Paul Vernon Hornung was a halfback, quarterback, and placekicker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League from 1957 to 1966. He is the first Heisman Trophy winner to play pro football, win the NFL most valuable player award, and be inducted into both the professional and college football halls of fame. He led the league in scoring for three straight seasons from 1959–61.
About Paul Hornung in brief
Paul Vernon Hornung was a halfback, quarterback, and placekicker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League from 1957 to 1966. He is the first Heisman Trophy winner to be selected as the first overall selection in the NFL Draft, play pro football, win the NFL most valuable player award, and be inducted into both the professional and college football halls of fame. As a professional, Hornung played the halfback position as well as field goal kicker for several seasons. He led the league in scoring for three straight seasons from 1959–61. During the 1960 season, the last with just 12 games, he set an all-time record by scoring 176 points. The record stood until the 2006 season, when running back LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers broke the record with 180 points by scoring his 30th touchdown on December 17, leaving him with 19 points more than two games to play. In 1961 Hornung set an NFL championship game scoring record with 20 points in the Super Bowl LI win against the Cleveland Browns. In 1965 he rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown on a muddy field against the Browns on a very muddy field. Hornung is one of only nine players to have won both the Heisman Trophy and the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award twice and named to the Pro Bowl twice.
He was the only Packer on the roster who did not play in Super Bowl I. A pinched nerve sidelined him, and he chose not to enter the game in the fourth quarter. Many consider Hornung the greatest all-around football player in Notre Dame history. The highly versatile quarterback could run, pass, block, and tackle. He has said that he attended Notre Dame in part for the opportunity to play basketball, and that he was asked not to continue playing in order to help keep his grades up. He also played basketball during his sophomore year at Notre Dame and won by five yards in a 100-yard match race with Abe Woodson at the 1957 College All Star game in Chicago. After graduating from Notre Dame with a degree in business, he was taken by the Greenbay Packers, with whom he went on to win four league championships, including the first Super Bowl in January 1967. In spite of Notre Dame’s 2-8 record in 1956 as the year’s outstanding U.S. college football player – the only time a player from a losing team has been so honored.
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This page is based on the article Paul Hornung published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 29, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
