Football
Associated Press 20y

Packers' staffer scoured Midwest for talent

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- John "Red" Cochran, a scout and former
NFL player and assistant coach who spent 42 years with the Green
Bay Packers, died at 82.

Cochran died at Bellin Hospital in Green Bay of apparent heart
failure Sunday after undergoing hip replacement surgery Wednesday,
the Packers said Monday.

Originally brought to Green Bay by Vince Lombardi in 1959,
Cochran worked 12 years as an assistant for the Packers and the
last 30 as a scout.

He was believed to be the oldest scout in the NFL still on the
road making school calls, crisscrossing the Midwest in his old
pickup, visiting colleges in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Illinois and Michigan. He wrote his reports not by
computer, like other scouts, but by hand.

"He remained a scout until the day he died," team historian
Lee Remmel said. "He dearly loved what he did."

Cochran was a bomber pilot in the Pacific during World War II.
He was a running back at Wake Forest before and after his four-year
tour of duty and played for the Chicago Cardinals 1947-50, the
last year under Curly Lambeau. The Cardinals won the 1947 NFL title
game but lost the championship in '48 despite Cochran's two
interceptions.

Cochran coached the backfield for Wake Forest 1951-55 and
the Detroit Lions 1956-58 before joining the Packers as
Lombardi's backfield coach from 1959 to 1966, helping mold Jim Taylor
and Paul Hornung into Hall of Famers.

He spent a year as a businessman before returning to football as
an assistant in St. Louis (1968-69) and San Diego (1970), then went
back to Green Bay for good as Dan Devine's backfield coach 1971-74. In 1975, Bart Starr made him a scout and he served full
time until his 65th birthday in 1987.

In 52 years as a player, coach and scout, Cochran's teams played
in 10 NFL championships, winning seven.

"I like to say he's forgotten more than we'll ever know,"
Packers director of college scouting John Dorsey said. "He was a
man who had strong convictions, had an eye for talent, had no
problem speaking his mind and was usually right."

Cochran is the second member of the Packers' personnel
department to die in the last two months. Mark Hatley, vice
president of football operations, died of a heart attack in July.

Cochran is survived by his wife, Pat, a son, two daughters and
several grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements were not yet complete.

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