Green Bay Packers:

Favre not 'Pack'ing his bags for retirement yet

The Green Bay Packers are one of, if not the, most historically storied team in all of the National Football League. They first broke onto the national scene in 1959 when an outspoken coach by the name of Vince Lombardi took the helms of the 1-10-1 franchise. Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest football coach of all time. The NFL went as far to name the Super Bowl trophy after him since his Packers won the first two Super Bowls. Above everything else Lombardi was know to be an incredible motivator and had a knack for having incredible inspirational sound bytes like, "There's only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything. I do, and I demand that my players do."

Lombardi knew how to motivate his players and it showed with his six world championships. Lombardi was the face of the team and even today his thumbprints are all over the team and the city and even the league. The Green Bay Packers are extremely unique among sports franchises in that they are not owned privately, but are owned by the city of Green Bay. This brings the fans closer to the players and the team, making a Packers ticket a prized commodity every week in Green Bay. There still is a central figure that embodies everything that the Packers are, but it’s not the coach but rather their starting quarterback Brett Favre. Favre is the most amazing quarterback of his time. He’s started a NFL quarterback record 208 straight games since he first came off the bench to make a start in 1992. Since then 159 different quarterbacks have started a game in the NFL. Not only is he a durable player but he’s also a shoe in for the Hall of Fame. Favre is the only player in NFL history to win three MVP awards and he won them in three consecutive years. Last year he led the Pack to a 10-6 record which fetched them a NFC North divisional title. They won their first round playoff game in overtime against Seattle and then went on to lose to the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round in overtime by a field goal.

In the off-season the Packers have only made two additions and those were the additions of former Bengals’ cornerback Mark Roman and disgruntled Browns quarterback Tim Couch. The team also let go of punter Josh Bidwell, defensive tackle Gilbert Brown, and defensive back Antuan Edwards.

In the draft the Packers got their much needed help at cornerback in the forms of Arkansas corner Ahmad Carroll and Montana State corner Joey Thomas. The Packers also filled the gap at defensive tackle with Clemson tackle Donnell Washington and Arkansas State Corey Williams.

The Green Bay Packers have strayed away from the pass first offense that Brett Favre made so successful in the ‘90s. The team has instead has evolved the offense into a more balanced offense since landing Pro Bowl running back Ahman Green. The offense was borderline unstoppable in 2003 ranking 4th overall in the NFL and 3rd in rushing offense. Green ran for 1883 yards and 15 touchdowns it marked Green’s 4th straight season rushing for 1000 yards or more. Favre was his normal sparkling self in 2003 passing for 3,361 yards, 32 touchdowns and had his highest completion percentage of his career completing 65.4% of his passes.

On the other side of the ball the Packers weren’t quite as dominant. The team finished 16th in total defense and a very disappointing 23rd against the pass. Nick Barnett, the rookie linebacker out of Oregon State, led the team in tackles in 2003 with 112 and also had the third highest interception total on the team with three. The defense is still anchored by Pro Bowl free safety Darren Sharper. Sharper is one of the few safeties in the league that can change the entire game through their play. He led the team with five interceptions in 2003.

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