The 1958 Green Bay Packers season was their 40th season overall and their 38th season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 1–10–1 record under first-year head coach Ray McLean for a last-place finish in the league in and the worst record ever posted by a Packers team.
In the immortal words of New York sportswriter and Green Bay native Red Smith: "they overwhelmed one opponent, under-whelmed ten, and whelmed one." The tie came in week two and the three-point win in week five; during the seven-game losing streak to end the season the Packers lost by an average margin of over 22 points and got no closer than ten. The Packers finished 1958 allowing a league-worst 382 points in the 12-game season (31.8 points per game).
McLean was the top assistant on the coaching staff in 1957 and was given a one-year contract as head coach after Lisle Blackbourn was fired in early January 1958 with a year remaining ($25,000) on a five-year contract. Following the final game of the 1958 season, McLean resigned on December 17, which led to the historic hiring of Vince Lombardi in January 1959, who started turning things around in his first season.
The 1958 team consisted of hall of famers Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke, Jim Ringo, Bobby Dillon, Forrest Gregg, and Jerry Kramer, as well as future All-Pros Ron Kramer, Max McGee, Bill Forester, and Dan Currie. This is the only season that the team wore blue and white uniforms; the next year they would switch to the familiar green and gold color scheme which has remained ever since.
Offseason
NFL draft
The first four rounds of the 1958 Draft were conducted in early December 1957, when Blackbourn was head coach. The remaining 26 rounds were selected in late January. This draft by the Packers is regarded as among the best in NFL history. Round Pick Player Position School13Dan CurrieLinebackerMichigan State215Jim TaylorFullbackLSU327Dick ChristyBackNorth Carolina State336Ray NitschkeLinebackerIllinois439Jerry KramerGuardIdaho551Joe FrancisQuarterbackOregon State662Ken GrayTackleHoward Payne775Doug MaisonBackHillsdale886Mike BillCenterSyracuse999Norm JarockBackSt. Norbert10110Carl JohnsonTackleIllinois11123Harry HortonEndWichita State12134Wayne MillerEndBaylor13147Gene CookEndToledo13153Don HerndonBackTampa14158Harry HauffeTackleSouth Dakota15171Tom NewellBackDrake16182Arley FinleyTackleGeorgia Tech17195Joe ReeseEndArkansas Tech18206Chuck StridGuardSyracuse20230John DuBoseBackTrinity (TX)21243Jerry KershnerTackleOregon22264Franklin MerlinoBackFlorida State23267Jack AshtonGuardSouth Carolina24278John JereckTackleDetroit25291Larry PlentyBackBoston College26302Esker HarrisGuardUCLA27315Neil HabigCenterPurdue28326Dave CrowellGuardWashington State29339Bob HaynesTackleSam Houston State30350John PetersTackleHouston
Yellow indicates a future Pro Bowl selection Green indicates a future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee
Regular season
Schedule Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 28 Chicago Bears L 20–34 0–1–0 City Stadium 32,150 Recap 2 October 5 Detroit Lions T 13–13 0–1–1 City Stadium 32,053 Recap 3 October 12 Baltimore Colts L 17–24 0–2–1 Milwaukee County Stadium 24,553 Recap 4 October 19 at Washington Redskins L 21–37 0–3–1 Griffith Stadium 25,228 Recap 5 October 26 Philadelphia Eagles W 38–35 1–3–1 City Stadium 31,043 Recap 6 November 2 at Baltimore Colts L 0–56 1–4–1 Memorial Stadium 51,333 Recap 7 November 9 at Chicago Bears L 10–24 1–5–1 Wrigley Field 48,424 Recap 8 November 16 Los Angeles Rams L 7–20 1–6–1 City Stadium 28,051 Recap 9 November 23 San Francisco 49ers L 12–33 1–7–1 Milwaukee County Stadium 19,786 Recap 10 November 27 at Detroit Lions L 14–24 1–8–1 Briggs Stadium 50,971 Recap 11 December 7 at San Francisco 49ers L 21–48 1–9–1 Kezar Stadium 50,793 Recap 12 December 14 at Los Angeles Rams L 20–34 1–10–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 54,634 Recap Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. Thanksgiving: Thursday, Nov. 27. Roster 1958 Green Bay Packers final roster Quarterbacks Joe Francis Babe Parilli Bart Starr
Running backs Al Carmichael Paul Hornung K Don McIlhenny Jim Shanley Jim Taylor
Receivers Billy Howton Joe Johnson Max McGee P Steve Meilinger Offensive linemen Forrest Gregg T Jerry Kramer G Norm Masters T Jim Ringo C Jim Salsbury G Ollie Spencer T
Defensive linemen Nate Borden DE Len Ford DE Dave Hanner DT J. D. Kimmel DT Jim Temp DE Linebackers Tom Bettis MLB Dan Currie OLB Bill Forester OLB Marv Matuszak OLB Ray Nitschke MLB/OLB
Defensive backs Bobby Dillon S Billy Kinard CB Al Romine S John Symank S/CB Jesse Whittenton S/CB Reserve list Hank Bullough G (Retired) Howie Ferguson RB (IR) Hank Gremminger CB (IR) Jerry Helluin DT (IR) Gary Knafelc WR (IR) Ron Kramer WR (Military) Jack Losch RB (Military) Carlton Massey LB (IR) Earl Miller WR (IR) Bob Skoronski T (Military)
Rookies in italics Standings
Awards, records, and honors
Milestones Worst regular season record in franchise history
References