- Inducted: 1987
- Kicker: 1972-80
- Height: 6-0; Weight: 190
- College: Hillsdale, 1968-71
- United Press International NFC Rookie of the Year (chosen from 1955-96): 1972
- Associated Press All-Pro Team (chosen since 1940): 1972, ’74
- Pro Bowl Selection (played since 1950): 1972, ’74
Chester Marcol wasn’t just an instant standout in the NFL, he was a veritable prodigy. The first soccer-style kicker in Packers history, Marcol was capable of booming towering kickoffs and prodigious field goals unlike any straight-on kicker over the team’s first 53 seasons. Among the early wave of soccer-style trailblazers at the league level, Marcol arguably made a bigger splash than any of them with the possible exception of future Pro Football Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud.
As a rookie, Marcol led the NFL in scoring with 128 points, was the league’s consensus all-pro kicker and was named the NFC Rookie of the Year by United Press International.
In his pro debut, he kicked four field goals. Two weeks later, he booted three more, including the game-winner in the fourth quarter to upset defending Super Bowl champion Dallas, 16-13. When the Packers beat the Chicago Bears, 20-17, the next Sunday, Marcol kicked a 37-yard field goal into a 30-mile-per-hour wind with 30 seconds remaining. A little more than a month later, the Packers beat the Bears again, 23-17, with Marcol contributing a 51-yard field goal and also the game-clincher with 1:46 left to play. When the Packers swept back-to-back games against division rivals Detroit and Minnesota on frigid December days to clinch the NFC Central Division, Marcol kicked a combined seven field goals.
With one game remaining in the season, Bears coach Abe Gibron said he was of the belief that one player couldn’t generally turn a team around, but he said the Packers of 1972 might be the exception. “I’ll tell you the difference between winning and losing: Chester Marcol,” said Gibron. “He beat us both games.” Otherwise, Gibron insisted that his Dick Butkus-led defense…