Ron Wolf saved the Green Bay Packers with two bold moves

The Green Bay Packers are generally considered to be one of the NFL’s greatest organizations, historically speaking. Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi built dynasties decades ago, now Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers have carried the Green Bay Packers back to the top of the mountain. What is often forgotten, though, is a period of time in the 70’s and 80’s when the team was at risk of fizzling out out of the league. Ron Wolf, with two bold moves and one smart hire, saved the franchise and forever changed the Packers image.

More from Green Bay Packers

Ron Wolf was named General Manager of the Green Bay Packers late in 1991. Including that season and the five years prior, the Packers had a combined record of 33-59-1. As hard as this is to believe, the Packers had won just a single playoff game since their last championship in 1967’s Super Bowl II.

Green Bay is the smallest market in the NFL, and when you add in the their drought of success at that time, the Packers had become an extremely undesirable destination for any players or coaches. Wolf knew that his new city was starved for star power, so he set his sights on the first move that would shape the future of the franchise: a third-string QB who was barely known and rarely sober.

Brett Favre was a member of the Atlanta Falcons at the time, who Green Bay would play four days after Wolf joined the Packers. Former Green Bay president Bob Harlan recalls that “Ron comes up and puts his briefcase down next to me and says, ‘I’m going to go watch Atlanta’s backup quarterback. If his arm is still as strong as I remember it, we’re going to trade for him.’”

Wolf would add another cornerstone to the Packers following the 1991 season, signing San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren as his new head coach. This set in place the great GM-coach-QB trifecta that the modern Packers have revived with Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers.

Following the 1993 season, Wolf would make the second of his bold moves when he decided that the underdog Packers would chase the biggest fish on the market, and a man now considered to be one of the greatest signings of the modern free agent era: Reggie White.

Still very limited in their market appeal, Wolf did not pretend that Green Bay was something it wasn’t. Instead of limousines and fine dining, Wolf arranged for the Packers to pick White up at the airport in a Jeep and bring him to the local Red Lobster for his favorite meal, catfish. Wolf and the Packers would sign White to a 4-year, $17M contract, which was an absolutely monstrous deal at the time.

This signing also comes with one of the most legendary sports stories you will hear. As most know, Reggie White was a very religious man and was deeply dedicated to his ministry. As the tale goes, which has been backed up by Packers’ historian Lee Remmel and Holmgren himself, the Packers signed White with the help of “God”. While White was still deciding his future, Holmgren placed a phone call to his voicemail and left a message, simply saying “Reggie, this is God. Come to Green Bay.”

With these moves, Ron Wolf put Green Bay back on the map and drastically changed many assumptions made about the city. Most prominently, the Reggie White signing helped to quiet the opinion in the NFL that Green Bay was not a comfortable or welcoming place for African-American players to live. White himself believes that “It changed the stigma that was on this team, that black players couldn’t have fun up here, that the town was racist.”

Recently named as a member of the 2015 induction class to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Wolf is receiving well-earned praise for his accomplishments with the Packers, who went 101-57 under his leadership It cannot be forgotten, though, the dire circumstances from which he saved this franchise. Without Ron Wolf, there may be no Ted Thompson. Without Thompson, there may be no Rodgers. With two bold moves, a genius coaching hire and a decade of excellence, Wolf saved the Packers’ present, and guaranteed the Packers’ future.

Next: Green Bay Packers 2014 year in review: Offense

More from NFL Spin Zone

Home/Green Bay Packers