By Eric Goska
Another NFL season is on the horizon. To pass the time until kickoff, let’s take a look at some of the quickest end-zone infiltrators in Packers history.
Scoring any touchdown is a reason to celebrate. But pushing
across a six-pointer earlier rather than later can do more than boost morale.
It can better the odds for victory.
History bears this out. Since 1921, the Packers are a robust
433-180-8 (.704) in regular-season games in which they registered a
first-quarter touchdown. In games in which they failed to do so, they are an
underwhelming 386-431-31 (.473).
Keep that in mind when Packers quarterback Jordan Love and
his offensive mates open the 2026 season at U.S. Bank Stadium in September.
The Packers have been coming away with first-quarter
touchdowns since Bill DuMoe broke the plane on a 25-yard interception return in
a 43-6 rout of the Evansville Crimson Giants in 1921. In the years since, more
than 200 others have joined in the fun, with Don Hutson (22) and Davante Adams
(22) getting there most often in the opening 15 minutes of play.
If Adams and Hutson represent quantity, which players speak
to alacrity?
Say hello to the two-minute men. Members of this
never-before-assembled band of competitors all cashed in before the strains of
the national anthem faded away.
Dick Gordon opened the door in 1926 when he snagged a
touchdown pass from Jack McAuliffe in a 35-0 trouncing of the Racine Tornadoes. He
crossed the goal line “inside of two minutes” (Green Bay Press-Gazette) and “in
the first two minutes of play” (Milwaukee Sentinel).
Aaron Jones was the last to gain entrance into this
exclusive club. The running back counted on a 46-yard run against the Saints in
2017 (two minutes elapsed) and again on an 8-yard burst in Seattle (1:14) a
year later.
In all, 33 Packers have reached the end zone in the opening
120 seconds of a game. Their path to paydirt has included scores from scrimmage
as well those on returns of interceptions, kicks and fumbles.
The Fastest
Travis Williams caught the NFL flat-footed in 1967. The
Roadrunner, as he was known at Arizona State, returned four kickoffs for
touchdowns in that, his rookie year.
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| Travis Williams |
Two weeks later, the Roadrunner returned a pair of kickoffs
for touchdowns in a 55-7 rout of Cleveland. On Dec. 9, he breezed 104
yards to TD No. 4 in a 27-24 loss to the Rams.
Williams averaged 41.06 yards on 18 returns as a freshman. That
NFL record – highest average return in one season – has stood for nearly 60
years.
Pity that Browns team that lost by 48 points. Williams torched them twice, going the
distance on returns of 87 and 85 yards. The first touched off a 35-point first
quarter. The second capped that onslaught.
Williams registered that first return – one in which Jim
Copeland may have been the only Brown to lay a hand on him – with a mere 13
seconds elapsed. No Packer before or since has counted so early in a regular-season
game.
“It’s a question of speed,” said Lombardi when asked about
his return specialist. “He hits the holes so darn quick.”
The Longest
The Packers selected Larry Krause, a native of
Greenwood, Wis., in the final round (17th) of the 1970 college draft. Chosen 432nd
overall, the local boy who had played running back at St. Norbert College in De
Pere, Wis., beat the odds and secured a spot on the roster.
With the thermometer hovering around 20 degrees, Krause
corralled Allan Watson’s opening kickoff on the first bounce. Back foot
squarely on the goal line, No. 30 headed upfield.
Blocks by Ken Ellis on Fred Barry and Gale Gillingham on
L.C. Greenwood helped Krause skate past the 25-yard line. At the 35, the rookie
made a Steeler miss.
Approaching the 50, Krause had one man to beat: the kicker. Watson,
a Welsh football player whose NFL career lasted but four games, made a weak
attempt at a tackle that failed. From there it became a footrace as Krause outlegged
Watson, Barry, Clancy Oliver and Lee Calland to the end zone.
“I got some good blocks on it (the return),” Krause said to
reporters afterward. “Mike McCoy, Forrest Gregg and Gale Gillingham all took
their guys right down. I didn’t get hit on the run, really.”
The play took 19 seconds. The timekeeper, it was suggested,
may have started the clock when Watson kicked off rather than waiting
(correctly) until Krause touched the ball.
Krause’s 100-yard return – his only NFL touchdown – helped
Green Bay beat Pittsburgh 20-12. He was released by the Packers in late September
1975 after having played 51 games for the team.
The Triple Play(er)
Only one man has scored a touchdown in the first two minutes
of three different regular-season games for the Packers. That man is Steve
Odom.
In each of his six seasons in Green Bay (1974-79), Odom led
the team in kickoff returns. The 179 he brought back during his career are the
most by any player in team annals.
Two of Odom’s early-bird scores came returning kicks. Both shaved
16 seconds off the clock.
Odom took one back 93 yards in a 20-19 loss to the Saints in
1975. Three years later, he returned one 95-yard touchdown against the Seahawks in a
45-28 win in Milwaukee.
In between those scores, the diminutive receiver hauled in a
95-yard TD pass from Lynn Dickey against the Vikings in 1977. On that play, Odom went to the
ground to secure the ball. Nate Wright, who was defending on the play, also hit
the turf.
Bounding to his feet, Odom outdistanced Wright, Phil Wise
and Fred McNeill in sprinting the remaining 78 yards to the end zone.
Odom’s score (1:36) was the only one Green Bay mustered that
day. In falling 21-7 to the Vikings, the Packers managed but 43 offensive plays
with only three originating on Minnesota’s side of the field.
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| Bobby Dan Dillon |
The Packers have returned interceptions for touchdown more
than 125 times over the years. Only three resulted in scores in the opening two
minutes of a regular-season game.
Fittingly, Bobby Dillon, the Packers' all-time career
interception leader (52), was the first to turn the trick. In the 1958 season
opener, Dillon pilfered a third-down pass intended for Bears receiver Bill
McColl. Aided by rookie Ray Nitschke’s block on quarterback Ed Brown, Dillon raced
37 yards (1:16) to put Green Bay up 7-0. Unfazed, Chicago roared back to win 34-20.
Herb Adderley returned seven interceptions for touchdowns
(regular season) during his nine-year Packers career. Only once did he pierce
the goal line in the first quarter.
We’ll let Chuck Johnson, then of the Milwaukee Journal, describe
that early score which came against the Cardinals on Oct. 30, 1967.
“On the next play, (Jim) Hart, even more baby-faced than his
pictures indicate, tried his first pass. It was intended for Bobby Joe Conrad,
but as the ball hit him, so did middle linebacker Ray Nitschke of the Packers. Conrad
cartwheeled from the impact; the ball ricocheted to Adderley and Herb soon had his record
(most TDs on interception returns in a career—since broken) after only 1
minute, 19 seconds had elapsed.”
Adderley’s 12-yard return was much needed as Green Bay had
to overcome a six-point, fourth-quarter deficit before downing the Cardinals
31-23.
Johnnie Gray cashed in only once on an interception return
during his nine years with the Packers. Unfortunately, the theft occurred in
defeat as did so many of the other 21 steals he made from 1975 through 1983.
Gray recorded his lone score just 42 seconds into the 1976
season opener against the 49ers. As Jim Plunkett backpedaled under pressure
from defensive end Clarence Williams, the quarterback unloaded an ill-advised
pass. Gray, not the intended target Wilbur Jackson, came up with the ball and the
free safety glided 15 yards untouched into the end zone.
“I thought Johnnie Gray played very well in the secondary,”
said Packers head coach Bart Starr. “He made a lot of tackles. I think it was something
like 10 solo tackles.”
Gray’s solid play was not enough as San Francisco prevailed
26-14.
Early Birds
Here is a list of the 33 Packers players who scored a
touchdown in the first two minutes of a regular-season game.
Davante Adams, Herb Adderley (2), Johnny Blood, Tony Canadeo, Randall Cobb, Carroll Dale (2), Rob Davis, Bobby Dillon, Mike Douglass, Boyd Dowler, Gerry Ellis, Wert Engelmann, Dick Flaherty, Antonio Freeman (2), Ted Fritsch, Ryan Grant, Johnnie Gray, Ahman Green, Clarke Hinkle (2), Bill Howton, Don Hutson (2), Aaron Jones (2), Larry Krause, Dorsey Levens, James Lofton (2), MP McCoy, Steve Odom (3), Ron Pitts, Roell Preston, Tobin Rote, Barty Smith, Tracy White, Travis Williams
