2026 52 Modern-era candidiates

[Brian wolf]

I know this is a different thread but Ken, what is the real story with Jack Vainisi ... on your site you mentioned misinformation concerning him? Was he a true GM with GB or Head Scout or Personel or everything? Was he more a financial officer/liason to official ownership?

[JohnTurney]

I had Lomas Brown on my podcast to talk about the push from the Lions. He was obviously flattered.

he is interesting candidate, but his big knock was him saying he intentionally missed block(s) to get his QB hurt. 15 years later he said he regretted it

[Ken Crippen]

I had Lomas Brown on my podcast to talk about the push from the Lions. He was obviously flattered.

he is interesting candidate, but his big knock was him saying he intentionally missed block(s) to get his QB hurt. 15 years later he said he regretted it

Hard to say if he intentionally missed blocks, but you watch film of him (and I know that you probably have), you can see him essentially get eaten alive at times. O-linemen make mistakes, but there are times when he looks waaaaay overmatched and gets beaten very quickly.

[Ken Crippen]

I know this is a different thread but Ken, what is the real story with Jack Vainisi ... on your site you mentioned misinformation concerning him? Was he a true GM with GB or Head Scout or Personel or everything? Was he more a financial officer/liason to official ownership?

He was head of scouting, but did not do the scouting himself. He looked through the reports that the scouts sent back and made his recommendations. He would occasionally go to a local game like the University of Wisconsin, but he was not the main scout at the game. When Lombardi came in, Lombardi made him the business manager. Essentially, he was their traveling secretary. He would make the travel arrangements and work the logistics to get the team to and from away games. He was also not the driving force behind Lombardi coming to Green Bay. That came from Dave Maraniss' book, and Maraniss admitted afterwards that he got it wrong.

I go through a lot more detail in my upcoming book on the early history of pro football scouting. There is a chapter on Vainisi laying everything out.

[Brian wolf]

Thank you. Might have been alot more hands involved in Packer's decisions, than just his. Cliff Christl felt former HC Lisle Blackbourn deserved as much credit for those great player drafts as Vainisi. Christl had some strong opinions about former receiver, Billy Howton as well. I can understand Howton being more of a diva receiver but he was there to catch passes, not lead sweeps as a blocker. I can understand why Lombardi used him as an example, though.

[Ken Crippen]

Thank you. Might have been alot more hands involved in Packer's decisions, than just his. Cliff Christl felt former HC Lisle Blackbourn deserved as much credit for those great player drafts as Vainisi. Christl had some strong opinions about former receiver, Billy Howton as well. I can understand Howton being more of a diva receiver but he was there to catch passes, not lead sweeps as a blocker. I can understand why Lombardi used him as an example, though.

The head coach ran the show when it came to drafts. Vainisi made some picks in the later rounds of the 1959 draft (McLean was gone and Lombardi was not on board yet), but it was Ronzani, Blackburn, and McLean that made the majority of the picks during Vainisi's tenure.

Cliff interviewed many people from that time and has said that there was no question who was in charge.