1973 Green Bay Packers season

1973 Green Bay Packers season
1973 Green Bay Packers season
Head coach	Dan Devine
Home field	Lambeau Field; Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record	5–7–2
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1972; Packers seasons; 1974 →;

The 1973 Green Bay Packers season was their 55th season overall and their 53rd season in the National Football League. The defending division champions posted a 5–7–2 record under third-year head coach Dan Devine, earning them a third-place finish in the NFC Central division.

As of 2024. The 1973 Packers are the last team to records 2 ties in a single season. Overtime was introduced the following year, and ties decreased.

Offseason

Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke retired during training camp in late August.^[1] Bart Starr left as quarterbacks coach to other business interests, which included a network broadcasting position with CBS.

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1973 Green Bay Packers draft
1	21	Barry Smith	Wide receiver	Florida State
3	74	Tom MacLeod	Linebacker	Minnesota
6	152	Tom Toner	Linebacker	Idaho State
7	177	John Muller	Tackle	Iowa
8	202	Hise Austin	Cornerback	Prairie View A&M
9	230	Rick Brown	Linebacker	Iowa
10	255	Larry Allen	Linebacker	Illinois
11	280	Phil Engle	Defensive tackle	South Dakota State
12	308	Larry McCarren *	Center	Illinois
13	333	Tim Alderson	Defensive back	Minnesota
14	358	James Anderson	Defensive tackle	Northwestern
15	386	Reggie Echols	Wide receiver	UCLA
16	411	Keith Pretty	Tight end	Western Michigan
17	436	Harold Sampson	Defensive tackle	Southern
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1973 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player	Position	College
James Bulger	Quarterback	Notre Dame
Steve Hammitt	Center	Nevada

Roster

**1973 Green Bay Packers roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 12 Jim Del Gaizo 16 Scott Hunter 17 Jerry Tagge Running backs (RB) 42 John Brockington 25 Les Goodman 32 Don Highsmith 30 Larry Krause 36 MacArthur Lane 24 Ron McBride 31 Perry Williams Wide receivers (WR) 46 Leland Glass 80 Barry Smith 22 Jon Staggers 85 Paul Staroba Tight ends (TE) 86 Mike Donohoe 81 Rich McGeorge		Offensive linemen (OL) 57 Ken Bowman C 71 Kent Branstetter T 68 Gale Gillingham G 77 Bill Hayhoe T 72 Dick Himes T 62 Bill Lueck G 54 Larry McCarren C 70 Lee Nystrom C 67 Malcolm Snider T 65 Keith Wortman Defensive linemen (DL) 74 Aaron Brown DE 78 Bob Brown DT 76 Mike McCoy DT 73 Carleton Oats DT 75 Dave Pureifory DE 87 Alden Roche DE 83 Clarence Williams DE		Linebackers (LB) 53 Fred Carr 50 Jim Carter 51 Larry Hefner 55 Noel Jenke 56 Tom MacLeod 59 Tom Toner Defensive backs (DB) 27 Hise Austin CB 28 Willie Buchanon CB 48 Ken Ellis CB 21 Charlie Hall CB 39 Jim Hill FS 29 Al Matthews SS 45 Perry Smith CB 37 Ike Thomas S Special teams 13 Chester Marcol K 20 Ron Widby P				Practice squad 11 Charlie Napper QB Reserve 44 Bob Kroll CB (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 17	New York Jets	W 23–7	1–0	Milwaukee County Stadium	47,124
2	September 23	Detroit Lions	T 13–13	1–0–1	Lambeau Field	55,495
3	September 30	at Minnesota Vikings	L 3–11	1–1–1	Metropolitan Stadium	48,176
4	October 7	at New York Giants	W 16–14	2–1–1	Yale Bowl	70,050
5	October 14	Kansas City Chiefs	T 10–10	2–1–2	Milwaukee County Stadium	46,583
6	October 21	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–24	2–2–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	80,558
7	October 28	at Detroit Lions	L 0–34	2–3–2	Tiger Stadium	43,616
8	November 4	Chicago Bears	L 17–31	2–4–2	Lambeau Field	56,267
9	November 11	St. Louis Cardinals	W 25–21	3–4–2	Lambeau Field	52,922
10	November 18	at New England Patriots	L 24–33	3–5–2	Schaefer Stadium	60,525
11	November 26	at San Francisco 49ers	L 6–20	3–6–2	Candlestick Park	49,244
12	December 2	New Orleans Saints	W 30–10	4–6–2	Milwaukee County Stadium	46,092
13	December 8	Minnesota Vikings	L 7–31	4–7–2	Lambeau Field	53,830
14	December 16	at Chicago Bears	W 21–0	5–7–2	Soldier Field	29,157

Monday (September 17, November 26), Saturday (December 8)

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets	0	0	0	7	7
• Packers	3	10	3	7	23

Date: September 17
Location: Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Game start: 8:00 p.m.
Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C), wind 16 mph (26 km/h)
TV announcers (ABC): Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford & Don Meredith.

^[2]

Week 4

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Packers	7	0	6	3	16
Giants	7	0	0	7	14

Date: October 7
Location: Yale Bowl, New Haven, Connecticut
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C), wind 5 mph (8.0 km/h)

^[3]

Week 9

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	0	0	14	21
• Packers	10	12	0	3	25

Date: November 11
Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C), wind 12 mph (19 km/h)

^[4]

Week 12

	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints	0	3	7	0	10
• Packers	3	10	7	10	30

Date: December 2
Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C), wind 12 mph (19 km/h)

^[5]

Week 14

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Packers	7	7	0	7	21
Bears	0	0	0	0	0

Date: December 16
Location: Soldier Field, Chicago
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 24 °F (−4 °C), wind 13 mph (21 km/h)

^[6]

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	12	2	0	.857	6–0	10–1	296	168	W2
Detroit Lions	6	7	1	.464	3–2–1	6–4–1	271	247	L1
Green Bay Packers	5	7	2	.429	1–4–1	4–6–1	202	259	W1
Chicago Bears	3	11	0	.214	1–5	1–9	195	334	L6