Doomsday101
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Forrest Gregg wasn't just another really good football player, or just a former Pro Bowler or All-Pro. Forrest Gregg was a Hall of Famer among Hall of Famers. He was a champion, over and over again.
Gregg, who passed away Friday at age 85, was an all-timer in every sense.
If being an offensive lineman is synonymous with playing catcher in baseball -- the gritty, less-sexy positions of the two sports -- then Gregg's equal was Johnny Bench. But Gregg was still much less celebrated than the former Cincinnati Reds great because of his chosen sport. With NFL careers shorter, and player movement in pro football on the upswing in the salary cap era, it has become far too easy to lose track of the bygone NFL eras' premier players -- unless, of course, they were quarterbacks, running backs or receivers. Sometimes sack artists like Deacon Jones receive their acclaim, as well. But what of the rare player who was able to stonewall one of the league's greatest sack masters at the point?
That was Gregg, and the Deacon would be the first person to tell you. "He's not like some tackles, when I hit and go upside that head with them hands and then I'm done with him. (That tackle) ain't going to be much of a problem that day," Deacon told NFL Films in 2010 when Gregg was named the No. 54 NFL player of all time. "But not him. Forrest Gregg, you have to fight 60 minutes. It ain't gonna get no better than that. Ain't gonna get no tougher than that."
Gregg was Green Bay's right tackle from 1956 to 1970 before finishing out his illustrious career with one season in Dallas. He excelled in an era when there was a premium on that position. Teams ran the football more than they passed, and when they did, they often ventured right. No squad pounded defenses on the ground more than Vince Lombardi's teams, and no player on those Packers was better than Gregg. This is not to say that Green Bay legend Bart Starr didn't throw the ball -- but when he did, he was successful enough, protected enough, to not have to keep chucking it. Put another way: Try finding film of Starr getting sacked off the right edge. You won't be successful.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...legacy-one-of-the-best-offensive-linemen-ever
Gregg, who passed away Friday at age 85, was an all-timer in every sense.
If being an offensive lineman is synonymous with playing catcher in baseball -- the gritty, less-sexy positions of the two sports -- then Gregg's equal was Johnny Bench. But Gregg was still much less celebrated than the former Cincinnati Reds great because of his chosen sport. With NFL careers shorter, and player movement in pro football on the upswing in the salary cap era, it has become far too easy to lose track of the bygone NFL eras' premier players -- unless, of course, they were quarterbacks, running backs or receivers. Sometimes sack artists like Deacon Jones receive their acclaim, as well. But what of the rare player who was able to stonewall one of the league's greatest sack masters at the point?
That was Gregg, and the Deacon would be the first person to tell you. "He's not like some tackles, when I hit and go upside that head with them hands and then I'm done with him. (That tackle) ain't going to be much of a problem that day," Deacon told NFL Films in 2010 when Gregg was named the No. 54 NFL player of all time. "But not him. Forrest Gregg, you have to fight 60 minutes. It ain't gonna get no better than that. Ain't gonna get no tougher than that."
Gregg was Green Bay's right tackle from 1956 to 1970 before finishing out his illustrious career with one season in Dallas. He excelled in an era when there was a premium on that position. Teams ran the football more than they passed, and when they did, they often ventured right. No squad pounded defenses on the ground more than Vince Lombardi's teams, and no player on those Packers was better than Gregg. This is not to say that Green Bay legend Bart Starr didn't throw the ball -- but when he did, he was successful enough, protected enough, to not have to keep chucking it. Put another way: Try finding film of Starr getting sacked off the right edge. You won't be successful.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...legacy-one-of-the-best-offensive-linemen-ever
