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Show nRNUN PAUL The Fans Made Him a Star X l -at ...... v.- - . - ' He alternated between fullback, halfback, and quarterback, and ended up the season as the Packers' second leading ground gainer. "It was horrible, though," Paul told me. ''When I suited up each Sunday, I had no idea of where I'd" be playing." Yet at the end of his second season, Paul had pretty well established himself as a durable, if unspectacular, work horse. That winter the Packers hired . - Vinee Lombardi as head coach. As offensive coach of the Giants, Lombardi had had much to do with rhalfback the development of perennial Frank Gilford. "In my offensive patterns," Lombardi explained, "the left halfback is the key operative. Gilford made it easy for me. He could do everything." Lombardi installed Hornung as the regular Jef t halfback and set about training him to be an offensive threat like GifTord, specializing in the play. The Packers had a surprising winning recseason in ord in "59 under Lombardi after a McLean. Paul emerged from the 1958 under Ray star. fray as a The '59 season was only the beginning. Last year, his scoring appetite whetted, Paul went to town. He ended up with 15 touchdowns, 15 of 27 field goals, and 41 extra points without a miss for an all-tileague record of 176 points. And with that punch, the Packers took a divisional title. In the play-o- ff game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Paul had the misfortune to run into rocklike Chuck Bednarik, who earlier in the season had cut Gifford's career short with a bone-jarritackle. Hornung had to leave the game with a pinched nerve, and the Packers lost a heartbreaker. All-Sta- all-arou- pass-opti- nd on 7- -5 His was 0-1 full-fledg- an old story the college hero who couldn't make me long-deni- ed it in pro football; the experts were ng until writing him off ed Green Bay's paying customers had their say Paul is as popular in his During Louisville, Ky., where Ee lives with his mother, as he is in Green Bay. When I visited him in Louisville, few people passed us on the street without saying a big "hello" to the affable blond youth. "Louisville is the place for me," he told me. "People ask me about Hollywood, but I don't even think about that anymore. I plan to go into the business when I retire." duplicating-machiThe young ladies make no secret of their affection for Paul, and he likes them, t,oo, although his good looks and- football heroics have gotten him into some embarrassing situations. When he signed with the Packers, for instance, he dated a starlet with an imaginative press agent. "We went out a couple of times and she got serious" Paul recalls. "That was bad enough. But when I picked up the papers and read that I had sent her an engagement ring inside of a football well, you tell me just how I would get a ring inthe A, x1- - a n' Ax I ' j ml By VICTOR SEBASTIAN jjll I off-seas- on, ne The hottest rookie prospect in professional at the end of the was Notre quarterback Paul 1956 season Dame's two-tim- e Hornung, winner of the Heisman Trophy as the All-Amer- ica college player of the year. The Green Bay Packers, who had first bonus draft choice that year, didn't hesitate in picking him. Like everyone else, they realized that he was a little rough around the edges, and his passing, while sufficiently long, left a good deal to be desired in accuracy. But some "bonus" features were added induce. ments: Paul's demonstrated leadership qualities and his undeniable fan appeal (especially for the distaff rooters) weighed heavily in his favor. " A rugged, with wavy blond hair and chiseled features, Paul had to decide between a seven-ye- ar Hollywood contract and one at $16,000 per year offered by the a three-ye- ar Packers.-Hchose football. In his first season with the Packers, though, Paul seemed to be a $48,000 dud. "I wasn't making it at quarterback," Paul says. "I tried, but at Notre ot, 2-in- ch, 215-poun- der e 4 Family Weekly, September 24, 1961 Dame I had been more of a running back than they want in the pros. Up here, you have to be able to knock a fly off your receiver's nose at 25 yards with tackles trying to murder you." Wellington Mara of the New York Giants, usually a cautious man, described Paul as simply "terrible" after seeing him in an exhibition game. Lisle Blackbourn, then Green Bay coach, didn't comment publicly, but his sentiments obviously paralleled Mara's at that time. He lifted Paul in favor of a 17th draft choice of 1956, Bart Starr of Alabama. When the season opened, Paul was picking up bench splinters. 275-pou- nd for the "bonus" feature, that might have Except tle end of Paul Hornung, football player. The fans, however, still considered Paul their glamour boy. By the time the Packers' third game rolled around, their clamor was so loud that Black-bour- n had to put him in the lineup. Significantly, he played him at fullback, and when he scored a touchdown the fans made it clear they considered Hornung part of reen av- - side of a football!" It amuses him to be tabbed "football's most eligible bachelor." "I'm going to stay eligible for a while, too," he in;i:t: anH ndrta "T tinnp " locc rorfntnlv 'T like to live well, and when I hang up the cleats I'm going to have to get my business started just like anybody else. When I get settled, it will be time enough to start thinking about getting married." That's fine with the fans, too. They wish the best for Paul, of course, but, after all, he's their boy, their "discovery" and the girl who nabs him is likely to feel she has collected several thousand jealous in-la- ws. |
