Swagger Mixed with Humility: Packer Formula for Success
September 27, 2007
Written by Bruce Smith - PackerChatters Staff
The Swagger is back in Green Bay…
The Green Bay Packers walked with a Swagger for many years, led by a QB whose swagger would make even the toughest and meanest Defensive linemen and Linebackers nod (and shake) their heads with respect (and disbelief) when he would smack them back on the helmet and ask them if that was all they had.
Starting sometime early in the Holmgren era the Packers showed up week to week expecting to win, and with an air of confidence and self assurance that was unmistakable. Even when faced with adversity they expected to win, and most often they did.
This swagger/self-confidence made coaches like Lovie Smith admiringly say that reaching and beating the Packers was Goal #1 in leading da Bears to success upon his hire. Detroit hired a couple of ex-Packer assistants trying to emulate the Packers swagger and success to no avail.
In what seemed like an instant GB's swagger disappeared. Somewhere between the Jan 9, 2005 playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field and the season ending with injuries to the running back and wide receiver corps early in 2005 season that confident gait was replaced by a hang-dog stride of resignation.
As if the Viking loss was not enough of a lesson in humility, the toll of the 4 - 12 2005 regular season was heavy, and swagger turned to uncertainty and self-doubt for the increasingly young team. Even for its sure-thing Hall of Fame QB and offensive leader Brett Favre it waned. As he began to question himself and his team, Brett struggled to decide whether or not to continue to play the game he had loved his whole life.
Last season (2006) the young Packers tried to be confident, but in the first game against da bears to start the season, they got punched in the mouth and failed to respond. It was disheartening to see this young team intimidated, but the coaching staff and fans who watch development closely knew this would be a first step and important lesson in the rebuilding of confidence - as painful as it was to watch.
In fact they seemed to be responding pretty well, and despite some setbacks they did not show quit or a willingness to back off again until New England traveled to Green Bay on Nov 19th and humiliated the Packers 35 - 0. Not only did the team not respond it seemed to quit - and this included the Head Coach Mike McCarthy.
The Pack bounced back early in Seattle only to lose their confidence and the game as a veteran team expecting to beat the Packers did indeed.
It got worse the next week against the New York Jets, another humiliating loss (38 - 10) again at home, and even worse a psychological loss that put this youngest team in the league on the edge of collapse and implosion.
The Packers caught a break by going on the road to San Francisco the following Sunday to play the suddenly resurgent 49ers. It gave them an opportunity to lick their wounds and search their souls to find their identity. Come game time, the Pack came out punching rather than waiting to be punched and pretty handily kicked some 49er tail.
The next two weeks against two physical division rivals, MN and Detroit, the young Packers again got punched in the mouth. But they responded altogether differently. This time they licked the blood off their lips and punched back. They refused to be physically intimidated and eventually beat up and defeated both foes.
You could see it in the eyes of the Players going into the season ending tilt against da bears. Here they were full circle, right back to where they started the season with a chance for redemption against da bears.
Unlike the opener, rather than dread there was excited anticipation in the Packer squad. The young Packers didn't wait to get punched; instead they started and proceeded to kick the living Hell out of da bears from start to finish. In the process the team rediscovered itself and launched it full bore into an off-season of hard work and perspiration.
The team shed their baby fat and replaced it with muscle. The team started to believe in themselves and each other as they pushed each other in the film, weight, and training rooms and every day on the field - whether it was a mini-camp, OTA or training camp.
It started with the Defense, where players like Barnett demanded more of himself and his fellow defenders. It continued by the team embracing the spirit and fight of Atari Bigby who came in and worked his butt off and left it all on the field everyday. Quickly the vets like Harris and Woodson (perhaps the only two players who never lost their own swagger) rallied around their young lion-hearted safety and said they would rather go to battle with a fighter who never quit than a veteran they did not trust (M. Manuel). It continued with guys like KGB accepting his role and excitedly declaring that he would do whatever his team needed.
It quickly spread to the special teams, where even the veterans wanted in on the action as kamikaze players like White, Bush, Bigby and others seemed to be having so much fun.
The first test for this still youngest-team in the league came against their other chief conference nemesis, the Philadelphia Eagles - a team that seemed to have GB's number over and over again.
The Eagles came out fired up and shut down the offense, completely shutting down every attempt to run the football. The offense struggled, but instead of folding up the tent, the defense and special teams responded. You could see it building and despite some hairy moments this young team got a heavy monkey off of its back.
The next week on the road in New York, the offense jumped into the fray, and a Brett Favre (who seemed to have his water bottle hosed to a fountain of youth) got the young guys on offense to do some punching of their own in routing the Giants in their own backyard.
Next came the San Diego Chargers, a team coming off a 14 - 2 season and with the league MVP on offense and a defensive player whose 17 ½ sacks in 12 games was perhaps the defensive MVP in the league.
The final step in the swagger returning was missed by many in the media. While showing respect for the Chargers, Mike McCarthy threw down the gauntlet when he responded to questions about how his team would fair facing a powerful team like San Diego. A defiant McCarthy volleyed back the challenge by declaring that the Chargers better be concerned with how they will fair playing a powerful team like Green Bay.
It was a that moment that I knew the swagger was back.
Indeed, the question MM posed turned out to be prophetic. In a hard hitting, well-played tilt by both proud squads, it was the Chargers who could not answer the final bell. Even when the young Packers were knocked down in this game, they got up. Most impressive was seeing them never hang heads for a second. You could see it in the enthusiastic gait in which they ran onto and off of the field at crunch time.
Once again the Green Bay Packers go into games expecting to play well and believing in themselves. Not with a false confidence, rather with an attitude that hints, "if you're even thinking about beating us, you had better pack a lunch and make sure your insurance policies are up to date, because we are not backing down.
Mike McCarthy, Brett Favre, Mark Tauscher, Aaron Kampman, Nick Barnett and other Packer veterans will make sure that the young guys balance their new found swagger with a dose of humility - but don't think for a second that they are not loving it.
September 27, 2007
Written by Bruce Smith - PackerChatters Staff
The Swagger is back in Green Bay…
The Green Bay Packers walked with a Swagger for many years, led by a QB whose swagger would make even the toughest and meanest Defensive linemen and Linebackers nod (and shake) their heads with respect (and disbelief) when he would smack them back on the helmet and ask them if that was all they had.
Starting sometime early in the Holmgren era the Packers showed up week to week expecting to win, and with an air of confidence and self assurance that was unmistakable. Even when faced with adversity they expected to win, and most often they did.
This swagger/self-confidence made coaches like Lovie Smith admiringly say that reaching and beating the Packers was Goal #1 in leading da Bears to success upon his hire. Detroit hired a couple of ex-Packer assistants trying to emulate the Packers swagger and success to no avail.
In what seemed like an instant GB's swagger disappeared. Somewhere between the Jan 9, 2005 playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field and the season ending with injuries to the running back and wide receiver corps early in 2005 season that confident gait was replaced by a hang-dog stride of resignation.
As if the Viking loss was not enough of a lesson in humility, the toll of the 4 - 12 2005 regular season was heavy, and swagger turned to uncertainty and self-doubt for the increasingly young team. Even for its sure-thing Hall of Fame QB and offensive leader Brett Favre it waned. As he began to question himself and his team, Brett struggled to decide whether or not to continue to play the game he had loved his whole life.
Last season (2006) the young Packers tried to be confident, but in the first game against da bears to start the season, they got punched in the mouth and failed to respond. It was disheartening to see this young team intimidated, but the coaching staff and fans who watch development closely knew this would be a first step and important lesson in the rebuilding of confidence - as painful as it was to watch.
In fact they seemed to be responding pretty well, and despite some setbacks they did not show quit or a willingness to back off again until New England traveled to Green Bay on Nov 19th and humiliated the Packers 35 - 0. Not only did the team not respond it seemed to quit - and this included the Head Coach Mike McCarthy.
The Pack bounced back early in Seattle only to lose their confidence and the game as a veteran team expecting to beat the Packers did indeed.
It got worse the next week against the New York Jets, another humiliating loss (38 - 10) again at home, and even worse a psychological loss that put this youngest team in the league on the edge of collapse and implosion.
The Packers caught a break by going on the road to San Francisco the following Sunday to play the suddenly resurgent 49ers. It gave them an opportunity to lick their wounds and search their souls to find their identity. Come game time, the Pack came out punching rather than waiting to be punched and pretty handily kicked some 49er tail.
The next two weeks against two physical division rivals, MN and Detroit, the young Packers again got punched in the mouth. But they responded altogether differently. This time they licked the blood off their lips and punched back. They refused to be physically intimidated and eventually beat up and defeated both foes.
You could see it in the eyes of the Players going into the season ending tilt against da bears. Here they were full circle, right back to where they started the season with a chance for redemption against da bears.
Unlike the opener, rather than dread there was excited anticipation in the Packer squad. The young Packers didn't wait to get punched; instead they started and proceeded to kick the living Hell out of da bears from start to finish. In the process the team rediscovered itself and launched it full bore into an off-season of hard work and perspiration.
The team shed their baby fat and replaced it with muscle. The team started to believe in themselves and each other as they pushed each other in the film, weight, and training rooms and every day on the field - whether it was a mini-camp, OTA or training camp.
It started with the Defense, where players like Barnett demanded more of himself and his fellow defenders. It continued by the team embracing the spirit and fight of Atari Bigby who came in and worked his butt off and left it all on the field everyday. Quickly the vets like Harris and Woodson (perhaps the only two players who never lost their own swagger) rallied around their young lion-hearted safety and said they would rather go to battle with a fighter who never quit than a veteran they did not trust (M. Manuel). It continued with guys like KGB accepting his role and excitedly declaring that he would do whatever his team needed.
It quickly spread to the special teams, where even the veterans wanted in on the action as kamikaze players like White, Bush, Bigby and others seemed to be having so much fun.
The first test for this still youngest-team in the league came against their other chief conference nemesis, the Philadelphia Eagles - a team that seemed to have GB's number over and over again.
The Eagles came out fired up and shut down the offense, completely shutting down every attempt to run the football. The offense struggled, but instead of folding up the tent, the defense and special teams responded. You could see it building and despite some hairy moments this young team got a heavy monkey off of its back.
The next week on the road in New York, the offense jumped into the fray, and a Brett Favre (who seemed to have his water bottle hosed to a fountain of youth) got the young guys on offense to do some punching of their own in routing the Giants in their own backyard.
Next came the San Diego Chargers, a team coming off a 14 - 2 season and with the league MVP on offense and a defensive player whose 17 ½ sacks in 12 games was perhaps the defensive MVP in the league.
The final step in the swagger returning was missed by many in the media. While showing respect for the Chargers, Mike McCarthy threw down the gauntlet when he responded to questions about how his team would fair facing a powerful team like San Diego. A defiant McCarthy volleyed back the challenge by declaring that the Chargers better be concerned with how they will fair playing a powerful team like Green Bay.
It was a that moment that I knew the swagger was back.
Indeed, the question MM posed turned out to be prophetic. In a hard hitting, well-played tilt by both proud squads, it was the Chargers who could not answer the final bell. Even when the young Packers were knocked down in this game, they got up. Most impressive was seeing them never hang heads for a second. You could see it in the enthusiastic gait in which they ran onto and off of the field at crunch time.
Once again the Green Bay Packers go into games expecting to play well and believing in themselves. Not with a false confidence, rather with an attitude that hints, "if you're even thinking about beating us, you had better pack a lunch and make sure your insurance policies are up to date, because we are not backing down.
Mike McCarthy, Brett Favre, Mark Tauscher, Aaron Kampman, Nick Barnett and other Packer veterans will make sure that the young guys balance their new found swagger with a dose of humility - but don't think for a second that they are not loving it.
