Packers History in 100 Plays - Project Update 1

It’s been almost a month since I launched one of my most ambitious projects yet related to The Power Sweep and I owe everyone a progress update.

My goal to this point was to be about 15% done with the project, and accounting for the research and writing I’ve been able to do, I’m nearly to that target. As of this morning, I have fully written six chapters of the book and researched 34, putting me 14.4% of the way to my goal of having a rough draft finished by June 30, 2025.

I feel good about the work I’ve put in so far. I wish I’d have been able to get more chapters written, but if I can at least identify the plays I want to focus on for each event tied to Packers history, I think that’s half the battle won. Well, maybe about a third of the battle. I think research counts for about 30% of the work and writing counts for about 70%, which is how I landed on 14.4% in my progress tracker. But, give or take, I’m where I want to be.

It’s been very rewarding to dive into the history books — and newspapers and YouTube videos (I’m always surprised how many truly ancient Packers games you can find on YouTube) — and follow the development of the Packers over the years. Writing-wise, I’m still in the 1920s, and the Packers (and the NFL, for that matter) are still a fly-by-night organization barely making ends meet. I’m inclined to believe anybody who says the Packers are a team of destiny, because staying alive through those early years was anything but guaranteed, and the Packers were in awfully dire financial straights more than once.

On the research front, I’m into the 1960s. You’d think this would be well-traveled ground, but I consistently find nuggets that I’d never heard of or noticed before.

To wit: one of the plays I’m writing about comes from the 1962 season, when Jim Taylor set the team’s new single-season rushing record (one that stood for more than 40 years). I’ve never had it contextualized this way before, but in the course of my research, I learned that Taylor’s 1,474 yards in 1962 represented just the fourth 1000-yard season in team history. The previous record had been 1,307 yards, set by Taylor himself in 1961. Prior to that, the record was 1,101 yards, set once again by…Jim Taylor. And prior to that, Tony Canadeo held the record with 1,049 yards, which was then just the third 1000-yard season in league history.

That’s important context and crucial for telling the Packers’ story, and it’s exactly the sort of thing I want to have in the book.

The challenge for the next month will be getting more stuff on paper. Research is fine, but researching 100 plays doesn’t get me to the next draft. I hope to have a good deal more actual writing committed to virtual paper by my next check in, which will come on May 19.

Until then, thanks for your support!