OK, fence-sitters. We know you’re conflicted about Monday’s game; on one hand, Judas betrayed us. On the other, there’s the pesky issue of all those great years he gave us — years, mind you, that he didn’t seem to consider when crosssing the border while flippantly assuming Packer fans are Favre fans, etc.
We’ve made it clear where we stand on this, with great Lempesisian phrases like, “It’s blood in or blood out!” or “Get off the bus!” Adam and I are 100 percent behind this Greek sage, our very own Aristotle.
But if that doesn’t do it for you, here’s what LeRoy Butler had to say in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today:
“When you switch to the Vikings, that’s the one team you hate and hate’s a strong word,” said LeRoy Butler, a Super Bowl winner with Favre in 1996 and member of the Packers Hall of Fame. “That’s the one thing you dislike. You enjoy beating the (Chicago) Bears, it’s a great rivalry. But when you play the Vikings – Hatfield and McCoys, that’s how it is. All the rules go out. You have to beat them. It’s a must-win game. You can live with splitting with Chicago. You can’t live and you can’t sleep losing to the Vikings.
“It’s going to be on every station, if they lose to the Vikings, for four days. I don’t want to see that. I don’t want to see the four-letter network have Brett’s picture up and the lovefest. ‘Ah, he’s this. He’s that. He just loves playing the game.’
“Nope, sorry Brett. You’re on the other side now.”
Now, you don’t have to listen to us. But this is the man who may have been the most important defensive cog in ‘96 — more important than Reggie White. He’s one of the most-beloved Packers of the Favre/Holmgren era. He invented the freaking Lambeau Leap, for cryin’ out loud.
So the next time you’re cooking up some schmalzy Midwestern sentiment like, “Oh, ya know, we still have to cheer for Brett. He was too good to us for too long, ya know,” imagine LeRoy Butler coming off the corner on a blitz, ready to put his helmet in your ribcage.
Have we made our point?
–Gene Bosling
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