When Bill “Red” Mack was 10 years old, he and his four younger siblings were placed in St. Paul’s Orphanage in Pittsburgh when his parents parted and were unable to care for them. It had been a chaotic childhood already, as Red had fallen behind in his schooling due to the time spent at home taking care of his siblings.

It was then that football—and a caring nun—came into his life.

Red can look back and call the orphanage the “best thing that ever happened to me. I had a nun for a mother and the discipline that I needed.”

Sister Madeline steered Mack onto the school’s football team, “and if I didn’t play well, Sister Madeline would let me know about it.” But that wasn’t often a problem, as Mack’s natural ability—and fierce tenacity—made him a standout performer.

By high school, the family situation stabilized enough that Mack lived with his grandparents and attended Hampton High School. There, the next great influence in his life, football coach Ed Fay, became a father figure to Mack. Fay had been a guard on Notre Dame’s national championship team of 1949 under Frank Leahy.

“Ed Fay told me that if I wanted to be anything, I’d have to work hard every single day in school and football,” Mack said. “That’s what I tried to do. Football was so good for a guy like me with a bad temper. I had a great way to channel it. If I hadn’t had football and my coaches, I figure I would probably be in jail.”

Coach Fay helped pave the way for Mack to earn a football scholarship to Notre Dame. As a sophomore in 1957, Red started at halfback in a backfield with Bob Williams at quarterback and Nick Pietrosante at fullback, and rushed for more than 500 yards. The next two seasons were not great for the Irish, and Mack suffered through injuries, but never lost his competitive fire and became a fan favorite.

After graduating from Notre Dame in 1961, Mack was drafted by the Steelers as a receiver. But any notion that he was a courtesy choice by the hometown team was dispelled by the toughness Mack showed in training camp, and he made the team. Five years later, his NFL career appeared to be finished when he was released by the expansion Atlanta Falcons.

Back in South Bend, Red received a phone call one day from a surprising caller: Green Bay Packers legend Vince Lombardi. He wanted some depth at wide receiver, and help on special teams, and asked Mack to get to Green Bay as soon as he could.

“Red would do anything Coach Lombardi asked him to do,” recalled Packers teammate Dave Robinson. “He never slowed down, always went all out. He ran down the field on kickoffs like a man possessed.” And when the NFL champion Packers kicked off to the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs in the LA Coliseum, Mack hustled downfield and made the first tackle in Super Bowl history. By day’s end, Mack had earned a Super Bowl ring in the Packers’ 35-10 victory. He went out of pro ball on top.

“And I’ll never forget what coach Lombardi said were the three things to success: love your religion, love your family, and love your job,” Mack said. He was married to wife Jean for more than 55 years, raised three sons in South Bend, and worked at Bendix Corporation for 35 years.

Mack died on April 8, 2023.