GREEN BAY – The Lambeau Leap, the most iconic of Green Bay Packers gestures, was not an instant success.
The original leap was a spontaneous action by Pro Football Hall of Famer LeRoy Butler, but a later leap was a deliberate effort on the part of Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Robert Brooks. From Butler slamming himself high against the wall of Lambeau Field’s south end zone to one of only three sculptures outside the stadium, the Lambeau Leap had one father, Butler, and several godfathers, including Brooks, several sports writers and an unknown marketing person at NFL Players Inc.
The day after Christmas 1993 in Green Bay was zero degrees with a wind chill of minus-20. The Packers, who entered the game against the Los Angeles Raiders as 3-point underdogs, were leading 14-0 in the fourth quarter when, on a second-down swing pass to Los Angeles Raiders running back Randy Jordan, Butler forced a fumble that squirted into Reggie White’s hands at the Raiders’ 35-yard-line. After running 10 yards and getting tackled, White, who may or may not have been out of bounds, lateraled to Butler, who ran the remaining 25 yards into the south end zone and then made a spontaneous leap into the arms of fans sitting in the front row.
Jim Irwin and Max McGhee, announcing the game on radio, weren’t quite sure what they had just seen and their focus was on which players were involved, whether White was out of bounds and whether it was a touchdown. Butler’s leap into the arms of fans was not mentioned.
