Bart Starr, quarterbacking the Packers in the All-Star Game
August 2, 1963: The Green Bay Packers, defending NFL Champions, are upset, 20-17, by the College All-Stars in the annual Chicago College All-Star Game, at Soldier Field in Chicago. This would be the last time the All-Stars would win the Game, which began in 1934 and was discontinued after 1976.
The All-Stars were coached by Otto Graham, the Hall of Fame quarterback of the Cleveland Browns, who was then the head coach of the football team at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. He had been the head coach for the All-Stars since 1958, and would remain the Coast Guard coach and the All-Star coach until 1966, when he accepted the job as head coach of the Washington Redskins.
The Packers had won the last 2 titles, going through the 1962 season 13-1, their only loss a Thanksgiving Day shocker to the Detroit Lions. They had beaten the New York Giants, 16-7 at Yankee Stadium in the NFL Championship Game. To emphasize how much of a shock this All-Star Game was: The previous season, the Packers had beaten the All-Stars, 42-20.
The All-Stars' uniforms, in color,
on display at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta
But the Packers would have to go through the 1963 season without their best running back. On April 17, Paul Hornung had been suspended indefinitely by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, for betting on sporting events. Lions defense tackle Alex Karras had received the same suspension, for the same reason. Unlike Pete Rose, then starting his rookie season in Major League Baseball, Hornung and Karras came clean immediately, and cooperated completely. As a result, both men had their suspensions lifted after the 1963 season, and resumed their careers.
Hornung was thus unavailable for this game. So was the Packers' great linebacker Ray Nitschke, due to an injury. Their other star running back, Jim Taylor, was playing hurt.
Ron Vander Kelen, who had led the University of Wisconsin to the Big Ten Conference title the year before, quarterbacked the All-Stars. Also on that team was a future Packer star, Penn State linebacker Dave Robinson; a man who would oppose the Packers in Super Bowl I, linebacker Bobby Bell of Minnesota; and a man who would oppose the Packers in back-to-back NFL Championship Games, Lee Roy Jordan of Alabama.
Ron Vander Kelen
Without Hornung, the Packers finished 11-2-1, with both of their losses coming to their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, who went on to win the NFL Championship. So, not counting games in or against Chicago, they were 11-0-1, even without Hornung.
They missed the Playoffs again in 1964, but won the next 3 NFL Championships, including Super Bowls I and II.
Graham would be fired as Redskins coach after the 1968 season. His successor was... Vince Lombardi. Lombardi coached the Redskins to a 7-5-2 record in 1969, but died of colon cancer before the next season could begin. Graham never coached in the NFL again. To show how medicine had progressed: Graham not only survived colon cancer, but became an advocate for early screening. He lived until 2006, and it was his heart, rather than his digestive system, that ended his life.
Despite his collegiate heroics and his starring in this game, Vander Kelen did not become a pro star: He played 5 seasons as a backup to Fran Tarkenton on the Minnesota Vikings, and 1 more season with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders.
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August 2, 1963 was a Friday. These baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Yankee Stadium. Former Phillies ace Robin Roberts outpitched Whitey Ford. Mickey Mantle was injured and did not play. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
* The New York Mets split a doubleheader with the Milwaukee Braves at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Braves won the opener, 8-0. Bob Hendley pitched a 4-hit shutout. Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Joe Torre all hit home runs. The Mets won the nightcap, 3-1. Joe Hicks singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning. Over the 2 games, Aaron went 4-for-8 with 4 RBIs.
* A doubleheader was split at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) The Boston Red Sox won the opener, 5-0. Earl Wilson pitched a 6-hit shutout, and helped his own cause with a home run. The Washington Senators won the nightcap, 4-3. Carl Yastrzemski went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, but then went 0-for-4.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Jim Maloney pitched a 4-hit shutout. Frank Robinson went 1-for-3. Rookie Pete Rose went 0-for-3 with a walk. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-9 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 12-11 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. This was one of those days when the wind was blowing out at Wrigley. Billy Williams, Leo Burke and Ellis Burton hit home runs for the Cubs; while Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda hit them for the Giants.
Ironically, it was a future major league pitching coach, with a .223 lifetime batting average, Jimmy Schaffer, who drove in the winning run, with a single in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ernie Banks did not start the game, later came in as a pinch-hitter and 1st baseman, and drew 2 walks.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Stan Musial, in his last 2 months as an active player, did not appear in the game.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Athletics, 10-3 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew went 2-for-4 with 2 walks.
* The Houston Colt .45s beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1 at Colt Stadium in Houston. The Colts became the Astros in 1965.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Angels groundshared with the Dodgers until their Anaheim stadium was built in 1966.
