Max McGee
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| Max McGee | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | July 16, 1932 |
| Place of birth | Saxton City, Nevada |
| Position(s) | Wide receiver Punter |
| College | Tulane |
| NFL Draft | 1954 / Round 5 |
| Pro Bowls | 1 |
| Honors | Packers Hall of Fame |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 1954, 1957-1967 | Green Bay Packers |
William Max McGee (born July 16, 1932, Saxton City, Nevada) is a former professional American Football wide receiver who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1954 to 1967. He also served as the team's punter during a few years of his career. Before his National Football League (NFL) career, he played for Tulane University. He was selected by the Packers in the fifth round of the 1954 NFL Draft, He played his high school career football at White Oak High School in Texas.
[edit] NFL Career
In his rookie season, McGee led the NFL in punting yards while also catching 36 passes for 614 yards and 9 touchdowns. He missed the next two seasons to serve as a pilot in the United States Air Force, but returned to become the Packers' leading receiver from 1958-1962. McGee was one of the few bright spots on the 1958 Packers team, which finished the season with a 1-10-1 record. During that season, he lead the NFL in yards per catch average(23.2), punting yards (2,716) and net yards average(36.0).
After Vince Lombardi took over as the team's head coach in 1959, McGee helped the team to 6 NFL championship appearances, 5 NFL championship wins, and 2 Super Bowl wins during the remaining years of his career. He also was a Pro Bowl selection during the 1961 season.
In his final two seasons, injuries and age had considerably reduced his production and playing time. Ironically, these two seasons would be the ones his career is best remembered for. In the 1966 season, McGee caught only 4 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown as the Packers recorded a 12-2 record and advanced to Super Bowl I against the Kansas City Chiefs. Because McGee didn't expect to play in the game, he violated his team's curfew policy and spent the night before the Super Bowl out on the town. The next morning, he told starting receiver Boyd Dowler "‘I hope you don’t get hurt. I’m not in very good shape."[1]
However, Dowler went down with a separated shoulder on the Packers' second drive of the game, and McGee, who had to borrow a teammate's helmet because he had not even brought his own out of the locker room, found himself thrust into the lineup. A few plays later, McGee made a one-handed reception of a pass from Bart Starr, took off past Chiefs defender Fred Williamson and ran 37 yards to score the first touchdown in Super Bowl history. By the end of the game, McGee had recorded 7 receptions for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns, assisting Green Bay to a 35-10 victory.
The following year, he recorded a 35-yard reception in the third quarter of Super Bowl II that set up a touchdown in the Packers 33-14 win over the Oakland Raiders. McGee retired shortly after the game. He finished his 12-season career with 345 receptions for 6,346 yards and 12 carries for 121 yards. He also scored 51 touchdowns(50 receiving and 1 fumble recovery). On special teams, he punted 256 times for 10,647 yards, an average of 41.6 yards per punt, and returned 4 kickoffs for 69 yards.
[edit] Post NFL Career
Max McGee's ties to the Packers continued from 1979 through 1998 when he served as the color commentator for radio broadcasts of Packers football games. McGee was extremely popular as a color commentator and was named Wisconsin "Sportscaster of the Year" an unprecedented 10 times over his career - in 1975, '76, '78, '80, '83, '84, '85, '86, '88 and '89. [2]
In 1999, McGee founded the Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin to raise money for diabetes research.
