October Legends Closing October 27,2018
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/27/2018
The 1962 Green Bay Packers were one of the most dominant teams in the pre-Super Bowl era of the NFL. Led by the charismatic Vince Lombardi and the Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr, the Packers finished the regular season with a near-perfect 13-1 record. Hall of Fame fullback Jim Taylor had the best year of his career in 1962, rushing for 1,474 yards and 19 touchdowns on only 272 carries. Taylor’s 1,474 rushing yards led the NFL, with the second-place rusher a distant 333 yards behind Taylor.
The Packers marched to the NFL Championship Game, which was held at Yankee Stadium against the 12-2 New York Giants. This was the final NFL Championship Game at Yankee Stadium, and the Packers held off a scrappy Giants team 16-7 to win Lombardi’s third NFL title. This Wilson “The Duke” football has been signed by 50 members of the 1962 Packers, including the Hall of Fame coach Lombardi. Other signatures include the Hall of Famers Ray Nitschke, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Paul Hornung, Tom Fears, Willie Davis, Forrest Gregg, Henry Jordan, Herb Adderley, Jerry Kramer, Jim Ringo, and Willie Wood, as well as Boyd Dowler, Max McGee, Elijah Pitts, Bill Austin, Gary Barnes, Phil Bengtson, Ed Blaine, Lew Carpenter, Red Cochran, Dan Currie, Lee Folkins, Bill Forester, Ron Gassert, Hank Gremminger, Earl Gros, Dave Hanner, Norb Hecker, Ken Iman, Gary Knafelc, Ron Kostelnik, Norm Masters, Tom Moore, Bill Quinlan, John Roach, Bob Skoronski, John Symank, Fuzzy Thurston, Jesse Whittenton, Howie Williams, and several others. The signatures on this ball have been written in black pen and marker. This football is printed with “Green Bay Packers / World Champions 1961” on one panel and “The Duke” on another. This football comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (AE06922), who have assigned this football the lofty grade of NM-MT 8.