Former Green Bay Packers running back Terdell Middleton died on Friday.
He was 59.
Most of you probably don’t remember Middleton. Hell, I only remember his name.
He played five seasons for the Packers from 1977 to 1981. Those were not exactly the glory years and Middleton wasn’t one of the Packers’ all-time greats.
He does fall into that bucket of guys — a bucket that Don Majkowski, for example, is in — that had one great season for the Packers though.
For Middleton, that season was 1978, when he ran for 1,116 yards and made his only Pro Bowl in just his second year in the league.
Unfortunately, from there it was all downhill.
That wasn’t all Middleton’s fault, however. In 1979, the Packers were garbage. They had David Whitehurst at quarterback (2,247 yards, 10 TDS, 18 INTs) and a defense that gave up almost 3,000 yards rushing.
Middleton rushed for 495 yards that year, the last he would be a featured back and the last he’d surpass 200 yards rushing.
With a better team around him, Middleton may have done something more.
As it is, he finished his Packers career 2,044 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns before going on to play two uneventful seasons with Tampa Bay.
He is just the fourth 1,000-yard rusher in Green Bay Packers history. The first three were a couple Hall of Famers — Tony Canadeo and Jim Taylor — and a Packers Hall of Famer — John Brockington.
8 Comments
What a s$)&!?t piece of writing!!!
I remember him,one of the few players players to be excited about during those lean years
I was actually a Terdell fan. He may have even been my first Packer. The first guy I followed and revered. He was a product of the teams he played on. Mediocre teams with poor coaches, bad talent, and an aging infrastructure of an organization. Terdell wasnt real bright but he brought his all every time he got the ball. RIP my friend.
he was the answer to the question -” which Packer was the last to rush for 1,000 yards?”- for a very long time. until EB in 1995.
Still wondering why Majik is in the Packer HOF- he only had one great year. Maybe with the decades of sub-mediocrity that was all it took.
Because he’s the effin MAJIK MAN… Next question.
what did he die of?
Bummer. I totally dug Terdell back in the day. One of the few bright spots during the Wilderness years. I especially remember the ’78 season…Terdell’s All Pro yr, we started out 6-1 and I will never forget Howard Cosell doing the MNF wk 7 halftime highlights. One, because we were actually on them. And two, after he did the highlights of our sixth win over Seattle he booms out in pure Cosell fashion “The Pack is Back!” which sent me into nirvana. Of course, we finished 8-7-1 that yr. lol But Terdell was The Man for sure. RIP TM.