Paul Hornung, the “Golden Boy” who starred for Notre Dame in the 1950s and the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s, has died at age 84.
Hornung, born Dec. 23, 1935, in Louisville, Kentucky, was one of only seven players to win the Heisman Trophy and be named NFL MVP. The others were Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton, Barry Sanders, Marcus Allen, Earl Campbell and O.J. Simpson.
Hornung won the Heisman in 1956 while playing for a 2-8 Notre Dame team. In becoming the only player to win the award while starring for a losing team, Hornung led the Fighting Irish in passing, rushing, scoring, kickoff returns, punt returns and punting. On defense, he led the team in passes broken up and was second in tackles and interceptions.
Hornung was chosen by the Packers No. 1 overall in the 1957 NFL draft, the first of nine future Hall of Famers selected that year. Hornung — along with fellow Packers stars Bart Starr, Jim Taylor and Jerry Kramer, as well as innovative coach Lombardi — went on to lead the struggling franchise to the 1960 NFL title game, a 17-13 loss to the Eagles.
In that 1960 season, the star running back accounted for an NFL-record 176 points — via touchdowns, field goals and extra points — a mark that stood for 46 years. Hornung was named a first-team All-Pro that season, an honor he repeated the following year, and the NFL MVP, in leading the Packers to the first of four titles they would win while he was on the team.
Hornung almost missed the Packers’ 1961 title game when he was summoned to duty by the Army, but a call from Lombardi to President John F. Kennedy led to Hornung being granted leave.
Hornung scored 19 points — then a title-game record — on one rushing touchdown, three field goals and four PATs in the Packers’ 37-0 win over the New York Giants.
A pinched nerve in his neck suffered earlier in his career started to slow Hornung. Then a gambling scandal brought his career to a temporary halt: He was suspended for the 1963 season by commissioner Pete Rozelle, who found that Hornung and Detroit Lions star Alex Karras had bet on NFL games and associated with “known hoodlums.”
Hornung was reinstated for the 1964 season, but his best years were behind him.
He was selected by New Orleans in the 1967 expansion draft, a heartbreaking moment for Lombardi. But Hornung never played a game for the Saints, instead retiring.