Apr. 17, 1963 - Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers, who was on the golf course today when the news of his suspension by the NFL broke, issued the following handwritten statement: “I made a terrible mistake. I am truly sorry. What else is there to say? I have given the true facts to Commissioner Rozelle, and he has made his decision based on the facts. I am truly sorry.” Hornung said his bets were “sociable, made with friends, strictly sporting.” He said that in any one season, he probably made 8 or 9 bets, $100 to $200 each. “I always gave 100% in every game I played in,” he asserted. Regarding a finding that Hornung gave a West Coast businessman information on football, Hornung said it was “just what anybody would ask, like ‘how do the Packers look?’” The former Heisman Trophy winner said he will not appeal the suspension. “I did wrong. I should be penalized. I just have to stay with it,” he said. He quit betting after the 1961 season, he said, “because I realized I was being foolish.” The handsome, 27-year-old former Notre Dame All-America added that he feels more hurt “because of my mother than myself.” Hornung’s mother, Loretta, saddened by the developments, nevertheless stuck by her son. She said she was proud that Paul “did not try to cover up. He admitted his mistake.”
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