Back in May the NFL writers and editors at CBSSports.com gathered together to discuss the key figures and moments of every NFL franchise in the Super Bowl era. Before long we were discussing every team's best and worst moments, along with their most-hated players and coaches, as well as some of the more bizarre things each team has been involved in. That spirited discussion produced this series -- the Good, Bad, Ugly and, sometimes, Bizarre moments for every team. We continue with the Green Bay Packers.
The Good
Vince Lombardi
When they name the trophy for the sport's highest honor after you, it's a pretty good sign that you're a legend. Such is the case with Vince Lombardi, the namesake of the Lombardi Trophy given to the Super Bowl champion every year and undoubtedly one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.
Lombardi began his coaching career with the New York Giants, but of course is mostly known for his exploits in Green Bay. From 1959 through 1967, Lombardi led the Packers to an 89-29-4 regular season record, best in the league during that time by nine games. The Packers also outscored their opponents by 1,208 points during the years Lombardi was the head coach, over 400 points more than the next closest team (Baltimore Colts).
He was named Coach of the Year in both 1959 and 1961, and in 1962 led the Packers to a 13-1 season, which at the time gave them the second-best single-season record in NFL history. In his nine seasons, Green Bay finished in first place six times, and won the NFL Championship in 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, and 1967. With the '65, '66, and '67 wins, he became the second NFL coach to lead his team to a three-peat (after Curly Lambeau). The latter two of those championships were Super Bowls I and II, in which the Packers defeated the Chiefs and Raiders, respectively. Lombardi's record nine-game postseason winning streak stood from 1967 until Patriots coach Bill Belichick finally broke it in 2006.
Lombardi of course was also the winning coach in the world famous Ice Bowl, a game played in negative 13-degree temperatures against the Dallas Cowboys. With 16 seconds left and the Packers down by three points, quarterback Bart Starr came over the Lombardi on the sideline and told the coach what play he wanted to run. Lombardi famously said, "Run it! And let's get the hell out of here!" Run it Starr did, right into the end zone, and the Packers moved on to play the Chiefs in Super Bowl I.
Lombardi was also notoriously open and accepting in a time where that was not true of many people in America. He was fond of saying that he "viewed his players as neither black nor white, but Packer green." He told Green Bay establishments that if they adhered to Jim Crow laws, the business would be off limits to the players on his team, according to his biographer, David Maraniss, who also wrote that if Lombardi caught a coach "discriminating against a player thought to be gay, he'd be fired."
Lombardi stepped down as head coach of the Packers in 1967, moving to the role of general manager for the 1968 season. He then took over as head coach and GM of Washington for a year, before he passed away of cancer in 1970. After that, the NFL renamed its championship trophy in his honor.
The Bad
2014 NFC Championship Game meltdown
The Packers were exactly five minutes and four seconds away from heading to Super Bowl 50. Holding a 19-7 lead with the ball on their own 43-yard line, Mike McCarthy elected to run Eddie Lacy straight into the line three plays in a row before kicking the ball back to the Seahawks with 4:00 on the game block. Tim Masthay shanked the kick, which went only 30 yards.
The rest is one of the most incredible comebacks in NFL history.
First, Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson (who had been bottled up pretty much the entire game) led the Seahawks right down the field for a seven-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that took all of 1:43 off the clock. Dom Capers' defense once again fell victim to multiple read-option plays. Suddenly, the Seahawks were only down by one score with 2:09 left to play.
All Green Bay had to do was recover the ensuing onside kick and it likely would have held on for the win, but then Brandon Bostick stepped to the plate. Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka pounded the ball into the ground and popped it up in the air. Bostick, a backup tight end ostensibly on the field to help keep the wedge from breaking through before the ball got to a waiting Jordy Nelson, instead leapt in the air and attempted to field the ball himself. It slipped right through his hands, bounced off his facemask, and fell into the waiting arms of Chris Matthews.
And so Seattle had the ball again, this time at the 50-yard line, down by five points with no timeouts. It took all of four plays to find the end zone, as Wilson and Lynch again led the Seahawks down the field for a quick score. Leading by one point after the touchdown, Pete Carroll sent the Seattle offense back onto the field to go for two. Wilson rolled to his right, evaded THREE fast-closing Packers defenders, wheeled around and flung the ball across the field. HaHa Clinton-Dix seemed like he had an easy play on it, but... well.
If only Clinton-Dix had made a play on the ball, the ensuing field goal drive Aaron Rodgers led the Packers on would have won the game instead of only tying it with 14 seconds left in regulation. Seattle won the overtime coin flip and, after a quick first down, faced 3rd-and-7 at their own 30. Wilson found Doug Baldwin on a 35-yard strike, then connected with Jermaine Kearse from the same distance for a miraculous game-winning score.
The Ugly
The Brett Favre/Aaron Rodgers transition
The Packers have been very lucky. For over two decades, they have had one of the best quarterbacks in the league under center. In 1992, they traded for an Atlanta Falcons backup QB by the name of Brett Favre. Favre's career in Atlanta lasted all of four passes. His line: 0-4, 0 yards, 2 INT. He fared considerably better in Green Bay.
In 16 seasons with the Packers, Favre completed 5,377 of his 8,754 pass attempts (61.4 percent). He threw for 61,655 yards (7.0 per attempt), 442 touchdowns and 286 interceptions. He made eight Pro Bowls and was named First-Team All-Pro three times and Second-Team All-Pro twice. He led the NFL in passing touchdowns four times (1995-1997, 2003). He was named the league's MVP in three consecutive seasons (1995, 1996, 1997) and led the Packers to a victory in Super Bowl XXXI. He set NFL records for passing touchdowns, passing yards, and career victories. He was a no-doubt-about-it Hall of Famer.
In 2005, California quarterback Aaron Rodgers, projected as a possible No. 1 overall pick, slipped all the way to the bottom-third of the first round. On the clock at No. 24 and with Favre getting up there in age (he was 34 at the time), the Packers pulled the trigger and made Rodgers their pick. The idea was he would sit and learned behind Favre for a year or two before taking over. Favre figured to retire pretty soon anyway.
Things did not go that smoothly. The Packers struggled in 2005, going 4-12. Favre struggled badly as well, leading the NFL with 29 interceptions. Still, he decided to return for the 2006 season. He was Brett Favre, so obviously he kept his starting job and played all 16 games. Favre cut down on the picks and Green Bay improved to 8-8, but his completion percentage dropped to a Packers-career low of 56.0 and he threw fewer than 20 touchdowns for the first time since 1993.
Toward the end of the season, word surfaced that he was considering retirement. It made sense, considering his play over the prior two seasons, his advancing age, and his already historic career. People were so convinced he was done that he was given a standing ovation at Solider Freaking Field, home of the Chicago Bears. Favre waffled throughout the offseason on retirement, eventually decided to come back for one more year.
The 2007 season was a huge improvement. Favre had his best season in years and led the Packers to a 13-3 record. His completion percentage jumped to 66.5, his yards per attempt increased from 6.3 to 7.8, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio spiked to 28-to-15 (from 18-to-18). Green Bay finished the season as the No. 2 seed in the NFC and marched along to the NFC title game, where they ultimately lost to the eventual champion New York Giants.
After the season, Favre announced his retirement. He cried during his press conference. The transition to Rodgers -- who came off the bench to go 18-26 for 201 yards and a touchdown against the No. 1 seeded Cowboys in late November of the 2007 season -- was complete. Only Favre decided he wasn't done yet. Four months after his retirement press conference, he contacted the Packers about coming back yet again.
Days later, Favre requested an unconditional release, because the Packers informed him Rodgers would be their starter. General manager Ted Thompson said no way. Favre went on TV and said that he was "guilty of retiring early," but that he would not return to the Packers as a backup. He also said he wanted to be released rather than traded, because he wanted to control his destination.
The Packers filed tampering charges against the Vikings, alleging that offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and head coach Brad Childress had been in contact with Favre. The charges were denied. Favre then formally applied for reinstatement and even showed up to Packers camp. (Favre and Packers management then decided that it was not really possible for him to stick around, so they traded him to the Jets shortly after that. Favre spent a season in New York and two in Minnesota before calling it quits for good.) The whole thing was such a mess that it got parodied in one of those "This is SportsCenter" commercials.
Favre and the team had a public rift for years after the fact, a rift that was only mended within the last year when the Packers retired his number and inducted him into the team's Hall of Fame.
Oh, and all Rodgers has gone on to do is become one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the league himself. So I guess it all worked out.
The Bizarre
Fail Mary
Ah, the replacement refs. What more is there to say?
This was arguably the strangest ending to a game in the history of football.
It's Week 3 of the NFL season and the referees are in a lockout. The game is being officiated by a replacement crew, as every game for the entirety of the season had been so far. The officiating had already been widely criticized pretty much everywhere, but the final play of the Monday Night Football showdown between two NFC contenders saw everything boil over.
On the final play of the game, with the Packers leading 12-7, the Seahawks had the ball on Green Bay's 24-yard line on 4th-and-10. Russell Wilson dropped back to pass, couldn't find anyone open, spun out of the pocket, reset himself, and lofted the ball up into the back left corner of the end zone.
Percy Harvin and Golden Tate were waiting there, as were five Packers defenders. They all went up in the air and...
Tate and Packers safety M.D. Jennings came down with the ball simultaneously, though it sure looked like Jennings had a better grip on the ball. One official (back judge Derrick Rhone-Dunn) signaled for a touchback, while the other (side judge Lance Easley) signaled for a touchdown. This became an instantly infamous image.
They talked it over and made the ruling on the field a touchdown, somehow. A video review was recommended, because obviously, but referee Wayne Elliot determined there was insufficient evidence to overturn the call. The touchdown stood and the Seahawks won the game, 14-12. It was an utter embarrassment for the league.
ESPN's Jon Gruden said on the SportsCenter telecast following the game, "Golden Tate gets away with one of the most blatant offensive pass interference calls I've ever seen. M.D. Jennings intercepts the pass. And Tate's walking out of here as the player of the game. Unbelievable."
Packers lineman T.J. Lang tweeted, "Got f***d by the refs.. Embarrassing. Thanks nfl." He tweeted again, "F*** it NFL.. Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs."
Aaron Rodgers used part of his press conference to say, "First of all, I've got to do something that the NFL is not going to do: I have to apologize to the fans. Our sport is a multi-billion dollar machine, generated by people who pay good money to come watch us play. The product on the field is not being complemented by an appropriate set of officials. The games are getting out of control."
The NFL released a statement acknowledging the offensive interference but supporting the simultaneous possession call:
When the players hit the ground in the end zone, the officials determined that both Tate and Jennings had possession of the ball. Under the rule for simultaneous catch, the ball belongs to Tate, the offensive player. The result of the play was a touchdown.
Replay Official Howard Slavin stopped the game for an instant replay review. The aspects of the play that were reviewable included if the ball hit the ground and who had possession of the ball. In the end zone, a ruling of a simultaneous catch is reviewable. That is not the case in the field of play, only in the end zone.
Referee Wayne Elliott and the officials (who were the original officials in control of the instant replay) determined that no indisputable visual evidence existed to overturn the call on the field, and as a result, the on-field ruling of touchdown stood. The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review.
Easley defended his call a few days later in an interview, but multiple locked out referees said it should have gone the other way. The play instantly became known as the "Fail Mary."
Two days later, the referee lockout dispute ended.