A terrific weekend, a lousy finish
Bud Lea
Posted: Sept. 23, 2009
Green Bay My life, the way it is going now, I make very few trips to Green Bay. I had not seen a game at Lambeau Field since last October until Sunday.
It's been much easier on this old body to watch the Packers on TV in the comfort of my home. I have avoided the monotonous four-hour round trip from Glendale to Ashwaubenon on game day, the congestion of traffic in and out of the stadium, and trying to understand players in a noisy, crowded post-game locker room.
But there is something about Lambeau Field that you can't duplicate in front of a TV set. It's like going to a movie in a theater rather than watching one at home. It always seems better because you've got people around you. It's called atmosphere.
For those of us who love pro football, there isn't a better place to be than Lambeau Field, a neighborhood stadium, where the grass is still real, the team's colors are still green and gold, and where the smallest city (pop: 102,313) possessing a big-time team owned by the fans is truly an American phenomenon.
Retired general manager Ron Wolf liked the Green Bay area so much he decided to sell his Annapolis, Md., home and return to Wisconsin last June. "What a nice place this is," he said about his new Oneida residence while recovering from knee surgery.
"Maryland is a completely different lifestyle that I was accustomed to. It's good to be back."
This was homecoming weekend in Green Bay, and the NFL Alumni/Green Bay chapter invited my wife, Filomena, and I as guests. After covering the Packers for 55 years, how could I decline?
Tom Brown, a defensive back on Vince Lombardi's first team, was the unofficial secretary when his former teammates came together Saturday for the 50th anniversary of the Birth of Titletown autograph show at the Stadium View restaurant.
A large football crowd was waiting for Lombardi's former players to sign memorabilia and special prints and posters.
Most of these guys are in their middle to late 70s now. They haven't played a football game in more than 40 years. But Saturday, fans still looked at them reverently as they met them in person.
I felt uncomfortable being asked to sign these things along with some of Lombardi's best players, but the alumni association was picking up my tab for the weekend, and I felt I better comply with what it wanted.
Brett Favre's Steakhouse is a block away from Stadium View and after the autograph show, I decided to check it out. The place was nearly deserted at 4 p.m. but the hired help said business would be good at night, and especially on game day. It surely will pick up when the Vikings come to town on Nov. 1.
After checking into the Radisson Hotel, we were bused to the Oneida Country Club for an elaborate reception and dinner.
There are reunions - family reunions, school reunions and work reunions. But nothing compares with a football reunion, especially when it involves players from world championship teams.
The Lombardi Packers have their place in NFL history and they have their championship rings to prove it. Years later, though, the thing they cherish most can't be found in a record book. Or even on their fingers.
It's a bond, invisible and unbreakable, that connects these men to one another and to the best time of their lives.
They were teammates once. They are friends forever.
And so when they arrived town there were bear hugs, hearty laughter and a lot of catching up to do.
There were players from every era, beginning with the Lambeau years.
They talked about how the game has changed. I know we live in a capitalistic system, but do you really need $60 million to play quarterback in the NFL today?
Bart Starr, who quarterbacked the Packers to five world championships and two Super Bowl titles, smiled when I asked him the question. He said his top salary with the team was $100,000 and he politely begged off talking about comparisons with today's outlandish contracts.
On Sunday morning, I headed to the game.
Before going to the press box to see the old gang, I walked to a ramp leading to the stands and looked again at those names that ring the stadium faade. The Packers have 19 Hall of Famers, including 10 from the Lombardi era when the Packers dominated the league.
When I got to the press box I took my seat next to Art Daley, a celebrity sportswriter in his own right. Art is 93 and still makes most of the games with help.
Lee Remmel, former sportswriter and public relations director of the Packers, couldn't make it because of health problems.
The sellout crowd of 70,678 was restless at halftime with the Packers and Bengals locked in a 21-21 struggle. All eyes were on the field as the alumni were introduced.
Bart Starr got the biggest ovation, followed by Paul Hornung, who walked onto the field holding the late Max McGee's No. 85 jersey.
And then the Bengals came out for the second half and showed the Packers they would be in for the fight of their lives.
Well, I'm certainly glad Vince Lombardi wasn't around to see that.
I sure would have hated to be the one to down to the Packers' locker room and ask, "Well, Vince, how did it go?"
It went Cincinnati 31, Green Bay 24.
Lombardi would have been livid. If there was anything Lombardi hated worse than getting beat, it was getting beat by playing poorly.
I wondered what was going through the minds of Willie Davis and Dave Robinson watching Cedric Benson shred the Packer defense for 141 yards.
I wondered what Bob Skoronski, Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston were thinking when the offensive line allowed Aaron Rodgers to be sacked six times.
I wondered what Boyd Dowler and Carroll Dale were saying when Greg Jennings failed to catch a pass and was flagged for a false start, which prevented the Packers from running a play from the Cincinnati 10-yard line as time expired.
The Packers gave the Bengals a game they had no business winning. They let their fans down. They let their alumni and Hall of Famers down. They let themselves down.
I don't know if this is a reflection on Mike McCarthy or not. He's got a mess to clean up, and he needs to straighten out his team right now.
The only folks with strong Packer ties who left Lambeau Field with smiles on their faces were Zeke and Mary Bratkowski. Their son, Bob, is offensive coordinator with the Bengals.
Because this was a Milwaukee game, the ride home for many of us seemed longer than usual.
Send e-mail to buddylea@aol.com