FORREST GREGG 1933-2019

VINCE LOMBARDI once called Forrest Gregg "the finest player I have ever coached." Lombardi's wife was a fan as well. "Marie calls Forrest a picture ballplayer, and that's what he is," Lombardi said. "Watching him perform, watching him execute those assignments, you get that good feeling."

During a 15-year Hall of Fame career (14 of which were spent with the Packers), Gregg's assignments were varied. In 1965 the AP named him All-Pro at guard, while the UPI honored him as a tackle.

A native of Sulphur Springs, Texas, where he returned offseasons early in his career to sell cars, Gregg was big but not massive. "He doesn't have the size to knock people down, so he uses his football ability," a Packers coach once said.

After retiring, Gregg got his first head coaching job with the Browns in 1975—with some help from Marie Lombardi, who made an unsolicited call to Cleveland owner Art Modell. Seven years later, with the Bengals, he became the first man to appear in a Super Bowl as a player and a head coach.