Former Packers QB Parilli dies at 87

Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Vito "Babe" Parilli died Saturday at age 87 in Denver.

Parilli was drafted in the first round of the 1952 NFL draft by the Packers and played with the team from 1952 to 1953 and again from 1957 to 1958.

In Parilli's rookie year, he led the Packers with 1,416 yards passing with 13 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. The following year, he threw for just 830 yards after being replaced by Tobin Rote.

He played for Cleveland in 1956 before returning to Green Bay in 1957. That year he took snaps behind Bart Starr and passed for another 669 yards and four TDs. In his final year with the team, he supplanted Starr on a 1-10-1 team, throwing for 1,068 yards and 10 touchdowns. He threw 13 interceptions. 

He joined the Oakland Raiders in 1960.

In all, he played six years in the NFL and then for another 10 years in the AFL, where he played in 94 games for the Boston Patriots from 1961 to 1967. He was also a member of the Super Bowl III champion New York Jets.

He threw for more than 20,000 yards in his professional career and was voted to three AFL All-Star games (1963, 1964 and 1966) and earned the AFL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1966. Parilli was also named to the All-AFL 10 Year Anniversary Team in 1971 and his 31 touchdown passes in 1964 were a Patriots team record until 2007.