Gold for the Golden Boy

The wages of sin may be small, but there are always exceptions to prove the rule. When he was suspended indefinitely from the National Football League last spring for betting on his own games, the Green Bay Packers' Golden Boy Paul Hornung automatically lost his fat $25,000 salary. So what happened to the tarnished hero? While his mates knock heads on the field this fall, Hornung will be riding high on the banquet circuit, raking in money from endorsements and jamming radio and TV programs. Barring an upset stomach or laryngitis, he should make more than $40,000 this year--only a slight comedown from last year's $50,000 total.

If anything, public worship of the handsome halfback is more fervent in disgrace than in glory. When Hornung was introduced during a recent Packers-New York Giant exhibition game in Green Bay, 42,327 forgiving fans stood up and cheered themselves hoarse. When Hornung turned up at a St. Petersburg, Fla., high school, the principal dismissed classes for a special assembly (Hornung's advice to the youngsters: "Don't bet"). The morning mail "is running maybe 99% in my favor," he blushes.

In fact, reinstatement (which Hornung will ask next year) could become a financial burden. Last year, what with football and all, he had time for only 19 banquets; this season he is already booked for 28--at $600 a speech, $100 more than last year's fee.

Back home in Louisville, Ky., Hornung was taping a series of 130 five-minute radio interviews and sports commentary that will be broadcast by 22 stations in four states; he has also started a 13-week series of pro football talks for a Louisville TV station. And last week he began another radio stint as commentator on local high school games. But will Expert Hornung try to predict winners? "Oh, absolutely not," he groans. "You know, I did that once."

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