Charles 'Chuck' Mercein (born April 9, 1943) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for seven seasons for the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, and New York Jets. He was drafted in the third round, the second player drafted by the New York Giants, the 31st player taken overall in the draft. He led the Giants in rushing in his second season and after an injury was claimed on waivers and joined the Green Bay Packers midway thru the season. As a professional, Mercein is best remembered for his performance in the Packers' game-winning drive in the 1967 NFL Championship Game, known popularly as the "Ice Bowl". Mercein rushed six times for 20 yards, and had two receptions for 22 yards in the "Ice Bowl"; 34 of his total yards were achieved on that game's final and famous 68 yard drive. He most notably raised both of his arms behind

Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett Starr (January 9, 1934 – May 26, 2019) was an American professional football quarterback and head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of ...

who had executed a quarterback sneak to score the game-winning touchdown with 16 seconds remaining in regulation time. Because physically aiding a teammate into the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

is a penalty, he was indicating to the on-field officials that Starr wasn't pushed forward. He played for the Packers through 1969 and then with the Jets before retiring in 1971. Prior to being with the Jets, he was in

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

but was released on September 1, 1970.

Early years

Mercein is the son of Tom Mercein, a radio and television personality who worked in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

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and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

during the 1950s and 1960s. The younger Mercein graduated from New Trier High School in 1961. He was an all-state fullback who also was the first Illinois high-school athlete to ever exceed 60 feet in the shot put. His feats of 61 feet, 1¾ inches at

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on April 29, 1961 and 60 feet, 5½ inches at Maine East six days later on May 5 both exceeded the then-state record of 58 feet, 5½ inches. Neither were recognized as an Illinois high school record, which had to be established only at the state championships. Mercein's acceptance of a scholarship to attend

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

was based on recommendations from Mike Pyle, a fellow New Trier graduate who had also matriculated at Yale. While at Yale, Mercein was a member of the Phi Chapter of

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fiftee ...

fraternity. Shropshire, Mike. ''The Ice Bowl: The Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys Season of 1967''. New York City: Diversion Books, 1997.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercein, Chuckie 1943 births Living people New York Giants players Green Bay Packers players New York Jets players Players of American football from Milwaukee Yale College alumni New Trier High School alumni