Max McGee

Green Bay -- Max McGee, a record-setting receiver who helped the Green Bay Packers win five World Championships and later was a popular color commentator on the team's radio broadcasts, died Saturday at his home in Deephaven, Minn.

McGee was 75.

Emergency crews were called to McGee's residence at approximately 5:20 p.m. after a report that a man had fallen off his roof and was unconscious.

Life-saving measures were performed on McGee, but emergency personnel were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Born William "Max" McGee on July 16, 1932, in Saxton City, Nev., he played a total of 12 seasons for the Packers. After playing high school football in White Oak, Texas, and then collegiately at Tulane University, the Packers selected McGee in the fifth round of the 1954 NFL draft.

After catching 36 passes, including nine touchdowns, as a rookie, McGee spent the next two years as a pilot in the Air Force.

Despite his service to his country, Mr. McGee ended his career with 345 receptions for 6,346 yards and an 18.4-yard average, the second highest per-catch average in team history. He remains the 10th-highest scorer with 306 points on 51 touchdowns.

...McGee was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1975, alongside former teammates and close friends - some of whom were known to enjoy a good time together away from the field - Paul Hornung, Jerry Kramer and Fred "Fuzzy" Thurston.

Also inducted that year was Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, who got a quick introduction to the always colorful McGee early in Lombardi's tenure.

Upset over a loss, Lombardi decided to start with the fundamentals - by introducing a football.

From the back of the room, McGee replied, "Uh, Coach, could you slow down a little. You're going too fast for us."

Even an angry Lombardi was forced to laugh. And McGee might have been the only player who could have gotten away with that.

By the time Super Bowl I was played on Jan. 15, 1967, McGee was a reserve who had caught just four passes all season. Figuring he wouldn't see much playing time behind starter Boyd Dowler, McGee had one of his infamous nights out on the town in Los Angeles.

McGee left the team hotel after the 11 p.m. bed-check by assistant coach Dave "Hawg" Hanner.

McGee tried to entice Hornung, his roommate, to join him and two American Airlines stewardesses at a local bar. Hornung declined, as he was getting married in three days.

"Neither of us figured to play in the game," McGee recounted in Lea's book, "Magnificent Seven." "Then Hornung backed out. . . . the fine was something like $15,000 if you got caught breaking curfew the night before the game. Hell, that's what we were going to get if we won the game. You know, money didn't mean much to me."

McGee returned to his room just in time for the Packers' team breakfast and then caught an hour's nap before boarding the bus to the Los Angeles Coliseum.

The 34-year-old veteran was seated on the bench next to Hornung, discussing the upcoming wedding and bachelor party, when Lombardi ordered him into the game after Dowler was injured on the second play of the game. McGee couldn't find his helmet.

"I forgot to bring it out, and I played the first series with somebody else's helmet," McGee said in the book. "I told Dad Braisher (equipment manager) to go find my helmet, and he found it."

McGee would go on to produce one of the greatest performances in Super Bowl history: seven catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns as Green Bay beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.

Because of the Packers' bye week, 620 WTMJ had scheduled a rebroadcast of the Packers vs. Bengals, September 20, 1992.

Of course, Jim Irwin and Max McGee called the game.

On September 20th, 1992, most Packers fans expected Green Bay to take on, and probably lose to, a 2-0 Cincinnati Bengals squad that had been to the playoffs two of the last three years.

Few expected the Packers to pull out a victory after going 0-2 against Minnesota and lowly Tampa Bay.

No one anticipated that the man who would pull out that win would be a second-string 2nd-round pick-turned-journeyman from Southern Mississippi who couldn't stay on in Atlanta because of his partying...or that this game would start one of the most incredible careers in NFL history with such a last-second and victorious bang.

That's what makes this game so much of a hallmark event in Packers and NFL history.

And what makes Newsradio 620 WTMJ's "Birth of a Legend" rebroadcast so special.

The rebroadcast was meant to reflect on the beginnings Brett Favre's incredible career as a Green Bay Packer.

Because of Max's death, the rebroadcast felt like a tribute to him.

The interview that Jay Sorgi did with Jim Irwin earlier today is especially touching.

You can hear it at the 620 WTMJ site.

JAY SORGI: And finally, if there's just one final thing you'd want people to know about Max, how you miss him, how much he meant to you, what would you say to the listeners?

JIM IRWIN: Well, you know I had a good career. With Max, I had a great career because he made it into a great career. What I want them to remember is that here's a guy who lived life to the fullest... He never backed down. He knew what he wanted to do. He went about doing it; and don't feel sorry for Max. I don't want you to do that. I want you to know that he had a great life.