob Jeter, 8 obtained 23 December 2006.
References
External links at Database Football 1967 Packers at Pro-football-reference