A very strange thing happened in the 1979 meeting between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets. Now, 47 years later, that incident has still not been repeated for the Packers. The Packers ultimately lost the game 27-22, in part because of that unusual occurrence in a season that the Packers struggled through. Today we look back on that game, the strange occurrence and the historical event that took place during the game. That day, Iranian terrorists took the staff at the American embassy in Tehran hostage.
The Strange Thing That Happened in the Packers Jets Game in 1979: The Buildup
The Packers were struggling through the 1979 season. After a surprising 8-7-1 campaign in 1978, the Packers dealt with injuries in 1979 and a return to reality. They entered this Week 10 game at Lambeau Field with a 3-6 record. The previous week, they were blown out by the Dolphins 27-7.
The Jets were desperate to stay in the playoff race in the AFC. They entered the game with a 4-5 record and had just lost to the Houston Oilers in overtime the previous week 27-24.
The Packers entered the game as four-point underdogs.
Packers kicker Chester Marcol had a tough break. He hadn’t practiced all week due to a tight muscle in his kicking leg. The team gave him treatments and held him out of practice all week, hoping he’d be good to go once the game started. It appeared to work, until the opening kickoff.
A Turning Point on the Opening Kickoff
The game turned on the opening kickoff. Marcol pulled a muscle in his right leg. The kick was short, handled by the Jets Woody Bennett at the Jets 28 and returned to the 35.
“I didn’t practice all week” Marcol said after the game. “We thought it would be fine after a week of rest and treatments. Unfortunately, I went out during warmups and aggravated it.”
The Packers moved the ball on their first drive. Eric Torkelson gained 11 yards on the first play from scrimmage. After runs by Terdell Middleton and Torkelson gained 10 more yards, quarterback David Whitehurst found James Lofton deep for a 45-yard gain. That gave Green Bay the ball at the Jets 3. On second down, Whitehurst ran around left end for a touchdown.
But Marcol missed the extra point. His muscle pull prevented him from kicking effectively. The Packers led 6-0.
The Jets missed a field goal on their next drive and then the Packers marched downfield again. Whitehurst mixed runs by Torkelson and Middleton with passes to his running backs. The key plays included a 14-yard pass to Torkelson and a 29-yard catch and run by Middleton. The drive stalled inside the red zone and the Packers called on linebacker John Anderson to kick a field goal. Anderson hadn’t kicked since his time at Waukesha South High School. In fact, he was just activated off the IR after suffering a broken arm. The big linebacker connected on a 39-yard field goal. The Packers led 9-0.
Anderson kicked off for the Packers after the field goal. Marcol was done for the day. To this day, Anderson remains the last non-kicker (or punter) to kick a field goal or extra point for the Packers.
The Strange Thing That Happened in the Packers Jets Game in 1979: The Jets Answer
The Jets got on the board with a long, time-consuming drive. They mostly kept the ball on the ground as the Packers run defense had struggled all season. Kevin Long scored on a one-yard run, and the Packers lead was cut to 9-7.
“Green Bay is the last team in the league against the rush, and we are number one in rushing,” Jets quarterback Richard Todd said after the game. “It was that simple. Our running game made my play action passing game work well.”
A Wild Finish to the Half
The Packers put together another drive late in the second quarter. It ended after Whitehurst found Lofton for a 22-yard gain to the Jets 16. Unfortunately, Lofton fumbled and Burgess Owens recovered for the Jets.
On the Jets second play from scrimmage, Jets running back Clark Gaines ran for 52 yards. He only missed scoring when safety Steve Luke caught him at the Green Bay 32. Todd found Jerome Barkum on the next play for a 32-yard touchdown. The Packers trailed 14-9 with 1:37 left in the half.
But the Packers scored on the ensuing kickoff. Wide receiver Aundra Thompson took the kick at the goal line and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown. At the time, it was the fourth longest kick return in Packers history. But Anderson missed the extra point. The Packers lead was 15-14.
The Jets got the ball back with 1:16 left in the half. They moved the ball downfield quickly. The key play was a 25-yard pass from Todd to Harper. The drive ended on a six-yard touchdown pass to Harper. The Packers trailed at the half 21-15.
The Strange Thing That Happened in the Packers Jets Game in 1979: Costly Mistakes
The Packers made a big mistake on their first drive of the second half. The Packers called an audible at the line of scrimmage, but Lofton didn’t hear it. He ran the original pattern to the inside. Whitehurst threw where Lofton was supposed to be, and the ball was intercepted by Johnny Lynn. The Jets took over at the Green Bay 36. The Jets turned the turnover into a 24-yard field goal by Toni Linhart. The Packers now trailed 24-15.
“James didn’t hear the audible,” Packers coach Bart Starr said. “He doesn’t miss audibles, but he missed that one because he didn’t hear it. I can’t fault him.”
The Packers didn’t quit. They responded with a 13-play, 78-yard drive. The key plays included runs of 15 and 11 yards by Torkelson and a 21-yard pass from Whitehurst to backup wide receiver Ron Cassidy. Torkelson scored on a play where he recovered his own fumble before getting into the end zone. Anderson kicked the extra point, and the Packers were only down 24-22.
A Frantic Finish
The Jets added another field goal early in the fourth quarter. A short punt by David Berverly gave the Jets great field position. Now the Packers were down 27-22.
The Packers put together a good drive the next time they had the ball, but it got derailed when Thompson fumbled on a double reverse attempt. He recovered, but the play lost 11 yards and the drive was rerailed.
“I just wasn’t concentrating. I was thinking about running with the ball, and I saw a big hole,” Thompson said. “But the first thing you have to do is get the ball. It was a perfect handoff. But all of a sudden, I didn’t have it and I had to back and fall on it.”
“That would have been a touchdown,” Whitehurst added. “I was leading around trying to block somebody and then I saw he fumbled it. Gosh, what a break.”
The Packers had one more chance to win the game in the final two minutes. They reached the Jets 45 with 32 seconds left when a pass intended for Lofton was intercepted by linebacker Greg Buttle. That sealed the win for the Jets.
The Strange Thing That Happened in the Packers Jets Game in 1979: The Aftermath
The two missed extra points changed the game. The Packers could have tied the game with a field goal on the final drive if both PATs had been good.
“Those two [missed] extra points made a tremendous difference. Rather than the game being tied and us playing accordingly, we were always playing catch up,” Starr said after the game. “But Chester had an injured leg, and it hurt some more on the extra point. Then we went downhill fast. We had no other choice but to change kickers.”
Thompson had the thrilling kick return for a touchdown, but he also dropped three passes. He was playing the game with a bad case of the flu. “If I had a perfect game, we would have won,” he told reporters. “The kickoff return was great, but other than that, I had a very poor game. I didn’t have my concentration. I was thinking too much about being sick.
Lofton was booed after fumbling in this game and gave the crowd at Milwaukee County Stadium the finger. It took a while for him to regain the support of the home crowds.
The Packers finished the season with a 5-11 mark. But since Anderson took over as the kicker 47 years ago, no non-kicker has kicked a field goal or extra point for the Packers.
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