March 14, 1967: The Day Vince Lombardi Had His Own Ty Simpson Moment

Legendary Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf, who ran the team from 1992-2000, always believed that the best time to select a quarterback in the draft was when you didn't need one, because you then weren't acting out of desperation. It's why he drafted Aaron Brooks, Matt Hasselbeck, Ty Detmer, and Mark Brunell when he already had Brett Favre, and the continuation of that theory in 2005 led to the franchise selecting Aaron Rodgers in the first round when Favre was still the starter. Not to mention selecting Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 draft when Rodgers was still the man.

The difference between what the Packers did with Rodgers and Love, and what the Los Angeles Rams did on Thursday night when they selected Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick, is that neither Favre nor Rodgers were coming off of an NFL Most Valuable Player season as Matthew Stafford is. Whether you agree with the Rams' process or not, that's what makes this so unusual.

The last time an NFL team selected a quarterback in the first round when they had the reigning MVP on their roster? It was the Packers once again, all the way back in 1967. Bart Starr won the MVP award after a 1966 season in which he completed 156 of 251 passes for 2,257 yards, 14 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 105.0. The 1966 Packers finished 12-2 in the regular season, beat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL championship game, and then beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I.

A weird time to take a quarterback in the first round, but the Packers under head coach and general manager Vince Lombardi did just that in the person of Don Horn. Horn was a prominent prospect after a 1966 in which he took San Diego State to national recognition as a smaller school with big talent.

The 1966 Aztecs were the College Division national champions, and ranked No. 1 overall in the AP and UPI small college polls. Horn did his thing in an offense designed by legendary head coach Don Coryell, while San Diego State's defense was run by a then-unknown coordinator named John Madden. Coryell also had Joe Gibbs as his offensive line coach. Among Horn's targets was Haven Moses, ultimately one of the better NFL receivers of his era.

When the Packers selected Horn 24th overall in the AFL-NFL common draft on March 14, 1967, Lombardi had this to say about his new quarterback, who had completed 157 of 291 passes for 2,577 yards and 22 touchdowns the year before:

"We had Horn rated as high as [Steve] Spurrier and [Bob] Griese," the coach said of Horn's status in comparison with two better-known signal-callers. "It was nice to have him sitting there when it came our turn to pick. He's a pocket-style passer, which is our style."

So, why would the Packers take a quarterback that high when they were an older team, and Starr was still at his best? Starr was coming off his age 32 season, and he originally planned to retire after the 1968 season, when Green Bay beat the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II. Starr ultimately stayed on through 1971. So, similarly to the ways in which Stafford has thought about retirement in recent years, there was the specter of a no-quarterback reality around the bend.

Unfortunately, things never worked out with Horn. He had seven starts in his four seasons in Green Bay, including six starts in the 1969 season when Starr struggled with injuries. Overall for the Packers, Horn completed 139 of 284 passes for 2,291 yards, 16 touchdowns, 22 interceptions, and a passer rating of 63.9. The Packers traded Horn to the Denver Broncos on January 28, 1971, and Horn was out of the NFL after the 1974 season. He was never able to take his collegiate success to the pros.

It remains to be seen whether Ty Simpson will do better in his own NFL journey, but you now know just how unusual this particular quarterback succession plan is. In the interim, Rams general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay can always say that they're following Vince Lombardi's example.

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 2:12 PM.