Review Fix Exclusive: George Bozeka Talks ‘1958 Colts and 1966 Packers And More

January 31, 2020 Patrick Hickey Jr. Books & Comics 0

Review Fix chats with “The 1958 Baltimore Colts: Profiles of the NFL’s First Sudden Death Champions” and “The 1966 Green Bay Packers: Profiles of Vince Lombardi’s Super Bowl I Champions” author George Bozeka, who details the creation process and why these teams are so special.

About: The 1958 Baltimore Colts: Profiles of the NFL’s First Sudden Death Champions:

The 1958 Baltimore Colts were one of the greatest teams ever in professional football. Owned by the controversial Carroll Rosenbloom and led by head coach Weeb Ewbank and six future Hall of Fame players—Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, Art Donovan and Gino Marchetti—they won the NFL title that season, defeating the New York Giants in the first sudden death championship game in NFL history. The Colts laid the foundation for the ultra-popular spectacle football would become with the American public.

They were a talented group of players. Many had been rejected or underappreciated at various points in their careers though they were loved and respected by the blue collar fans of Baltimore. This book tells the complete story of the ‘58 Colts and the city’s love affair with the team.

About  “The 1966 Green Bay Packers: Profiles of Vince Lombardi’s Super Bowl I Champions”:

The 1966 Green Bay Packers were one of the greatest teams in professional football history. Led by legendary head coach Vince Lombardi and 10 future Hall of Famers—including Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Willie Davis and Ray Nitschke—they were the decisive winners of Super Bowl I, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs and upholding the superiority of the National Football League over the upstart American Football League. This book tells the story of the hard-working ’66 Packers on the gridiron and their legacy in Titletown, USA.

About the Author:

Retired attorney George Bozeka is the assistant executive director and assistant publications director of the Professional Football Researchers Association. He has written numerous articles in the association’s publication The Coffin Corner and was the recipient of the PFRA’s Bob Carroll Memorial Writing Award in 2011. He lives in Akron, Ohio.

Review Fix: What inspired this book? 

George Bozeka: In 2014, I became aware of a book series produced by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) that covered memorable teams in baseball history. I proposed to the Board of the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) that we produce a similar series on great teams in pro football history. The Board liked the idea and voted to move forward with the series. We have since published two books…The 1966 Green Bay Packers: Profiles of Vince Lombardi’s Super Bowl I Champions and The 1958 Baltimore Colts: Profiles of the NFL’s First Sudden Death Champions.

Review Fix: What was the writing and editing experience like for you? 

Bozeka: It was a wonderful experience. Each book in the series is a collaborative effort involving between 25 to 30 members of the PFRA who contribute either writing or editing services. I organize each book project and also act as the lead editor for each book project. Our organization is blessed to have very supportive leadership and members all of whom share an intense passion for pro football history.

Review Fix: Did you learn anything you weren’t expecting? 

Bozeka: It was really not something I did not expect given Coach Lombardi’s character, but i was pleased to learn that the Packers were truly a color blind team because Lombardi would not tolerate racism, bigotry, or prejudice on his team. As an Italian American he had experienced prejudice first hand. As a result he fostered a culture of diversity, acceptance, and respect in the Packers organization.

Review Fix: What else makes the original Packers here so special?

Bozeka:  It all started with Coach Lombardi. His leadership and teachings about the pursuit of excellence on the football field and in life were the foundation of the great Green Bay teams of the 1960s. Add to that foundation an amazing group of players led by Hall of Famers Bart Starr, Paul Hornung , Jim Taylor, Jerry Kramer, Forrest Gregg, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderley, Willie Davis, Dave Robinson, Henry Jordan and Willie Wood, all of whom understood the value of team over individual, and had a shared love, faith, and respect for each other, and you have a great recipe for sustained championship success…and for the Packers it extended beyond the football field, as many of the players went on to lead very accomplished lives off the gridiron.

Review Fix: How do you think they’d fare in today’s NFL? 

Bozeka: I think they would perform very well. Because of Coach Lombardi, this team knew how to win. They would succeed in any era.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy this book the most? 

Bozeka: Fans of the Green Bay Packers and fans of pro football in general will enjoy the book and the book series.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this book? 

Bozeka: The goal of the Packers book and the book series is to memorialize the history of these great teams. This aligns with the purposes of the PFRA… to foster the study of professional football as a significant and athletic institution; to establish an accurate historical account of professional football; and to disseminate research information. Each book in the series is a complete history of the season of the team covered with game summaries, statistics, and bios of each player and coach. Each book also includes bios of key media members that covered the team, a history of the team’s home stadium, photographs, and special feature chapters about the team.

Review Fix: What’s next for you? 

Bozeka: We are currently working on the third book in the series. It will cover the 1951 Los Angeles Rams. The Rams book will be released in 2021. A fourth book covering the 1964 Buffalo Bills is also planned with a 2024 release date.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add? 

Bozeka: To learn more about the PFRA and to become a member visit our website at profootballresearchers.org. Further, to purchase any of the books in the series go to the McFarland Publishing website at mcfarlandbooks.com.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14316 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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