Ex-Packers, Giants kicker Don Chandler dead at 76

[August 13, 2011]  GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Don Chandler, a kicker and punter who was part of four championship teams with the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants, has died. He was 76.

His death Thursday was confirmed by the Moore Southlawn Funeral Home in Tulsa, Okla.

Chandler played 12 NFL seasons, nine with the Giants and three with the Packers. He won an NFL championship with the Giants as a rookie in 1956.

"Don was a great player for us during some of the best years in Giants history," John Mara, the team's president and CEO, said Friday. "He was also a true gentleman."

Chandler won three titles with Vince Lombardi's Packers and entered the team's Hall of Fame in 1975.

"He was a significant contributor to the Packers' championship teams of 1965, '66 and '67, and represented the organization with class." Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy said.

Chandler's first season with the Packers was 1965, which ended with a title game victory over Cleveland. He also was part of victories in the first two Super Bowls, over Kansas City in January 1967 and over Oakland in January 1968. He hit four field goals against the Raiders, sharing the record for most field goals in a Super Bowl with San Francisco's Ray Wersching.

One of his biggest moments came on Dec. 26, 1965, when Chandler kicked a 25-yard field goal in overtime to send the Packers past the Baltimore Colts. Some of the Colts thought Chandler actually had missed an earlier 22-yarder that was ruled good, making the score 10-10. The kick sailed high above the upright, and the league made the goal posts taller the following season.

Chandler was honored as the punter on the NFL 1960s All-Decade Team.

Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1934, Chandler attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa. The Giants drafted him in the fifth round out of Florida in 1956.

There will be a private burial Tuesday followed by a memorial service at Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.