Paul Hornung was football's "Golden Boy" — handsome, talented, and fabulously successful. He had a great career at Notre Dame, where he won the Heisman Trophy (the only player ever to win it on a team with a losing record). He was the #1 draft pick in the NFL and went to the Green Bay Packers, a terrible team soon transformed by a new head coach, Vince Lombardi. Hornung's Packer teams would become a dynasty, and ten of his teammates (as well as Lombardi) would eventually join him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Hornung led the NFL in scoring from 1959 to 1961, setting a single-season scoring record in 1960 that still stands. He was Player of the Year in 1960 and 1961.

Hornung always loved the good life. He had girlfriends all across the country, and he was a regular at Toots Shor's and at clubs in Chicago and Los Angeles. A frustrated Lombardi once asked him whether he wanted to be a player or a playboy, and his teammates joked about his Hollywood ambitions. On game days Hornung was always ready to play, but the night after a game — and sometimes even the night before — was a different story.

For Hornung, the good life came at a price: his gambling cost him a year's suspension from the NFL in 1963. He accepted his punishment, refusing to implicate anyone else, but in this autobiography he reveals just how widespread gambling was in the NFL.

However, on the playing field Hornung and his Packer teammates made football history. Bart Starr, Max McGee, Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke, Jerry Kramer, Jim Ringo, Ron Kramer, Forrest Gregg, Fuzzy Thurston, Willie Davis, Herb Adderley, Willie Wood — they're all here, and Hornung has great stories to tell about them and about some of their biggest games together.

Golden Boy is a must-read for football fans, a colorful, candid slice of pigskin history from one of the game's immortal legends.

"Hornung personified his nickname, 'Golden Boy,' on many levels — as a football star; a handsome, hard-partying ladies' man; and a friend to the rich and beautiful — and his autobiography covers each aspect of his life in a colorful and up-front manner. The book, 'as told to William F. Reed,' is conversational in tone; readers will feel as if they're one of Hornung's Packer teammates or drinking buddies reminiscing about the good old days. Hornung was good at pretty much everything he did, and he lets readers know it. But the bragging and name-dropping (from JFK and Frank Sinatra to mobsters and countless showgirls) is balanced by Hornung's genuine love and respect for his mother, his Packers coach Vince Lombardi and his teammates and friends. Hornung honestly reflects on the blemishes on his golden halo, like his 1963 suspension for gambling. Since he's always acknowledged his guilt, this isn't tremendous news, but, admirably, Hornung does praise Pete Rozelle, the NFL commissioner who suspended him. Interestingly, he also says he tried to persuade Pete Rose, to no avail, to follow his lead and admit his gambling problem. Finally, Hornung convincingly apologizes for his 'stupid remarks' in March 2004 (he commented that his alma mater, Notre Dame, must lower its academic standards to 'get the black athlete'). While not a shining literary achievement, this is an entertaining autobiography. Photos. Agent, Frank Weiman. (Oct. 1) Forecast: Book events in Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wis., New York and South Bend, Ind., should jump-start sales. S&S will attempt to sell out the book's 100,000-copy first printing with national ads, a 20-city sports radio tour and TV publicity." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Describing some of the Green Bay Packers' great rivalries and showdowns with the Bears and the Giants, among others, "Golden Boy" is a must-read for football fans everywhere--a colorful, candid slice of football history from one of the game's immortal legends. of photos.

Paul Hornung's nickname, "Golden Boy," fit him perfectly. Not only was he blond-haired and handsome, his life was like a movie. At Notre Dame he had a fabulous career, becoming the only player ever to win the Heisman trophy on a losing team. The #1 NFL draft pick, he went to the lowly Green Bay Packers, suffering through two losing seasons before a new head coach, Vince Lombardi, turned the team around. Hornung thrived under Lombardi, leading the NFL in scoring from 1959-1961. He was player of the year in 1960 and 1961 and set scoring records that still stand. Hornung's career nearly ended when he was suspended for the 1963 season for gambling on games. Hornung acknowledged gambling, but in this autobiography he discusses how widespread it was in the NFL and why only he was suspended for it. Hornung offers fascinating descriptions of some of his colorful Packer teammates, including Bart Starr, Max McGee, Jerry Kramer, and Ray Nitschke, as well as Lombardi, to whom he was devoted. He vividly describes some of the Packer's great rivalries and showdowns with the Bears and the Giants, among others. Golden Boy is a must-read for football fans everywhere, a colorful, candid slice of football history from one of the game's immortal legends.

Paul Hornung is a member of the high school, college, and pro football halls of fame. After his playing days ended, he began new careers as a broadcaster, an actor, and a pitchman in television commercials. He currently broadcasts Monday Night Football on the Westwood One radio network. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Contents

Foreword

Preface

1. My Life on Scholarship

2. They Called Me "Cuddles"

3. Stiff-Arming the Bear

4. The Golden Boy Is Born

5. "Mom, I Won the Heisman!"

6. The Siberia of Sports

7. The Golden Boy Goes Hollywood

8. Meet the Guys

9. The Leader of the Pack

10. Football as It Was Meant to Be

11. The Breakthrough Year

12. How JFK Saved the Day

13. Golden Boy Inc.

14. Money Won Is Twice as Sweet as Money Earned

15. If You Want to Dance, You've Got to Pay the Fiddler

16. Calling Dr. Lombardi

17. When the Saints Come Marching In

18. Chicago, My Kind of Town

19. It Was His Way or the Highway

20. Good-bye, Vince; Hello, Howard

21. Halls of Shame and Fame

22. Where Have You Gone, Lindsey Nelson?

23. My Unbuckle Specials

24. Once a Notre Dame Man, Always a Notre Dame Man

25. To Err Is Human

26. The End Zone

Appendix

Index