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| Photo courtesy Packers.com. |
How do the Green Bay Packers possibly top this?
They just raised the Halas Trophy in the house that Halas built. Beat the hated Bears in the heart of their Soldier Field den. Capped a week of unprecedented hype by giving Packer Nation an unprecedented victory.
Without a doubt, and without an ounce of hyperbole, history will place it among the crown jewels of Packers lore. Maybe that’s why the Wisconsin Historical Society whipped out a press release Monday touting the Packers-related material it had to offer. Because games like this are exactly why history was invented.
After all, it’s no accident that half the prelude leading up to Packers vs. Bears, edition 182, centered on Packers vs. Bears, edition 1941. And if it takes another 70 years before they have another playoff game, what a smorgasbord historians will see when they look back on this one.
The B.J. Raji Rumble (and his now-famous dance). The jukes of Greg Jennings. The Legend of James Starks. The Rodgers roller-coaster ride. The Mastherful Tim Masthay. Sneaky Sammy Shields. The will of Brian Urlacher. The conundrum that is Jay Cutler. The impossible introduction of Caleb Hanie. The impossibly stirring National Anthem by Jim Cornelison.
And, finally, the final result. Packers 21, Bears 14, vintage 2011. How do you possibly top it?
How do you beat the bragging rights Packers fans just gained over those worshipers in the Windy City? It’s the final answer to any future barstool arguments. Because what can a Bears fan ever say to Jan. 23, 2011? All other points are rendered moot.
And what must Bears fans be thinking today? Assuming they’ve found the will to do so.
That first half was the worst 30 minutes in Chicago since the premiere of “According to Jim.” So no wonder Bears fans weren’t in the most gracious of moods. They watched the Packers put up 14 points while barely breaking a sweat. Then, just when it seemed the Bears had new life, they saw Aaron Rodgers make the biggest play of the game. Not with a pass, but a tackle.
Yes, early on, Rodgers looked like the second coming of Bart Starr (what, wrong reference?), before coming back to earth. He took a bad sack that took the Packers out of field-goal range. He threw two interceptions – one late in the first half, one early in the third quarter – and either one could’ve meant that we’re writing a different epitaph.
But we’re not. When Rodgers messed up, he manned up, throwing himself at the churning legs of Brian Urlacher. Now he’s the quarterback of a Super Bowl team, and more than that, he’s surely made believers out of all but his most fervent foes.
How do you make believers? You take the worst Julius Peppers can muster, a hit that would knock most men out of the game, especially men who’d suffered two concussions this season. Then you get back up, bloodied lip and all, just like the second coming of Brett Favre. And if you’re a Packers fan, you puff your chest out and say, “That’s our quarterback!”
And this is most definitely their team. When Packers legend Willie Davis presented the Halas Trophy, he didn’t hand it off to an owner, but to a president. Because the team’s owners are scattered throughout the land. And today, they can be so proud of their club.
It’s a team built upon character and resilience, because without massive quantities of both, no way the Packers survive this season. Fifteen players are on injured reserve. Starters missed a combined 91 regular-season games due to injury, and no NFL team that’s been so decimated has ever won more than six games in a year.
But Ted Thompson held it all together with some bubble gum and bailing wire, not to mention some Howard Greens and Erik Waldens. Dom Capers worked his mad genius magic to make a patchwork defense into one of the league’s best. And Mike McCarthy found enough colloquial grit to convince everyone that their Super Bowl dreams weren’t dead.
Just ask Rodgers. The first words we heard from him after the game was over: “It’s a dream come true.”
And the dream is not yet over. Now the Packers join the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. That’s right, two of the five most despised teams in Texas are showing up to party on Dallas’ front lawn. Foamation already makes Cheesehead cowboy hats. Maybe they need to add some Cheesehead boots. After all, Packers fans will need something to line dance in.
Would it be a strange sight? Perhaps. But no stranger than the journey this team and its fans have been on this season. How in the name of Lombardi do the Packers possibly top it?
Maybe with a trophy named Lombardi.
NUTSHELLS
-Lost in the white-hot glare of the Packers was UW-Milwaukee’s 86-80 overtime win against Butler.
It’s actually the second time this season the Panthers have knocked off the Horizon League’s powerhouse, a feat even more impressive when you consider that UWM’s record stands at 10-11 overall and 5-5 in league play. So clearly, UWM has some consistency issues.
But if UWM can find that consistency at the right time, then perhaps the Panthers can find their way back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006. Remember, this team came within four points of beating Marquette, and it’s already shown it can beat the best the Horizon League has to offer. All it has to do is turn on the jets at the right time – the league tournament.
-And chalk up a couple more high-profile wins for Duke Roufus’ mixed martial arts crew. Competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s nationally televised Fight for the Troops, Roufus camp members Pat Barry and Matt Mitrione both scored impressive victories. Mitrione won by TKO and Barry claimed a unanimous decision (as well as the unofficial title of “guy you never want kicking you.”)
But Barry’s crowning moment came after the fight, when he gave an impassioned speech about his late father, a soldier, and held up his dad’s dog tags for the crowd of soldiers who watched his fight.
Fights like that, coming so soon after the exploits of Anthony Pettis, will keep putting Milwaukee on the MMA map.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter, where I tweet as howiemag. And tune in every Tuesday morning at 6:30 when I join Doug Russell and Mike Wickett on SportsRadio 1250 AM for Tuesdays with Howie.
