Arnie Herber: Achieving football immortality

Continued from last week

“The announcement that ex-Packer Arnie Herber had been named to the pro Football Hall of Fame did not come exactly as jolting news. Rumors of his selection had been circulating for several months… and even if the rumors had proven false, everybody knew Arnie could not be overlooked much longer,” Len Wagner wrote for the Press-Gazette in March 1966.

The following month, De Pere Mayor John Growt declared April 25 as “Arnie Herber Day” by proclamation.

“This community has set aside [April 25] to officially recognize a De Pere businessman whose recent election to the National Professional Football Hall of Fame at Canton, Ohio, triggered a nostalgic recap of exploits on the gridiron,” a Press-Gazette article stated.

During an Elks banquet to honor Herber, Don Hutson recalled, “one of the things that made me decide on coming to Green Bay was Curly (Lambeau) yelling over the telephone that he had the greatest long passer in the league in Herber.

“And now that I think back, if I had to pick one man responsible for any success I might have had, it would have to be Arnie.

“There’s a new word in football now called ‘the bomb.’ One time in St. Louis, Herber threw one for a touchdown that I thought would never come down. It just stayed up there and after the game, I suggested that it must have traveled a mile and a half. The next day, the papers said it went 77 yards in the air. Now, that was a bomb — as only Herber could throw it.”

On Sept. 17, 1966, Herber was officially inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, where he was presented with his bronze bust by former teammate, Clarke Hinkle.
Herber had a speech in hand in hand as he addressed the crowd but put it away and stated, “I had prepared this speech but in view of what happened today, it is now very inadequate. No one can realize how I feel in my heart at this moment. Myself and my family will always remember this day.”

During the ceremony, Hinkle called Herber “the most accurate long passer in the history of pro football” and told Herber, “You have received pro football’s highest award. Enjoy it like I have and remember the hall of fame has helped you achieve football immortality.”

To be continued