MIAMI, FL – JANUARY 14, 1968: Defensive back Herb Adderley #26 of the Green Bay Packers
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1968 Kidwiler Collection/Diamond Images
Packers legend Herb Adderley has passed away.
The football community has been shaken by the loss of players like Gale Sayers and Fred Dean over the last few months, and yet another Hall of Famer has unfortunately passed away.
Legendary Green Bay Packers cornerback Herb Adderley passed away today at the age of 81, as Hall of Fame President David Baker confirmed in a statement. Adderley is the third Packers Hall of Famer from the glory days of the 1960s to pass away this season, joining safety Willie Wood and defensive end Willie Davis.
Herb Adderley was an instrumental member of one of the game’s best defenses
After a standout career as a halfback at Michigan State, Vince Lombardi moved his 1961 first-round pick to cornerback to avoid him sitting on the bench behind Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung. The move was an instant success, as Adderley made the first of five Pro Bowls and seven All-Pro teams.
Adderley intercepted 48 passes in his career, establishing himself as not only one of the best cornerbacks of the 1960s, but also one of the most accomplished winners in the history of the game. Adderley was an NFL champion three times in the pre-Super Bowl era before winning the first two Super Bowls with Lombardi. He later joined Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys in the later stages of his career, and that move also netted him a championship.
Adderley was one of the first truly dominant ballhawks, blending speed and physicality into a lethal combination that helped set the template for future cornerbacks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Mjqm3tOTM
The images of Lombardi and Bart Starr hovered over those 60s Packers teams, but Adderley’s ability to change a game with his defense made him one of the most valuable Packers of that era. His death will be taken hard in Green Bay.
