In July 11, 1967, the Green Bay Press-Gazette ran a story in its sports section with this headline:

“Vince tabs Hyland potential starter, retires Paul’s ‘5.’”

Vince was Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi and Paul was Paul Hornung, the former Packers halfback who surprisingly had been selected by the New Orleans Saints in the NFL expansion draft earlier that year.

Hornung’s number, though, never was retired, for reasons unknown. The Packers can and should rectify that, though they probably won’t, at least any time in the relatively near future. And the fact it isn’t retired is emblematic of a widespread under-appreciation for Hornung’s career, even if he is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

For instance, in researching this column I came across a blog post on Bleacher Report that picked Hornung as the least deserving player in the Hall of Fame. The article was by Scott Kacsmar, a football analytics expert and assistant editor at Football Outsiders.

Let me say right here, Kacsmar and Football Outsiders do great work. The NFL play-by-play data they’ve compiled and the analyses they provide are excellent. Really good stuff.

But the conclusion about Hornung illustrates the limits of football analytics based on the limited stats available from 50 years or more ago. It just doesn’t work in this case, because you have to know Lombardi’s Packers extremely well to understand Hornung’s importance.

Continue Reading @ESPN