Ron Wolf and the Green Bay Packers by Michael Bauman

Author:Michael Bauman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781683582786
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Published: 2019-08-15T16:00:00+00:00

1 Milwaukee Journal, January 9, 1994.

2 Ibid.

3 ESPN.com, January 8, 2015.

4 Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1995.

8

The Packers Win It All

IN THE 1995 postseason, the Green Bay Packers played the Dallas Cowboys for a championship. This was real progress. The last time the Packers had been in a championship was also against Dallas—the storied Ice Bowl, December 31, 1967, for the NFL Championship and a trip to Super Bowl II.

After 28 years here were the Packers, in Dallas, playing for the NFC championship and a trip to Super Bowl XXX. The results were not as uplifting this time, although the Packers led, 27–24, after three quarters. At crunch time, they could not contain the great Emmitt Smith, who gained 150 yards and ran for three touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 38–27 victory.

So near and yet so far. This was the third straight season in which the Packers were tossed out of the playoffs by the Cowboys, but in 1994, they had been beaten soundly, 35–9. It was another loss to the Cowboys, but for the Packers, signs of growth were everywhere evident.

On the flight from Dallas back to wintry Wisconsin, Ron Wolf approached safety LeRoy Butler, who typically would have something interesting to say.

“He said: ‘What do you think, 36?’” Butler recalls. “I said: ‘Next year, we’re going to win it all. We just need one or two pieces. Not big pieces. Just one or two more pieces.’

“When you looked at Ron, you knew he was serious. I’ve never seen a guy more determined. Every loss pissed him off, because he could see a way for us to win. I said: ‘We need a return guy. That’s the difference between us, Dallas, and San Francisco. Not a receiver, a return guy.’ That’s all you’re gonna do, Desmond, you’re going to be best return guy in the world.’ The next thing you know, Desmond Howard. Keith Jackson. Santana Dotson. Sean Jones. Andre Rison. We’re just loading up.”

This 1996 season was Ron Wolf’s masterpiece, both in terms of all the team building he had done in the previous years, and the moves he made specifically for this campaign.

This was a team that went 13–3 and led the league in points scored and points scored against. The last team with that combination was the legendary 1972 Miami Dolphins, who went 17–0, becoming the only team with a perfect record in the Super Bowl era.

It was not as though the 1996 Packers had future Hall of Famers at every position. But they did have football players at every position, people fully committed to their craft, people who had both the mental and physical ability to go the distance. As good as the individual players were, joined together, the whole was even greater than the sum of the parts.

“‘I think that’s absolutely a fair description,” head coach Mike Holmgren said. “Just take it by position for a second. At running back you’ve got Edgar Bennett, Dorsey Levens, (at fullback) William Henderson. They’re good players, really good players, but unselfish players who would block.

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