Buffalo’s Best /
‘Majik’ man overcame bad breaks
The road to the Hall of Fame QB battled injuries from Depew to NFL This is the first in a series of stories on the 2008 inductees into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. The ins
When he was a kid, Don Majkowski used to eat and sleep football.
“I used to lay in bed at night and throw passes to the ceiling in little circles barely touching the ceiling,” he said. “I did that all the way through high school. I really did always know I had the ability to be a good quarterback.”
Majkowski would eventually realize his dream of becoming a quarterback in the NFL. But the road to Green Bay’s Lambeau Field had very few of the comforts of his own bedroom.
His 10-year NFL career will be celebrated Oct. 29 when he is inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame at HSBC Arena. Majkowski will join his high school coach at Depew, the late Frank Constantino, who was enshrined in the Hall in 1991.
Majkowski caught plenty of breaks in his career, but they were the kind that required crutches and casts.
• He fractured his throwing hand in two places on the first play of his senior season at Depew in 1982.
• As a senior at the University of Virginia he separated his throwing shoulder and missed six weeks.
• In 1990 with the Packers he racked up 1,925 yards in nine games before suffering a career-threatening torn rotator cuff against Phoenix.
• In 1992 he suffered an ankle injury against Cincinnati and was replaced by Brett Favre, who held the job for the next 16 years. Majkowski has since had nine surgeries on the same ankle.
Through all the pain and rehab Majkowski never lost faith in himself.
He managed to come back and play the last three games of his high school football season in 1982. He played well enough to earn an invitation to the summer’s Kensington Lions All-Star Game, where he earned MVP honors while leading the South to a 31-0 victory.
“We had a great time,” said Chuck Funke, coach of the South team that year. “His athletic ability was just amazing. He enjoyed throwing the football. He never got much of a chance to do it.”
When the college scholarship offer didn’t come out of Depew, Majkowski enrolled in Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy and led it to an 8-0-1 record. Unknown to him, Majkowski’s parents sold his 1979 Trans Am while he was away to help cover tuition costs. Majkowski said he couldn’t wait to get home that spring to drive his car, but when he lifted the garage door he found a green Chevette.
“It was a humbling year,” he said.
Majkowski spent his last three college years at Virginia and became the Cavaliers’ all-time leader in passing and total offense.
Green Bay selected him in the 10th round of the 1987 draft. It wasn’t long before he earned the nickname “Majik” for his penchant for late-game victories.
On draft day Majkowski said he was contacted by Buffalo Bills General Manager Bill Polian, who wanted to take him in the seventh round as a free safety, a position he played his junior year at Depew. He graciously declined saying he was a quarterback and would prove it when he got into someone’s training camp.
In his six seasons with the Packers (1987-92), Majkowski played in 68 games, completing 889 passes for 10,870 yards and 56 touchdowns. He was inducted to the Packers Hall of Fame in 2005. He later played two seasons each with the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions.
Today, Majkowski lives with his wife, Kelly, and their two children, Danielle, 11, and Bo, 10, in suburban Atlanta. He owns a real estate company. He had been working as an analyst and commentator for the Packers before giving that up to coach his son in youth football.
“So many of my friends were NFL analysts and on weekends you’re gone, they don’t see their kids. I just couldn’t do that,” he said. “That was an easy decision.”
Almost as easy as throwing little spirals to the ceiling.
For ticket information go to buffalosportshallfame.com.
