Just in: Matt LaFleur has learned of the horrific accident that claimed the life of one of his valuable players
Ball carriers like Preston Pearson, Tommy McDonald, and Bobby Mitchell were completely destroyed by Nitschke.
Nitschke would snarl at them after laying them out, revealing his missing front teeth in the process, giving him an even more menacing and intimidating appearance.
When Nitschke joined the NFL in 1958, his reputation off the field was not very good.
However, Ray Nitschke’s NFL career reached new heights when the Packers signed Vince Lombardi prior to the 1959 season.
From 1962 to 1969, Nitschke was selected to one Pro Bowl, two First Teams All-Pro, and five Second Teams All-Pro teams.
He also contributed to the 1960s dynasty that the Packers built. Nitschke played middle linebacker for Green Bay, which won two Super Bowls and three NFL championships.
In the summer of 1978, Nitschke finally achieved his rightful induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
This is the incredible and inspirational tale of football player Ray Nitschke.
Childhood
On December 29, 1936, Raymond Ernest “Ray” Nitschke was born in Elmwood Park, Illinois, to parents Robert Sr. and Anna. Richard and Robert Jr. were his two brothers.
Ray is a native of Europe. His mother Anna was of Danish descent, and his father Robert Sr. was of German descent.
During the 1930s Great Depression, Robert Nitschke Sr. was employed by Chicago Surface Lines, the company that managed the city’s railway network.
In 1939, Ray’s father Robert Sr. died in a car accident when he was only three years old. Ray remembered this when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in the summer of 1978. Ray’s father was driving home when his car was struck by an inattentive trolley.
As a result, Ray’s elder brother Robert Jr., also known as “Bob,” served as his substitute father. Through sports, Bob helped young Ray find the right path.
At the age of 14, Bob began working for the nearby railway company as a means of augmenting the family’s meager earnings.
Anna Nitschke was a waitress at Pete’s Place, a neighborhood tavern, following the death of her husband. The business was owned by Pete Rasmussen, a relative. While his mother served customers, young Ray performed other household tasks like peeling potatoes.
As Ray Nitschke approached adolescence, things did not get any easier. In 1949, his mother Anna passed away from a blood clot. Her age was only forty-one.
As a result, his brothers Bob and Richard took up his role and brought him up from then on.
An Unhappy Adolescent
Following the death of his mother, Ray Nitschke harbored resentment towards the world. In addition, he turned into a recluse who primarily played basketball and football by himself.
Growing up on the outskirts of Chicago, Illinois, Ray hardly looked like the elite middle linebacker he would become in the professional ranks of football.
Ray’s 2002 biography, Nitschke: The Ray Nitschke Story, by Edward Gruver, claims that when he was younger, he recklessly engaged in fistfights and chugged whiskey.
