He did understand "act like you've done this before."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.
Today, a Milwaukee radio station is rebroadcasting Brett Favre's first game, with Max McGee and Jim Irwin on tape."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.
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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