Then & Now
In 1996, tackle Bruce Wilkerson helped Green Bay win a Super Bowl. Today, Mark Tauscher looks for his place in Packers' lore.
By Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Jan. 1, 2010
Thirteen years ago an aging tackle with a bad knee bailed out the Green Bay Packers in their hour of need and they went on to win the Super Bowl.
The same thing might be happening all over again in the city where football saviors are revered forever.
Bruce Wilkerson, the unsung hero of the 1996 championship team, has met Mark Tauscher. He saved the day for the Packers back then at left tackle and is hoping that Tauscher's rescue effort at right tackle will conclude with the franchise's fifth Lombardi Trophy next month.
"When Earl Dotson was still playing and Tauscher was a young guy, Earl told me he was going to be a player," Wilkerson said this week from his home in Knoxville, Tenn. "I was very happy when I came up to the Minnesota game and he was back dressed. Because I knew down the long run he was going to help that team."
Wilkerson was 32, the same age that Tauscher is now, when the Packers decided to start him over rookie John Michels for the regular-season finale. Wilkerson allowed a sack in that game but none in the three playoff games.
"I just know we were excited that he didn't get the quarterback killed," said Reggie McKenzie, the Packers' co-director of football operations who joined the team as a scout in 1994. "He didn't let people just cross his face and stuff Dorsey (Levens) and Edgar (Bennett) behind the line of scrimmage."
General manager Ron Wolf signed Wilkerson, a starter for the Raiders from 1987-'94, in April of that year as an insurance policy. Gary Brown started Weeks 1-2-3-4-7 at left tackle, veteran Ken Ruettgers started Week 11 before retiring two days later with chronic knee pain and Michels, a skinny first-round pick, started Weeks 5-6-8-9-10-12-13-14-15.
Finally, after watching Michels get walked back by bull rushers into Brett Favre's lap too many times, coach Mike Holmgren made the move to Wilkerson.
Although it's true that Tauscher also was signed off the street (Oct. 12), he had deep ties to the Packers as a solid starter from 2000-'08. His career in Green Bay seemed finished when he needed a second reconstructive surgery on his left knee for an injury that occurred in Week 13 last season.
From March on the Packers prepared Allen Barbre to fill Tauscher's shoes. They also were bringing back Breno Giacomini, and the draft brought tackles T.J. Lang and Jamon Meredith.
As it turned out, Barbre was unfit for duty. Once the medical staff determined Tauscher was a go, he started Nov. 8 against Tampa Bay.
Tauscher reinjured the knee in that game after merely 14 snaps and was replaced by Barbre, who allowed four more "pressures" in a humiliating loss. Lang started for Tauscher the next week in the critical game against Dallas and it has been Tauscher ever since.
Wilkerson, 6 feet 5 inches and 315 pounds, was smart (22 on the Wonderlic intelligence test) and light on his feet. Tauscher (6-3, 318) scored 25 on the Wonderlic and has proven to be more athletic than scouts could ever imagine.
"From the standpoint of an old dog just getting in there and protecting that quarterback, both of them can do that," McKenzie said. "They're similar because they both know how to get it done. From the neck up, and physically, they get it."
Wilkerson grew up on a farm in Philadelphia, Tenn. Tauscher's family also farmed in Milladore, Wis., until moving to nearby Auburndale when he was ready for high school.
"As far as admiring the way he plays, it's not pretty but the final outcome is he's getting the job done," said Wilkerson. "As Wayne Simmons used to say, 'Your body may not be pretty but you get the job done.' "
Tauscher said he could understand the parallel being drawn to Wilkerson, whom he remembers watching in 1996 as a freshman at Wisconsin. He can relate to Wilkerson, who in 1996 told writers "this game is 70% technical and probably 30% physical."
Study. Prepare. Compete. Hate to get beat.
"That's really what it's all about," Tauscher said Friday. "If you're a productive, consistent player you're going to last a long time in this league."
To assess the switch at right tackle, consider the numbers. In maybe 100 more snaps, Barbre has allowed 26 "pressures," including five sacks, and 4 "bad" runs. Tauscher has allowed 14 pressures, including two sacks, and 7 "bad" runs.
"He's very smart, man," an NFC personnel director said last month. "Very, very crafty. Tauscher is done, but he's a football player. That's probably the best way to sum it up. You've got to respect a guy like that."
Tauscher never did get caught up in what scouts said about him and he certainly isn't now. Aside from spending about two hours most days treating his balky knee, he is playing for his own satisfaction, the wonders of a second chance, the Super Bowl and another contract.
"I'd love to keep playing," he said. "But this is game to game. You don't dwell on that. You put all your focus into this and this playoff run."
Wilkerson has carved out his niche in Packers lore. Tauscher, who has stabilized the line, now looks for his.
"The stabilizing thing?" Tauscher said. "I think that's a great compliment. I feel like I do what I do. . . and I'm giving everything I've got. I'm definitely headed in the right direction."