Oh, don’t get us wrong – we had a field day with him after his latest playoff choke job. But, after telling ESPN’s Ed Werder after the loss that it was “highly unlikely” he’d be back in 2010, we figured it’d be at [...]]]> We at OBOD really weren’t planning on writing anything more on Brett Favre.

Oh, don’t get us wrong – we had a field day with him after his latest playoff choke job. But, after telling ESPN’s Ed Werder after the loss that it was “highly unlikely” he’d be back in 2010, we figured it’d be at least another month or so until he began his annual, “I’m done…no, wait, I’m not done” dance. We would, of course, then commence another round of ripping him mercilessly.

But then I was reading Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback column this week. King ran a very telling quote from the Old Fraudslinger, uttered after he retired from the New York Jets last year. The quote sort of confirms some thoughts – or maybe fears – that I’ve had about him for quite some time now:

“I know I’m not going to replace throwing touchdown passes by cutting down three trees tomorrow. I do know this: I’ve gotten bored with everything in my life at some time. I love to hunt, but I get tired of that. I love to work on my property, but I get tired of that. We’ll see. I foresee getting the impulse to play.”

King then went on to say he’s hearing that it’s highly likely Favre will play again next season. Well, after hearing a quote like that, I can’t say I’m surprised at all (then again, I thought he’d be back in purple all along).

Anyways, what Favre said left me feeling not angry or bitter or upset; no, it left me feeling, well, sort of sad because, at a certain point last season, it dawned on me that the real reason he keeps coming back is because the man simply has nothing else in his life that provides him with any real joy. Sure, he loves his family and he’s got some stuff he enjoys doing part of the time. But since he was a kid, this is what he’s devoted himself to for such a large part of the year.

Such is the case for most athletes. The only difference is that most find something along the way that they enjoy doing outside of the game, something they can do when it’s time to hang up the uniform once and for all. For some, like Magic Johnson , it’s the business world (Aaron Rodgers is already somewhat in this world, as well, as he co-owns a record label). Others, like Larry Bird and Jack Del Rio (an odd pair, I know), get into coaching. Finally, there’s television, a great place for a former quarterback, as Troy Aikman, Dan Marino, etc. have all proven.

Favre seems to have no interest in any of these things. That being the case, he’s content to just keep throwing himself out there year after year in lieu of finding anything else. Again, ultimately that’s fine because it’s his life, after all, and he can do whatever the hell he wants with it. And it’s not like he can’t get the job done anymore, as his 2009 season proved. 

But by doing so, he’s setting himself up for one of two things to happen: either he suffers a horrific, career-ending injury or, perhaps more likely, he just keeps going until the NFL, as a whole, tells him it is done with him. A lot of people seem to think Minnesota is his last stop, no matter what. I disagree. If things with the Vikings were to flame out, say, after next season, and Favre can con someone else into giving him a shot, he’ll go there. I’ve never been more sure of that.

At this point, those are about the only two ways this thing can end. And both would be tremendously sad in the sense that both could have been avoided had he just simply known when to step away from the table. As my friend Nathan said after the NFC Championship Game, “It didn’t have to be like this.”

But for Favre, it can’t be any other way than this.

In his younger days, he struggled with addictions to painkillers and alcohol. He fought those demons off. Now, the game is his addiction and he can’t shake it. Doesn’t really seem like he wants to shake it, either.

And like any recovering addict will tell you, when you’re hooked on something, you go until you drop. There’s a good chance that’s his fate. One day it will happen and we’ll all be worse off for experiencing it.

-Chris Lempesis

I say that because, on the same day we kicked off our list of the top moments/games of the decade, Green Bay Press Gazette sports editor Mike Vandermause wrote a column in which he listed the top 10 Packers-related stories of the decade. Vandermause’s column also focused on off-the-field [...]]]> Funny how things work out sometimes, isn’t it?

I say that because, on the same day we kicked off our list of the top moments/games of the decade, Green Bay Press Gazette sports editor Mike Vandermause wrote a column in which he listed the top 10 Packers-related stories of the decade. Vandermause’s column also focused on off-the-field stuff, such as the respective retirements of Brett Favre and Ron Wolf, so the list’s aren’t really that similar.

Hopefully, though, the list we came up with at our little dog-and-pony show here will provide a nice compliment to Vandermause’s list in order to give people a more thorough view of the decade that was for the Green Bay Packers.

With that said, it’s time to unveil the final part of our list of the top 10 moments/games of the decade.

(Fair warning: The descriptions for these ones are a bit longer than in the first part, so strap in.)

Again, enjoy.

5. “Dan Marino – Step Aside” – at Minnesota, September 30, 2007. In week three of the ‘07 season, the Packers earned a heartstopping 31-24 win at Lambeau over the mighty San Diego Chargers. It was a huge win as it announced to the rest of the league that Green Bay was, in fact, for real. Lost in all that excitement – at least for a minute or two – was the fact that Favre’s fourth quarter touchdown pass to Greg Jennings was the 420th of his career, tying him with Dan Marino for the all-time mark. He would have a chance to break the record the next week on the road against the hated Vikings. And it didn’t take him long to do just that. With five minutes left in the first quarter, on a third-and-7 from Minnesota’s 16-yard line, Favre made a last-second adjustment before hitting Jennings on a slant route (fitting that it would come on a slant, no?). Jennings did the rest, sprinting into the endzone and allowing Favre to surpass Marino once and for all. The crowd, comprised of at least 50 percent Packers’ fans (I know this because Adam and I were at the game), erupted before Marino himself paid tribute to Favre via a taped announcement on the Jumbotron at the Metrodome. The Packers went on to win, 23-16, improving to 4-0 on the season. Watch it here.

4. “He Did What?!?!” – vs. Minnesota, November 6, 2000. The Packers looked to be in trouble heading into this “Monday Night Football” affair. The game was at Lambeau, yes, but the Pack - under first-year head coach Mike Sherman - stood at just 3-5 while the Vikings came in a pistol-hot 7-1. Green Bay, surprisingly, held its own in the first half, trailing just 13-10 at the break. Trailing 20-13 in the third, the Packers evened the score on a two-yard touchdown run from Ahman Green. It appeared to be all-for-not when Gary Anderson headed out for a 32-yard field goal with just seven seconds left in the fourth. Remember, though, it was raining pretty hard in Titletown that night. That rain caused Minnesota holder Mitch Berger to lose control of the snap and attempt a crazy heave of desperation. Tyrone Williams picked him off and we were headed to overtime. The Pack won the toss and slowly made their way into Minnesota territory. On a third-and-4 from the Vikings’ 43, Favre looked to his right and threw one up for Antonio Freeman. Enter Lambeau magic. At first, Minnesota cornerback Cris Dishman appeared to pick Favre off. But he couldn’t get a grip on it and the ball darted towards the turf, where Freeman was already on his stomach. The ball bounced off Freeman’s shoulder, arm and facemask before finally resting in his right hand. Freeman, realizing the play was live, got up, made a move on a Vikings’ defender and sprinted into the endzone for the game-winning score as the Packers had earned a 26-20 victory. In the more than nine years since that night, I’ve seen the replay of that catch roughly eight million times – and I still have no idea how he caught it. I do know that I’m sure glad he did. Watch it here.

3. “Nate Poole Is Our Hero” – vs. Denver, December 28, 2003. The outlook was bleak for the playoff hopes of the 2003 Packers heading into the final week of the regular season. Here is a quick refresher of what needed to happen. Green Bay, sitting at 9-6, needed to beat Denver and:

A)  hope that a good Seattle team lost to a bad 49ers squad. Didn’t happen. Seattle won, 24-17.

B) hope that a good Dallas team would defeat a mediocre Saints bunch. Didn’t happen. Dallas lost, 13-7 (again, thanks for nothing, Dallas).

The failure of those two scenarios left the Packers with one, and only one, shot to get into the tournament: Beat Denver and hope that the Vikings – somehow, someway – would lose to the 3-12 Arizona Cardinals. Sure, Minnesota (also at 9-6) had sputtered after starting the season 6-0 – but, I mean, come on, the Cardinals? No way the Vikes lose that one. In a delicious bit of scheduling, the Vikings game (at Arizona) and the Packers game (at Lambeau) were both scheduled for late starts. The game itself at Lambeau on this day was not extremely memorable (outside of a 98-yard touchdown run by Green). With the Broncos’ playoff position already solidified, Denver rested most of its starters as the Packers rolled to a 31-3 win. In the desert, though, things were more than interesting. The Vikings, after falling behind 6-0, scored 17 unanswered points and held a commanding fourth quarter lead. It looked like Green Bay was about to walk away empty-handed, despite closing the season on a four-game win streak. Just then, though, Arizona scored. The two-point conversion failed, but the Cards were still within striking distance at 17-12. But there was just so little time left. The Cards would have to recover on onside kick, then go down and score, all in less than two minutes. Well, they got the onside kick and on a fourth-and-25 – fourth-and-25!! – at the Minnesota 27, Arizona quarterback Josh McCown lobbed a prayer into the endzone that was pulled down by Nate Poole with no time remaining. Poole didn’t get two feet in, but it was ruled a score because of the push-out rule (which no longer exists). Cards win 18-17. The news reached a frenzied Lambeau in about .5 seconds. Despite nearly impossible odds, the Packers had made the playoffs as the 2003 NFC North champs. And, if only for a day, Nate Poole was the hero of an entire fan base. Watch it here (and, just for fun, watch this too).

2. “We Want the Ball and We’re Gonna Score” – vs. Seattle, January 4, 2004. Sure, the events of week 17 of the 2003 season played to Green Bay’s benefit. But they simply got the Packers into the playoffs. If they were to advance, they would have to get past a more-than-formidable Seattle team that finished second in the NFC West with a 10-6 record. After 30 minutes of football at Lambeau, the Packers were looking good. Two Ryan Longwell field goals and a 23-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Bubba Franks (not sure if anyone else remembers that pass, but it was an absolute rocket, even by Favre standards) powered Green Bay to a 13-6 halftime advantage. If the Packers could just get one more score, they’d likely have the game in the bag. Then came the third quarter and a pair of one-yard touchdown runs from Seattle’s Shaun Alexander. Green Bay, on the other hand, was held scoreless. This massive sea change resulted in the Packers trailing 20-13 heading into the fourth. The sea shifted again, this time in Green Bay’s favor, in the fourth. Two one-yard touchdown runs from Green gave the Pack a 27-20 lead with just 2:44 to play. The defense just could not hold, though. Seattle ripped off a seven-play, 67-yard drive in less than two minutes, capped off by Alexander’s third one-yard touchdown run of the day. The Packers drained the final 51 ticks off the clock and we were headed to overtime. Seattle won the toss, prompting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to utter eight words that will never be forgotten by Packers fans (and, probably, Seahawks fans, too): “We want the ball and we’re gonna score.” Well, as Gene likes to say, somebody scored alright. On a third-and-11 at the Seattle 45, Green Bay went with an all-out blitz (dubbed the “Thriller blitz” by the defense). Hasselbeck went to his hot receiver, Alex Bannister, who was supposed to cut his route short. He didn’t. Al Harris jumped the route, picked the pass off and returned it 52 yards for the walk-off score. Lambeau erupted as the Packers had advanced with a 33-27 win. Watch it here.

1. “Snowglobe Game” – vs. Seattle, January 12, 2008. If someone had said, 4:59 into this game, that this would ultimately end up as the Packers’ No. 1 moment of the decade, you would have smacked them in the mouth. And, really, you would have had good reason to do so. After all, a pair of Ryan Grant fumbles on Green Bay’s first two drives of the game – which, by the way, happened to be a divisional playoff game AT LAMBEAU – led to two Seahawks’ touchdowns, giving the visitors a 14-0 lead. All the goodwill we’d built up, all the joy we’d experienced during the regular season seemed to be all for nothing. Adam was actually at this game and he said you could hear a pindrop after Hasselbeck hit Bobby Engram for Seattle’s second score of the day. But just then, something happened. The Packers got to driving and ended up scoring on a 15-yard pass from Favre to Jennings. The next Green Bay drive also ended in a score – this time it was Grant from one-yard out – and, all of a sudden, the game was tied. Had we really taken their best punch and remained in the game? As it turned out, we indeed had, as the next four – FOUR! – Packers’ drives all ended in touchdowns. Seattle mustered but two field goals in the midst of that onslaught. The final score? 42-20, Packers. But those aren’t the only reasons this earns the top spot. There was also Grant, bouncing back from his horrendous start to turn in a once-in-a-lifetime performance for a running back (an astounding 201 yards and three touchdowns on just 27 carries). There was the defense holding a good Seahawks’ offense to just 200 total yards. Finally, there was the environment in which the game took place. A wicked snow storm – even by Wisconsin standards – blasted the Fox Cities with inches upon inches of snow that day, turning Lambeau into a snowglobe of sorts as the game went on. People said they had to watch the scoreboard to see what was actually taking place. It was insane (photographic evidence soon to follow). And when you add this all up, could there really be a better moment of the past 10 years? Absolutely not. Watch it here.

That concludes our list. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. What will the next 10 years bring us? Aaron Rodgers getting some face time with the Lombardi Trophy, perhaps? As always with sports, you never know. But you can always hope – and that’s the best part.

-Chris Lempesis

The Who Dat? Nation has finally reached the top of the mountain.

They did so as the New Orleans Saints pulled off a dramatic 31-17 upset of the Indianapolis [...]]]> (Before we begin: I wasn’t going to write a recap of this game at first. Then I realized that we’re roughly nine months away from the next meaningful NFL game. That changed my mind.)

The Who Dat? Nation has finally reached the top of the mountain.

They did so as the New Orleans Saints pulled off a dramatic 31-17 upset of the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night in Miami.

Since plenty of other commentators have weighed in on what this means, not just to the Saints but to the city of New Orleans as a whole, I’m going to focus strictly on the game itself. There’s plenty of enough to talk about there, anyways.

The Saints’ turnaround from “Aints” to champions was keyed by two people – head coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees – and it’s really no surprise those two were the reasons the Saints were victorious Sunday.

(Just a quick, completely uncalled for reminder: Vikings’ fans STILL have no idea what this feels like)

Payton rebounded from his conservative approach in the NFC title game two weeks ago on Sunday with a masterfully aggressive gameplan. It wasn’t always smart and it didn’t always work – the decision to go for it on fourth-and-goal late in the second quarter was baffling, to say the least – but by being aggressive, he showed his team he had confidence in them at every single turn. In sports, that stuff matters.

It certainly mattered on the opening kickoff of the second half.

Payton and Co. shocked the nation by going for an onside kick. After a lengthy pile-up (which had to have been the craziest pile ever), the Saints came away with not only the ball, but the momentum. And when Brees led the offense down for a score – giving the Saints a 13-10 lead – it was official that, no matter what Indianapolis did to counter that, the Colts would be behind the cliched eight-ball the rest of the way.

In the biggest games of your life, you turn it loose. Payton did just that.

Of course, it’s easy to turn it loose when you have a signal-caller like Brees.

As Adam said in giving his prediction, New Orleans’ hopes would rest on Brees’ shoulders. By going 32-of-39 for 288 yards and two touchdowns (no interceptions), Brees showed he was more than up to the task, turning in the closest thing a quarterback can to a perfect game. Playing behind a dominant offensive line (seriously, was he pressured more than a handful of times?), the game’s MVP found every single open patch in Indianapolis’ Cover 2 defense. He spread the ball around to eight different receivers and showed that, if anyone doubts he should be considered the game’s best quarterback, they should doubt no more.

Payton and Brees have become the league’s elite coach-quarterback combo. When you have that, more often that not, you’re going to be the best.

The Saints were Sunday. And it’s absolutely deserved.

Other random thoughts on the Super Bowl

• Peyton Manning had his chance to become the best quarterback ever in this one and he blew it. Sure, he completed over 66 percent of his passes for 333 yards, but it was a very non-discript 333 yards. And with the game hanging the balance, Manning made a terrible throw to Reggie Wayne that Tracy Porter (officially my favorite non-Packer) picked and took to the house for the game-clinching score. Manning is still top 10, but he’s nowhere close to where he could have been (plus, Brees has surpassed him as the best in the game today). Somewhere, Joe Montana is smiling. His status as the best ever is safe.
• I tried to tell you The Who should be stopped. If you doubted me then, you can’t now after watching their abysmal halftime performance. They just can’t get it done anymore. Can we officially declare the 1960s are over, for God’s sake? Can the NFL get a band that actually, you know, appeals to its target demograpic (me, for example)? How about Pearl Jam? Or Kings of Leon, maybe? Why does the halftime show always have to be classic rock radio?
• Sort of a down year for the commercials. That said, I had two favorites (for different reasons). The funniest was the David Letterman/Oprah/Jay Leno promo for Letterman’s show. Hilarious. The best was the Megan Fox ad for…well, I don’t even know what it was for. Megan Fox in a tub? Yikes. Here’s how you know it made an impact. Adam and I were having a conversation. We stopped when the commercial came on. When it was over, I said, “What were we talking about?” He stared blankly at me before responding, “I can’t remember.” That’s the effect Fox has on men. I doubt we were the only guys experiencing this.
• I love, love, love that Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino were the two former quarterbacks-turned analysts for CBS’ halftime show. Two guys who know a little something about Super Bowl-winning quarterbacking right there. They know as much as you and I do about that.
• Esiason had another gem, too, when talking about Brees holding his recently-born son on the field after the game was over. Esiason: “It’s really a great moment between a father and son.” He said it as though every father and son experiences that. Yeah, I remember when my dad and I did that after he won it back in ‘81. We talk about it all the time. And, again, what would YOU know about that anyways, Boomer?
• Next year, the Super Bowl is in Dallas. How ’bout the Pack goes down there and wins it, shoving it right in Jerry Jones’ cosmetically-altered face? How fun would that be? Just saying…

-Chris Lempesis

Anyway, this week, with a playoff [...]]]> Each week, Chris and I burn through cell phone minutes like a couple of teenage girls after the Packers game in an effort to, as Chris likes to say, “recap this beeyatch.” It’s in those conversations, dear OBOD readers, that many of our best ideas are born. So, you’re welcome.

Anyway, this week, with a playoff spot in hand, we started kicking around this idea: Have the Packers replaced Brett Favre more effectively than any team has replaced a legendary quarterback in the last 20 years?

So I went to the stats, and while it’s too early to say that Aaron Rodgers — the first QB in NFL history to throw for 4,000 yards in his first two seasons and a Pro Bowl selection this year — represents the most seamless transition in recent NFL history from quarterbacking legend to successor, it certainly looks headed that way.

First, let’s look at the teams that have seen Hall of Fame quarterbacks retire in the last 15 years and who replaced them:

2001: Dallas Cowboys (Troy Aikman, Quincy Carter)

2000: Miami Dolphins (Dan Marino, Jay Fiedler)

2000: San Francisco 49ers (Steve Young, Jeff Garcia)

1999: Denver Broncos (John Elway, Brian Griese)

1997: Buffalo Bills (Jim Kelly, Todd Collins)

(Note: I thought about including the Kansas City Chiefs with Joe Montana in this, but it didn’t seem like an apropos comparison, since Montana was only there two years. For all you Joe Cool fans–and I’ve always said he’s the best QB in NFL history–let’s include him in the 49ers phase.)

Of the five teams I included, four (!) made a playoff appearance within two season of their quarterback retiring. All but the Cowboys did it. But there’s an important distinction between those teams and the Packers: None of them did it with a long-term solution at QB.

The Dolphins went the next two years after Marino retired with Jay Fiedler. But they still haven’t found a franchise QB since Marino. The Broncos had a couple decent years with Brian Griese and then with Jake Plummer. But now that they’ve traded Jay Cutler, they’re hoping Kyle Orton is the guy to finally give them a long run post-Elway. The Bills used Doug Flutie, and while the 49ers come the closest to a permanent replacement with the 5 1/2 seasons they got from Jeff Garcia, they still had to draft Alex Smith with the No. 1 pick in 2005 once Garcia got too old. (Alex Smith–how’d that work out? Seems to me there might have been some other guy that could’ve been better…local kid, I think. Boy, I’d hate to be the offensive coordinator who vouched for that pick.)

The Cowboys didn’t make the playoffs until 2003 post-Aikman, but they compare favorably to the other teams in one regard: They appear to have a young successor in Tony Romo who can produce for a long time. Romo still hasn’t won a playoff game, and I’ve always thought the team he plays for and his off-the-field exploits grant him more attention than his play should warrant. But is he one of the eight or 10 best QBs in the NFL right now? Absolutely.

So where does that leave Rodgers? He’s the only first-round draft pick of the bunch to catch on with the team that picked him, and in keeping the aggressive element of the Packers’ offense alive while throwing fewer interceptions than Favre ever did and leading all NFL quarterbacks in rushing yards, he’s got a chance to make the offense more dangerous than it was under Favre. He’s thrown 515 passes this season and been picked off just seven times–an astounding interception rate of 1.4%, which leads the league. He seems to have better command of the offense’s timing than he did early this year, and he’s starting to make the tight throws that he seemed reluctant or unable to make before. But wins in the playoffs and success over the long haul are what counts, and in that sense, Rodgers still has plenty to prove.

Still, he’s unique in several senses: He’s the only first-round pick in recent history to successfully replace a legend, and he’s done it amidst a media crush that, even for QBs in his unenviable position, has been daunting. Having Brett Favre first try to come back and reclaim his spot, then force a trade and resurface with the Packers’ biggest division competitor isn’t something that any other replacement has even come close to facing. It’s been the biggest media circus in the NFL the last two years, and possibly one of the largest in NFL history. And the way Rodgers has handled it speaks to how coolly he’ll prepare for his first playoff appearance. You can argue he looked spooked in the first game against Favre this year, but that might have had more to do with Jared Allen continually able to read the washing instructions on Rodgers’ jersey. Most of the abstract or contrived stuff doesn’t faze Rodgers, and should he stay healthy, keep making smart decisions with the ball and maintain the impressive cast of weapons he currently has, Rodgers could be on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

Could he be better than Favre? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. He’s already 26, and Favre’s greatness is largely burnished by his staggering ability to show up and produce every single week, even into his late 30s.

But Rodgers clearly has the game and the mettle to make us move on from Favre quicker than any other team has gotten past a legendary QB in recent history.

It doesn’t matter how many times Favre shows up with Greta Van Susteren.

–Gene Bosling