Don Horn! First, let’s get the possible ESPN/Chris Berman nicknames out of the way…
“Come Blow Your” Horn
“Air” Horn
“Matter” Horn
“Unic” Horn (yeah, not my best)
“Hardcore” Horn (urrf…)
Yeah, that’s enough.
Don Horn played for Don Coryell at San Diego State, and was well versed in a up tempo passing game—only to wind up as Bart Starr’s backup for four years, though he managed to get in on the Super Bowl II win. But as the Packers aged and suffered with Lombardi leaving the coaching duties, Horn chafed for a chance to play more and to move past the aging and injury prone Starr/Bratkowski combination. But new coach Phil Bengston didn’t want to be the man who benched BART STARR, though Horn went 4-1 as a starter. Then Dan Devine became the Packers coach, and he promptly traded Horn to Denver.
Now, Denver was ghastly. FOUR quarterbacks took turns failing throughout the ’70 season. So, they took a chance on Horn. And in the season opener against Miami, Coach Lou Saban ordered Horn to run out the clock in a 10-10 tie game, not wanting to risk losing. This was the notorious “Half a loaf is better than nothing” game. Horn was stunned—and he knew he wasn’t in Green Bay anymore.
But guess what? The second game of the ’71 season was Green Bay versus Denver. “Horn’s Revenge”! His triumphant return! Don Horn against Dan Devine, the man who traded him away–the stuff NFL legends are made of!
Or, nightmares.
Horn threw six interceptions and no touchdowns in a 33-13 dry-heave disaster. He had a passer rating of 26.4. Horn called it the worst game he ever played, and Saban agreed. The next game, Horn threw four more picks against the Chiefs. He started six more games that year, and had three head coaches in his two-year Bronco tenure before brief stops in Cleveland, San Diego and the WFL before the end.
At least Hardcore Horn wasn’t playing for a tie. (Nope, still bad.)
A video about Don Horn
