Cliff Christl started gathering oral histories with former Packers and others associated with the team in 2000. Excerpts from those interviews were periodically posted between 2014-21 at www.packers.com, and others will be periodically posted in the future.
On Oct. 22, 1974, a desperate Dan Devine, then the Green Bay Packers head coach and general manager, traded five prime draft picks to the Los Angeles Rams for 34-year-old quarterback John Hadl. Devine gave up the Packers first-, second- and third-round choices in the 1975 draft, and their first- and second-round picks in 1976.
Those choices turned out to be the ninth, 28th and 61st selections in 1975; and the eighth and the 39th picks in 1976.
The Rams parlayed that draft haul into defensive tackle Mike Fanning, cornerback Monte Jackson and center Geoff Reece in '75; and veteran wide receiver Ron Jessie through a trade for the eighth overall pick and cornerback Pat Thomas in '76.
Jackson became a two-time Pro Bowl selection, intercepted a league-high 10 passes in his second season and was named Associated Press All-Pro in 1976. Thomas also became a two-time Pro Bowl choice and a 1980 AP All-Pro. Combined, the two corners had 49 career interceptions.
Fanning was never decorated as an all-pro caliber player, but he survived 10 seasons and registered 43½ career sacks. From 1975-82, he was part of one of the most dominating pass rush units in pro football history, one that also included ends Jack Youngblood, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, and Fred Dryer, along with tackle Larry Brooks.
Jessie was named to the Pro Bowl in his second season with the Rams and started for most of five years with them when healthy. The draft pick that the Rams traded for him wound up with the Chicago Bears, who used it to select University of Wisconsin tackle Dennis Lick. He started for the Bears for six seasons when he was healthy but never played at an all-pro level.
Only Reece, who lasted one year with the Rams, could be classified as a bust.
In 1973, Hadl had led the Rams to a 12-2 record and the NFC Western Division title. In addition, they led the league in total offense, and Hadl was named the Associated Press All-Pro quarterback and was runner-up in league MVP voting.
However, a year later and only nine days before the trade, Hadl was benched late in the third quarter of a 17-6 loss to the Packers. At that point of the game, Hadl had completed only 6 of 16 passes for 59 yards with two interceptions.
Two days later, on Oct. 15, Rams coach Chuck Knox named James Harris as his starting quarterback. "John Hadl has said himself that he's in a bit of a slump right now," was how Knox explained his decision to relegate Hadl to second string.
A week later, Devine traded five draft picks – that if my calculations are correct – would have totaled 4,212 points on the Jimmy Johnson Draft Trade Value Chart that was devised several years later.
For the sake of comparison – again, if my calculations are correct – Minnesota swapped picks worth 4,893 points in the Herschel Walker trade with Dallas, although that doesn't include the subtraction of points from the choices the Vikings received in return in what was a much more complicated deal, including both conditional choices and veteran players.
What Denver paid Seattle for quarterback Russell Wilson in 2022, according to my math, was less than what the Packers paid for Hadl. The point total was 4,114 without subtracting the fourth-round choice that the Seahawks sent back to the Broncos. Then again, the Broncos also swapped three veteran players of value.
After the trade, Hadl waited two-and-a-half days before reporting to the Packers or until he received a hefty raise. According to testimony in a 1977 court hearing in Minneapolis, Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom gave Hadl $400,000 to report to the Packers and prevent the trade from being voided.
Once in Green Bay, Hadl replaced an injured Jack Concannon in the fourth quarter of his second game, a 17-6 loss to Washington. A week later, in the ninth game of a 14-game season, Hadl made his first start and led the Packers to a 20-3 victory over the Chicago Bears. Green Bay followed that with two more victories over Minnesota and the San Diego Chargers before finishing the season with three straight losses.
In 1975, Hadl started 13 of the Packers' 14 games under new head coach Bart Starr. They won only four of those games as Hadl threw 21 interceptions compared to six touchdown passes.
Following the season, Starr traded Hadl, cornerback Ken Ellis, and third- and fourth-round draft choices to the Houston Oilers for quarterback Lynn Dickey. Hadl spent two seasons with the Oilers, went 1-5 in his six starters and retired.
Were you aware beforehand that the Rams might trade you? "Chuck Knox told me a couple days ahead of time that they had pretty much finalized it."
On being traded to Green Bay one year after being named AP All-Pro: "I was kind of shocked. The year before I was MVP of the league (actually, just the NFC). Leading passer and all that stuff. All of a sudden, I got traded. I understand what (Dan) Devine gave up with all those draft choices. But I enjoyed it. The people were great. It was fun playing in Lambeau. I grew to really like it."
On reports at the time of the trade that your arm was shot due to shoulder issues: "It was fine. I had no problems. They were saying that I did, but I didn't. I don't know where that came from. I didn't have an arm problem. I remember the doctor, a big, old gruff guy, he grabbed that shoulder and twisted it and turned it and yanked it. I said, 'I don't have an arm problem, but you keep this up, I'm going to have one.' That was the first guy I met when I went in the locker room (in Green Bay). He was a big, old guy. He gave it the real test.
Did you injure your arm at any point with the Packers? "No. I never got hurt playing football. Never missed a game because of injury, ever."
On whether he was still capable of putting some zip on the ball: "Sure."
What was your reaction to the Packers giving up five high draft picks to obtain you? "I didn't really believe it. I didn't think anybody would be that desperate. I didn't think anybody at that time was worth that much. That's a lot. And I had a call from a guy in the league who told me about the value of those draft choices and it was quite a bit of money. That's when I said, 'I'm not going unless there's more money.'"
On his brief holdout before reporting to the Packers and the raise he received: "As I remember, I was kind of into renegotiation with the Rams when it all happened. I just made the statement that – it was halfway through the year anyway – if I didn't get a better contract or more money, there wasn't going to be a trade. I'd go back down to San Diego and wait the year out and see what happened the next year. I think the Rams did more than the Packers. The Rams put in a lot of money in that deal. The Packers did some, but not anything like what the Rams did. (The Rams) paid at least half of it (his salary) if not more. It was two or three times more. I was right about $95,000 when I was with the Rams. It kicked up pretty good after the deal with the Packers."
On his relationship with Devine: "Devine recruited me out of high school when he was at Missouri. I think that's how this all came about. He knew me and about me and what he was going to get. He was kind of desperate at that time to save his job, but he didn't have the players to do that. One player wasn't going to make that much difference."
On playing for Devine: "That was fine. I knew him and knew what I was coming into. He was great. He let me run the show like a quarterback. I didn't have any problems with him at all."
On his season-and-a-half in Green Bay: "I think initially the people didn't like it, but I can understand that. At the same time, I didn't ask for it either. People were unhappy for awhile, but we went in and beat Minnesota when they were leading the league and that kind of settled it down. I liked the people and Bart Starr was in the neighborhood and he helped a lot, and then he took over the next year."
On his admission in a national magazine that he needed to do 750 exercises a day to keep his right arm alive just before making his second start in Green Bay: "Exercises have given me a brand new arm, basically."
On completing 10 of 19 passes for 199 yards but seven to his backs for 150 yards in his second start with the Packers, a 19-7 upset over Minnesota, which was 7-2 at the time: "(The Vikings' defenders) were dropping off so far, they weren't going to give up the big gainer. That's their theory and it's worked for a long time."
On fumbling three times in a 36-14 loss to Philadelphia, when he completed only 16 of 40 passes on a windy, rainy day: "I can't explain it. That's never happened to me in my whole career."
Were you aware some of the Packers discussed boycotting the final game of the season in Atlanta as a protest against Devine? "No, I didn't hear anything. What I remember most about that last game, it was raining like hell down in Atlanta. It was an unbelievable rain. We got beat. I went into the locker room after the game and Dan had been fired. I went up to the coach and said, 'Sorry it didn't work out. Sometimes things happen and that's the way it is.' He said, 'John, don't worry about it. They're going to announce me as the head coach at Notre Dame tomorrow.' I fell off the bench. That was right in the locker room down in Atlanta. That was the last contact I had with him."
On whether he and Starr struck up a relationship in 1974: "He came over a couple times and we visited in my apartment there. We talked about the history of the Packers and what it was all about in Green Bay and that helped a lot. Plus, I had known him through the years anyway from being in the same business and everything."
On the hiring of Starr as coach following the 1974 season: "I think it's great. He's obviously a highly qualified individual who knows the game of football. … I don't think there is any doubt we'll have a good relationship and get this thing going in a positive direction."
On getting back his No. 21 before the 1975 season after wearing No. 12 the year before, when No. 21 belonged to defensive back Charlie Hall: "Last year I offered him money, this year I offered him beer and he took the beer. … (Actually) I didn't want to come in and take the shirt off the guy's back."
On completing only 11 of 31 passes with two interceptions in Starr's coaching debut, a 30-16 loss to Detroit marred by three blocked punts that led to 21 Lions points: "Take away the three blocked punts and we win. They did nothing on our defense."
On Don Milan starting the eighth game for him in 1975 after he had suffered a back injury the week before when the Packers fell to 1-6, only to be inserted late in the third quarter with the Packers trailing the Bears, 27-7: "I told Bart I could play, but he made the only decision he could. I hadn't practiced and I really didn't know what I could do. Nor did the doctors know what I could do."
After completing 11 of 28 passes for 93 yards with three interceptions in the Packers' second meeting with Minnesota, a 24-3 loss that was their ninth in 12 games in 1975: "We just got our (bleeps) whipped. There's no big secret, they whipped us from the start."
On facing the Rams for the first time since the trade in the 13th week of 1975: "When it first happened, it was a shock, particularly the way it happened, because I was coming off the best year I ever had. It happened so fast it was an ego knocker-downer. But I've adjusted now and I'm happy. I was upset and said a few things when I left there, but I don't feel that way anymore."
On his plans for the future while the 3-9 Packers were practicing in Palm Springs, Calif., in preparation for that game against the Rams: "I want to keep playing. I love the game and want to be a part of it. And I also want to be a part of the rebuilding here. There's no doubt about it, it's coming and it's going to be rapid. I want to go out as a winner; that's what it's all about. Barring any major injuries, I think I can play another five, six more years with the proper training in the offseason."
On playing for Starr in 1975: "I loved Bart. He was truly one of those guys, what you see is what you get. I really have a lot of respect for him and his love for the Packers and just as a human being. He was a great guy."
Was there a big difference between Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman's passing attack while playing for him with the Chargers from 1962-69 – Gillman's nickname was the "Father of the Modern Passing Game" – and the one you ran in Green Bay? "Night and day. Like the weather in Florida and Green Bay. You had more options, better design, one thing would lead to another. With Gillman's offense, you'd have four options with every play. Just a couple (in Green Bay). But I'd use a lot of Gillman's philosophies in my own mind, and I'd tell some guys to do some things that weren't on the agenda. It wasn't complicated (the offense in Green Bay)."
On playing with future Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Ted Hendricks, who spent one season with the Packers in 1974: "He and I kind of toured the town at times. He led me astray a couple times. We'd go downtown and start the beer drinking they do up there. We had a good time."
On where he'd rank Fred Carr, another outstanding talent at outside linebacker, among the characters he played with over his 14 seasons: "He's one of the top two, and you'd have to go back to the old AFL days to find the other one. I've seen a lot of talkers, but he's one that gets on the ballfield and plays. That's what counts. He gets on the field and knocks the (bleep) out of people."
On having the 31-year-old Concannon, another veteran with a fondness for Green Bay's night life, as his backup in 1974: "We were close. We were quarterbacks and we talked and had meetings together. One of the things, we'd do – I always had a weight problem – was at the weigh-in, they'd give me a weight of whatever it was, 210, and I'd be 213, 214. It was $100 a pound fine if you were over your limit. We had a technique where when I got on the scale, Jack would get behind me and look over my shoulder at the scales, but he'd be lifting me up from behind and save about five pounds. He probably saved me about $1,000 that year."
On Starr trading him after one season: "I was living in Palm Desert (Calif.) in the offseason. Bart called and said he traded me to Houston and wanted to come out and tell me himself. I said, 'You don't need to do that.' He flew from Green Bay to Palm Desert to tell me. I told Bart 'You need to get a younger guy.' But he still came out and we had a meeting at the airport and then he turned around and went back. That was the kind of guy he was."
Hadl died in 2022 at age 82. The above excerpts were taken from an interview conducted in 2006 and others during the 1974 and '75 seasons.
