Don Chandler, who kicked the field goals and extra points for the Super Bowl-winning Packers teams of the Vince Lombardi era, has died. He was 76.
“You can’t win if you don’t have a kicker,” former Packers quarterback Zeke Bratkowski told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It wasn’t called ‘throw the ball’ or ‘run the ball.’ It was called ‘football.’ He worked at it. It wasn’t easy. Green Bay is cold. But he made so many clutch kicks.”
Chandler, who was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 1975, also holds the franchise record with a 90-yard punt.
In 1965, the last season before the Super Bowl era, Chandler propelled the Packers to a 13-10 overtime playoff win against the Colts with a 25-yard field goal in overtime and a 22-yarder late in the fourth quarter that still irks old-school Colts fans. The ball looked to be wide, and Chandler reacted as if he missed it.
“As far as I know it was good,” Bratkowski said. “I still contend that you can’t judge from way back. You need to be underneath the goal post . . . I know I have a ring that says it was good.”
Chandler’s kicking would also play a role in the next two seasons, which generated not just NFL championship rings but Super Bowl rings.
We extend our condolences to Chandler’s family, friends, and teammates.