Packers: Top 10 Green Bay Packers not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
By Phil Watson
Lynn Dickey, shown on a 1984 Green Bay Packers police card.
9. Lynn Dickey, QB (1976-77, 1979-85)
Lynn Dickey came to Green Bay as the next guy in a long litany of quarterbacks the franchise tried in an effort to find the next Bart Starr.
Acquired in April 1976 from the Houston Oilers for quarterback John Hadl, cornerback Ken Ellis, a fourth-round pick in 1976 (who turned out to be Hall of Famer Steve Largent) and a third-round pick in 1977, Dickey’s tenure in Green Bay was plagued initially by injuries.
He started 10 games in 1976 and suffered a devastating broken leg in the ninth week of the 1977 season that cost him two full calendar years.
He returned late in the 1979 season to make three starts before putting together a full 16-game slate in 1980, throwing for 3,529 yards, then a franchise single-season record.
Dickey would lead the Packers to the playoffs in the strike-shortened 1982 season, including a first-round win over the St. Louis Cardinals, and in 1983 rewrote the Packer passing record book with 4,458 yards and 32 touchdowns—both new club records.
The yardage mark stood for 28 years until Aaron Rodgers finally surpassed it during his 2011 MVP campaign. Brett Favre broke the touchdown mark in 1994 with 33.
Of course, he also led the league with 29 interceptions and the Packers finished 8-8 and out of the postseason. That interception total still stands as a single-season Packer record, tied with Favre, who threw 29 in 2005.
He retired after the 1985 season with career totals in Green Bay of 21,369 yards and 133 touchdown passes, totals that are currently fourth in Packer history and were second behind Starr at the time of his retirement.
Dickey, now 65, was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1992.
Realistic Hall Chances: Non-existent. Quarterbacks are judged on rings and if they don’t have those, then they must have gargantuan stats.
Next: The Center Of It All For A Dozen Years