My fandom began a few years after his career ended, so I “missed” him. But I wish I hadn’t.

He was Derrick Henry before Derrick Henry. I miss the old days before the sniveling softness took over the NFL.

[edit] Also have to school some of the younger Packers fans. The Packers didn't have a QB. They had Scott Hunter. Remember him? Didn't think so. One of the worst QB's to wear the uniform. It's a wonder they won as many games as they did in 1972, the last winning record they'd have for years. RB's Brockington and MacArthur Lane were the entire offense. They had no WR's or TE's other than an aging Carroll Dale. TE Rich McGeorge was on IR in '72, had a decent career, but never got back to his 2nd year play. Also had an idiot coach in Dan Devine who moved their best OL Gale Gillingham from Guard to DT and he ended up going on IR that year. That is ranked as one of the stupidest moves by a Packers coach in their history. And Brockington still was an All-Pro. Players can rise above incompetent coaching. Let's hope it's next year.

When Green Bay picked Brockington, I was so happy. I thought he would lead them to the SB. He was like a big Jim Taylor, and between him and Lane they were seldom stopped.
Good insight on why he wore down in just a few years, but always attributed to the wear and tear in college. Ohio State was always a running team with Woody as the coach.
Loved the old film....very nice article.
JMHO

Brockington's knee action was his stand out characteristic.

I remember reading his production fell off when the Packers adopted a zone blocking scheme and expected him to plant and cut rather than just hitting a hole. He was open about those challenges once his career was over, and I recall how the fan base turned on him when he appeared to be tippy-toeing laterally rather than running people over. Stud from the get-go. Loved to watch him play.

Bought Leotis Jr a 42 jersey at the Pro Shop back in the day. Unfortunately, it had "Sharper" on the back, but when Darren turned out to be a serial rapist, that same Pro Shop hooked us up with a "Brockington" name plate (for a fee of course) and that made it a much better investment.

It was great to see those clips of Brockington again. He was a great RB for the Packers even though it was short lived. He was a take no prisoners. type of runner like Jim Taylor had been during the Lombardi era. For me he was a much better back than Eddie Lacy. Also remember that Brockington achieved his first three 1,000 yard seasons when the league was still playing a 14 game schedule.

If the Packers had even a decent QB and receivers in those days Brock may have carried them back to the SB in spite of their idiot HC Dan Devine.
Thanks, Since '61

Superb balance for a big back. I remember the disappointment of the Washington playoff game in 72. Still feel that was a winnable game.

I remember as a kid, John Brockington was one of my heroes. We'd always get hyped up to watch him and MacArthur Lane tear up defenses. In fact, they pretty much were the offense in those days. I'll always remember him as one of the Packer greats!

Alas, I missed the glory days of the Lombardi Era, being only 5 and living near Houston at the time of the Ice Bowl, oblivious to the NFL.
My first season of closely following the Packers was in the suburbs of Philadelphia at age 10 in 1972, when Brockington and Lane led the way.
I also remember Ken Ellis had four interceptions in one game, and that out punter converted a fake for a long run.
The highlight of '72 was the Packers overcoming the whirling elusiveness of Fran Tarkenton to beat the Vikings for the division title.
I was really upset and even somewhat weepy with the loss in the playoffs to the Redskins, when they crowded the line of scrimmage to thwart our running game, and we weren't able to make it happen with our passing game.
However, there was good hope for the future of the Packers for an idealistic lad in elementary school.
***
Sad to say, it was to be some twenty seasons of mostly futility, a two-decade test of loyalty, from about the trading of a hall-of-famer in Ted Hendricks to the drafting of a disappointment in Tony Mandarich.
When I moved to the suburbs of Chicago in 1973. I had a big poster of Bart Starr in my room, even though he had retired; and a big poster of Hank Aaron, because I knew he had once been a Milwaukee Brave.
For those of us who persevered through such events as the touchdowns of William "The Refrigerator" Perry and the Super Bowl Shuffle of the Bears, it was exhilarating to finally reach sustained success starting in about 1993. Remember the playoff game against the Lions that seemed to be lost, when Brett Favre was rolling to his left in late-game desperation, and then shockingly heaved a pass far down the right sideline to Sterling Sharpe for the dramatic winning touchdown. Wow!
It's been mostly good since then -- actually a great run of more than three decades. It seems the Packers should have more than two titles in that time, but those Lombardi trophies have been hard to come by for any team not named the Patriots.
With the perspective of being a fan for more than a half century, I try to enjoy the other seasons that are mostly successful, with the majority of the games that we do win.
***
What really hurts is when the team doesn't seem to max out its potential with heartbreaking and gut-wrenching losses at the very end, which seems to be a habit in the tenure of LaFleur. Still, there's been much more good with him as head coach than the bad.
Even though I came out for the firing of LaFleur after this past season, maybe those of us who endured the mostly miserable and seemingly interminable stretch of the 1970s and 1980s are less likely to be devastated by his contract extension and more apt to find reasons for some hope in his accomplishments.
LaFleur seems a genius with developing plays. He has shown that he can work well with NFL players. He leads us to the playoffs just about every season, with some highly satisfying victories to his credit.
Let's hope his experiences of ups and downs will result in better adjustments during games, and better decisions overall. I'm rooting for him to take another step up.
This will require a difficult combination of humility and confidence, which is a struggle for all of us in this life. If we at least strive to balance the two, all of us can improve, even old-timers like me.
No matter our flaws and faults and past mistakes, if we have the will, God will help us to find a way.

I still remember my excitement at getting a John Brockington football card and yelling out his name. I'm sure I enjoyed the chalky bubblegum even more than usual. The clips are fascinating. No RB looks like that or runs like that anymore, although Derrick Henry comes close.

Not much mentioned about Macarthur Lane, Brockington's running mate during his best years. In my dreams I would like to see a running tandem like those two again. Each back was a tough, no nonsense runner and decent blocker. Lane would often lead Brockington into the hole and knock out the first linebacker he saw, then Brockington would run over anyone else. Lane was also a good runner in his own right.
The modern fan rarely appreciates good running, seeing the game as a fantasy and gambling outlet for passing. The traditional game began as a running attack. Imagine Josh Jacobs paired with a 230 pound speedy sledgehammer, both on the field at the same time.
Another remarkable fact was the Packers offensive line was not all that good.

As I remember, Brockington's wife Jackie was a weathercaster at Channel 11 in Green Bay.

I hope before my transition to the great football field in the sky I get to see the return of great running as a centerpiece of the NFL game.

In the years after the Lombardi Era, the Packers really had only 2 things going for them: John Brockington and MacArthur Lane. With them, the Packers finished 10-4 in '72 but lost to (then) Redskins in the playoffs. I didn't know about the tragic decline of JB's career. So sad. But your video highlights brought back good memories of a bad stretch of Packer history.
Thanks, Kevin, for the memories.
The Szotman

Wow, he was a joy to watch play. I met him on one of my Lambeau Trips, pretty cool guy .

He did a lot of charity work in San Diego after his playing days and always signed all the autographs in the line during his playing days . Great dude.