Return to Titletown

Sometime in the third quarter of the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl win, Aaron Rogers returned to the sideline after James Jones dropped an open-field pass that might've gone for a touchdown. Donald Driver, the Packer's elder statesman on the offensive side of the ball,  looked at Rodgers and smiled. 

Then Rodgers, shaking his head, smiled too.  He knew what was coming. 

Driver said. "Go ahead, and do what you do."

For Packer fans, Super Bowl XLV will be remembered for a number of critical decisions that changed the course of the game, and ultimately its outcome.  The 2010 Packer football season was the culmination of good decisions (dating back to 2008) that led to the Lombardi Trophy finding its way back to where it started 45 years ago, in Green Bay.   

It was a journey made possible by a few people doing what they do, -- making decisions that were unconventional and unwanted, as well as unbelievable -- which would bring success to a Packer franchise that last went to the Super Bowl in 1997.

A few of those decisions were--
 opening coin toss was won, then deferred to the second half.  A sign of confidence in their defense, which had led them to victory in two of their three post season games.  A defense which was second in the NFL with 32 takeaways and only 15 point per game.  Under defensive coordinator Dom Caper's tutelage, the Packers avoided the kind of meltdowns that led to heartbreaking defeats to Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Arizona in 2009.


The decision by Minnesota Viking owner, Zygi Wilf, to hire Brad Childress to be their new coach, preventing the Packers from interviewing him later that day.  The Packers instead interviewed and hired Mike McCarthy, a former quarterbacks coach for the Packers in 1999 (and whose ties to Pittsburgh included a man named Chuck Noll).  Despite leading a team decimated by injury -- my last count had 16 players on injured reserve -- McCarthy didn't receive a single coach of the year vote. 

On April 26, 2006, free-agent Charles Woodson signed a seven-year, $52 million contract with the Green Bay Packers.  Prior to his signing, not a single NFL team returned his calls, based on a bad reputation and a troubled past.  As one of Ted Thompson's RARE free agent signings, Woodson is the only player to have won a National Championship and Heisman Award (with Michigan in 1997),  Defensive Rookie of the Year Award (1981), AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award (2009), and Super Bowl ring (2010).  Not bad for a washed-up player who once said that he never wanted to play in Green Bay.

In one of the worse draft day decisions ever, the San Francisco 49ers chose Alex Smith instead of Aaron Rogers as the first player drafted in the 2005 draft.   After only three years, Rodgers is the NFL's all-time career leader in passer rating during both the regular season (98.4), and in the post-season (112.6) - among passers with at least 1,500 and 150 pass attempts respectively.  He also owns the league's lowest career pass interception percentage for quarterbacks during the regular season (1.99%).  And Alex Smith?  Is he still playing for the 49ers?

Rodgers’ journey from a junior college quarterback looking for a scholarship to Super Bowl MVP is typical of his approach to challenges.  Whenever confronted with disappointment -- he garnered little interest from college programs with only one offer, that of a walk-on from the University of Illinois.  He declined the invitation and attended Butte Community College in Oroville, CA -- he would accept the challenge and prove people wrong.  The decision by the Packers to draft him 24th, was another humbling event  followed by waiting three years for Brett Favre to retire.  His journey came to an end on Sunday when, against the best defense in football -- and without Ryan Grant or Donald Driver to assist on offense-- he was 24 for 39, 304 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.  And Super Bowl MVP.

Ted Thompson made the unlikely decision to trade up and select Clay Matthews as the 26th pick (in a trade with New England) during the 2009 NFL draft.  This move proved to be one of the best in that year's draft, as Matthews has terrorized the NFC North and others with his lightning quick speed and rushing ability.  In only two years, "the Beast" has managed 23 sacks, two Pro Bowl selections and close finishes in Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors.   (Last Sunday, on the first play of the 4th quarter with the Steelers driving to take the lead on the Packers, Matthews made the play of the game by tackling Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall, who fumbled the ball.  It was recovered by Desmond Bishop, and the Packers regained their confidence and swagger, leading to a Super Bowl win.)

Finally, the decision by the Packers to draft quality and speed, designed to put together a team that fit the mold of team first players, not star first players like Michael Crabtree, Jay Cutler and Dez Bryant.  Those team first players included Clay Matthews, Aaron Rogers, Bryan Bulaga, BJ Raji, Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings, to name a few.  Ted Thompson also avoided midseason replacements like Randy Moss (who did more damage to New England and Minnesota than opposing teams) and Marshawn Lynch (who wore out his welcome in Buffalo, then made a brief appearance in a playoff game for Seattle).  And I won't even go there with Brett Favre (who deserves his own little place in football purgatory for returning to the Minnesota Vikings and deciding he was better than the rest of the team).  Our general manager deserves praise  in 2010 for decisions he DID NOT make, as well as those he did.

In 2010, the Green Bay Packers will be remembered as the team that did their thing, rather than bending to the pressures of  24/7 media coverage and rabid fan pressure -- starting in April and ending last Sunday in the Super Bowl.  

As a song popularized by Frank Sinatra goes, 


Regrets? I've had a few, 
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.
 I planned each charted course -
Each careful step along the byway,
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way. 


In Wisconsin, we did it the Packer way.