Football Trade Trees

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Zeke Bratkowski was traded three times — as a starter, a backup, and a coach

November 6, 2026

In January 1961, Zeke Bratkowski was the player to be named later in a three-team deal between Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York — the unnamed piece, the one the paperwork couldn't fill in yet. Six weeks passed before the teams finished filling it in: Bratkowski went to the Rams in March 1961, completing the trade that had sent quarterback Bill Wade to Chicago.12

It would not be the last time a team paid to acquire him. Over eleven years, three different teams traded for Bratkowski. The Rams started him in 1961 and 1962. Green Bay traded for him in 1971 to back up Bart Starr again. Chicago traded for him in 1972 to coach.

The unnamed player

The 1961 deal, announced January 28, worked like this: Chicago sent defensive back Erich Barnes to New York and Bratkowski, the player to be named later, to Los Angeles; the Rams sent quarterback Bill Wade to Chicago plus linebacker John Guzik and a 1962 fifth-rounder to New York; the Giants sent Lindon Crow and two 1962 picks — a first and a sixth — to Los Angeles.1

Wade quarterbacked the Bears to the 1963 NFL championship, scoring both Chicago touchdowns in the 14–10 title-game win over the Giants at Wrigley Field — a game in which the Giants' first score came off a Wade fumble recovered by former Bear Erich Barnes.4 Barnes intercepted seven passes in 1961 and earned first-team All-Pro honors in his first season as a Giant.5

And the picks kept moving. The first-rounder the Giants sent to Los Angeles — No. 13 overall — went back to New York on August 28, seven months later, as part of the Del Shofner trade; the Giants spent it on linebacker Jerry Hillebrand.1 In the same deal the Rams received Minnesota's first-rounder, No. 2 overall, and used it on a quarterback named Roman Gabriel, who would win league MVP for them in 1969.615

Bratkowski started for the Rams in 1961 and 1962. Then, in October 1963, Green Bay claimed him on waivers for the $100 waiver price, and he found the job that would define him.11

Super Sub

Bratkowski backed up Bart Starr for the Packers from 1963 through 1968, and the Packers were 8–1 in games where he either started for Starr or replaced him with the score tied or Green Bay trailing by no more than seven during the 1965–67 championship run.2 His signature afternoon came in the 1965 Western Conference playoff against Baltimore: Starr went down hurt, and Bratkowski steered Green Bay to a 13–10 overtime win that sent the Packers to the NFL title game against Cleveland — the first of three straight NFL titles. The next season he came off the bench to beat his old Bears 13–6, rallied the Packers past the Colts from a third-quarter deficit, and won his first start for Green Bay in the season finale. In 1967 he split two October starts after winning a relief appearance against Atlanta.2

"I've tried to pattern myself after Bart," he said in 1967. "We study the movies together and go over the game plan together. I try to think as much like he does as I can so the team will not have to make a big adjustment if I'm needed."2 He played briefly in both Super Bowl wins that followed the 1965 title,13 and entered the Packers Hall of Fame in 1989.

After the 1968 season, Green Bay tried to sneak him through waivers. Minnesota claimed him — and Bratkowski simply declined to go, staying in Green Bay as the backfield coach under Phil Bengtson for two seasons.2

Green Bay trades for him again

Then Dan Devine took over as Packers coach and reacquired him. On January 28, 1971 — the day of that year's NFL draft, exactly ten years to the day after the three-team deal that first moved him — Devine sent a 1972 third-round pick to Minnesota for Bratkowski's rights.32 Bratkowski came out of his two-year coaching intermission, started the 1971 season opener, and played in six games. He was 39.

The third-rounder became the 59th overall pick, which Minnesota spent on tackle Bart Buetow, a Minneapolis native who had played at the University of Minnesota. Buetow played nine NFL games — seven for the Giants in 1973 and two for Minnesota in 1976 — with two CFL seasons in Toronto in between.7

Sometime in January 1972 — the record gives no exact day — the Chicago Bears traded their 1974 sixth-round pick to Green Bay for Bratkowski.12 He was 40. Chicago acquired him as a player-coach, and he coached the Bears' quarterbacks and receivers for the next three seasons.14 The sixth-rounder, meanwhile, became the 134th pick in the 1974 draft. Green Bay used it on running back Don Woods, released him at the end of training camp, and watched him sign with San Diego — where he rushed for 1,162 yards in twelve games and was named the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.89

The coaching career

Bratkowski never played again after 1971. He coached in the NFL for 26 years — with the Packers, Bears, Colts, Jets, Browns and Eagles — and after retiring in 1996 he kept tutoring young passers for their pro-day workouts, a list that eventually included Michael Vick and Philip Rivers.10 His son Bob Bratkowski became an NFL quarterbacks coach too. Bratkowski died in November 2019 at 88; Starr had died that May.

The Rams took him as the player to be named later in January 1961 and started him for two seasons.1 Green Bay claimed him on waivers for $100 in October 1963,11 got an 8–1 record from him from 1965 through 1967 in games he started or entered with the score tied or Green Bay trailing by no more than seven,2 and traded a third-round pick to get him back on January 28, 1971.3 Chicago traded a sixth-round pick for him in January 1972 and put him on the coaching staff.1214

Sources

  1. Football Trade Trees — the 1961 three-team trade tree (CHI/LAR/NYG, Bill Wade) — full terms: CHI sent Barnes + Bratkowski (PTBNL), received Wade; LAR received Crow + Bratkowski + 1962 1st (#13) + 6th (#83); NYG received Barnes + Guzik + 1962 5th (#59)
  2. Packers.com — Zeke Bratkowski, valuable Lombardi-era backup QB, dies at 88 — traded to Rams March 1961 completing the Wade deal; claimed on waivers by GB Oct 1963; 8–1 in spot duty 1965–67; 1965 Colts playoff, 1966 relief wins; "pattern myself after Bart" quote; 1969–70 backfield coach; Jan 28, 1971 reacquisition for 1972 3rd; 1971 opener + six games; Packers HOF 1989; death Nov 2019
  3. Football Trade Trees — the 1971 Bratkowski trade tree — GB sent a 1972 third-round pick (No. 59, Bart Buetow) to Minnesota for Bratkowski
  4. ChicagoBears.com — Bears defeat Giants 14–10 for 1963 championship — Wade's two TDs; Barnes's fumble recovery setting up the Giants' score
  5. Giants.com — Giants mourn passing of former DB Erich Barnes — Barnes's 1961 Giants season: 7 INT for 195 return yards, first-team All-Pro in his first season with New York
  6. Wikipedia — 1962 NFL Draft — #2 Roman Gabriel to the Rams (from Minnesota via the Giants); #13 Jerry Hillebrand to the Giants
  7. Pro Football Archives — Bart Buetow — drafted 59th overall 1972 by Minnesota; 9 NFL games
  8. Wikipedia — Don Woods (American football)) — drafted by GB 1974, released at camp, signed by Chargers; 1,162 rushing yards in 12 games; 1974 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
  9. StatsCrew — Don Woods — drafted 1974 Round 6, #134 overall by Green Bay
  10. Packers.com — Where are they now? Bratkowski — 26-year coaching career across six teams; tutored Michael Vick, Philip Rivers, Tim Tebow; son Bob Bratkowski an NFL QB coach
  11. Beacon Journal (via Packers Hall of Fame) — Edmund (Zeke) Bratkowski — acquired by Green Bay for the $100 waiver price in 1963; Packer 1963–68 and 1971
  12. Football Trade Trees — the 1972 Bratkowski trade tree — Chicago sent a 1974 sixth-round pick (No. 134, Don Woods) to Green Bay for Bratkowski, January 1972 (fuzzy date)
  13. Associated Press (via Sportsnet) — Packers' Bratkowski, Bart Starr's backup, dies at age 88 — Bratkowski played briefly in both Super Bowl wins that followed the 1965 title
  14. Wikipedia — Zeke Bratkowski — Bears quarterbacks/receivers coach 1972–74; activated as an emergency backup quarterback in 1973 without appearing in a game
  15. Football Trade Trees — the 1973 Roman Gabriel trade tree — the site's record of Gabriel's 1973 trade to Philadelphia names him the 1969 league MVP
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About this article: it was drafted with AI assistance from the Football Trade Trees database and public reporting, then reviewed by a human editor. Spot an error? Email [email protected].