• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

MINNEAPOLIS - Green Bay Packer legend Max McGee died Saturday following an accident at his home in the Minneapolis suburb of Deephaven. He was 75 years old. Funeral services have been set for Sunday for former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Max McGee. A celebration of life will be held at 3 p.m. at Grace Church, 9301 Eden Prairie Road, in Eden Prairie, said funeral director Wally Gelecinskyj of the Huber Funeral Home. McGee, who caught the first touchdown pass in Super Bowl history in 1967, died after he fell while clearing leaves from the roof of his home in Deephaven on Saturday afternoon. He was 75. “You know, he was a great football player, Packers Hall of Famer, but he was a hall of fame father,” Jerry Kramer said. Max McGee, remembered by many, including fellow teammate Jerry Kramer a s a great man on and off the football field. McGee, the former Packers player and commentator has died. McGee died Saturday at his Minneapolis home. He was on the roof clearing leaves when he apparently fell. Emergency officials were called, but couldn't save him. McGee was 75 years old. He is survived by his wife and four children. It was a tough weekend for those closest to the legend. Paul Hornung said it best, telling the St. Paul Pioneer Press, he lost his best friend. Max McGee had that effect on teammates, fans and those he came in contact with. McGee played on Green Bay's 1967 and 1968 Super Bowl championship teams, scoring the first touchdown in on a pass from Bart Starr in the Packers' 35-10 victory over Kansas City in the inaugural game. After catching only four passes all season before the Super Bowl, he caught seven passes for 138 yards -- a record that stood for 10 years. He played for the Packers from 1954 to 1967, with an interruption for military service, helping them win five NFL championships. After his wide receiver days were over, McGee went on to serve as the voice of the Pack on the Packers radio network, heard on 620 WTMJ. McGee and partner Jim Irwin retired from the radio booth after the 1998 season. McGee was also a successful restaurateur and entrepreneur. He was a major partner in developing the Chi Chi's chain of Mexican restaurants in the late 1970s and '80s. In 1999, McGee founded the Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin to raise money for diabetes research. McGee's son has struggled with the disease for many years. McGee is survived by his wife, four children and several grandchildren. There were many layers, to Max McGee. First, his days as a player. Super Bowl one his crowning moment, when he parties all night before the game then subs in and makes an incredible catch for the first Super Bowl touchdown. Five years ago, TODAY’S TMJ4’s Lance Allan went to Max's house in Minnesota, and recalled the catch in typical McGee style. McGee and Paul Hornung, the only two players who seemed to get away with stuff under the iron fist of Vince Lombardi. “The fun he and Paul Hornung had together, they were the life of the party, and I’m sure Vince Lombardi who was always very, very strict about everything had to deep down, get a kick out of both of them for the way they approached life,” Bob Harlan said. Those in green bay say one word described Max. “Colorful, you know, I think that’d be the first adjective I would think of. He was colorful, both as a player and as a person,” Lee Remmel said. In his second phase as a broadcaster, Max always had a way with words. Larry McCarren spent four fun years in the booth listening and laughing at his stories. “One of my favorites is they were talking about a player on Tampa Bay who had hurt his hand and the trainer was working on it, and he ended up cutting a serious gash in the guy’s finger, and the first thing out of Max’s mouth was ‘lucky he didn’t have a pulled groin,’” Larry McCarren said. For close friends like broadcaster Jim Irwin, it's still hard to take. TODAY’S TMJ4’s Lance Allan: “Do you miss your buddy?” “I do, I do. I miss him a great deal. I know what my loss is, and if you’re a Packer fan, I think it was a great loss for all of us,” Jim Irwin said. Jim Irwin had to fight back tears. He considered max like a brother. Now he wants to celebrate the life of Max McGee, because that's how max lived life, to the fullest. McGee of course started his career on the field playing for the green and gold. When he hung up his helmet for a microphone he had a lot of hardware, helping to win five championships and two Super Bowls. Max’s former teammates are taking the loss very hard. Max McGee is the one player from the Packers championship teams of the 60s that will never be forgotten. McGee was known for his big plays, his warm heart and his incredible wit. It’s tough for his former teammates like Jerry Kramer to stomach the loss of their true friend. “It was like getting kicked in the gut last night, when Paul called and told me that Max had fallen off the roof and I’m going, how can Max fall off the roof?” Jerry Kramer said. Jerry was stunned like the rest of McGee's former teammates, but they want to try and remember the good times with Max. McGee was the one guy that always got Lombardi. “I remember one time somebody said ‘what made you say that, what made you think you could get away with that?’ But he did, he could, you know, he said it in such a way he wasn’t challenging the coach, he was just you know, kinda making a little light over it,” Kramer said. Not only was max funny, he played big in the big games. The team could always count on McGee. “Clutch player I think is the best way to put it. Max would drop a ball in a meaningless game, but he would never drop a ball in a clutch situation and I think Super Bowl one is the classic example,” Kramer said. Some younger fans never had a face to put with the name Max McGee, because he was just known to them, as a color analyst. However, he became a man of the people, saying what fans thought, taking them to the sidelines of Lambeau Field, even though they were sitting in their living rooms. The images most of us think of when we hear the name Max McGee: Packers number 85, scoring a touchdown, making Super Bowl history. However, most of us didn't have the chance to know the man who just happened to play a little ball. “I don't see him as some big football star, he's just my dad,” Dallas McGee said. McGee played for the Packers from 1954 to 1967. The wide receiver helped his team win two Super Bowls and five NFL championships. He was also a popular radio commentator for about 20 years and a successful entrepreneur, co-founding several restaurants, including Chi-Chis, but perhaps his most important credential of all: he was a father of four, grandfather of three and a husband. “When you hear about all the things about his life in the football days and that's really what people know, but really he was so far past that and really loved family life,” Denise McGee said. “In Green Bay when you're walking with Max McGee, it's like walking in Rome with the Pope,” Dennis Schulstad, a retired general and family friend said. Retired Air Force General Dennis Schulstad says Max was a man with a charitable mission. He donated several million dollars to a fund to try and find a cure for juvenile diabetes. The very disease that his youngest son still battles would become the focus of McGee's final years. ust one part of a legacy his family hopes will live on. “I'm worried people are going to say ‘yep he was the guy who scored that first touchdown good footall player,’ but there was so much more to Max McGee than that,” Denise McGee said. “He was the most honest and caring man that anybody knew. He was the finest man I’ve ever met.” Bart Starr spoke with News Radio 620 WTMJ’s Bill Michels: “The guy was a fabulous player. Very sharp. Very astute. People always used to say the only think he didn't like was curfews. The guy was always at practice, was pumped up, was prepared, was as energized as anybody,” Starr said. Hear Bart Starr's comment on Max McGee Football may have been Max McGee's first love, but he will be forever linked with his work to find a cure for juvenile diabetes. His name lives on at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. McGee wanted a cure and is making it happen. Nine years ago, McGee gave Children's Hospital $1 million to fight diabetes. He wanted to help find a cure for his diabetic son and others. Kelli Trester was one of the children Max McGee helped. The then 3-year-old thanked McGee for his generous gift with flowers. "It's kind of cool that you get hugged by a really famous person,” Mallori Trester, Kelli’s sister said. As Kelli and her sister, Mallori, look through old clippings, they are hopeful that the million dollars mcgee gave, and its subsequent research will find a cure. "Anything's possible, if you think about it. I would at least know that people wouldn't have to live through what I’ve lived through for, basically, all of my life,” Kelli Trester said. Click on the link under related content to see an interview with Kelli Trester. "This business about kids injecting themselves with insulin all the time, regulating their blood sugar, this is really heart-breaking,” Dr. Soumitra Ghosh of the Max McGee National Research Center said. Click on the link under related content to see an interview with Dr. Soumitra Ghosh. Dr. Soumitra Ghosh is director of the research center and is saddened his passionate friend is gone. “Maybe like his football career, he had a clear goal and a clear, sort of, idea on how to get to the final point, and he told me that we should aim for the cure,” Dr. Ghosh said. Scientists at the center study the genetic and environmental triggers to juvenile diabetes. Within months, they expect to test treatments that could delay its onset. That would have a dream come true for McGee and Kelli's family. "I think there would be a lot of prayers answered if it was cured,” Barb Trester, Kelli’s mom said. Click on the link under related content to see an interview with Barb Trester. "He had a big impact on our center, and we'll miss him. We'll miss him,” Dr. Ghosh said. The CDC estimates some 21 million Americans have diabetes and all are awaiting a cure. The Associated Press contributed to this report.