Phil Vandersea, the versatile linebacker and defensive end who once drew interest from the Denver Broncos before opting for the Green Bay Packers and helping them win Super Bowl I, died Oct. 24 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He was 83.
Vandersea passed away after a long illness, according to his family and team accounts. His death reduces the number of living Packers who appeared in the Jan. 15, 1967, AFL-NFL World Championship Game — later recognized as Super Bowl I — to nine.
In the 1965 AFL Redshirt Draft, the Broncos selected Vandersea in the ninth round. The Packers took him in the 16th round (220th overall) of the concurrent NFL Draft. He chose Green Bay, where he joined Vince Lombardi’s championship roster as a rookie in 1966.
At the University of Massachusetts, Vandersea starred as a fullback. As a senior in 1965, he rushed for 388 yards on 100 carries and scored six touchdowns while earning All-Yankee Conference honors. He had helped the Minutemen post an 8-0-1 record and claim the Yankee Conference title in 1963. He was later named the starting fullback on UMass’ All-Time Team and inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
With the Packers, Vandersea appeared in all 14 regular-season games in 1966, plus the NFL Championship Game and Super Bowl I. He played primarily on special teams and at linebacker after starting camp as a fullback. He returned three kickoffs for 50 yards that season.
Across four NFL seasons with the Packers (1966, 1968-69) and New Orleans Saints (1967), he played in 46 games with four starts. Career kickoff returns totaled five for 71 yards. He was shifted among fullback, linebacker, tight end, defensive end and defensive tackle during his time in Green Bay.
The Saints selected him in the 1967 expansion draft. He played in eight games there before returning to the Packers, where injuries later limited him. He finished his professional career with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 1972.
After football, Vandersea served as an assistant coach at the College of the Holy Cross from 1975 to 1978. He then worked for 20 years with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections in roles that included counselor and community release supervisor.
He was married to his high school sweetheart, Sandra, for 59 years. He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and younger brother.
Vandersea participated in research on the long-term effects of football concussions and arranged for his brain to be donated to Boston University’s CTE study. A recent analysis estimated that nearly 75 percent of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy pathology, though individual cases vary.
The nine remaining Packers from the Super Bowl I roster are Donny Anderson, Bill Curry, Carroll Dale, Boyd Dowler, Marv Fleming, Jim Grabowski, Dave Hathcock, Jerry Kramer and Dave Robinson.
For Broncos fans, Vandersea’s path underscores how draft choices in the AFL era shaped careers. Selecting him but losing him to Green Bay meant Denver missed a contributor to the first Super Bowl-winning team, while he went on to a ring and a long post-playing life of service.
His career statistics show limited traditional production — no interceptions or sacks recorded in available NFL data — yet his value came in adaptability and special-teams reliability on a historic roster. At 6-foot-3 and listed around 234-245 pounds, he fit the physical profile Lombardi sought.
Vandersea’s story adds another layer to the early AFL-NFL competition for talent. Broncos draft records from that period list him among the organization’s early picks, even if he never wore orange and blue.
His family noted his pride in the people he loved and the lessons he passed on. A celebration of life was planned for Nov. 8 in Northborough, Massachusetts.
