Sports Related Thoughts On The Passing Of Ted Kennedy

I never realized until today that Ted and John Kennedy had fifteen years between them. That's a long time between siblings. Another interesting thing to think about is that Ted was only 77. Although he seems to have been around for forever, that's just a little more than the average male age expectancy today. I've read several John Kennedy assassination books and one fact I found in passing was that John Kennedy was a just few months older than my grandfather, Wayne. Because Kennedy was murdered so young [at 46] he will always be etched in time of the 60's and I have difficulty seeing him as an aging grandfather rather than the guy who could get Marilyn Monroe to sing him "Happy Birthday." Today, JFK would be 92 and there is a fairly good chance that he could still be alive. How the world would be different is one for the fiction writers but I can't help but feel it would be a better place.

The idea of "what could have been?" comes back to me as I'm reading through all the articles and obituaries about Ted Kennedy's passing and I find mention again and again of a great little story that I knew nothing about. Apparently Ted Kennedy was once a Green Bay Packers prospect. This is from Kennedy's Senate web page:

"Just one month earlier, Kennedy's promise on the football field had caught the notice of Green Bay Packer Head Coach Lisle Blackbourn. "You have been very highly recommended to us by a number of coaches in your area and also by our talent scouts as a possible Pro Prospect," Blackbourn wrote to the young Right End.

Kennedy declined the offer, saying he was flattered, but that he had plans to attend law school and to 'go into another contact sport, politics'."

How's that for a "what if?" If it had all worked out he would have been a rookie with Bart Starr.