"He said, 'You're going to play tight end for me.' Well, I played wide receiver for the first five years. He was 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds, but told Lombardi he was 220. "The first thing Lombardi said was, 'How much do you weigh?'" Knafelc said during a 2013 interview for Packer Plus. Knaflec played wide receiver before Lombardi moved him to tight end, where one of his primary duties was to block linebackers for the famed Lombardi sweep. Babe Parilli threw a 6-yard pass between the goal posts to Knafelc to secure a 21-17 victory over the Western Conference champion Chicago Bears. In a 1959 game, Knafelc caught what proved to be a game-winning, 21-yard pass from Lamar McHan for a 21-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, giving first-year coach Vince Lombardi three wins in his first three games.īut the touchdown current fans might most remember him for was in 1957, the first game played at what is now Lambeau Field. "Despite there being time left on the clock, hundreds if not thousands of joyous fans stormed out of the stands at old City Stadium, surrounded Knafelc in the end zone and carried him off the field to the Packers' bench, delaying the extra point and ensuing kickoff for several minutes." Packers historian Cliff Christl, in his story on Knafelc, explains what happened next: His first game-winner was in 1955 on an 18-yard pass from Tobin Rote with 20 seconds left against the three-time defending Western Conference champion Detroit Lions, giving the Packers an unexpected 20-17 victory. Knafelc scored 23 touchdowns in his 10-year career, but three of them, all game-winners, were especially notable.
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