The History of the Green Bay Packers: The Shameful Years - Part Four

The two myths: Gene Ronzani and Lisle Blackbourn each resigned from being the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. The truth: both were fired, and the Packer organization to this day continues to deny that both were dismissed; one because of his ethnic background and the other because he tried to do [...]
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The two myths: Gene Ronzani and Lisle Blackbourn each resigned from being the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. The truth: both were fired, and the Packer organization to this day continues to deny that both were dismissed; one because of his ethnic background and the other because he tried to do the job he was hired to do. This fourth volume in the series on the history of the Green Bay Packers reveals the truth behind the headlines of the 1950s. After having fought for three decades for survival in a league consisting of big city teams, the Packers finally achieved financial solvency and even growth, only to have this incredible feat soiled by underhanded dealings by the corporation's executive committee. Not all was rotten in Bay City. The Packers did make some remarkable strides in the '50s, the most memorable being the construction of a new stadium, which the corporation partially financed with the taxpayers of the city of Green Bay. The Packers got their new stadium despite some wheeling-and-dealing by the corporation's own president that might have cost Green Bay its franchise in the NFL. Once again the Packers survived the turmoil within the NFL and in their own back yard. They appealed to the fans of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for more money through a stock sale, then they appealed to the voters and taxpayers of Green Bay for a new stadium. In both cases, they received overwhelming support. On the field, the Packers went through a trio of coaches from 1950 through 1958. Gene Ronzani had the unenviable task of rebuilding a team that had been decimated by the Pro Football War between the NFL and the AAC. He brought in some stars, but before he could really build a solid foundation, he was fired, mostly for being Italian, for being from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and for being a former player and coach for the hated Chicago Bears. Wisconsin native son Lisle Blackbourn was hired away from his job as head coach at Marquette University to replace Ronzani. He built on what Ronzani had begun, but he wasn't allowed to run the team as he saw fit to do. Finally, the second-guessers got him fired. Ray '' Scooter'' McLean, an assistant under both Ronzani and Blackbourn, was given the top post in 1958. A wonderful human being poor Scooter was a disaster as a head coach in the NFL.