The 1964 season was a tough one for the Green Bay Packers. They finished in second place in the NFL’s Western Division, missing the NFL title game for the second straight year after winning the previous two championships. Vince Lombardi and his team were determined to regain their championship form in 1965. Future Hall of Fame guard Jerry Kramer also struggled through a tough 1964 campaign. Kramer played just two games after undergoing surgery to remove splinters that had lodged in his intestines. In Week 5 of the 1965 season, the Packers scored a comeback win that revived the career of future Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer.
The Packers Comeback Win that Revived the Career of a Future Hall of Famer: The Buildup
The Packers got off to a strong start in 1965. They won their first four games in dominant fashion, outscoring their opponents 111-50.
In week 5, they traveled to Tiger Stadium in Detroit to face the Lions in a big rivalry game. Detroit won their first three games before losing in Week 4 to the Baltimore Colts. So, the 4-0 Packers were set to face the 3-1 Lions in a key game to determine the early leader in the West.
Kramer was working his way back into the lineup after the surgeries that caused him to miss almost all of the previous season. When he was out of the lineup, Kramer was replaced by backup Dan Grimm. Kramer recalled the situation in an interview with Bob Fox.
“While I was out in ’64, Grimm played against Alex Karras when Alex had two pulled groin muscles,” Kramer said. “Danny didn’t know that. He told me and everyone else who would listen that he had Karras figured out and he wasn’t so tough. Well, Alex read what Grimm had been saying and he wasn’t happy about it. So, the next time they met, which was the first half of the game in ’65, Alex tore Grimm’s helmet off one time and knocked him into the quarterback countless other times. He just had his way with the kid. After one of those violent encounters, Alex yelled to Grimm and said, ‘How do you like those moves ass-face?’”
But all of that was about to change.
A Tough First Half
Grimm wasn’t the only Packers player who struggled early in the game. The Packers scored first on a 49-yard field goal by Don Chandler to take a 3-0 lead. It was one of only two times the Packers offense crossed midfield in the first half.
But the Lions answered and took a commanding lead before the half. Lions quarterback Milt Plum gave Detroit the lead on a 14-yard touchdown pass to former Packers tight end Ron Kramer. Kramer had beaten Green Bay’s Tom Brown in the right corner of the end zone.
Then, a bull rush by Karras forced Bart Starr to underthrow his intended receiver. Detroit safety Wayne Rasmussen intercepted the pass and ran it back 36 yards for a touchdown. The Packers trailed 14-3.
In the second quarter, the Lions extended their lead on a long bomb. Plum took a seven-step drop and found Terry Barr deep down the middle behind Doug Hart. The result was a 55-yard touchdown and a 21-3 Detroit lead at halftime.
The Packers Comeback Win that Revived the Career of a Future Hall of Famer: The Pack Comes Back
In the second half, Lombardi replaced Grimm with Kramer. Starr and the Packers began to turn the tide. First, Starr connected with wide receiver Bob Long on a crossing pattern over the middle. The speedy wideout beat the Lions secondary as he moved from right to left and scored on a 62-yard touchdown pass. The Packers cut the lead to 21-10.
The Packers next score came on a wheel route to running back Tom Moore. He caught the ball in the middle of the field and bounced off two Lions defenders to score on a 31-yard pass play. Green Bay was within 21-17.
Starr wasn’t done. The Packers faced a third and one at their own 23 late in the third quarter. Starr faked a handoff and the Lions defense bit and crowded the line of scrimmage. Starr cooly found Carroll Dale streaking behind the Lions secondary over the middle, and he went untouched, 77 yards for a touchdown. The Packers now led 24-21.
In the fourth quarter, the Packers put the game away. Starr led the team on a 75-yard drive that he finished with a four-yard touchdown run. The Packers had beaten the Lions 31-21 after scoring the final 28 points of the game.
The Aftermath
The win increased the Packers record to 5-0 on the season and gave them a two-game cushion over the Lions. Starr finished the game going 15-of-23 passing for 301 yards and three touchdowns. It was one of just five career 300-yard games for the future Hall of Fame quarterback. He also ran for a touchdown.
Both Dale and Long went over 100 yards receiving with Dale gaining 108 yards and Long close behind at 106. In a rare occurrence for Lombardi’s Packers, no Green Bay runner gained more than 45 yards in the game. Jim Taylor led the team, but the Pack gained only 83 yards on 28 carries.
The Packers defense intercepted three passes with Brown, Hart and Willie Wood each picking off one.
The Packers finished the season with a 10-3-1 record. They beat the Colts in a division playoff game 13-10 in overtime before dispatching the Cleveland Browns 23-12 in the NFL Championship Game. That would be the first of three straight championships for the Packers, something that no team has done since.
As for Kramer, he didn’t relinquish the starting right guard spot for the rest of 1965. He only missed one start in the final three seasons of his NFL career which ended after the 1968 campaign. The Idaho alum was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
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