Medford mail tribune., November 10, 1963, Image 51

liornung goes for touchdown in happier days. His ail-around abilities made him top scorer.
WILL
GREEN BAY
WELCOME BACK
PAUL HORNUNG?
Their star halfback, their "Golden Boy" has
been tarnished by a gambling suspension; the
question now is loyalty his and the town's
N By BOB CURRAN
UNTIL ONE dark Tuesday last spring, the
city of Green Bay, Wis., was involved in
one of the greatest city-loves-man romances
since Mayor Jimmy Walker and New York.
The recipient of the requited love was Paul
Hornung, star of the Green Bay Packers pro
fessional football team.
Then Pete Rozelle, commissioner of the National Foot
ball League, announced that he had suspended Hornung
from football for a year for betting on games. Hornung
hadn't bet against his team but, he admitted, he had made
small bets on games, and that broke a league rule.
No matter who the player was, the loss would have been
taken with bitterness in Green Bay, where the football
team is the pride of the town. But "Golden Boy" Hornung
was team leader and the symbol of Green Bay's greatest
effort: its success in matching (and beating) the biggest
cities in the country in big-league football. And even more
than that, Hornung was someone Green Bay loved.
More than anything else, they liked his way of being
himself. In a small city a public figure might worry about
who was looking. Not Hornung. Almost any morning you
could find him playing gin rummy at the Lyceum Lounge.
Often in the evenings he danced up a storm at Speed's, a
local hot spot. At other times he would be seen talking with
anyone and everyone around town. He was "folks."
After the news broke, there were arguments and ac
cusations; then in the early summer the 1963 Packer Year
book was published and contained a written apology from
Paul Hornung to the Green Bay fans (see box).
How did the apology affect the people of Green Bay?
Will they welcome him back after his suspension is lifted?
I went to Green Bay to find the answers.
Maybe I could have picked a better day to visit Green
Bay. I arrived there the day after the Packers had opened
the 1963 season with a 20-17 loss to the College All-Stars
in Chicago. .
ONE OP the FIRST PERSONS I talked to was Jerry Atkin
son, general manager and executive vice-president of
Prange's Department Store. Jerry is also on the board of
directors of the Packers and is the man credited with sav
ing the Packer franchise during its last financial crisis.
The questions I asked were those I would ask of everyone
I talked to in Green Bay: Were you shocked when Hornung
was banned? Will you welcome him back?
Atkinson, a man in his early fifties- with the enviable
talent of exuding competence without any discernible ef
fort, answered:
"We were, of course, shocked. No one had reason to
suspect betting by anyone. Naturally, action would have
been taken if we had. After Paul's acknowledgment of
error, ho vever, the commissioner's decision was accepted.
"Many people feel that in view of the rules which for
bid betting and which do not qualify them as to how
much or how often all offenders should have been treated
the same. In fairness to a group of fine young men on the
Detroit team and to our Hornung, we believe the fans of
the nation have kept in proper perspective this deviation
from the NFL rules.
"Sure, we'll welcome Paul back he's a good boy, and
our folks in Green Bay like him."
Not everybody was "shocked" by Hornung's involve
ment. "Once the gambling investigation started, we knew
Paul would be brought into it," the wife of a man close to
the team told me. "He certainly didn't hide his actions.
What did surprise us was that so few players were pun
ished all around the league. Of course, he'll be welcome."
My next stop was Holzer's Drug Store, where drugs and
medicines fight a losing battle for space with Packer
memorabilia. John Holzer pulls no punches about how he
feels about the banning. "Isn't it just wonderful," he says
bitingly, "that none nf the Chicago Bears ever was ex
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