RB/QB / QB
Arnie Herber
Class of 1966
Career passing yards
8,041
Seasons
13
TD passes
81
"When you get old and past your prime to have a good day – any kind of a good day – is a memorable thing in a player’s life. What you do in your prime you expect of yourself but days that come at the end of the trail provide unexpected thrills whenever you think of them.”
Enshrinement Speech
Career Highlights
Although the National Football League didn’t keep official statistics until 1932, Arnie Herber’s third season, there is ample evidence to support the popular contention that Herber was the league’s premier passer. That year, the Green Bay Packer quarterback won the league passing title, something he would do again in 1934 and 1936.
Arnie threw a touchdown pass to give the Packers a 7-0 victory in the first game of his rookie 1930 season. The Packers won NFL titles in both 1930 and 1931 and remained in a perpetual contending position throughout Herber's 11-year tenure. His passes were always a dominating factor but he could also run, catch passes, and punt with the very best.
The arrival of end Don Hutson in 1935 gave pro football its first lethal quarterback-receiver tandem. In Hutson’s second game in the NFL, against the Chicago Bears, he teamed with Herber for an 83-yard touchdown reception. In 1935, the Herber-to-Hutson duo connected 18 times for 420 yards and seven touchdowns. Although an injury in 1937 reduced his effectiveness some, the Herber-to-Hutson mystic continued until Herber retired in 1940.
With many players serving in the military during World War II, the New York Giants brought Herber out of retirement for two more years in 1944 and 1945. He then retired for good with the reputation of being pro football’s great long-distance passer.
Herber was a basketball and football star at Green Bay's West High School who sold game programs as a teenager so that he could see the Packers play. He eventually migrated to tiny Regis College in Denver, but he soon was back in Green Bay, where he worked as a handyman in the Packers’ clubhouse when coach Curly Lambeau decided to give the inexperienced player a tryout. For $75 a game, the Packers inherited the first pro quarterback who consistently used the forward pass with game-winning effectiveness.
|
Passing
|
Rushing
|
||||||||||||
| Year |
Team
|
G
|
Att
|
Comp
|
Pct
|
Yds
|
TD
|
Int
|
Rating
|
Att
|
Yds
|
Avg
|
TD
|
| 1930 | Green Bay |
10
|
0
|
0
|
0.0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0.0
|
0
|
0
|
0.0
|
0
|
| 1931 | Green Bay |
3
|
0
|
0
|
0.0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0.0
|
0
|
0
|
0.0
|
1
|
| 1932 | Green Bay |
14
|
101
|
37
|
36.6
|
639
|
9
|
9
|
51.5
|
64
|
149
|
2.3
|
1
|
| 1933 | Green Bay |
11
|
124
|
50
|
40.3
|
656
|
3
|
12
|
26.2
|
62
|
77
|
1.2
|
0
|
| 1934 | Green Bay |
11
|
115
|
42
|
36.5
|
799
|
8
|
12
|
45.1
|
37
|
33
|
0.9
|
0
|
| 1935 | Green Bay |
11
|
109
|
40
|
36.7
|
729
|
8
|
14
|
45.4
|
19
|
0
|
0.0
|
0
|
| 1936 | Green Bay |
12
|
173
|
77
|
44.5
|
1239
|
11
|
13
|
58.9
|
20
|
-32
|
-1.6
|
0
|
| 1937 | Green Bay |
9
|
104
|
47
|
45.2
|
684
|
7
|
10
|
50.0
|
5
|
9
|
1.8
|
0
|
| 1938 | Green Bay |
8
|
55
|
22
|
40
|
336
|
3
|
4
|
48.8
|
6
|
-1
|
-0.2
|
0
|
| 1939 | Green Bay |
10
|
139
|
57
|
41
|
1107
|
8
|
9
|
61.6
|
18
|
-11
|
-0.6
|
1
|
| 1940 | Green Bay |
10
|
89
|
38
|
42.7
|
560
|
6
|
7
|
53.6
|
6
|
-23
|
-3.8
|
0
|
| 1944 | New York |
10
|
86
|
36
|
41.9
|
651
|
6
|
8
|
53.0
|
7
|
-58
|
-8.3
|
0
|
| 1945 | New York |
10
|
80
|
35
|
43.8
|
641
|
9
|
8
|
69.8
|
6
|
-27
|
-4.5
|
0
|
| Career Total |
129
|
1175
|
481
|
40.9
|
8041
|
81
|
106
|
50.1
|
250
|
116
|
0.5
|
3
|
|
| Additional Career Statistics: Receiving: 11-155, 3 TD; Scoring: 7 TD, 0-1 FG, 2-2 XP; Interceptions: 2, 1 TD; Punting: 39-1551 | |||||||||||||
Full Name: Arnold Charles Herber
Birthdate: April 2, 1910
Birthplace: Green Bay, Wisconsin
High School: Green Bay West (Wis.)
Died: October 14, 1969
Enshrined into Pro Football Hall of Fame: September 17, 1966
Presenter: Clarke Hinkle, Hall of Fame player
Other Members of Class of 1966: Bill Dudley, Joe Guyon, Walt Kiesling, George McAfee, Steve Owen, Hugh "Shorty" Ray, Clyde"Bulldog" Turner
Pro Career: 13 seasons, 129 games
Drafted: Herber played prior to the NFL Draft being implemented.
Uniform Number: 38, (12, 16, 41)
Arnie Herber Enshrinement Speech 1966
Presenter: Clarke Hinkle
Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me real pleasure and I mean this sincerely to welcome an old teammate of mine, the most accurate long passer in the history of football; Arnie Herber. He's the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who made the big leagues in his own hometown. He was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin, he attended St. Regis College in Colorado and also the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
He led the league in passing in 19 hundred and thirty-two, in 19 hundred and thirty-four, in 19 hundred and thirty-six. Let me tell you about one game that he played in 19 hundred and thirty-two. He completed nine of 11 passes, three of them for touchdowns, he ran for two touchdowns, one 83 yards another 45 yards he had six punts for an average of 65 yards. He played from 19 hundred and thirty- to 19 hundred and forty with the Green Bay Packers and then he came out of retirement in 19 hundred and forty-four and he led the New York Giants to an Eastern Division Championship. And I would like to say to Arnie Herber here today, you have received football's highest award. Enjoy it because the Pro Football Hall of Fame has helped you to achieve athletic immortality. Thank you very much.
Arnie Herber
Thank you, Clarke. I had a little speech all prepared I was gonna make for just a few words and now after I go here, they're so inadequate that I don't dare say anything because the feeling in my heart no one can ever realize how great it is. Thank you.