October 3, 2023 • 9 mins
Wayne Larrivee sits down with former Green Bay Packers running back Vince Workman to share his role in the infamous 1989 "Instant Replay" game against the Bears (1:21), being a part of Mike Holmgren's first Packers squad (4:41), and his return to Titletown as a scout (8:09).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
For more than a century, the Green Bay Packers have
been a benchmark for football excellence. Thousands of players have
helped paved the way, and we're here to tell you
their stories. I'm Wayne Laaravy. This is the Packers alumni
Spot White running back bench Workmen team to Green Bay
(00:25):
as a fifth round rack pick out of Ohio State
in nineteen eighty nine, a rare good year in those
days for the Packers.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
You know, I tell people all the time, it was
very fortunate to play in two of the greatest rivalries
of all time in football. You know, being in a
house state playing against Michigan. Then you come to Green
Bay and you play against the Bears. So you got
two of the best rivalries. One of the best rivalries
in college football and the longest and best rivalry in
pro football. So I was very fortunate to be part
of those two rivalries.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Workmen's efforts in the nineteen eighty nine match up against
the Bears to convert a fourth down attempt sometimes gets
lost in history, but Magic's past to Sterling doesn't happen
without that conversion. I want to ask you about your
rookie year. Okay, Bears and Packers, here at lambeau Field.
(01:18):
Don Mkowski. You're a rookie, Yeah right, talk about that game.
What was that like?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, you know, I played most primarily special teams as
a rookie. We have some you know, veteran running backs
that are pretty good that are head of me. But
on that last drive, a lot of people don't realize
or don't remember, but obviously not because it was a
rookie day. I remember I wasn't in the game anymore.
So I'm sitting on the sideline. I don't already untie
my shoes. My shoulder pads are unhooked. Had you know,
(01:43):
have my cleats taped. I cut the tape off, and
then there was a fourth down and two play, and
Willie Pete, the running back coach, called me to go
in the game, and I'm like, I'm looking like, are
you serious? You know, you know, I'm looking around like no,
he's the still may got a fourth down on that drive,
and so I go in thinking they're not gonna give
(02:05):
me the ball. Why, you know, my shoulder pats aren't
even hooked up, so they called it a dive play,
so it was just fourth down. Had to get the
first down. So I got the ball, I got three yards,
didn't even try to run anymore. I just went down
just because I didn't have no shoes tied, they didn't
have my shoulder pass tied, and I just was just
just get the first start, to get the first down.
So that's my story on that drive. But then when
(02:26):
it we ended up scoring a touchdown and it took
forever for the into replay to go through, all right, what.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Was the feeling on the sideline uh Mkowski approaching the
line of scrimmage. I mean, he's got the ball in
his hand. At the last second, he sees Sterling Sharp
uncovering the south aendzon he fires at dark touchdown. What
was your feeling, the feeling of you and your teammates
of the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I was just like getting by. I was wing nuts.
I was going crazy, jumping up and down, and everybody's
hugging each other and things like that. And then you
know when they said, you know, they got to review it,
and everybody's holding their breath. Then after the announcement, after
you know the famous words, after further review, you know,
we all went nuts. Wow. Oh yes, it was a great, great,
great feeling.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
And the debate continues, Was he over the line or not? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yes, I see some of those those former Bears every
once in a while, and they still complained about that play.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
You know. Dave Dowson, the great Bear safety, had a
really great comment after that game. He said, you know,
whether Mkowski was over the line or not, we left
Sterling sharp open. Yeah, let me think about that.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
But Sterland got opened a lot, Yes he.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Got that was that was an interesting year. I mean,
here's your rookie and this is the Cardiac pack under
Don mccowski. What was that season like.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
For me being a rookie. It was exciting.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
We had a you know, my first year in the NFL.
Didn't really know what to expect. Uh. We had a
lot of great players on our team on offense and defense.
You know, we had a lot of close games, you know,
those games where we did come back.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
So it was an exciting season, you know, and I
look back on it. You know, I was just fortunate
to be part of it. You know, Like I say,
I played mostly just special teams, think a lot of
offensive play, but I still got a chance to be
part of a great season.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, you're still picked up the fourth down that kept
that otherwise because there's no controversy. That was just an
amazing season, and they actually took instant replay out of
the game for a couple of years after that. Yeah,
it was amazing, just an amazing stretch, Vince. The other
thing that was interesting about your career is that you
were here for the transformation of this franchise, the end
(04:36):
of Indian Fante into Mike Hong grin Rondo Wolf. What
changed here? What did you notice that year you were here.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It was a big change because Coach Homegram came from
the San Francisco Bill Walsh type of system, and with
coach and Fani coach and Fannie was an old school coach.
You know, we were in pads and we hit, and
we practiced higher practiced law. We were in pads off season.
So when Coach Homegrom came, it was the difference was
we weren't hitting as much during the season we were
(05:05):
during during training camp. Training camp was still the same
six or seven weeks ever long it was, but we
were only in pads one practice regardless of what week
we were in. We have pads on in the morning,
we're in shorts and helmets in the afternoon, so our
bodies were a little bit fresher. So it was kind
of that was the biggest difference, just that we were
a little bit fresher going into games because I think
(05:25):
the NFL at that time was in that transition of
not you know, being in past hitting and pounding all
the time as they did in old school.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Thence could you sense around the building, management, whatever the
team itself, that something was changing here, that this was becoming.
Could you foresee what became?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I couldn't foresee, but I could see that things were
hidden in a different direction. You know, that season in
ninety two that were we changed. It reminded me of
the eighty nine season, my rookie year, because we had
a team we weren't expected to do a whole lot,
but we want to let you know, towards the end
of the season, we were getting better and better as
the season went on. So I could see that there
(06:06):
was there's a progress where we were going to be
hitting in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
You know, when you take a look at your career,
you played Tampa Carolina, Indianapolis after leaving Green Bay, what
do you you know? Give me a feel for the
different organizations you played for. It's kind of interesting. How
did where does green Bay stack up with all those others?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I mean, it's not even close, you know. And I
don't say that just because I'm here interviewing with you,
because you know I wasn't you know, three other organizations,
But this is by far the best run organization. There
was a lot more family like, you know, from the
front office down. You know, Bob Harlan when he was
the president here. I used him as an example. You know,
he treated the cleaning person the same as he did
(06:48):
the star player or the you know, the vice president
or the general manager. He was he was hitting above
shoulders above you know, anybody else as far as treating
your employees the way you want to be treated. He
did a great job of, you know, trickling down that
leadership you played.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
You mentioned at Ohio State and Green Bay too legendary
football places to play. You know what's that been like
for you?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Well, I mean, I'm you know, I can walk around
with Ohio State jacket on or Green Bay jacket on
and feel proud because I know that, you know, you know,
it's title town.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I've had an argument with a friend of mine the
other day back home about you know, Green Bay being
and winning this it's got the most championships than any
other team. We said, well, you know, they don't have
the most super Bowl except but that doesn't mean anything.
They got the most championships just because that means football
didn't start when the super Bowl era started. You know.
That means you want to say that, that means those
(07:44):
guys before the Super Bowl era are not Hall of famers,
did you know? But this is the greatest tradition. And
I tell people all the time, if you're a football
fan or a sports fan in general, you must make
a trip to lambeau Field to come here and see
what it's like to be in this building and to
be in this city.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Vince even returned to Green Bay serving the organization get
a couple of different capacities.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Well, it was very, very fortunate to get hired back
in ninety nine. You know, I retired in ninety six,
my last season I retired, and then ninety nine, you know,
I was going through that period of trying to figure
out what it was I wanted to do after football,
and I got a call from Reggie McKenzie, who was
the pro scout here and he asked me if I
was interested in coming up to get interviewed for a
scouting position. I was like, yeah, sure, definitely. So I
(08:30):
came up, drove up, and I met with him, met
with Ron Wolf, and they had me sit down, watch
some film, had me write reports on a few players,
and then the next day they offered me the job,
and without hesitation, I took it.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
But you also were strength coach here too, right? Yes?
How did that happen?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
After Ron retired, Mike Sherman became the general manager, and
he asked me to move to the weight room because
they were looking for another strength coach and because of
my rapport with the players. I had some players that
I had played with or played against still here later
in their career, and he asked me if I could
if I wanted to move to the weight room, And
so I moved to the weight room, and you know,
(09:07):
it's strength coach for four years there.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Vince Workman followed in the footsteps of another great Ohio
state runner before him, almost two decades earlier, the late
John Brocketon. Well, Vince's footprint may not be as large
as Brons now, you know, without his fourth down conversion
shoelaces on tight and all. There's no magic or replay
(09:33):
in that famous nineteen eighty nine victory over the Bears.
For more than a century, the Green Bay Packers have
been a benchmark for football excellence. Thousands of players have
helped paved the way, and we're here to tell you
their stories. I'm Wayne Laaravy. This is the Packers alumni
Spot White running back bench Workmen team to Green Bay
(00:25):
as a fifth round rack pick out of Ohio State
in nineteen eighty nine, a rare good year in those
days for the Packers.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
You know, I tell people all the time, it was
very fortunate to play in two of the greatest rivalries
of all time in football. You know, being in a
house state playing against Michigan. Then you come to Green
Bay and you play against the Bears. So you got
two of the best rivalries. One of the best rivalries
in college football and the longest and best rivalry in
pro football. So I was very fortunate to be part
of those two rivalries.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Workmen's efforts in the nineteen eighty nine match up against
the Bears to convert a fourth down attempt sometimes gets
lost in history, but Magic's past to Sterling doesn't happen
without that conversion. I want to ask you about your
rookie year. Okay, Bears and Packers, here at lambeau Field.
(01:18):
Don Mkowski. You're a rookie, Yeah right, talk about that game.
What was that like?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, you know, I played most primarily special teams as
a rookie. We have some you know, veteran running backs
that are pretty good that are head of me. But
on that last drive, a lot of people don't realize
or don't remember, but obviously not because it was a
rookie day. I remember I wasn't in the game anymore.
So I'm sitting on the sideline. I don't already untie
my shoes. My shoulder pads are unhooked. Had you know,
(01:43):
have my cleats taped. I cut the tape off, and
then there was a fourth down and two play, and
Willie Pete, the running back coach, called me to go
in the game, and I'm like, I'm looking like, are
you serious? You know, you know, I'm looking around like no,
he's the still may got a fourth down on that drive,
and so I go in thinking they're not gonna give
(02:05):
me the ball. Why, you know, my shoulder pats aren't
even hooked up, so they called it a dive play,
so it was just fourth down. Had to get the
first down. So I got the ball, I got three yards,
didn't even try to run anymore. I just went down
just because I didn't have no shoes tied, they didn't
have my shoulder pass tied, and I just was just
just get the first start, to get the first down.
So that's my story on that drive. But then when
(02:26):
it we ended up scoring a touchdown and it took
forever for the into replay to go through, all right, what.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Was the feeling on the sideline uh Mkowski approaching the
line of scrimmage. I mean, he's got the ball in
his hand. At the last second, he sees Sterling Sharp
uncovering the south aendzon he fires at dark touchdown. What
was your feeling, the feeling of you and your teammates
of the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I was just like getting by. I was wing nuts.
I was going crazy, jumping up and down, and everybody's
hugging each other and things like that. And then you
know when they said, you know, they got to review it,
and everybody's holding their breath. Then after the announcement, after
you know the famous words, after further review, you know,
we all went nuts. Wow. Oh yes, it was a great, great,
great feeling.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
And the debate continues, Was he over the line or not? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yes, I see some of those those former Bears every
once in a while, and they still complained about that play.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
You know. Dave Dowson, the great Bear safety, had a
really great comment after that game. He said, you know,
whether Mkowski was over the line or not, we left
Sterling sharp open. Yeah, let me think about that.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
But Sterland got opened a lot, Yes he.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Got that was that was an interesting year. I mean,
here's your rookie and this is the Cardiac pack under
Don mccowski. What was that season like.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
For me being a rookie. It was exciting.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
We had a you know, my first year in the NFL.
Didn't really know what to expect. Uh. We had a
lot of great players on our team on offense and defense.
You know, we had a lot of close games, you know,
those games where we did come back.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
So it was an exciting season, you know, and I
look back on it. You know, I was just fortunate
to be part of it. You know, Like I say,
I played mostly just special teams, think a lot of
offensive play, but I still got a chance to be
part of a great season.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, you're still picked up the fourth down that kept
that otherwise because there's no controversy. That was just an
amazing season, and they actually took instant replay out of
the game for a couple of years after that. Yeah,
it was amazing, just an amazing stretch, Vince. The other
thing that was interesting about your career is that you
were here for the transformation of this franchise, the end
(04:36):
of Indian Fante into Mike Hong grin Rondo Wolf. What
changed here? What did you notice that year you were here.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It was a big change because Coach Homegram came from
the San Francisco Bill Walsh type of system, and with
coach and Fani coach and Fannie was an old school coach.
You know, we were in pads and we hit, and
we practiced higher practiced law. We were in pads off season.
So when Coach Homegrom came, it was the difference was
we weren't hitting as much during the season we were
(05:05):
during during training camp. Training camp was still the same
six or seven weeks ever long it was, but we
were only in pads one practice regardless of what week
we were in. We have pads on in the morning,
we're in shorts and helmets in the afternoon, so our
bodies were a little bit fresher. So it was kind
of that was the biggest difference, just that we were
a little bit fresher going into games because I think
(05:25):
the NFL at that time was in that transition of
not you know, being in past hitting and pounding all
the time as they did in old school.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Thence could you sense around the building, management, whatever the
team itself, that something was changing here, that this was becoming.
Could you foresee what became?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I couldn't foresee, but I could see that things were
hidden in a different direction. You know, that season in
ninety two that were we changed. It reminded me of
the eighty nine season, my rookie year, because we had
a team we weren't expected to do a whole lot,
but we want to let you know, towards the end
of the season, we were getting better and better as
the season went on. So I could see that there
(06:06):
was there's a progress where we were going to be
hitting in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
You know, when you take a look at your career,
you played Tampa Carolina, Indianapolis after leaving Green Bay, what
do you you know? Give me a feel for the
different organizations you played for. It's kind of interesting. How
did where does green Bay stack up with all those others?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I mean, it's not even close, you know. And I
don't say that just because I'm here interviewing with you,
because you know I wasn't you know, three other organizations,
But this is by far the best run organization. There
was a lot more family like, you know, from the
front office down. You know, Bob Harlan when he was
the president here. I used him as an example. You know,
he treated the cleaning person the same as he did
(06:48):
the star player or the you know, the vice president
or the general manager. He was he was hitting above
shoulders above you know, anybody else as far as treating
your employees the way you want to be treated. He
did a great job of, you know, trickling down that
leadership you played.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
You mentioned at Ohio State and Green Bay too legendary
football places to play. You know what's that been like
for you?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Well, I mean, I'm you know, I can walk around
with Ohio State jacket on or Green Bay jacket on
and feel proud because I know that, you know, you know,
it's title town.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I've had an argument with a friend of mine the
other day back home about you know, Green Bay being
and winning this it's got the most championships than any
other team. We said, well, you know, they don't have
the most super Bowl except but that doesn't mean anything.
They got the most championships just because that means football
didn't start when the super Bowl era started. You know.
That means you want to say that, that means those
(07:44):
guys before the Super Bowl era are not Hall of famers,
did you know? But this is the greatest tradition. And
I tell people all the time, if you're a football
fan or a sports fan in general, you must make
a trip to lambeau Field to come here and see
what it's like to be in this building and to
be in this city.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Vince even returned to Green Bay serving the organization get
a couple of different capacities.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Well, it was very, very fortunate to get hired back
in ninety nine. You know, I retired in ninety six,
my last season I retired, and then ninety nine, you know,
I was going through that period of trying to figure
out what it was I wanted to do after football,
and I got a call from Reggie McKenzie, who was
the pro scout here and he asked me if I
was interested in coming up to get interviewed for a
scouting position. I was like, yeah, sure, definitely. So I
(08:30):
came up, drove up, and I met with him, met
with Ron Wolf, and they had me sit down, watch
some film, had me write reports on a few players,
and then the next day they offered me the job,
and without hesitation, I took it.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
But you also were strength coach here too, right? Yes?
How did that happen?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
After Ron retired, Mike Sherman became the general manager, and
he asked me to move to the weight room because
they were looking for another strength coach and because of
my rapport with the players. I had some players that
I had played with or played against still here later
in their career, and he asked me if I could
if I wanted to move to the weight room, And
so I moved to the weight room, and you know,
(09:07):
it's strength coach for four years there.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Vince Workman followed in the footsteps of another great Ohio
state runner before him, almost two decades earlier, the late
John Brocketon. Well, Vince's footprint may not be as large
as Brons now, you know, without his fourth down conversion
shoelaces on tight and all. There's no magic or replay
(09:33):
in that famous nineteen eighty nine victory over the Bears.
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