SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame Nomination #7 - Ray Nitschke

by Brandon on Jul 30, 2010 11:47 PM CDT in Green Bay Packers History

It's amazing that someone who hit as hard as Ray Nitschke managed to have a 15 year NFL career. When I read about him, he's usually described as "tough" or "ferocious" and a great hitter and tackler. Nitschke said he loved contact. I've also read that he was wonderful and caring person off the football field. His on field transformation into one of the toughest guys in the NFL was what Bart Starr called "a classic example of Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde."

While he was only named to one Pro Bowl, and only twice named first-team All-Pro, he was also named as the top middle LB on the NFL's 50th anniversary team in 1970, and the 75th anniversary team in 1994. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978, as soon as he was eligible after retiring in 1972.

NFL.com has a 5 minute video remembering him.

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nitshke

i remember i got his autograph as a young kid in 1972, which i still have, up north. i remember the size of his hands and how crooked his fingers were as he shook my little hand.

by hermitcrab on Jul 31, 2010 2:46 AM CDT reply actions

Nitshke was the absolute epitome of the NFL in the ’60s. Big, tough, ferocious…

awesome.

by Curly Lambeau on Jul 31, 2010 2:02 PM CDT reply actions

I’ve also read that he was wonderful and caring person off the football field.

I’ve heard that too – dedicated family man and about the nicest guy you could hope to know, if you weren’t facing him on the field, of course.

One of my favorite Nitschke stories comes from NFL Films – I don’t remember the player who related the story, but he mentioned that there was a fumble, and he ended up near the bottom of the pile with Nitschke. They were both pretty well immobilized and waiting for guys to get off them when he felt something weird. He shifted his gaze downward to see Nitschke, whose helmet had gotten dislodged, gnawing on his ankle.

Real sweet fella.

"Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?" -Frank Chance
"If [Ruth] had [called his shot], I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." -Charlie Root

by Clutch16 on Jul 31, 2010 3:13 PM CDT reply actions

hahah

awesome

by Curly Lambeau on Jul 31, 2010 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Toughest and Kindest Guy you will ever meet

I loved it when my Dad would take us to Lambeau in the mid 60’s…Star, Taylor, Aderley,
Hornung, Max , Boyd, Kramer, Thurston—-but my favorite was Nitschke…He was always running at 110%, he was tough, I saw him play with broken ribs and a broken nose…he never quit…I saw him at Fuzzy Thurston’s? restaurant in Janesville one time and he actually took the time to talk to me and gave me an autograph..He had HUGE hands and was a really great guy…..I miss him as much as I do Reggie White.

by Buddyruff on Jul 31, 2010 5:55 PM CDT reply actions

I met Ray once

after the Packers – Bucs game on a frigid day – 12/24/1994 in Tampa. We were stuck in the traffic jam leaving the stadium, I was bored and checking out the other cars, people, etc and I looked at the car that crawled up next to next to us, a Black Caddy and Ray was driving! We yelled RAY! out the window and he smiled and gave us a thumbs up. He got out and talked Packers with a bunch of us for a few minutes until traffic moved. Great guy, very friendly and thrilled to see all the Packer fans (we outnumbered the Buc fans at the game by a LOT).

Son, when you participate in sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose : it's how drunk you get.

by snibbodmot on Aug 4, 2010 11:18 AM CDT reply actions