Ever run across a Packers-related YouTube video or an old photo online and think, “Hey, I forgot THAT guy was a Packer.”
Me too. Even when I started compiling this list, a couple of them hit me that I had totally forgotten about, players with big names who spent a season, or in some cases less, in Green Bay.
Anyway, I just thought it would be fun to meander for a moment down memory lane. I’m going to keep most of these to within the past 40 years or so. Additionally, this list isn’t meant to be complete or even scientific. Consider it off-season entertainment.
So, some loose parameters: We won’t include Kurt Warner since his oh-so-brief cup of coffee with the Packers has been widely discussed over the years. And Andre Rison had too big of a play in Super Bowl XXXI to include him, even if he was a late-season rental. Desmond Howard? What he did speaks for itself. Meanwhile, Sammy Watkins is way too recent.
Also, will Mecole Hardman’s name appear in a list like this in 20 years?
(Sigh. The draft is less than a week away.)
All that said, here, in roughly chronological order, is the Top 10 list:
Ted Hendricks
This one goes back the farthest (at least for this post), and I include Hendricks mostly because I remember getting a Ted-Hendricks-as-a-Packer football card as a kid. Next thing I knew, he was squishing ball carriers’ heads as an Oakland Raider. And he was initially drafted as a Baltimore Colt in 1969, where he enjoyed five dominant seasons.
In 1974, he was traded to the Packers, where he had one of the best campaigns of his career, racking up 75 tackles, seven blocked kicks, a safety, two sacks and more. Rough to lose a player of that caliber after just a season, one who would go on to notch four Pro Bowls and two All-Pros in Oakland, but when Al Davis offers you two first-round picks, you have to listen.
Um, you also have to make the most of those picks. And remember, this was just after the Packers had given AWAY two firsts, two seconds and a third to acquire Packers legend John Hadl. Oh, the irony.
Those two picks in exchange for Hendricks ultimately turned into oft-injured offensive tackle Mark Koncar and defensive end Ezra Johnson, who had a serviceable to solid career in Green Bay for a decade, even if he was no Hendricks. (An aside: Johnson might still be best known for getting fined by Head Coach Bart Starr for eating a hot dog on the sidelines. Memories.)
Jim Zorn
Following a distinguished career in which he was the first-ever Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Zorn became a Packer in 1985, a season in which the team went a humdrum 8-8. It was during a time in which it seemed Green Bay was perennially 8-8 for years running. (That was, until Randy Wright became the starter in 1986, and he helped break the monotony with a 4-12 stinker.)
The lefty Zorn was actually known as much for his legs as his arm, as he racked up more than 1,500 yards rushing and 17 rushing TDs over his career. Seattle embraced him, and he wound up in the team’s Ring of Honor. In Green Bay, as the backup to Lynn Dickey, he made 13 appearances and started five games for the Packers in ‘85, going 3-2 in those games. Zorn posted 794 passing yards, four passing TDs, and six picks that year, although his legs had aged out by then, and he tallied just 9 yards on 10 carries during that season.
Vince Ferragamo
Speaking of Randy Wright, Ferragamo came in to be Wright’s backup in that aforementioned stinker of a 1986 season. The veteran had started his career in 1977 with the Los Angeles Rams, led the Rams to a Super Bowl appearance in 1979, then departed for the Canadian Football League. His one year with the Packers, in which he made three appearances in relief of Wright, apparently was enough to convince him to retire. (Trivia: He wore Paul Hornung’s No. 5 during his lone season in Green Bay and was one of the last Packers to do so in the regular season.)
Ken O’Brien
O’Brien was one of the touted signal-callers in the legendary 1983 draft, being drafted ahead of Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino in Round 1 and then spending nine seasons as the New York Jets’ starter. By 1985, he was on fire, leading the Jets to an 11-5 season, was twice a Pro-Bowler and he came out on top in a memorable 51-45 shootout against Marino and the Dolphins in 1986. O’Brien ultimately was replaced by Boomer Esiason in 1993.
Tapping O’Brien as Brett Favre’s new backup, the Packers gave up a mid-round pick to New York Jets for the veteran, only for him to come in, don the ‘G’ and play miserably during the pre-season. He was soon shipped off to Philadelphia for pennies on the dollar and never played a regular-season down for the Pack.
Mark Clayton
Speaking of Dan Marino, one of his favorite targets, also drafted in 1983, was Clayton, who racked up five 1,000-yard seasons over 10 years with the ‘Fins. The 5-foot-9, 185-pounder came to Green Bay with high hopes, saying he felt like a rookie again, adding, “I have a lot to prove — not just to myself but to some people who really doubted my career and doubted I still had it in me to play.”
Unfortunately, he was in the last season of his career, and it showed, as Clayton tallied 32 catches for 331 yards and 3 touchdowns over 16 games in the green and gold.
Steve McMichael
Yes, that Steve McMichael. This is one I had completely blanked on – but Packers fans sure can’t forget how he terrorized opposing offenses during his 13-year Chicago Bears career. The highly-decorated defensive end was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year, and he certainly earned it. However, by the time he pulled on a gold helmet, he was pretty well washed, finishing that 1994 season with 2.5 sacks and 19 solo tackles.
McMichael, rubbing it in, circa 2019: “For 13 years, I helped the Bears beat the Packers every year. I whupped their ass, right? So then last year, I went up there on my last leg and I wasn’t any good anymore. So I stole their money and whipped their ass again.”
Thanks, Steve.
Eugene Robinson
Following a successful 11-year career with the Seattle Seahawks, the veteran free safety Robinson landed in Green Bay just at the right time: 1996. He became one of several veterans the team signed during that era to make the push to the Super Bowl, and Robinson got to play in two of them for the Packers, who had traded for him.
He racked up 193 total tackles as a Packer, including a whopping 112 in 1997. He also picked off six passes during that championship 1996 season, on a dominating defense that included the likes of Reggie White, LeRoy Butler, Gilbert Brown and other Packers legends. He left for Carolina in 1998 and, improbably, ended up going to a third straight Super Bowl that season.
Steve Bono
Bono (pictured at top) played for seven teams over his 15-year quarterbacking career, which essentially constitutes the definition of “journeyman.” He spent most of his time in his stint with the San Francisco 49ers as the third-stringer behind Joe Montana and Steve Young, starting six games (and going 5-1) when Montana and Young were injured in 1991.
He became a Packers backup in 1997, and played only mop-up duty behind the Iron Man Favre. But by far his best season was in 1995 with the Kansas City Chiefs, when he threw for 3,121 yards and 21 touchdowns as the team went 11-5.
Rashaan Salaaam
Heismann Trophy winner Salaam, who played college ball at Colorado, was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, bursting onto the scene with over 1,000 yards rushing in this rookie season. He also fumbled a lot. Things went downhill fast, and by 1998 he was looking for work. He played in two games for the Cleveland Browns in 1999 and also had a brief stint that season with the Packers, but didn’t put up any stats. He then had a short stint in the XFL. Salaam would die of suicide in 2016.
Ki-Jana Carter
Here’s another one that probably escapes the memories of most Packers fans. It’s no wonder, as the former Penn State Nittany Lion saw his NFL career quickly fizzle after being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1995. Plagued by injuries, he spent four mostly fruitless seasons with the Bengals before having yet another in Washington in 2001. In 2002, he was picked up by the Packers, played in the pre-season and failed to make the final squad.
Cedric Benson
Ew. I remember that run, when the desperate Packers saw their running game beset by injury and reached for a heaping helping of Benson, the powerful running back who was not the success story the Chicago Bears hoped he would be (sound familiar?). Benson wore out his welcome quickly in Chicago for a variety of reasons, and he ended up in Cincinnati, where he became the starter a few games into the 2008 season and had three straight 1,000-yard seasons.
He signed with Green Bay in 2012 at the start of training camp, and got some run with the Packers to the tune of 278 yards and a score while starting the first five games of the season over James Starks. Unfortunately, Benson would suffer a Lisfranc injury that season in Week 5, an injury that would ultimately end his pro career. Benson died in a motorcycle accident in 2019.
Honorable Mentions:
Keith Jackson
Jackson is included here solely because he’s a big name who seemed destined to finish his career as a Dolphin (and only partly because he’s the namesake of a famed sports announcer). But in 1995, he suddenly found himself catching passes from Favre, reeling in a meager 13 catches in 9 games. Had it ended there, he would have been ideal for the Top 10 on this lineup, but he came back for one last season in 1996. That year, he caught 40 balls for 505 yards and a whopping 10 touchdowns. Hard to forget that kind of production. Jackson retired as a Super Bowl champion with the Packers.
Jim McMahon
McMahon was the ultimate irony as a Packer – a dreaded rival in the 1980s with the Chicago Bears who would switch sides to back up Brett Favre for a partial season in 1996 and ultimately get a freebie Super Bowl ring, essentially for holding a clipboard. He then showed up to the team’s White House visit in his Bears jersey. More power to him, I guess.
Don Beebe
Another unlikely 1996 alum, Beebe was well known for his six seasons with the outstanding yet ill-fated Buffalo Bills. He also landed with the Packers in ’96 and ended up being a top target for Favre, racking up 699 yards receiving and four touchdowns. Included in that was a game in which he racked up 220 yards against the San Francisco 49ers. He managed just two receptions the following season before retiring. Enjoy that Super Bowl ring, Don. One out of five ain’t bad. (Also? Scott Norwood owes you a beer.)
Terry Glenn
Glenn had a one-and-done season with Green Bay in 2002, acquired for a Round 4 pick, sandwiched between six productive seasons with the Patriots and four more in Dallas. He landed in green and gold mostly because he had fallen out of favor with the Patriots due to his well publicized antics, but he put up 817 yards and two touchdowns as a Packer.
Jeff Saturday
Saturday makes the honorable mention list simply because he’s a big name with a big resume, having hiked the ball to Peyton Manning for 13 seasons as a Colt. He then signed one last contract with the Packers as a stopgap replacement for the departed Scott Wells, where Saturday fizzled out and ultimately was relegated to the bench. His one memorable highlight from that ill-fated 2012 campaign was being voted into the Pro Bowl on name recognition, and then switching sides mid-game to snap one final football into Manning’s waiting hands.
Seneca Wallace
Wallace flashed at times during his stints with the Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns, but his destiny was as a journeyman. He landed with the Packers in 2013 during the famed season in which Matt Flynn returned, which is part of why many probably still remember him in green and gold. Wallace replaced Packers legend B.J. Coleman on the roster just before Week 1. In Week 8, Rodgers suffered his infamous broken collarbone, and Seneca mopped up in a 27-20 loss.
The following week, Wallace started and suffered a season-ending – and ultimately career-ending – groin injury on the Packers’ opening offensive series. Scott Tolzein struggled in relief (even though he scored one unforgettable touchdown, as seen above), so re-enter our hero Flynn to keep the season alive.