![]() Bear Bryant was Don Hutson's teammate at Alabama. In that 1950 Orange Bowl, Babe Parilli was Kentucky's starting quarterback and two years later he was the Packers' No. Paul, here's my hunch about how some of these stories that are part of family lore get more and more embellished over time. But I can find no record of him trying out for the Packers, much less playing for them. A Joe Vargas was a 29-year-old kicker for Santa Clara University when it upset Bear Bryant-coached Kentucky in the 1950 Orange Bowl (at the end of the 1949 season). I found nothing under the spelling, Varges. I don't think Lambeau would have had to give permission for that. As far as sitting on the sidelines, I believe the Packers for years allowed people in wheelchairs to watch the game from there. Lambeau was the coach at East High that year. ![]() In fact, I even checked the lineups for the Green Bay East High School-Oshkosh Normal football game in 1920, but found no Posorske. ![]() I know William played basketball – and I think football – at Oshkosh Normal. Maybe he played with or against Lambeau or some of the other original Packers in another sport. I've found nothing to suggest he played for the Packers, but Lambeau and many of the team's local players from those first two years played on amateur baseball teams, amateur basketball teams, etc., in the summer and winter. I researched your question more than some of the others here because many of the details you provided proved to be true, and also because I was able to determine William Posorske was an athlete at Oshkosh State Normal School in the winter of 1919 and may have coached, as well as taught, at West De Pere in 1920. It would be conceivable back then for a team like that to pull someone out of the stands to play. Oshkosh lost, 85-0, the Northwestern's story on the game consisted of one paragraph with no names mentioned and I don't believe the team ever played another game. 26, 1919, and only five days earlier, The Daily Northwestern in Oshkosh said the team was just being organized. However, keep in mind, the Packers-Oshkosh game was played on Oct. I thought maybe I'd find a Posorske playing against the Packers for Oshkosh in 1919 or maybe for De Pere in 1920, but there were no names even close to it. But I believe the latter might have been a St. And there were two players who appeared in single games in 1920 who haven't been confirmed, either: a Smith and a Malle or Malls or a spelling close to that. That's not much more than a five-mile drive from Green Bay. From what I've been able to determine, your father-in-law's father took a teaching job at West De Pere High School in 1920. I haven't been able to come up with a name, either. As far back as 1959, when many of the original Packers were still living, Green Bay historian Jack Rudolph attempted to identify Bradlee and nobody could remember him or his name. In the fifth game against Racine, a player listed as Bradlee in the game summary substituted at right tackle for Sam Powers. In 1919, 25 players participated in the Packers' 11 games and 24 of them can be identified. I couldn't find anything close to that name on the 1918 city team or teams, either. No Posorske was listed as playing for the Packers in 1919 or 1920, when they were comprised of mostly local players and played an independent schedule. Sometimes it was an hour before he could do an encore." Glad to hear he helped you out when you needed it. But he was at his best in the dressing room and in the rookie show, where he performed his never-to-be-forgotten impersonation of a starfish, in which he would run full-tilt at a wall or locker, leap into it with arms and legs outspread, and slide slowly down until he hit the floor. Eight years later, one of the Vancouver columnists wrote: "Nobody ever wanted it more than or trained with more enthusiasm than Billy Joe, the nicest man who never made the team. He didn't make it when he tried out for the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League in 1978, but he left a lasting impression. But, maybe more than anything, it sounds like Billy Joe was a character. At both schools, he was an outstanding weight man in track, as well. He also played two years at Oregon State and then transferred to Arizona State, where he played as a senior in 1974. ![]() He was an all-heart, 5-11, 260-pound defensive tackle. Anyway, Winchester played in six games for the WFL Portland Thunder in 1975. I don't know if imaginations ran wild, people were better story tellers back when or what. Or at least their descendants have made the claim on their behalf based on stories passed down and obviously exaggerated over generations. I've told people in the seven-plus years I've been Packers historian that nothing has surprised me more than learning how many people over the years claimed to have played for the Packers, but didn't. Sorry, but no Billy Joe Winchester ever played for the Packers or the Raiders. ![]()
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