By Jim Gehman | Engagement Insider
From late in your rookie season with Green Bay in 1973 until you retired following the 1984 campaign, you played in 162 consecutive games at center, a position where you have contact on every play. How?
“I think it’s a combination of things. I always felt if you’re not available when the bell rings they’ll find somebody who is. So that was part of my mindset. And it was a different culture then as far as playing with injuries.
“Medically, there’s a lot in today’s game, they’re a lot better at diagnosing things. They have MRIs and so forth, so they know what’s really wrong. In my era a lot of it was kind of up to you. And you had the attitude that I’ll give it a try and see if I can be effective. That was kind of my approach.”
What does it mean to you to be in the Packers Hall of Fame?
“If you’re chosen as one of their best all-time players, if you’re placed among that group and you look at some of the names in there, it’s a rather humbling experience.
“I look at that as there are legitimate [Pro Football] Hall of Famers in there that actually changed teams, changed them for the better. I look back at myself as a guy that tried real hard and helped the team, but never was able to win a game for the team through my performance. I was more of a helper bee.”
You became a sportscaster at WFRV-TV, now at WGBA-TV, in Green Bay 26 years ago. How did you get into that profession?
“It was actually kind of an accident. I never anticipated making it a career. In 1988, I was thinking I’m going to get into business for myself. A couple three months after that I was more or less not getting anywhere and was just sitting around. It was driving me crazy.
“The G.M. at the television station happened to be a Packer nut, so despite the fact that I was God-awful, he hired me. They displayed immense patience in letting me get at least acceptable in front of the camera. I initially stuck with it because I didn’t want to quit as a failure.
“Then about a decade later I think ‘This is actually my career. This is what I do.’ So it was kind of an accident and through some patience on management’s part, not to mention the viewing public, it turned into what’s been a pretty good career for me.”
That has tied in with another pretty good career since 1995 as the game analyst on the Packers Radio Network. As a former center, do you have a different perspective of why a play does or doesn’t work?
“You can’t help where you come from and I probably see the game inside out. And people that played a so-called skill position, they probably see it from the outside in. It’s not to say that one’s better than the other, but it certainly affects the way you see a game.”
What’s the key to being a good analyst?
“I think knowing your stuff is a good place to start. In the radio business, in a relatively short amount of time, you’ve got to be able to express that in terms people can understand. And one of the real fun parts of being on the Packers Radio Network is we broadcast to Packer fans. So I don’t feel compelled to be middle of the road. I’d like to see the team do well.
“Part of the fun of doing radio is getting involved and hoping for the best. Doing home or Packer radio, you can do those things and it’s perfectly fine. While if you’re doing it on television and it’s going to both team’s markets, not to mention the rest of the country, you’ve got to take a middle line.”
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The NFLPE "Where Are They Now?" series honors and celebrates our NFL Legends in their post-football success. Check back every two weeks for a new Q&A and learn more about our players in life after football.