HORNUNG, PAUL 1935-

Football player

The Golden Boy

Paul Hornung was called "The Golden Boy" partly because of his blond good looks, but more so because he seemed to shine when the occasion warranted. He played on championship football teams from the time he was a senior at Flaget High School in Louisville, Kentucky. He went to Notre Dame, though Coach Frank Leahy did not offer encouragement that he would make the team. He practiced with the scrubs as a freshman, played third-string quarterback as a sophomore, made the All-American team and was named outstanding back in the nation by United Press International as a junior, and won the Heisman Trophy as a senior, despite playing on a team that lost eight often games. He graduated from Notre Dame with excellent grades, adding further luster to his athletic achievement.

Professional Career

Hornung signed a three-year contract with the Green Bay Packers for sixteen thousand dollars a year when that was a lot of money for a professional football player. He soon earned a reputation as a playboy who lacked a professional's seriousness about the game. Vince Lombardi changed that perception. Under his tutelage Hornung became known as one of the best backs in the league. Sharing ball-carrying duties with fullback Jim Taylor and accepting full responsibility for kicking field goals and points after touchdowns, Hornung was the star of a talent-laden team. In 1960, though suffering from a pinched nerve in his neck, he set the all-time NFL record for scoring in a season: 176 points, including 15 touchdowns, 41 extra points, and 15 field goals.

Military Service

In 1961 Hornung joined the National Guard to fulfill his military obligation. He missed only two games that season and once again led the league in scoring, an achievement capped by his nineteen points in the championship game that Green Bay won. He received most of the accolades given to professional football offensive stars that year and started the 1962 season optimistically, his military duty having ended before the season's open. Early on, though, he was injured and had to miss six games. The Packers won both with and without him.

Suspension for Gambling

His career was rudely interrupted in 1963 when he and Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions were indefinitely suspended from professional football for betting on league games, even though Hornung bet on the Packers to win. Since 1959 he had placed bets of up to $500 on college and pro games. Hornung was repentant but not financially strapped. He modeled Jantzen sportswear and lectured widely for generous fees.

Reinstatement

In March 1964 Commissioner Pete Rozelle reinstated Hornung and Karras, but Hornung was through as a football player. In the 1964 and 1965 seasons he gained only 499 total yards, and he kicked only 12 of 38 field goals in 1964. He retired in 1966 and was named to the Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

Source:

Dan Daly and Bob O'Donnell, The Pro Football Chronicle (New York: Collier-Macmillan, 1990).