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ID - Eau Claire Leader-Telegram k Tuesday, January 28, 1975BuckshotbyRon BuckliFuzzy highly-deserving of Packer honorsTen names synonomous with championship football were inducted into the Green Bay Packer Football Hall of Fame Saturday night in Green Bay.The list was an imposing one — Vince Lombardi, Paul Hornung, Jerry Kramer, Don Chandler. Jim Taylor, Willie Davis, Henry Jordan, Max McGee, Hon Kramer.. .and Fuzzy Thurston.Yes, Fuzzy Thurston, the skinny little kid that came out of Altoona High School in the early 1950s as a basketball player only to blossom into one of pro football’s greatestoffensive linemen ever.Thurston's tale ranks as one of football’s great Cinderella stories.He went to Valpariso (Ind.) University on a basketball scholarship and didn’t play football until his junior year, attracting the attention of pro scouts.He was drafted No. 5 by the Eagles in 1955 but entered service the same year and hooked up with the Bears as a free agent when discharged. He went back to the Eagles in 1957 and wound up w ith the Colts in 1958, serving on thfe special teams for the world champions.When Lombardi took the Packer reigns in 1959, one of his first, and shrewdest moves, was to pluck Thurston in exchange for linebacker Marv Matuzak.Thurston donned the familiar No. 63 with the Packers and immediately became a fixture in Lombardi’s offensive line at left guard.He went on to all-pro honors, gaining more votes than any other player on the 1962 UPI All-Pro team. In all, Thurston played on five Packer world championship teams before retiring in 1968.Even then, he held enough respect to draw the attention of the Bears' George Halas for further play.But Thurston, already laying a solid foundation for his restaurant business, decided his football days were over.Thurston, now a successful restauranter, owns a string of Left Guard Charcoal Houses, one of which oper-cites HereFuzzy Thurston's success—arrived at on guts anddetermination — is an inspiration to all future hopefuls. No one more deserved the Packers Hall of Fame — which has to reflect one of the greatest honors in football.
Newspaper Details
Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US
Tue, Jan 28, 1975
Page 1
Full Page
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Anonymous
WI, USA 19 May 2020
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