1962 Green Bay Packers season


The 1962 Green Bay Packers season was their 44th season overall and their 42nd season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 13–1 record under coach Vince Lombardi, earning them a first-place finish in the Western Conference. The Packers ended the season by defeating the New York Giants 16–7 in the NFL Championship Game, the Packers second consecutive defeat of the Giants in the championship game. This marked the Packers' eighth NFL World Championship.
In 2007, ESPN.com ranked the 1962 Packers as the fifth-greatest defense in NFL history, noting, "The great 1962 Packers had a rock-solid defense front to back, with five Hall of Famers: defensive linemen Willie Davis and Henry Jordan, linebacker Ray Nitschke, cornerback Herb Adderley, and safety Willie Wood. Green Bay gave up just 10.8 points per game, shutting out opponents three times. The Packers held opposing QBs to a 43.5 rating, due, in part, to Wood's league-leading nine interceptions. The Packers' defense allowed the Giants 291 yards in the NFL championship game, but held the Giants offense scoreless as the Packers won, 16–7."
The Packers' +267 point differential in 1962 is the best total of any NFL team in the 1960s. Cold Hard Football Facts says that the 1962 Packers "may have been the best rushing team in the history of football. And that team etched in historic stone the image of Lombardi's three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust Packers that is still so powerful today."
The 1962 Packers ranked #9 on the 100 greatest teams of all time presented by the NFL on its 100th anniversary, the highest ranking of any Packers team. Other Green Bay teams coached by Vince Lombardi of the 100 greatest were in 1966 at #13 and 1967 at #56.

Offseason

NFL draft

RoundPickPlayerPositionSchool
114Earl GrosRunning backLSU
228Ed BlaineGuardMissouri
341Gary BarnesWide receiverClemson
456Ron GassertDefensive tackleVirginia
565Chuck MorrisBackOle Miss
570Jon SchopfGuardMichigan
679John SutroTackleSan Jose State
684Oscar DonahueEndSan Jose State
798Gary CutsingerTackleOklahoma State
8112Jim TullisBackFlorida A&M
9126Peter SchenckBackWashington State
10140Gale WeidnerQuarterbackColorado
11154Jim ThrushTackleXavier
12158Joe ThorneBackSouth Dakota State
12168Tom PenningtonBackGeorgia
13182Tom KepnerTackleVillanova
14196Ernie GreenBackLouisville
15210Roger HoldinskyBackWest Virginia
16224Jimmy FieldBackLSU
17238Buck BuchananTackleGrambling
18252Bob JoinerQuarterbackPresbyterian
19266Jerry ScattiniHalfbackCalifornia
20280Mike SnodgrassCenterWestern Michigan

  • Yellow indicates a future Pro Bowl selection

Regular season

The team was 7–0 at home and 6–1 on the road. It was the first time since 1944 that the club went undefeated at home.

Standings

Season summary

Week 11 vs. Lions

The Packers suffered their only loss of the season at the hands of a Lions defense that sacked Bart Starr 11 times and intercepted him twice. The game became known as the "Thanksgiving Day Massacre".

Awards and records