1958 Green Bay Packers season

1958 Green Bay Packers season
Owner	Dominic Olejniczak (President)
General manager	Verne Lewellen
Head coach	Ray McLean
Home field	City Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record	1–10–1
Division place	6th NFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1958 Green Bay Packers season was their 40th season overall and their 38th season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 1–10–1 record under first-year head coach Ray McLean for a last-place finish in the league in 1958 and the worst record ever posted by a Packers team.

In the immortal words of New York sportswriter and Green Bay native Red Smith: "they overwhelmed one opponent, under-whelmed ten, and whelmed one."^[1] The tie came in week two and the three-point win in week five; during the seven-game losing streak to end the season the Packers lost by an average margin of over 22 points and got no closer than ten. The Packers finished 1958 allowing a league-worst 382 points in the 12-game season (31.8 points per game).

McLean was the top assistant on the coaching staff in 1957 and was given a one-year contract as head coach after Lisle Blackbourn was fired in early January 1958 with a year remaining ($25,000) on a five-year contract.^[2][3][4] Following the final game of the 1958 season, McLean resigned on December 17,^[5][6] which paved the way for the historic hiring of Vince Lombardi in January 1959, who started turning things around in his first season.^[7][8]

The underachieving 1958 team was loaded with talent, with future hall of famers Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke, Jim Ringo, Bobby Dillon, Forrest Gregg, and Jerry Kramer, as well as future All-Pros Ron Kramer, Max McGee, Bill Forester, and Dan Currie. This is the only season that the team wore blue and white uniforms; the next year they would switch to the familiar green and gold color scheme which has remained ever since.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1958 NFL draft

The first four rounds of the 1958 Draft were conducted in early December 1957, when Blackbourn was head coach. The remaining 26 rounds were selected in late January. This draft by the Packers is regarded as among the best in NFL history.^[9]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	3	Dan Currie	Linebacker	Michigan State
2	15	Jim Taylor	Fullback	LSU
3	27	Dick Christy	Back	North Carolina State
3	36	Ray Nitschke	Linebacker	Illinois
4	39	Jerry Kramer	Guard	Idaho
5	51	Joe Francis	Quarterback	Oregon State
6	62	Ken Gray	Tackle	Howard Payne
7	75	Doug Maison	Back	Hillsdale
8	86	Mike Bill	Center	Syracuse
9	99	Norm Jarock	Back	St. Norbert
10	110	Carl Johnson	Tackle	Illinois
11	123	Harry Horton	End	Wichita State
12	134	Wayne Miller	End	Baylor
13	147	Gene Cook	End	Toledo
13	153	Don Herndon	Back	Tampa
14	158	Harry Hauffe	Tackle	South Dakota
15	171	Tom Newell	Back	Drake
16	182	Arley Finley	Tackle	Georgia Tech
17	195	Joe Reese	End	Arkansas Tech
18	206	Chuck Strid	Guard	Syracuse
20	230	John DuBose	Back	Trinity (TX)
21	243	Jerry Kershner	Tackle	Oregon
22	264	Franklin Merlino	Back	Florida State
23	267	Jack Ashton	Guard	South Carolina
24	278	John Jereck	Tackle	Detroit
25	291	Larry Plenty	Back	Boston College
26	302	Esker Harris	Guard	UCLA
27	315	Neil Habig	Center	Purdue
28	326	Dave Crowell	Guard	Washington State
29	339	Bob Haynes	Tackle	Sam Houston State
30	350	John Peters	Tackle	Houston

• Yellow indicates a future Pro Bowl selection
• Green indicates a future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 28	Chicago Bears	L 20–34	0–1–0	City Stadium	32,150
2	October 5	Detroit Lions	T 13–13	0–1–1	City Stadium	32,053
3	October 12	Baltimore Colts	L 17–24	0–2–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	24,553
4	October 19	at Washington Redskins	L 21–37	0–3–1	Griffith Stadium	25,228
5	October 26	Philadelphia Eagles	W 38–35	1–3–1	City Stadium	31,043
6	November 2	at Baltimore Colts	L 0–56	1–4–1	Memorial Stadium	51,333
7	November 9	at Chicago Bears	L 10–24	1–5–1	Wrigley Field	48,424
8	November 16	Los Angeles Rams	L 7–20	1–6–1	City Stadium	28,051
9	November 23	San Francisco 49ers	L 12–33	1–7–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	19,786
10	November 27	at Detroit Lions	L 14–24	1–8–1	Briggs Stadium	50,971
11	December 7	at San Francisco 49ers	L 21–48	1–9–1	Kezar Stadium	50,793
12	December 14	at Los Angeles Rams	L 20–34	1–10–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	54,634
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	9	3	0	.750	8–2	381	203	L2
Los Angeles Rams	8	4	0	.667	7–3	344	278	W3
Chicago Bears	8	4	0	.667	7–3	298	230	W2
San Francisco 49ers	6	6	0	.500	4–6	257	324	W2
Detroit Lions	4	7	1	.364	3–6–1	261	276	L2
Green Bay Packers	1	10	1	.091	0–9–1	193	382	L7

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Roster

Green Bay Packers roster
Quarterbacks 20 Joe Francis 10 Babe Parilli 15 Bart Starr Running backs 48 Al Carmichael 37 Howie Ferguson 5 Paul Hornung 40 Joe Johnson 25 Billy Kinard 42 Don McIlhenny 23 Al Romine 22 Jim Shanley 31 Jim Taylor Wide receivers 86 Billy Howton 84 Gary Knafelc 85 Max McGee 80 Steve Meilinger		Offensive linemen 61 Hank Bullough 75 Forrest Gregg 64 Jerry Kramer 78 Norm Masters 51 Jim Ringo 67 Jim Salsbury 77 Ollie Spencer Defensive linemen 87 Nate Borden 83 Len Ford 69 Bill Forester 79 Dave Hanner 72 J. D. Kimmel 81 Carlton Massey 82 Jim Temp		Linebackers 65 Tom Bettis 58 Dan Currie 63 Marv Matuszak 33 Ray Nitschke Defensive backs 44 Bobby Dillon 46 Hank Gremminger 27 John Symank 47 Jesse Whittenton Rookies and first-year players in italics

Awards, records, and honors

Milestones

• Worst regular season record in franchise history

References

1. Maraniss, David (September 14, 1999). "In throes of winter, a team in disarray is reborn". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. book excerpt. p. 1A. Archived from the original on April 27, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
2. "Blackbourn is fired; McLean new coach". Milwaukee Journal. January 7, 1958. p. 13, part 2.
3. Lea, Bud (January 8, 1958). "McLean popular choice of fans and players alike". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 4, part 2.
4. "McLean is named new Packer coach". Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania. Associated Press. January 7, 1958. p. 17.
5. "Packers shake up front office; McLean quits, Detroit Lions next?". Milwaukee Journal. December 17, 1958. p. 18, part 2.
6. "McLean quits, joins Lions staff". Milwaukee Sentinel. December 18, 1958. p. 8, part 2.
7. Johnson, Chuck (January 29, 1959). "Packers name Vince Lombardi head coach, general manager". Milwaukee Journal. p. 11, part 2.
8. Johnson, Chuck (February 3, 1959). "Lombardi reception warm, despite cold". Milwaukee Journal. p. 14, part 2.
9. Wolf, Bob (May 3, 1979). "Packers' 1958 draft may have been greatest ever". Milwaukee Journal. p. 3, part 3.

• "1958 Green Bay Packers statistics". Pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
• "Sports Encyclopedia – Green Bay Packers". Sportsencyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2007.