Bogey wrote: ↑22 Apr 2025 22:23
for @RingoCStarrQB, @BF004, @NCF, @APB
Great honor for Vainisi. Ted should get one too.
IMG_0418(1).jpg
awesome, finally some accolades long overdue
Jack was never given the title of General manager, maybe his age played a part in that, he was only 23 when hired as personal director, and in 10 years drafted more HOF players than any GM in that short time span, awesome.
thanks for the pic Bogey
a little more about his legacy, I don't think I've seen this article here before.
By Jeff Alexander
Published: Jul. 10, 2024 at 7:35 PM EDT
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - When it comes to some of the most important figures in Packers history, his name is not often mentioned.
But after Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi, it’s hard to find anyone who left a bigger mark on the franchise, especially when it comes to the draft
in this edition of Countdown 2 The Draft, Jack Vainisi’s lasting legacy.
Just across from Lambeau Field stands a monument with a name many Packers fans today likely won’t recognize.
But in the storied history of the Green Bay Packers, very few people have had more of an impact than Jack Vainisi.
Dr. Sam Vainisi, a retired, world-renowned veterinary ophthalmologist, remembers his older brother as a football star growing up in Chicago.
”Jack was a tackle, as a junior he made All-Illinois first team, that’s how good he was,” said Sam.
Jack’s talent led to a scholarship at Notre Dame, where he played one year before being drafted into the Army and sent to Japan just after the end of World War Two.
While playing on General MacArthur’s football team, Jack contracted rheumatic fever, and after becoming seriously ill, he was sent back to Chicago where he spent a year in the hospital.
After recovering in 1950, his freshman coach at Notre Dame, Gene Ronzani, was now the coach of the Packers.
“Ronzani knew Jack, he knew how good of a football player he was and he knew he had a good football mind, so he asked Jack to come up here and be his scout,” said Sam.
The 1950s proved to be lean years for the Pack, though, as coaches were fired and hired.
Despite the team’s futility on the field, the board was impressed by the players their head scout and personnel director was drafting, players like Jim Ringo in 1953, Forest Gregg and Bart Starr in ’56, Paul Hornung in ’57 and Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke and Jerry Kramer in ’58. He also signed Willie Wood and made trades for Willie Davis and Henry Jordan.
“He’s got 13 guys in the Hall of Fame that he’s responsible for in 10 years, nobody’s done that,” said Sam.
Sam says his brother was ahead of his time, even compiling information on players before they entered college.
“He knew every kid in high school, he had a number of coaches that we would be in contact with a couple times a year,” said Sam.
In 1959, believing the team needed a disciplinarian, Jack convinced the team to pursue someone he knew: Giants offensive coordinator Vince Lombardi.
Lombardi agreed to come to Green Bay, under one stipulation.
“There was a million guys on the board of directors, you got to get that board of directors down and the only one I’m going to deal with is Jack Vainisi, so literally Jack brought him here, he wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t for Jack,” said Sam.
Sadly, the partnership between Lombardi and Vainisi didn’t last long.
Just after Thanksgiving in 1960, Jack suffered a massive heart attack and died from complications of rheumatic fever. He was just 33 years old, and Vince Lombardi was crushed.
“They loved each other, they really did,” said Sam.
The following year, when the draft rolled around, Lombardi again tapped into Jack’s expertise. Sam only learned about it years later when he attended a book signing for Hall of Famer Herb Adderly.
“He said I never got to thank your brother so I want to thank his brother and we shook hands and I almost cried, and he signed it,” said Sam. “He said your brother told me when I was a junior at Michigan State you’re going to be my number one draft pick, he said when Lombardi drafted me he said dammit you better be good because I’m going on Vainisi’s word.”
In 1982, the Packers inducted Jack Vainisi into their Hall of Fame. A few years ago, he was up for consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a contributor but fell short of the votes needed.
“Vince would turn over in his grave if he knew Jack wasn’t in the Hall of Fame,” said Sam.
But Sam’s hoping next spring will shed some light on those Hall of Fame voters.
“I think a lot of those guys are going to be here for the draft and a lot of them are going to read that monument and hopefully, just hopefully, they might get a call,” said Sam.
And Sam says there’s no doubt what hosting the draft in Green Bay would mean to Jack.
“He would’ve just loved to have been here, just loved it, been part of it,” said Sam.
In many ways, he will be. After all, it’s being held in the Titletown he helped build.
On the night before the NFL draft in Green Bay next spring, many more people will learn about Jack Vainisi.
The Jack Vainisi Memorial Award will be presented to the NFL’s top scout and personnel director during a banquet at the Riverside Ballroom.
https://www.wbay.com/2024/07/10/countdo ... t-dynasty/
