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Packer legend Max McGee: A different perspective

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Former Green Bay Packer great Max McGee, age 75, died this past Saturday evening in a tragic fall from his roof as he was cleaning off the autumn leaves. Max McGee is a legend, as he will always be remembered as the football player who scored the very first Super Bowl touchdown on January 15, 1967. It was a 36-yard pass from Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr. Max made a tremendous one-handed catch on the play. NFL Films has shown the play thousands of times.

The stories about Max are also of legendary status. Known as a "social" gentleman, Max was out all night before the Super Bowl, thinking he would not play even one down, as he was winding down his illustrious career. Early into the first quarter, the starting wide receiver separated his shoulder. Coach Vince Lombardi screamed, "McGee, get your %^& in there!!!" Having forgotten his own helmet in the locker room, Max borrowed a teammate's and went on to catch seven passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns: the game of his life. He should have been named the MVP of the game, but back then, those awards went to quarterbacks. Max McGee forever cemented in the hearts of pro football fans, one of the gutsiest and greatest performances in NFL history. Max McGee went on to a very successful business career as a principal partner launching the Mexican restaurant chain Chi Chi's. Max was also the radio voice of the Green Bay Packers from 1979-1998.

That part of Max is all well-documented and known. What I want to share, as his next-door neighbor, is the stuff of real legend -- the private Max McGee, the extremely generous Max McGee.

Max's first success after his football life was to marry a wonderful woman named Denise. He and Denise have two sons, both beautiful and charming in their own ways. Max Jr. is 21 years old and has Down Syndrome. Max Jr. is the life of any party, and one of the nicest, sweetest human beings put on this earth. Max Jr. graduated from Minnetonka High School, a huge public school in suburban Minneapolis. Max Jr.'s popularity and kindness was acknowledged by his fellow classmates when they voted him "king" of the homecoming court. Max Sr., whom I saw a few days after the vote, had a hard time containing his tears and pride for his son. The tenderness between Max Sr. and Max Jr. should be the standard for every father-son relationship.

Dallas McGee, 18, is a freshman in college. Dallas did not play football, but rather became a very skilled skateboarder. Believe me, I have seen him a thousand times, as my driveway served as an up-ramp!! When Dallas was two years old, he was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Max and Denise immersed themselves in both knowledge of this disease and ways to raise huge sums of money to help with its research. Max McGee employed his competitive skills along with Denise's coaching, and the result was the opening in 1999 of the Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes at the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Millions of dollars have been raised to help fight this horrible disease. Max and Denise have informed, educated and comforted more families who have a child suffering from diabetes.

Max McGee, the father, husband, philanthropist and entrepreneur will live forever in the hearts of millions of football fans. One precious memory I have is of my then 10-year-old son playing catch with his idol. Another precious memory is of my 80-year-old father-in-law, Ken, a die-hard Packers fan, who could not believe my next-door neighbor was the great Max McGee. When I told Max of Ken's passion, Max made it a point to stop by when my in-laws were visiting and regaled him with 45 minutes of Packers stories. My father-in-law was in tears having met one of his football idols.

Max McGee was a fit and vibrant man and belied his 75 years of age. He will be remembered for the love he showered on his family, his work for juvenile diabetes, his generous philanthropy, the good will he spread about the Green Bay Packers ... and oh yeah, he played some football too...

Georges Yared is the CIO of Yared Investment Research.

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Last updated: July 04, 2009: 07:47 PM

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