The Green Bay Packers are mourning Nelson Toburen, a former linebacker and two-time champion whose NFL career was cut short by a devastating neck injury. Toburen died on Sunday, October 4, at his home in Pittsburg, Kansas, after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 87.
Green Bay drafted Toburen in the 14th round of the 1961 NFL Draft out of Wichita State, and he wasted no time finding a role on a team that was built to win. As a rookie, he played in every regular-season game while the Packers claimed the 1961 NFL Championship. He stayed with the club in 1962 and helped Green Bay capture another title, working as a reliable option at all three linebacker spots.
His most memorable moment in green and gold came on November 18, 1962, when he made his first NFL start against the Baltimore Colts after stepping in for the injured Dan Currie. Toburen delivered a hard tackle on Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas that forced a fumble and helped the Packers pull out a 17-13 win. But the play came with a brutal price: he fractured his fifth cervical vertebra and dislocated the sixth, ending his football career on the spot.
Even after football was over, Toburen remained tied to the Packers. While he was recovering, Lombardi visited him in the hospital and gave him another year’s salary.
Toburen eventually returned to Kansas, earned his law degree and went on to work as an attorney before becoming a state district judge. Through it all, he stayed a Packers fan for life.
Toburen’s place in team history rests on more than just the brief career that was taken from him. He was part of two championship teams during one of the most celebrated stretches in franchise history, and he later built a second life defined by public service.
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