Regular season

Despite being named NFL MVP, Paul Hornung was briefly lost to the military. In response to the construction of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...

, the United States Department of Defense activated thousands of reservists. Two dozen football players were activated, including Paul Hornung

Paul Hornung

Paul Vernon Hornung is a retired Hall of Fame professional football player who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1957-66...

, Boyd Dowler

Boyd Dowler

Boyd Hamilton Dowler is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League who played twelve seasons for the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins from 1959 to 1971...

 and Ray Nitschke

Ray Nitschke

Raymond Ernest "Ray" Nitschke was a professional football player who played his entire career as a middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. Wearing #66, he played fifteen seasons, from 1958-72....

. On November 14, Hornung was to report to Fort Riley in Kansas. Wisconsin residents were so upset that Republican senator Alexander Wiley and Democratic congressman Clement Zablocki requested deferments for the players. On October 18, the final word was that the players had to serve.
Hornung missed the November 19 game against the Los Angeles Rams. He was flown from Fort Riley to Detroit for the November 23 Thanksgiving Day game against the Detroit Lions. Hornung would score a field goal and two extra points in the 17-9 victory.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result
1	September 17, 1961	Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...	L 17-13
2	September 24, 1961	San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...	W 30-10
3	October 1, 1961	Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 24-0
4	October 8, 1961	Baltimore Colts History of the Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They play in the AFC South division of the National Football League. They have won 3 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls....	W 45-7
5	October 15, 1961	at Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 49-17
6	October 22, 1961	at Minnesota Vikings Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...	W 33-7
7	October 29, 1961	Minnesota Vikings Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...	W 28-10
8	November 5, 1961	at Baltimore Colts History of the Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They play in the AFC South division of the National Football League. They have won 3 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls....	L 45-21
9	November 12, 1961	at Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 31-28
10	November 19, 1961	Los Angeles Rams	W 35-17
11	November 23, 1961	at Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...	W 17-9
12	December 3, 1961	New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 20-17
13	December 10, 1961	at San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...	L 22-21
14	December 17, 1961	at Los Angeles Rams	W 24-17

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result
Championship	December 31, 1961	New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 37-0

Standings

NFL Western Eastern and Western Divisions (NFL) 1933-69 The Eastern and Western Divisions of the National Football League, renamed the American and National Conferences in 1950 and then the Eastern and Western Conferences in 1953, were organized as a result of the disputed NFL championship of 1932...
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	11	3	0	.786	391	223	W-1
Detroit Lions 1961 Detroit Lions season The 1961 Detroit Lions season was the 32nd season in franchise history.-Schedule:- Standings :-Roster:-Playoff Bowl:The game were played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. -References:***...	8	5	1	.615	270	258	L-1
Chicago Bears 1961 Chicago Bears season The 1961 Chicago Bears season was their 42nd regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted an 8-6 record under George Halas, which was an improvement over the 5-6-1 record of the previous season.-Offseason:...	8	6	0	.571	326	302	W-2
Baltimore Colts 1961 Baltimore Colts season The 1961 Baltimore Colts season was the 9th season for the team in the National Football League. The Baltimore Colts finished the National Football League's 1961 season with a record of 8 wins and 6 losses and finished tied for third in the Western Conference with the Chicago Bears...	8	6	0	.571	302	307	W-1
San Francisco 49ers 1961 San Francisco 49ers season The 1961 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 12th year with the National Football League. The 49ers won seven games and lost six, with one game ending in a tie. As a result, the team finished in fifth-place in the NFL Western Conference. The 49ers had three first round picks in the NFL...	7	6	1	.538	346	272	L-1
Los Angeles Rams 1961 Los Angeles Rams season The 1961 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 24th year with the National Football League and the 16th season in Los Angeles.-Schedule:- Standings :...	4	10	0	.286	263	333	L-1
Minnesota Vikings 1961 Minnesota Vikings season The 1961 Minnesota Vikings season was the first year of season play for the expansion franchise and the 42nd regular season of the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a record of three wins and eleven losses under head coach Norm Van Brocklin. The team's first ever regular season...	3	11	0	.214	285	407	L-2