Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Mike and West joining you here quickly. We
Speaker 1: just got the news, unfortunately that Packers legend Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame defensive end Willie Davis has passed away at the
Speaker 1: age of eighty five. We just wanted to take a
Speaker 1: couple of minutes to reflect on that and pay our respects,
Speaker 1: certainly our condolences to the Davis family and friends Wes
Speaker 1: Willie Davis Um. A lot of people talk about Brett
Speaker 1: Farve as being maybe the greatest trade in Packer's history.
Speaker 1: The trade for Willie Davis, that one ranks right up
Speaker 1: there too. It really has to, especially when you consider
Speaker 1: they didn't have to give like a big first round
Speaker 1: pick for him. I mean, this is one of the
Speaker 1: biggest fleecings I think you're ever going to see an
Speaker 1: NFL history. But here's the beautiful thing about Willie Davis.
Speaker 1: It's not just the player he was. It's not the
Speaker 1: fact he was a Hall of Famer. It's what he
Speaker 1: stood for and what he you know, made his life
Speaker 1: into and the contributions that he made well passed, you know,
Speaker 1: his playing career, but that playing career was very notable,
Speaker 1: as first ten years with the Green Bay Packers played
Speaker 1: in every single game, the first African American team captain.
Speaker 1: Just remarkable contribution that he made to the Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers organization. And then also throwing the fact that you
Speaker 1: can make an argument although there weren't all the great
Speaker 1: defensive statistics that there are now, he's probably one of
Speaker 1: the most prolific defensive performers in Super Bowl history. Five
Speaker 1: sacks in Super Bowl one and two unofficially, but if
Speaker 1: those numbers were galvanized, if they were you know, concrete,
Speaker 1: that would put him up there with the greatest of
Speaker 1: all times. So just it'sn't terribly sad, and certainly a
Speaker 1: great life well lived. Um and you know, the contributions
Speaker 1: he's made to this game and the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 1: will live on forever. Yeah. If there's something I'll remember
Speaker 1: about Davis, it was seeing him be a part of
Speaker 1: that Hollis Trophy presentation in the Soldier Field locker room
Speaker 1: after the Packers beat the Bears for the two thousand
Speaker 1: ten NFC championship. You know, that rivalry in the Lombardi
Speaker 1: Area era was as fierce as it gets. I'm sure
Speaker 1: that was incredibly special for him to be part of
Speaker 1: that trophy presentation with the packers beating the airs to
Speaker 1: get back to the Super Bowl, and unfortunately West. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, these things are inevitable, obviously, but we're in
Speaker 1: a stretch here. The last eighteen months or so, a
Speaker 1: handful of the Lombardi Hall of Famers unfortunately have passed away.
Speaker 1: Jim Taylor back in the fall of and then Forest,
Speaker 1: Greg bart Star, Willie Wood, all within the last eighteen months.
Speaker 1: And uh. The number of Lombardi Hall of Famers that
Speaker 1: are still with us, unfortunately is a is a small number. Now,
Speaker 1: it's just down to four. I believe it's Jerry Kramer, Um,
Speaker 1: if I check my notes here, Paul Hornig, herb Adderley,
Speaker 1: and Dave Robinson. So um, but a dozen Hall of
Speaker 1: famers from on the from the playing field, along with
Speaker 1: the legendary coach obviously. And uh and yeah, unfortunately another
Speaker 1: one has left us. Yeah, and Willie Davis too. I mean,
Speaker 1: you go back and I was reading Cliff Crystal story
Speaker 1: and some of the great memories that were shared in that. Uh.
Speaker 1: The fact that I mean this guy actually one of
Speaker 1: the defensive stats that they do still keep from those
Speaker 1: eras where fumble recoveries twenty one of them leads the
Speaker 1: team in franchise history when he retired. He retired his
Speaker 1: last game Willie Davis Day in nineteen sixty nine, and
Speaker 1: as you also mentioned, Mike, you know, he was involved
Speaker 1: with the House Trophy presentation two thousand ten, served on
Speaker 1: the Packers Board of the Records Board of Directors for
Speaker 1: over a decade, and then was obviously a meritis status
Speaker 1: after that. UM, terribly sad and obviously are well wishes
Speaker 1: and thoughts go out to Willie's family and his friends.
Speaker 1: But like I said before, I mean, what this man
Speaker 1: did in his eighty five years. Can't say enough about it. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: and uh certainly the Packers will and I think his family.
Speaker 1: It sounds like they're going to put together quite a
Speaker 1: celebration of a life, as you said, a life well
Speaker 1: lived and uh, just a great ambassador for the Packers
Speaker 1: for their history, not only the Lombardi era, but then
Speaker 1: how he stayed involved with the organization in many ways,
Speaker 1: an honorary captain for a couple of big NFC Champion
Speaker 1: and ship games. As we mentioned so, UM, Willie Davis
Speaker 1: a a big, big part of the Packers organization for
Speaker 1: a very long time.