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1972 Green Bay Packers season

NFL team season

NFL team season

FieldValue
teamGreen Bay Packers
year1972
record10–4
division_place1st NFC Central
coachDan Devine
stadiumLambeau Field
Milwaukee County Stadium
playoffsLost [Divisional Playoffs](1972-73-nfl-playoffs)
(at [Redskins](1972-washington-redskins-season)) 3–16
shortnavlinkPackers seasons

Milwaukee County Stadium (at Redskins) 3–16 The 1972 Green Bay Packers season was their 54th season overall and their 52nd season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 10–4 record under second-year head coach Dan Devine, earning them the NFC Central division title. The Packers returned to the playoffs after a four-year drought (and qualified for the first time since Vince Lombardi departed as head coach); their most recent division title was in 1967, completing that postseason with a decisive win in Super Bowl II in January 1968.

In 1972, Green Bay entered the penultimate regular season game at Minnesota on December 10 with an 8–4 record. The Vikings (7–5) had won the season's earlier game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay by breaking a fourth quarter tie with two interceptions for touchdowns. This time, the Packers overcame a 7–0 halftime deficit at Metropolitan Stadium with 23 unanswered points to clinch the division title. Running back John Brockington became the first in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons, and did it again the following season.

Placekicker Chester Marcol established an NFL rookie record for field goals in a season (since broken). It was the fifteenth and final season of hall of fame linebacker Ray Nitschke.

The Packers' next playoff appearance would come in 1982, however their last playoff appearance in a full season came in 1993, and their next division title came 23 years later, in 1995.

Offseason

In February , running back (and punter) Donny Anderson was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for MacArthur Lane. Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr retired as a player in July; he was the quarterbacks coach and play caller in 1972. (He then pursued business interests and was a color analyst for CBS, then returned to the Packers as their head coach in the 1975 season.)

NFL draft

Main article: 1972 NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

PlayerPositionCollege
Bob KrollSafetyNorthern Michigan

Roster

1972 Green Bay Packers roster
**Quarterbacks**

Regular season

Schedule

In week 3, the Packers defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys in Milwaukee, improving their all-time record to 7–1 over Dallas; the sole loss was in 1970.

Green Bay Packersyear=1972border=2}}"WeekGreen Bay Packersyear=1972border=2}}"DateGreen Bay Packersyear=1972border=2}}"OpponentGreen Bay Packersyear=1972border=2}}"ResultGreen Bay Packersyear=1972border=2}}"RecordGreen Bay Packersyear=1972border=2}}"VenueGreen Bay Packersyear=1972border=2}}"Attendance1234567891011121314
September 17at [Cleveland Browns](1972-cleveland-browns-season)**W** 26–101–0Cleveland Stadium75,771
September 24[Oakland Raiders](1972-oakland-raiders-season)**L** 14–201–1Lambeau Field56,263
October 1[Dallas Cowboys](1972-dallas-cowboys-season)**W** 16–132–1Milwaukee County Stadium47,103
October 8**[Chicago Bears](1972-chicago-bears-season)****W** 20–173–1Lambeau Field56,263
at **[Detroit Lions](1972-detroit-lions-season)****W** 24–234–1Tiger Stadium54,418
October 22[Atlanta Falcons](1972-atlanta-falcons-season)**L** 9–104–2Milwaukee County Stadium47,967
October 29**[Minnesota Vikings](1972-minnesota-vikings-season)****L** 13–274–3Lambeau Field56,263
November 5[San Francisco 49ers](1972-san-francisco-49ers-season)**W** 34–245–3Milwaukee County Stadium47,897
November 12at **Chicago Bears****W** 23–176–3Soldier Field55,701
November 19at [Houston Oilers](1972-houston-oilers-season)**W** 23–107–3Astrodome41,752
November 26at [Washington Redskins](1972-washington-redskins-season)**L** 16–217–4RFK Stadium53,039
December 3**Detroit Lions****W** 33–78–4Lambeau Field56,263
December 10at **Minnesota Vikings****W** 23–79–4Metropolitan Stadium49,784
December 17at [New Orleans Saints](1972-new-orleans-saints-season)**W** 30–2010–4Tulane Stadium65,881

:Monday (October 16) Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

Green Bay met the NFC East champion Washington Redskins (11–3) in the divisional playoffs on Christmas Eve at RFK Stadium. The Packers practiced the week before at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The two teams had played four weeks earlier at the same venue; the Redskins won by five points on November 26, and were favored by in the playoff game by 4½ points.

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance[Divisional](1972-73-nfl-playoffs)
December 24at [Washington Redskins](1972-washington-redskins-season)**L** 3–160–1RFK Stadium53,140

Standings

Awards, records, and honors

  • Chester Marcol, NFL rookie record (since broken), most Field Goals in one year by a rookie, (32)
  • Willie Buchanon – AP Defensive Rookie of the Year

References

Sources

References

  1. Lea, Bud. (October 30, 1972). "Vikings pick Packer pockets". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  2. (December 11, 1972). "Packers win division title". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  3. Lea, Bud. (December 11, 1972). "Vikings fall; the Pack is back!". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  4. (December 11, 1972). "Green Bay smothers Viks for 'Black-Blue' NFL title". Spokesman-Review.
  5. (December 11, 1972). "Playoffs shaping in pro grid play". Spokane Daily Chronicle.
  6. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, {{ISBN. 0-7611-2480-2, p. 409
  7. Johnson, Chuck. (November 7, 1973). "Shuffled off to St. Louis, Anderson scores as a Card". Milwaukee Journal.
  8. Lea, Bud. (February 23, 1972). "Donny tells of rift with Devine". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  9. (July 21, 1972). "Starr, 38, quits as Packer player". Milwaukee Journal.
  10. (July 22, 1972). "Injuries finally end Bart Starr's career". Eugene Register-Guard.
  11. (December 24, 1974). "Starr to be named today". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  12. Kupper, Mike. (December 24, 1974). "Starr, Packers, make it official". Milwaukee Journal.
  13. Hofmann, Dale. (December 25, 1974). "Starr pledges fresh start". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  14. Lea, Bud. (December 22, 1972). "Packers sharpen key weapons". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  15. Lea, Bud. (December 23, 1972). "Pressure mounts, Packers keep cool". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  16. Lea, Bud. (November 27, 1972). "Packers get skinned". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  17. Lea, Bud. (December 25, 1972). "Redskins burst Packer bubble". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  18. (December 25, 1972). "'Skins old men advance to finals". Eugene Register-Guard.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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