Phil Vandersea, one of 39 players on the Green Bay Packers to appear in the first Super Bowl, died Saturday, Oct. 24, following a long illness. Vandersea, of Shrewsbury, Mass., was 83.
His death leaves only nine living Packers who played in that historically significant game on Jan. 15, 1967.
Vandersea played for the Packers during the 1966 season and again from 1968-69. He was a special teams standout, but also a player who never found his niche at any one position. He started as a fullback, moved to linebacker, then tight end, defensive end, defensive tackle and, finally, back to defensive end.
Vandersea was chosen by the Packers as a future – a player who first had to complete his final year of college eligibility – in the 16th round of the 1965 NFL Draft. After playing a final season at the University of Massachusetts, Vandersea signed with the Packers in 1966 and played in all 14 regular-season games, plus the NFL Championship Game in Dallas and what was then officially named the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, now officially recognized as Super Bowl I.
Vandersea was drafted as a fullback and scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Bart Starr in the first major scrimmage of training camp his rookie year. He also played fullback in the annual Intra-Squad Game on July 29 and the College All-Star Game on Aug. 5. But he was fourth on the depth chart behind future Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Taylor, second-year man Allen Jacobs – who was traded on the final cutdown to the New York Giants – and first-round draft pick Jim Grabowski.
Thus, Vandersea was moved to linebacker following the All-Star Game, a position he had never played before but at 6-foot-3, 234 pounds fit the Packers' mold at that position. Still, as a linebacker, he returned three kickoffs that season for 50 yards.
In February, Vandersea was one of three Packers, along with Paul Hornung and Bill Curry, selected by the New Orleans Saints in their expansion draft. Vandersea appeared in eight games for the Saints in 1967. In March 1968, Vandersea was cut by the Saints and claimed on waivers, Packers general manager Vince Lombardi announced at the time. However, according to the 1969 Football Register, Vandersea was sent back to the Packers in partial payment for Taylor.
Vandersea was converted again, this time to tight end, and caught one pass for 29 yards in that year's Intra-Squad Game. But he didn't catch a pass playing behind Marv Fleming and following the ninth game of the 1968 season, Vandersea was moved yet again to defensive end when Bob Brown broke his leg. Vandersea appeared in one game there and injured his arch.
Early in training camp in 1969, Vandersea was moved to defensive tackle, but then moved back to defensive end once the season started and appeared in all 14 games. Vandersea was waived by the Packers on the final cutdown before the start of the 1970 season.
The nine remaining Packers from their Super Bowl I team are Donny Anderson, Bill Curry, Carroll Dale, Boyd Dowler, Fleming, Grabowski, Dave Hathcock, Jerry Kramer and Dave Robinson.
