21.10.07

TO REMEMBER. William "Max" McGee, 1932-2007.

McGee was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1975, alongside former teammates and close friends - some of whom were known to enjoy a good time together away from the field - Paul Hornung, Jerry Kramer and Fred "Fuzzy" Thurston.

Also inducted that year was Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, who got a quick introduction to the always colorful McGee early in Lombardi's tenure.

Upset over a loss, Lombardi decided to start with the fundamentals - by introducing a football.

From the back of the room, McGee replied, "Uh, Coach, could you slow down a little. You're going too fast for us."

Even an angry Lombardi was forced to laugh. And McGee might have been the only player who could have gotten away with that.

He did understand "act like you've done this before."

"I'm glad I got to play when I did," McGee said. "I don't even like football anymore because every time a guy gets a hand in on a tackle, he's doing a back-flip or pounding his chest.

"I played at a great time with some great guys. And even though the money wasn't close to what it's like today, we had a great time."

McGee had a second career in the NFL for two decades. In 1979, with Bart Starr as head coach, McGee teamed up with Jim Irvin as the radio play-by-play team for the Packer Radio Network.

Today, a Milwaukee radio station is rebroadcasting Brett Favre's first game, with Max McGee and Jim Irwin on tape.

A FURTHER RETROSPECTIVE. That game also marked Mike Holmgren's first victory as a head coach, as well as the debut of a much-touted draft choice who prolonged the negotiations into the regular season. That rookie's play was a harbinger of what was to come, which ended with him being the punchline of a rather macabre joke involving pedo-cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. Of such stuff are stories made.

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