Andrew Lutzke
The 1959 Green Bay Packers team was coached by Ray “Scooter” McLean, an assistant for the Packers prior to that since 1951. His team featured Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Max McGee, Jerry Kramer, Ray Nitschke, Jim Ringo and Forrest Gregg. With these eight Packer legends McLean managed a 1-10-1 record – enter VINCE LOMBARDI.
Lombardi demanded total control if he was going to come into Green Bay and turn around a once great franchise that already had 6 NFL Championships to their credit. Over the next 9 seasons, Lombardi put together one of the best teams in NFL history. In addition to the talent already mentioned, Lombardi added men like Willie Wood, Dave Robinson, Herb Adderly, Boyd Dowler and Willie Davis among others to form one of the most successful and dominant football dynasty’s ever. This core unit helped capture 5 NFL Championships under Vince’s reign as Packers coach and General Manager. Vince the GM was almost as amazing as Vince the coach as Lombardi wheeled and dealed for more first round draft picks for his team than any other franchise during that era with 11 picks .
The Packers final season under Lombardi saw them lose their last two regular season games but the veterans who had so much success already managed to step up for the play offs and beat the Rams and then the Dallas Cowboys in what might be the most famous game in NFL history: The Ice Bowl. The Packers persevered through the bitterest of conditions and avoided the upset with a last second goal line score by Bart Starr. Lombardi’s squad then blasted through the Oakland Raiders to win Super Bowl II.
Soon after Lombardi decided that he was tired of the grind and gave up his position – leaving the Packers without their fearless leader and with a roster that was aging fast. Phil Bengtson who was the only coach to stay with Vince for his entire tenure then took over as head coach. Bengtson was a mere 20 -21 over his three year run as head man and was relieved of his duties as the shadow of Lombardi demanded more than mediocrity. Bengstson was nearly replaced in 1972 by Joe Paterno who was offered dual head coach/GM control but Joe ultimately declined the chance. Missouri Head Coach Dan Devine was up to the challenge and took the opportunity to try and return the Packers to glory. His first game as coach saw Devine suffer a broken leg as he was accidently ran into during the game – then his team proceeded to suffer through a 4-8-2 season. The following year, the Packers had the 7th and 11th overall picks in round one of the NFL draft. With Franco Harris available…the Pack selected Quarterback Jerry Tagge instead. Tagge was out of the NFL in 3 years while Harris went on to become a 4 time Super Bowl champion and one of the NFL’s all-time leading rushers.
Devine doubled down on wasting high picks on quarterbacks when he traded two 1st round picks, two 2nd round picks, and a 3rd round pick for 34-year old quarterback John Hadl from the Rams. 34 years old! His damage done, Devine bailed out of the job after another losing season in 1974 and was replaced by Packer legend Bart Starr.
For as good of a quarterback as Starr was – he just couldn’t coach the Pack past mediocrity as his reign saw Green Bay never win more than 8 games in a season. Bart did put together a heck of an offensive unit in the early 80’s though as Lynn Dickey threw for over 21,000 yards as Starr’s quarterback – tossing to a tremendous pair of receivers in John Jefferson and James Lofton. Bart amassed a 52-76-3 record before finally losing his job to former teammate Forrest Gregg. Packer executives later admitted that Starr’s legend on the field allowed his lackluster performance on the sidelines to last longer than it should have.
Gregg had head coaching experience with both the Bengals and the Browns- but he had a rather mediocre overall record. He did manage to coach the Bengals to a losing Super Bowl appearance. His Packer coaching run saw him coach with Lombardi’s hard ass style and that netted mediocre results as he went 8-8 for two straight seasons before the team torpedoed to 4 wins in 1986 and 5 wins in 1987.
Gregg engaged in a coaching feud with Da’ Bears Mike Ditka – a feud that stemmed from their playing days. Considering Ditka had one of the best defenses in NFL history to back him up, Gregg’s teams generally underperformed when clashing with Ditka’s squads. The intensity between the coaches was raised in 1985 when Ditka used 330 pound rookie defensive tackle William “The Refrigerator” Perry as a running back and fullback against Gregg’s Packers. The charismatic giant Perry scored a touchdown on the ground and another through the air in Packer/Bears games that year. Ditka had successfully embarrassed Gregg.
This feud came to a horrific peak the following year when the defending Super Bowl champion Bears were battling the Pack and Green Bay defensive lineman Charles Martin grabbed Jim McMahon well after a play was over and spiked McMahon into the ground – ending McMahon’s season and sending the Bears year into a bit of a tail spin as no quarterback could replace Jim’s leadership and ability. Basically a cheap shot potentially cost Ditka a golden opportunity at claiming a second Super Bowl win.
Gregg’s coaching run also featured some vile off the field issues as All-Pro receiver James Lofton was accused of forcing a fan to perform oral sex on him after a night of drinking – the uproar that followed saw the Packers forced to trade Lofton to the Raiders. Gregg also had to deal with safety Mossy Cade RAPING HIS AUNT. Ok – it was his Aunt through marriage – but still… Cade went to jail but the blemish lingered on for the Packers. Sports Illustrated actually published a commentary around this period calling for the Packers shareholders to sell the franchise and use the funds to create a Green Bay based college football team. The stench of losing and the abominable off the field issues had the Packers at the lowest point in franchise history. Gregg was removed after the 1987 season.
Green Bay finally left the ghost of Vince Lombardi behind them in 1988 when they got away from hiring stars of the glory days to act as coach by signing Lindy Infante to try and return the team to respectability. Infante had worked with Gregg by serving as his offensive coordinator with the Bengals during their early 80’s Super Bowl push. Lindy also served as a head coach in the WSFL and most recently had guided the Cleveland Browns’ offense in becoming the second highest scoring team in the NFL in 1987.
Infante’s first year with the team saw him desperately try and rebuild a roster that had won just nine games total the last two years. The team also had yet to find an offensive weapon to replace James Lofton’s production. The front office finally nailed on a high draft pick when they selected wide receiver Sterling Sharpe with the 7th overall pick that year. They added their starting running back in round 3 when they selected running back Keith Woodside –he was joined in the backfield by the 4th overall pick from the 1987 draft Brent Fullwood – neither guy played great in ‘88 and the total rushing output from them would be under 700 yards. Infante’s quarterback would primarily be second year pro Don Majkowski and for the next several years the “Majik Man” would become a Green Bay favorite.
1988 was a tough year as the young starting offense struggled and the defense didn’t have enough talent or experience to be competitive and a 4-12 record was the result. The Packers front office had a golden opportunity to improve the team as the team had “earned” the number two overall pick in an NFL Draft that featured Deion Sanders, Derrick Thomas and Barry Sanders available when the Packers turn came up. The team instead went with the much hyped offensive tackle Tony Mandarich – who of course went on to be the poster boy for steroid use and NFL draft busts. In spite of this, the ’89 Packers rolled to a 10-6 record, thanks to Majik’s 4318 yards passing. The team still missed the play-offs due to Minnesota and Chicago having better records than them but suddenly “The Pack is Back!” could be heard all around Green Bay. Sadly the next two years saw the Pack go 6-10 and then 4-12 leading to new Packer General Manager Ron Wolf firing Infante and bringing in Mike Holmgren, who had the 49ers pedigree to his credit.
Wolf baffled skeptics that offseason by sending a first round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for quarterback Brett Favre who had a rookie stat line of 4 attempts, zero completions and two interceptions.
Wolf was enamored with Favre in college and had intended on having the Jets select him the prior year but the Falcons had beaten them to him. Holmgren fancied himself a quarterback guru and Favre had a lot of raw tools for Holmgren to develop. Favre of course became entrenched as Green Bay’s starter after week 3 when he famously led the Packers to a last second win after replacing an injured Majkowski. 253 starts later, only age and indecision could force Brett away from starting under center for the Packers.
Holmgren assembled an excellent coaching staff featuring future head coaches Ray Rhodes, Jon Gruden, Andy Reid, Dick Jauron and Steve Mariucci to help him turn the woe begotten Packers into contenders. The team in 1992 overachieved and finished with a 9-7 mark – this despite of Favre’s up and down play, no real running game and Sterling Sharpe being the only offensive player who was in his prime and playing at an elite level.
The following offseason saw the Packers make the single biggest move in franchise history when they offered free agent defensive end Reggie White the highest offer of any team and swayed him to join their defense. Reggie would go on to dominate on the field for years and offer the team fire and leadership in the locker room.
White sparked an emerging defense in 1993 that had young bad asses Bryce Paup and Wayne Simmons at linebacker and Leroy Butler emerging as an all-pro strong safety. The offense was still centered around Sterling Sharpe who enjoyed his second straight 100 plus catch season. However the running game was still a mess with a number of backs vying for snaps and no one establishing any real success and Favre was just as likely to throw a terrible interception as he was to toss a fantastic touchdown. All these factors led to the Packers finishing with another 9-7 record but this time that was a good enough mark to slip into the play offs where Favre tossed a late 40 yard touchdown bomb to Sterling Sharpe that helped the Packers upset the Lions 28-24 on the road in the wildcard round. The following week saw the Pack lose to the mighty Cowboys 27-17 in a game that was not really as close as that score would indicate.
1994 saw Favre live up to his potential as he tossed 33 touchdowns thanks in part to talent improving around him as well as maturing into his role. Sterling Sharpe was still amazing with 94 catches and Robert Brooks emerged from being a kick returning role player to solid complimentary receiver. Fullback Edgar Bennett was so-so at running the ball but he caught a remarkable 78 balls out of the back field. On defense Reggie White was given a lot of help on the defensive line as the Packers signed two veterans with solid resumes to play out their last years with Green Bay: Defensive tackle Steve “Mongo” McMichaels’ was a member of the famed ’85 Bears defense and brought 13 years of experience along with nearly 100 career sacks. Defensive end Sean Jones also brought with him nearly 100 career sacks as well as a wealth of experience and success with both the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Oilers.
The Packers produced a third straight 9-7 record in 1994 which once again was good enough to qualify for the playoffs where they hosted the Lions. Favre and company came into the game without Sterling Sharpe who suffered a neck injury in week 16 – then not only played the following week but dominated with 9 catches and 3 touchdowns. It was only then that the medical squad realized the severity of his injury and pulled him from any playoff activity. Unfortunately for Sharpe and Green Bay the injury would prove to be a career ending issue.
Detroit’s best play maker Barry Sanders was not healthy and the Packers defense held him to minus one yard rushing – considered a monumental achievement for the Packers defense. The celebration wouldn’t last…
One week later the Packers were once again heading down to Dallas for their third game in Dallas in under a year. The two teams had a ’93 playoff rematch earlier in the season when on Thanksgiving Day the Packers faced off against Dallas’ third string quarterback Jason Garrett and yet still managed to blow an early 17-3 lead to lose 42-31. It was a humbling defeat that served to remind the Packers how far they had yet to climb if they wanted to hang with the NFL elite.
So with momentum on their side, the young Packers prepared to try and end the Cowboys dynasty and avoid their second straight playoff exit in big “D”. Reality bit them quickly. Even with Emmit Smith missing much of the game with a hamstring injury, the Packers still offered little resistance to the Cowboys onslaught and were down 28-9 by halftime. Jay Novacek, Alvin Harper and Mike Irvin all had over 100 yards receiving as Dallas booted the Packers from the playoffs with a 35-9 thrashing. After the game Ron Wolf lamented to the media that it was obvious that the Packers were clearly years away from competing with the best of the best – thankfully for once Ron was wrong.
Next time: The Packers go on a four year run that should have netted four Super Bowl victories.
