1968 Green Bay Packers season

50th season in franchise history

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The 1968 Green Bay Packers season was their 50th season overall and the 48th season in the National Football League. Under first-year head coach Phil Bengtson, the team finished with a 6–7–1 record, third place in the four-team Central Division of the Western Conference.

It was the Packers' first losing season in a decade, and marked a turning point in team history, starting a long period of futility and decline known as the "Gory Years". From 1968 through 1991, Green Bay had only five winning seasons (1969, 1972, 1978, 1982, 1989), made the playoffs twice (1972, 1982), with one win (1982).

A few weeks after winning Super Bowl II in January 1968, Vince Lombardi stepped down as head coach but remained as general manager, and longtime defensive coordinator Bengston was promoted. Lombardi left after the season for the Washington Redskins.

Offseason

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1968 Green Bay Packers draft
1	5	Fred Carr *	Linebacker	Texas at El Paso
1	26	Bill Lueck	Guard	Arizona
3	67	Billy Stevens	Quarterback	Texas at El Paso
3	81	Dick Himes	Tackle	Ohio State
4	92	Brendan McCarthy	Running back	Boston College
4	108	John Robinson	Wide receiver	Tennessee State
5	121	Steve Duich	Tackle	San Diego State
5	137	Francis Winkler	Defensive end	Memphis State
6	164	Walter Chadwick	Running back	Tennessee
7	191	Andy Beath	Defensive back	Duke
8	218	Tom Owens	Guard	Missouri-Rolla
9	245	Bob Apisa	Running back	Michigan State
10	260	Rick Cash	Tackle	Northeast Missouri State
10	272	Ron Worthen	Center	Arkansas State
11	299	Gordon Rule	Defensive back	Dartmouth
12	325	Dennis Porter	Tackle	Northern Michigan
13	353	Frank Geiselman	Wide receiver	Rhode Island
14	380	John Farler	Wide receiver	Colorado
15	407	Ridley Gibson	Defensive back	Baylor
16	434	Al Groves	Tackle	St. Norbert
17	461	Ken Rota	Running back	North Dakota State
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

**1968 Green Bay Packers final roster**

	Quarterbacks 12 Zeke Bratkowski 13 Don Horn 15 Bart Starr 10 Billy Stevens Running backs 44 Donny Anderson P 33 Jim Grabowski 30 Chuck Mercein 22 Elijah Pitts 23 Travis Williams Wide receivers 84 Carroll Dale 86 Boyd Dowler 29 Dave Dunaway 27 Claudis James 80 Bucky Pope Tight ends 81 Marv Fleming		Offensive linemen 57 Ken Bowman C 68 Gale Gillingham G 75 Forrest Gregg T 72 Dick Himes G 50 Bob Hyland C 64 Jerry Kramer G 62 Bill Lueck G 71 Francis Peay T 76 Bob Skoronski T Defensive linemen 82 Lionel Aldridge DE 78 Bob Brown DT 67 Leo Carroll 70 Leon Crenshaw 87 Willie Davis DE 74 Henry Jordan DT 77 Ron Kostelnik DT 58 Francis Winkler DE		Linebackers 60 Lee Roy Caffey 53 Fred Carr 66 Ray Nitschke 55 Jim Flanigan Sr. 89 Dave Robinson 83 Phil Vandersea Defensive backs 26 Herb Adderley CB 40 Tom Brown S 43 Doug Hart S 21 Bob Jeter CB 45 John Rowser CB 47 Gordon Rule 24 Willie Wood S Special teams 38 Mike Mercer K		Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 15	Philadelphia Eagles	W 30–13	1–0	Lambeau Field	50,861
2	September 22	Minnesota Vikings	L 13–26	1–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,346
3	September 29	Detroit Lions	L 17–23	1–2	Lambeau Field	50,861
4	October 6	at Atlanta Falcons	W 38–7	2–2	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
5	October 13	Los Angeles Rams	L 14–16	2–3	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,646
6	October 20	at Detroit Lions	T 14–14	2–3–1	Tiger Stadium	57,302
7	October 28	at Dallas Cowboys	W 28–17	3–3–1	Cotton Bowl	74,604
8	November 3	Chicago Bears	L 10–13	3–4–1	Lambeau Field	50,861
9	November 10	at Minnesota Vikings	L 10–14	3–5–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
10	November 17	New Orleans Saints	W 29–7	4–5–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,644
11	November 24	at Washington Redskins	W 27–7	5–5–1	D.C. Stadium	50,621
12	December 1	at San Francisco 49ers	L 20–27	5–6–1	Kezar Stadium	47,218
13	December 7	Baltimore Colts	L 3–16	5–7–1	Lambeau Field	50,861
14	December 15	at Chicago Bears	W 28–27	6–7–1	Wrigley Field	46,435

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1 vs Eagles

Week One: Philadelphia Eagles (0–0) at Green Bay Packers (0–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	3	3	0	7	13
Packers	7	14	6	3	30

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Date: September 15
Game attendance: 67 °F (19 °C)
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

PHI – Sam Baker 27-yard field goal. Eagles 3–0. Drive:
GB – Jim Grabowski 6-yard run (Jerry Kramer kick). Packers 7–3. Drive:

Second quarter

GB – Carroll Dale 12-yard pass from Bart Starr (Jerry Kramer kick). Packers 14–3. Drive:
PHI – Sam Baker 17-yard field goal. Packers 14–6. Drive:
GB – Boyd Dowler 55-yard pass from Bart Starr (Jerry Kramer kick). Packers 21–6. Drive:

Third quarter

GB – Jerry Kramer 17-yard field goal. Packers 24–6. Drive:
GB – Jerry Kramer 22-yard field goal. Packers 27–6. Drive:

Fourth quarter

PHI – Gary Ballman 2-yard pass from King Hill (Sam Baker kick). Packers 27–13. Drive:
GB – Jerry Kramer 35-yard field goal. Packers 30–13. Drive:

Top passers

PHI – King Hill – 16/35, 196 yards, TD, INT
GB – Bart Starr – 14/18, 220 yards, TD, INT

Top rushers

PHI – Tom Woodeshick – 11 rushes, 48 yards
GB – Donny Anderson – 12 rushes, 92 yards

Top receivers

PHI – Ben Hawkins – 4 receptions, 85 yards
GB – Boyd Dowler – 5 receptions, 110 yards, TD

Week 14

A win by the Packers was important because a Bears loss means that The Minnesota Vikings clinched the Central Division title and their first ever playoff berth.

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Packers	7	14	7	0	28
Bears	10	0	0	17	27

Date: December 15
Location: Wrigley Field
Game weather: 22 °F (−6 °C), wind 7 mph

Scoring summary

1	CHI	Mac Percival 14-yard field goal	Bears 3–0

1	GB	Boyd Dowler 72-yard pass from Zeke Bratkowski (Mike Mercer kick)	Packers 7–3

1	CHI	Dick Gordon 48-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick)	Bears 10–7

2	GB	Jim Grabowski 67-yard pass from Don Horn (Mike Mercer kick)	Packers 14–10

2	GB	Chuck Mercein 1-yard run (Mike Mercer kick)	Packers 21–10

3	GB	Boyd Dowler 25-yard pass from Don Horn (Mike Mercer kick)	Packers 28–10

4	CHI	Ronnie Bull 8-yard run (Mac Percival kick)	Packers 28–17

4	CHI	Mac Percival 26-yard field goal	Packers 28–20

4	CHI	Dick Gordon 51-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick)	Packers 28–27

^[1]

Standings

NFL Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	8	6	0	.571	4–2	6–4	282	242	W2
Chicago Bears	7	7	0	.500	3–3	5–5	250	333	L1
Green Bay Packers	6	7	1	.462	1–4–1	2–7–1	281	227	W1
Detroit Lions	4	8	2	.333	3–2–1	4–5–1	207	241	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

^ Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

SportsEncyclopedia.com

v t e Green Bay Packers seasons
1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–) victory Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–) appearance

Green Bay Packers seasons

Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–) victory
Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–) appearance

v t e Green Bay Packers
Founded in 1919 Based and headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Franchise	Founders: Curly Lambeau & George Whitney Calhoun Franchise overview Green Bay Packers, Inc. Presidents General managers Charitable Foundation Team history
Records	Coaches Draft history Picks from 1936 to 1969 Picks from 1970 to present First-round draft picks Hall of Fame MVP award winners NFL All-Decade Team selections Players A–D E–K L–R S–Z Pro Bowlers Pro Football Hall of Famers Records Retired numbers (3 4 14 15 66 92) Seasons Stadiums Starting quarterbacks
Stadiums	Hagemeister Park Bellevue Park City Stadium Borchert Field Wisconsin State Fair Park Marquette Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium Lambeau Field
Training facilities	Clarke Hinkle Field Don Hutson Center Ray Nitschke Field Rockwood Lodge (former) St. Norbert College (training camp)
Culture	"Bang the Drum All Day" Bart Starr Award Cheerleaders Cheese League Cheesehead Driven Fight song Home games in Milwaukee The Hungry Five Indian Packing Company Instant Replay Lambeau Leap Lombardi (film) Lombardi (play) Lumberjack Band Packers Heritage Trail Packers sweep Pigskin Champions Pitch Perfect 2 Receiver (statue) Second Effort That '70s Show The 60 Yard Line Titletown District When Pride Still Mattered
Lore	4th and 26 Dez Caught It Dolly Gray impostor Fail Mary Instant Replay Game Miracle in Motown The Catch II The Ice Bowl The Snow Bowl
Rivalries	Chicago Bears Dallas Cowboys Detroit Lions Minnesota Vikings New York Giants San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Division championships (21)	1936 1938 1939 1944 1967 1972 1995 1996 1997 2002 2003 2004 2007 2011 2012 2013 2014 2016 2019 2020 2021
Conference championships (9)	1960 1961 1962 1965 1966 1967 1996 1997 2010
League championships (13^†)	1929 1930 1931 1936 1939 1944 1961 1962 1965 1966 (I) 1967 (II) 1996 (XXXI) 2010 (XLV)
Media	Radio: Packers Radio Network WIXX (Green Bay) WRNW (Milwaukee) Television: WGBA-TV WTMJ-TV Spectrum News 1 WI Personnel: Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) Larry McCarren (color/analysis)
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1921–present) Conference: National Football Conference (1970–present) Division: North Division (2002–present)
^† does not include 1966 or 1967 NFL championships

1968 NFL season

Capitol	Century	Coastal	Central
Dallas	Cleveland	Atlanta	Chicago
New York	New Orleans	Baltimore	Detroit
Philadelphia	Pittsburgh	Los Angeles	Green Bay
Washington	St. Louis	San Francisco	Minnesota