John Symank John Richard Symank ( August 31 , 1935 – January 23 , 2002 ) was an American college and professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League ( NFL ) for seven seasons during the 1950s and 1960s . Symank played college football for the University of Florida , and thereafter , he played professionally for the Green Bay Packers and St . Louis Cardinals of the NFL . He was later the head coach for Northern Arizona University and the University of Texas at Arlington football teams . Early life . Symank was born in LaGrange , Texas in 1935 , to Oswald " Curly " and Ann Pauline Symank . Symank ' s family was of Wendish descent , a Slavic group that emigrated to Central Texas in the mid - nineteenth century from Germany . Symank ' s father died when Johnny was only 8 years old . Symank attended Caldwell High School in Caldwell , Texas , where he excelled in sports and lettered in high school football and track and field for the Caldwell Hornets . College career . After graduating from high school , Symank attended Arlington State Junior College in Arlington , Texas , and played for the Arlington Rebels football team under coach Chena Gilstrap in 1953 and 1954 . Symank enrolled in the college ' s Reserve Officer Training Corps ( ROTC ) unit to fulfill his military obligation and remained an active ROTC member throughout his college career . Symank received an athletic scholarship to transfer to the University of Florida in Gainesville , Florida , where he played for coach Bob Woodruff ' s Florida Gators football team in 1955 and 1956 . Woodruff later ranked Symank as one of the five best defensive backs to play for the Gators during the 1950s , and one of the ten best offensive backs of the decade . While he was a Gator , he earned two varsity letter s in both football and track , and became a captain in the university ' s ROTC unit . Symank graduated from Florida with a bachelor ' s degree in business administration in 1957 , and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a " Gator Great . " Professional playing career . Green Bay Packers scout Jack Vainisi " discovered " Symank , and the Packers subsequently selected him in the twenty - third round ( 268th pick overall ) of the 1957 NFL Draft . Despite Symank making the NFL record books his rookie season with nine pass interception s , Green Bay finished the season with a losing 3 – 9 record . During the season , the Packers played the undefeated Baltimore Colts on their home field in Baltimore in the third game of the season . The Colts had talented second - year quarterback Johnny Unitas and were on their way to 1958 NFL Championship . In the second quarter , Symank made a hit on Unitas that resulted in three broken ribs and a punctured lung . Some sports commentators described it as a " late hit " that happened as the play ended ; Sarah Symank said that after the Packers reviewed the film , " it appeared to be a clean hit . " Baltimore fans , and especially the press , were not so forgiving and many sports columnists accused Symank of breaking Unitas ' ribs in a questionable play . The Colts won the game 56 – 0 , and Unitas missed only two games from his injury . Years later , when Symank was a Baltimore Colts assistant coach , and Unitas was retired from football , the two became close friends . After two back - to - back losing seasons with the Packers , Symank ' s career fortunes turned when new coach Vince Lombardi took total control of the Green Bay Packers organization — on and off the field . Lombardi , who had worked the previous five seasons as an assistant coach for the New York Giants , was an enthusiastic leader eager to prove himself as a head coach . The Packers narrowly missed a shot at the NFL championship and Lombardi was recognized as the NFL coach of the year in . In , the Packers returned with renewed confidence in themselves and Lombardi ' s system and philosophy . Symank led the Packers in both interception - return and kickoff - return yardage , helping his team get to the 1960 NFL Championship Game . During the game , the Philadelphia Eagles ' quarterback Norm Van Brocklin , on second down , threw a pass from the Packers ' five - yard - line that Symank intercepted in the end zone for a touchback . This set up three downs and out as Packers quarterback Bart Starr threw three straight incomplete passes . On a fake punt play that was not ordered by Lombardi , Packers punter Max McGee ran thirty - five yards up the middle of the field for the first down ; the Packers then drove the length of the field for a touchdown , putting the Packers back in the game . Despite the Packers furious fourth - quarter efforts , they fell eight yards short of winning the 1960 NFL championship as time expired ; the final score was Philadelphia over Green Bay 17 – 13 . During the season , Lombardi led the Packers to an improved record of 11 – 3 , a Western Conference title , and a short trip to the 1961 NFL Championship Game . The New Year ' s Eve game , held in Green Bay , was the first NFL game ever to gross over one million dollars , and was attended by 39 , 029 people . Symank started and played in almost every defensive play of the game , as the Packers defense held the Giants scoreless in a 37 – 0 blow - out . The following season , Lombardi led Symank and the Packers to another victory in the 1962 NFL Championship Game . In , Symank was traded along with Bill Quinlan to the New York Giants . Before Symank ever wore a Giants uniform , he was traded again to the St . Louis Cardinals , where he played his final 9 – 5 season under coach Wally Lemm . During Symank ' s seven - year NFL career , he played in eighty - nine regular season games , recovered twelve fumbles , intercepted nineteen passes and returning them for 387 yards and a touchdown . Coaching career . Early assistantships . Symank ' s college and professional coaching career spanned two and a half decades . Symank ' s first assistant coaching job was at Tulane University in New Orleans , Louisiana in 1964 , when he met fellow assistant coach Bill Arnsparger , a relationship that spanned Symank ' s entire coaching career . In 1965 , he went to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville , Virginia and worked under head coach George Blackburn . Norb Hecker , one of Lombardi ' s assistants who coached Symank at Green Bay , became the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons , the NFL ' s new expansions team , in . Hecker recruited Symank to join the Falcons ' first coaching staff . In , Symank and Hecker were joined in Atlanta by former Packer Lew Carpenter . The Falcons ' owner was frustrated with his team ' s 4 – 26 – 1 record , and Hecker was fired after the third game of his third season . Former Eagles quarterback Norm Van Brocklin took over as the Falcons head coach for the balance of the season , and the Falcons assistant coaches including Symank were fired at season ' s end . College head coach . Symank was the head football coach for Northern Arizona University ( NAU ) in Flagstaff , Arizona in 1969 and 1970 , He picked his former Packers teammate and quarterback Lamar McHan as his offensive coordinator and C . O . Brocato , a very successful coach at Jesuit High School in Shreveport , Louisiana , as his defensive coordinator . The trio coached the NAU Lumberjacks together for two years and moved again when his alma mater , the University of Texas at Arlington ( formerly Arlington State Junior College ) , asked him to be the head coach of the UT Arlington Mavericks . Symank was the eleventh head college football coach for the Arlington Mavericks , and he held that position for three seasons , from 1971 until 1973 . He and his assistants assumed command over a completely demoralized team and set out to rebuild the program using the same techniques he had learned from Lombardi . Symank ' s three - year win - loss record at UT Arlington was 11 – 21 . Return to the NFL . Bill Arnsparger became the head coach of the New York Giants in , and called Symank to join his new staff . After winning just seven games in three seasons , Arnsparger was fired in . Symank was hired by Ted Marchibroda as an assistant coach for the Baltimore Colts , and also coached under Marchibroda ' s successor , Mike McCormack , from to . After years of frustration , the Colts management was ready to make major changes , so Symank , along with the rest of the Colts coaches , were fired . At home in Louisiana . In 1984 a new opportunity presented itself when Bill Arnsparger accepted the head coaching position at Louisiana State University ( LSU ) in Baton Rouge , Louisiana . Hired to be the LSU defensive coordinator , Symank was the first assistant hired by Arnsparger . The LSU Tigers posted an 8 – 3 – 2 record , including the loss to Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl . Arnsparger earned the SEC ' s Coach of the Year award for turning around an LSU program that had a losing 4 – 7 record the year before . In 1985 the Tigers came back even stronger , and Symank moved from defensive coordinator to coach the Tigers linebackers and coordinate Arnsparger ' s recruiting program . He had an affinity for recruiting small town high school players , and felt it was his duty to give promising young players the same chance he had been given . A college education , four years playing college football , and maybe a shot at an NFL roster , but most importantly , Symank would always say : " get that diploma because no matter how good you are , you can ' t play forever . " Symank died at his beach house on Dauphin Island , Alabama in 2002 ; he was 66 years old . He was survived by his wife Sarah and their children .