JFK Saves the Day
Paul Hornung was one of the Green Bay Packers' all-time greats, a player who started out as a quarterback but was versatile enough to play lead blocker, receiver and kicker. He was so vital to the Pack that the team needed a little help from President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to allow him to play in the NFL championship game. Hornung had been called up to the Army that year. But before the game, coach Vince Lombardi rang JFK to see if he could be granted leave for the title game against the New York Giants. "Paul Hornung isn't going to win the war on Sunday," President Kennedy said at the time, "but the football fans of this country deserve the two best teams on the field that day." It paid off — the Pack won 37-0, and Hornung scored 19 points, an NFL title game record.