As you might guess from the title of this post, I've decided to call it a blog with FSPI. My interest in continuing FSPI has been waning for a while now, and I have other priorities going on I'd rather spend the time on. So I've decided not to continue on into the 2015 season.
Anyway, for anyone still out there, thanks for reading, hopefully you got some enjoyment and insight from what I wrote.
And, go Pack go!
20 years ago this month, the Packers were 24 years removed from the glory years of the 1960s. In that interregnum, they posted just 5 winning seasons, and two playoff appearances. Their one playoff win came in the strike-shortened season of 1982.
In 1991, the Packers hired Ron Wolf to be their general manager. Wolf made some sweeping changes: he brought in Mike Holmgren to be head coach, traded for quarterback Brett Favre, and brought in some big-name free agents like Reggie White, Santana Dotson, and Sean Jones.
Those changes had an immediate impact. In 1992 and 1993, the Packers posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the end of the Lombardi era. Every year, they had more success, returning to the playoffs, winning their division, and culminating in 1996 with a victory in Super Bowl XXXI.
The Packers returned to the Super Bowl in the 1997 season, but the loss in that game was a portent of a team already in decline. In 1998, the Packers lost a home game for the first time since week 1 of the 1995 season. As a wildcard in the playoffs, they were 1-and-done for the first time since the start of the Holmgren era.
After the 1998 season, Mike Holmgren left to be Head Coach and General Manager of the Seattle Seahawks. Reggie White had played his last game as a Packer, and many of the other players that made up the 1996 championship team were either retired or gone in free agency by the start of the 1999 season. Following the 2000 season, GM Ron Wolf retired as well.
Comparisons between the Lombardi and Holmgren eras are inevitable. In terms of championships won, there can be no question that Vince Lombardi was far more successful. But along with a victory in Super Bowl XXXI, Mike Holmgren has some successes that Vince Lombardi never accomplished:
Holmgren had a number of assistant coaches (Jon Gruden, Dick Jauron, Steve Marriucci, Jim Mora, Marty Mornhinweg, Andy Reid, Ray Rhodes, Mike Sherman, and Jim Zorn) that went on to be head coaches in their own right, to varying degrees of success.
Perhaps more important, the Packers didn't plunge back into mediocrity after Holmgren left. In the 13 seasons played since he left, the Packers have had just two losing seasons. They've made it to the playoffs 8 times, and won Super Bowl XLV.
There are very few teams in the league that can match the level of winning seasons, playoff appearances, and Super Bowl victories the Packers have enjoyed in the last 20 years. In spite of the sweeping changes in players, coaches, and managers, the Packer era that began in 1992 continues to this day.
Last Sepemtember, I posted a piece on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Packers' championship run under head coach Vince Lombardi.
Today, I came across an article on Jack Vainsini, a man who played another key role in buidling those championship teams:
Along with Lombardi, Vainisi had a hand, by draft or by trade, in bringing 10 men to Green Bay who would be enshrined at Canton, including [Jim] Taylor, [Forrest] Gregg, [Bart] Starr, [Ray] Nitchscke, Willie Davis, [Jim] Ringo, [Paul] Hornung, Willie Wood, and Henry Jordan. Acting largely on Vainisi's recommendation, one more was added after his death when the Packers took Herb Adderly in the next draft.
Lately, I've been becoming more and more convinced that the ability to draft well is one of the key aspects of succeeding in the NFL. As such, Vainisi's story is worth reading, and remembering.
The 1958 season is probably the lowest point in the history of the Green Bay Packers franchise. In 12 games played, they managed only one win and one tie. To date, it's the only season the Packers didn't manage at least two wins. But if you look at the roster for that 1958 team, there are a lot of familiar names, including some Hall-of-Fame players: Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Max McGee, Jim Ringo, Ray Nitschke, Forrest Gregg, Jim Taylor. All of these guys played important roles in the Packers' championship runs of the 1960s.
But one of the key pieces for the Packers didn't arrive until 1959: Coach Vince Lombardi. When he took over, he had an immediate impact: in Lombardi's first season, the Packers had a winning record for the first time since 1947. In Lombardi's second season, the Packers returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1944.
50 years ago this month, the Packers began their third season under Coach Lombardi, and he took the first step from local hero to all-time NFL great. In 1961, the Packers won the NFL Western division, advancing to the Championship game, where they beat the New York Giants in convincing fashion.
The 1961 season was the start of a (so far) unprecedented streak of 5 NFL Championships (and victories in the first two Super Bowls), accomplished in just 7 years. No other team, no other coach has matched that level of dominance. The Browns played in 6 straight NFL championship games from 1950-1955 (winning 3). The Steelers with coach Chuck Noll won 4 Super Bowls in 6 years in the 1970s. The 49ers won 4 Super Bowls in the 1980s, and another after the 1994 season under coaches Bill Walsh and George Seifert. Those are the only cases where any teams have even come close to matching what Coach Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers accomplished in the 1960s.
Vince Lombardi stepped down as head coach of the Packers after the 1967 season, and it quickly became apparent that he was a keystone of those championship teams. In the 24 seasons following Coach Lombardi's resignation, the Packers had just 4 winning seasons and two playoff appearances. This streak of futility didn't end until 1992, when newly-hired General Manager Ron Wolf brought in Mike Holmgren to be head coach, along with players like Brett Favre and Reggie White to be the core of a new championship run.
When Coach Lombardi arrived in Green Bay, the Packers could already lay claim to 6 NFL Championship titles. When he left, that total had been raised to 11, and Green Bay had an indisputable claim to the nickname "Titletown". And since his name was given to the Super Bowl trophy, the name "Lombardi" has become justifiably associated with success at the highest level of professional football.
Guess who's the Packers' new favorite quarterback?
It's Bart Driver and Donald Starr! (Don't ask me which one is which, though.)
The closest thing they have to a picture of He Who Wanted A Trade:
