We'll Miss You Brett (revisited)

One of the many problems with Brett Favre continually retiring and coming back is that we never know when he is actually never going to play again so it’s hard to have that moment where we look back on his career and reminisce. I did it a year ago though when he was traded to New York so I thought in honor of his latest retirement that I would reprint my list of favorite Packers moments during the Brett Favre era:

#10 December 1994. The Packers host their first playoff game since 1982 and defeat the Detroit Lions to advance to the NFC Divisional Round. The Packer defense holds Barry Sanders to –1 yard rushing. The Packer win was their fourth home victory in a row over Detroit. Thirteen years later, that streak now stands at 16 straight home wins over the kitties.

#9 January 2008. The Packers spot the Seattle Seahawks 14 points after two Ryan Grant fumbles in the snow at Lambeau Field in the NFC Divisional Round. But as the snow starts to pound down, so does the Packer offense. They dominate the rest of the game with Ryan Grant running for 200 yards and Brett Favre making one of his most famous passes by tossing an underhand pass on 3rd down to tight end Donald Lee which goes for a first down and leads to a touchdown.

#8 January 2004. A playoff game with all sorts of story lines. Former Packer coach Mike Holmgren and former backup quarterback Mike Hasselbeck now members of the Seattle Seahawks return to Lambeau Field for a showdown with former Seahawk Ahman Green and the Packers in an NFC Wildcard Game. The game goes to overtime, and the Seahawks win the toss. Hasselback proclaims, “We’ll take the ball and we’re going to score.” Shortly into their first possession, Hasselbeck slings the ball outside and Packer cornerback Al Harris makes the interception and runs down the sideline for the game-winning touchdown. It was the last Packer playoff victory.

#7 December 2003. OK, this is not a Packer moment, but it was the game that led to the #8 memory. The Packers entered the final weekend of the season needing a win and a Viking loss to win the division and make the playoffs. As Green Bay was putting the finishing touches on a demolition of the Denver Broncos, the Vikings appeared to have their game against the hapless Arizona Cardinals in hand. But a crazy series of events got the Cards back to within a few points and the ball with the clock winding down. On fourth down and an eternity, Nathan Poole came down with a miraculous touchdown catch that ended the Vikings season and put the Packers in the playoffs. The play-by-play call of Paul Allen’s will live in infamy: “No! No! No!”

#6 December 2003. Yet another moment from that 2003 season. A day after Brett Favre’s father passed away, Brett had one of the best games of his career and the Packers blasted the Oakland Raiders. Even the Raider nation was pulling for Brett and had tears in their eyes. It seemed like a season of destiny for Green Bay. They picked up momentum with each week until the disastrous 4th and 26 against Philadelphia in the NFC divisional playoffs.

#5 December 1993. For the first time in eleven years, the Green Bay Packers play in a playoff game. It is an NFC wildcard game at Detroit. It is a well-played game that finds Detroit leading late, but Brett Favre throws a bomb to Sterling Sharpe who halls it in to give the Packers a victory...the first for Brett Favre.

#4 January 1996. For the third year in a row the Packers advance to the NFC Divisional round of the playoffs, but for the first time it is not against the Dallas Cowboys. The Packers travel to San Francisco for this one. On the first play from scrimmage for the 49ers, Craig Newsome intercepts Steve Young’s pass and runs it back for a touchdown. The Packers never look back as they advance to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1967. What makes the game more fun for me is that I get to watch it at Disney World with my dad and then get to spend the night at the Magic Kingdom wearing my Packer garb and celebrating.

#3 October 1996. The Packers are establishing themselves as the best team in the NFL entering a Monday night game with the San Francisco 49ers. Early in the game though, star receiver Robert Brooks is knocked out of the game. With Antonio Freeman also out, backup receiver Don Beebe steps in and catches over 200 yards of passes. The game goes into overtime and Chris Jacke ends up winning it on a field goal. I don’t get to watch the game because I have a knock-down-drag-out Jazz One rehearsal at UW-Eau Claire, but starting in the 4th quarter, our director, Mr. Baca, allows our guitarist who is sitting out on the two tunes we were rehearsing at that time to keep an update on the board of who has the ball, what down it is, how many yards to go and what yard line they’re at until the end of the game.

#2 November 2001. Widely considered one of the best catches in NFL history, Antonio Freeman dives for a pass from Brett Favre in overtime of a classic Packer-Viking clash. The ball appears to fall incomplete but actually bounces of Freeman’s body a couple times as he is falling to the ground. Freeman somehow is able to keep track of where the ball is while staying in bounds and end up with the ball in his hands. Viking cornerback Chris Dishman thinking the play is over stops and gets ready to leave the field since it was third down. But he must have been awestruck when he saw Freeman leap to his feet and start running to the end zone. Freeman scored giving the Packers a huge win. The win is made even more improbable given the fact that the Vikings had a chip shot field goal to win the game in regulation but botched the snap on a 3rd down. The holder instead of falling on the ball to give the kicker another shot on 4th down tried to convert a pass and time ran out. It’s important to note that if the Packers had lost that game, it would have put them in a huge hole in the standings and would have most likely resulted in a third straight season with no playoff appearance. Instead the Packers made the playoffs and beat the 49ers in an NFC wildcard game for their first playoff win since the 1998 NFC Championship game over the 49ers.

#1 January 1997. Of course the Packer Super Bowl win was the greatest moment of the Favre era. The images of Favre running off the field after his first Super Bowl touchdown pass to Andre Rison, Favre running into the end zone for another score, Desmond Howard’s kickoff return for a touchdown and Reggie White’s three sacks will live on forever for this Packer fan. And the celebration on Water Street in Eau Claire was amazing