Oral History – Launching pad to five teams winning next 11 Super Bowls

The biggest bust of the first round was quarterback Rich Campbell, who was taken sixth by Green Bay, then 13 years into its post-Lombardi tailspin.

First, if the Packers were going to draft 31-year-old Lynn Dickey’s heir apparent, they needed to decide who was the better prospect in what was generally perceived as a two-quarterback draft: Campbell from then Pac 10 California or Neil Lomax from NCAA Division I-AA Portland State?

In the eyes of at least some scouts, their skills and numbers were as disparate as their level of competition. Campbell was almost 6-5; Lomax, an inch shorter. As seniors, Lomax threw 37 touchdown passes; Campbell, six, despite a 70 percent completion percentage. Lomax played in a sprint-out offense; Campbell in a traditional drop-back system, where he relied on touch and timing as much as his arm strength.

Walsh at the Senior Bowl, where he was coaching Lomax and the North squad (Christl interview, January 1981): “I think there are mixed feelings on Lomax. None are terribly negative, but some say he is a top prospect, and it won’t take long to develop. Others say he is more of a long-range proposition. Every so often, he does something, and you say, ‘Wow!’ And every so often you say, ‘My god.’ And that’s where he is. But the talent is there.”

Braatz (Christl interview, April 1981): “(Lomax) has got a No. 1 arm. He could be better than Phil Simms (drafted by the Giants seventh overall two years earlier out of Morehead State), but he’s got a lot of bad habits somebody is going to have to spend a lot of time with. Campbell, if he’s well (following late-season MCL surgery), is a franchise type player. He doesn’t have the arm of Steve Bartkowski (also from Cal and drafted first overall by the Falcons in 1975), but he moves around better. And they’re comparable in every other way.”

Allman (Christl interview, April 1981): “(Campbell) is probably as accurate as anybody we’ve seen for a long time. He’s got good height, good field vision. The only negatives on him are mobility a little bit, and he doesn’t have quite the big gun. But he has enough arm.”

Boisture (Christl interview, April 1981): “(Campbell) didn’t play very well when he was healthy. There’s nothing really that makes you want to trade to get him. (With Lomax) to take a shot like we did (with Simms), you’re going to hit maybe one or two out of five.”