Dale Hackbart

Dale Leonard Hackbart (born July 21, 1938) is a former American football defensive back who played twelve seasons in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Cardinals, and Denver Broncos from 1960 to 1973. He also played in the Canadian Football League for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1964 and 1965. Hackbart initially focused on baseball. He spent a season playing baseball for the Grand Forks Chiefs; a Class C minor league team in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Bud Grant convinced Hackbart to drop baseball and concentrate on a career in the National Football League.Hackbart was drafted by the Minnesota franchise in the inaugural 1960 American Football League Draft as a quarterback and "territorial selection." He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1960 NFL draft as a generic "back" by the Packers. As Minnesota would never play in the AFL (the group instead joined the NFL as the Minnesota Vikings), Hackbart joined the Packers. Hackbart would eventually join the Vikings in 1966, by this point solely as a defensive back. In 1973, Hackbart was involved in an on-field transgression that he eventually took to court. He asserted that a late hit by Cincinnati Bengals running back Boobie Clark was an intentional tort. He was with the Denver Broncos and was their starting safety in 1973. In the first 1973 regular season game against the Cincinnati Bengals Hackbart's neck was fractured. "It was just before halftime and the Bengals had the ball at around the 45 yard line going in. Boobie Clark came out of a split backfield and ran down the hash marks. I was playing free safety so I dropped back to the center of the field. The ball went up in the air and I converged into the endzone. Billy Thompson, who was playing left corner for the Broncos, jumped in front of me and Boobie Clark and intercepted the pass. I tried to block Boobie and landed on the ground. When I came up on to one knee watching Thompson ru