Renovated Lambeau Field On A Gorgeous October Sunday
Not Just Any Given Sunday
I had been looking forward to this Green Bay trip for weeks, both for the opportunity to see an NFL game in a place like Lambeau Field, and for the chance to spend some time with several friends. The weekend was a success in all respects. I didn't see an NFL record, but I sure saw one hell of a game.
For starters, Friends of Pipeline Brent S. and Brad T. piled into my Golf and hit the road on an overcast but warm October day. The leaves were in high color all across central Wisconsin, and it was a beautiful drive. Along the way we saw deer, turkeys, hawks and dairy farms. We rolled into Green Bay to meet up with Friend of Pipeline Grant K., who was to be our host for the weekend. Grant grew up in Green Bay, and so he's the Real McCoy when it comes to Packer Love. He's proud of the city, the team and the tradition, and was eager to have a few Chiefs and Vikings fans come and see what that world is all about. He showed it off well.
We spend Saturday seeing a few of the nightspots around town. In general, I expected more of a crazed, college-like atmosphere, but I found Green Bay to be pretty laid-back. No question, the game was the event of the weekend, but people were just reveling in the great fall weather as much as anything. After steaks, drinks, pool, foosball and wistful discussions about whether the brunette or redhead bartender was cuter, we retired for the evening and rested up for the big day to come.
By gametime, we were six: Me, Brent, Brad, Grant, and Friends of Pipeline Ian P., and Craig A. The only real drawback to the weekend was that our six seats were split up in three pairs around the stadium, and so we weren't all able to watch the game together, which would have been a blast considering that Brad and Brent had Chiefs jersies on, and Craig and Grant are True Believers in the Packers. But such is life...
Lambeau Field is a national treasure. There's no other way to say it. I never saw it before the renovation, and I know that there are many Packer faithful who, despite recognizing the need for the upgrade, still pine for the old-style charm of the corrugated metal outside of the old version. New Lambeau, however, is done just the right way. There are the modern amenities, wide concourses, an atrium to allow the many older Packer fans a respite from harsh temperatures and winds, restaurants, pro shops, all that. But once inside the bowl of the stadium, very few changes were made. There isn't a bad seat in the house. It just doesn't exist. There are no obstructed-view seats. It has an intimate feel to it; you couldn't have convinced me that there were 70,000 people there, but there were.
The Green Bay fans are, as a rule, very informed football fans. Hell, a lot of them have seen more games in person than I've probably seen on TV in my life. And I found them to be, on balance, fairly objective about their team. And the Packers merchandise! I've never seen so much gear in my life. I seriously wondered if every single person didn't receive a gift of Packers gear for all birthdays and seasonal holidays. It was just unreal. If I saw 100 people all day long without some Packers gear on, I'd be shocked.
After soaking up as much atmosphere (and a foot-long brat) as I could, I settled in to watch the game. I watched the game from two different vantage points-one behind an end zone which gave great views of the play formations, and the other in the first row right behind the Chiefs bench. The latter seats didn't afford much chance to see the action on the field, but the opportunity to see the players and coaches work at such close range was a real and rare treat.
There were two stories leading into the game: The Chiefs were 5-0, and Dante Hall had returned kicks for TD's in four straight games. The Hall story dominated the attention of the crowd before and during the game, and for good reason. Hall is a visceral player, much like Randy Moss, and that's what every crowd pays to see. There are so many good, fast players all over the field in any given NFL game. The player who can make all those other players miss, who can rise above the schemes and formations and actually do something special is rare. Dante Hall is such a player, and you could sense that every time the ball went his direction. He very nearly broke a punt return for a TD in the second quarter, with only a fine play by Packers punter Josh Bidwell keeping Hall from another amazing return. Hall had a decent game, but on this day the Chiefs were going to have to look elsewhere for a win. Oh, and don't buy for a second that Hall is 5'9". He's 5'7", tops. I know, because this is how close I was to him...
Dante Hall on the bike-Hey, even the hottest kick returner in the league has to stay warm...
The game started poorly for the Chiefs, as they punted after two very short possessions, while the Packers marched down the field twice for a 14-0 lead. Did you know that the Packers had won 56 straight home games when they had a double-digit lead? Think about that. Turns out they had two different double-digit leads yesterday; ordinarily that would be lights-out for a visiting team. But yesterday's game was anything but ordinary.
The Chiefs finally broke through on a touchdown pass from Trent Green to Tony Gonzalez, one of the great tight ends in football. Gonzalez was able to get behind his man, (and as you can see below, there was no safety help) and Green lofted the ball perfectly over his shoulder, a play that would be reprised in a huge KC drive later in the game.
Tony Gonzalez hauls one in to put the Chiefs on the board...
The Chiefs went on to tie the game at 14, but then the Pack steadily pulled away, until it was finally 31-14 going into the fourth quarter. It looked bleak for the team in red and the 5,000 or so of their vocal partisans in the crowd. The Packer faithful were in full throat, and their favorite son Brett Favre (and HB Ahman Green) were having great days.
With 7 minutes to go in the game, the Packers were driving and the Chiefs were down 31-21. The Chiefs needed something to happen.
And then, something happened.
Brett Favre threw a laser to Donald Driver on an out pattern. Maybe the ball was thrown too hard; maybe it was off target; maybe Driver just didn't make the catch. I couldn't tell from my vantage point what, exactly, happened, until I saw Chiefs DB Jerome Woods streaking down the sideline with the ball, all the way to the end zone.
Voila! It was 31-28, and this was a game. It became a contest of field goals and sustained drives for the rest of regulation, and the Chiefs rode Trent Green's short passing game (and the lack of a pass rush by the Packers) to set up a 31 yard FG by Morten Andersen to tie the game virtually as the clock expired.
The Packer faithful were a bit stunned, but at no loss for words or exhortations for their team. The OT started with KC winning the coin flip, and I dared to voice my desire: That seeing Dante Hall run back the OT kickoff to win the game would be the Greatest Thing I Ever Saw. Well, it didn't happen. But what did happen was really bizarre, anyway.
The Chiefs had neglected stud running back Priest Holmes nearly all game, because they were so far down for so much of the game. At one point in the fourth quarter, Holmes had 33 yards on 11 carries, and was no factor. The Chiefs, however, had started to work Holmes in at the end of the fourth quarter, but with the run and with short passes.
Then the Chiefs came out for their first drive of OT, starting on their own 29. What they did was remarkable, and was the beginning of an amazing end to a great game. They ran Priest Holmes nine consecutive times, moving from their own 29 to Green Bay's 31. You could see the Packer defense wearing down under the punishing KC line and the dedication to just keep hammering away with a relatively fresh Holmes in OT. Plus (and this is important later on), the Packers were missing DE Joe Johnson and CB Mike McKenzie due to injuries. T
he Packer fans got real quiet as KC pounded their way to a 3rd and 3, already within range of a 48 yard field goal for Morten Andersen. Andersen is perhaps the best kicker in NFL history, and in his younger days had as much kicking range as anyone around. You could almost call 50 yards routine for him. But these days, a 48 yard kick, while makeable, would be far from a sure thing, and a miss would leave the Packers great field position to go the other way, with only a FG necessary to win the game.
The Chiefs wanted, first and foremost, to get a first down. Would they choose to run Holmes for a 10th consecutive time? He was surely getting tired, but the Green Bay defense hadn't yet shown they could stop him. The Chiefs opted instead for a pass out in the flat, to Dante Hall. Trent Green took the snap, dropped back under pressure, and floated a ball to the receiver he was locked in on the whole play, only to see Packers safety Darren Sharper swoop in with nothing but green field in front of him to seal the win with an interception...But the ball hit Sharper in both hands, then hit the ground. That was the moment the Packers needed, and by all rights should have been the end of the game. But what Jerome Woods could do with his hands, Darren Sharper could not, and the Chiefs lived to attempt Morten Andersen's 48 yarder.
The crowd hushed. They knew Andersen's history. They knew they were in trouble. How could they lose this game? How could they lose not just one, but two double-digit leads after winning 56 straight at home when they had that big lead? The snap came, and then the crowd erupted in jubilation: the Packers' Cletidus Hunt blocked Andersen's kick, and though it looked good off of Morten's foot, Hunt's game-saving play made sure it never had a chance.
OK. Think about that sequence for a moment. Chiefs kick FG to tie game at end of regulation. Next play: Packers have chance for one more kick return to end it, but it goes nowhere and the clock turns to OT. Next Play: Kickoff to Dante Hall. Breaths are held, but Dante can't break it. Next nine plays: Priest Holmes punishes the Packers to quiet the crowd and get the Chiefs to FG range. Next play: Trent Green nearly throws the ball to Darren Sharper, who just can't grab the gift interception to end the game. Next play: Andersen's FG is blocked. 65,000 people exhale and are ecstatic; 5,000 people are dumbfounded and are terrified that Brett Favre is going to get the football in OT.
But it never happened. Next play: Favre hands off to Ahman Green, who adds to his 120 yards with a quick burst up the sideline, with room to run and perhaps 35 yards needed to get into FG range to win the game. But Jerome Woods appears again, and his hit from behind forces Green to cough up the ball, and the Chiefs recover the ball. Favre never got his chance. The crowd went from silent to ecstatic to Dead Silent after Green's fumble.
Next play: Trent Green sees wideout Eddie Kennison (who had done nothing so far in the game) is covered by Packers backup Bhawoh Jue, who's playing only because of Mike McKenzie's back spasms. Green hits Kennison in stride, and he takes it to the house. The Chiefs storm the field. The crowd is stunned. The game is over, a 40-34 Chiefs win. The Packers hadn't given up 40 points at home in over 20 years, but on this day, the day I sat in the sun and basked in all that is Lambeau Field, they did.
Brad, Brent and I said our goodbyes to Ian, Craig and Grant after the game, and we headed back to the Twin Cities. It was one hell of a game, and one hell of an experience. We all agreed that the Packers and their fans have something special. It's hard to accept that sometimes, living in the Cities, because you meet a lot of Packers fans (and Vikings fans, too) who get so caught up in the "border war" aspect of the whole Minnesota/Wisonsin rivalry. But there's no way any fan of any team could sit in a place like Lambeau, bask in their history and the small-town connection with the big team, and not seriously be impressed and even a bit envious of what they have there.
It will be tough when Favre retires, and the team will have some down years, but the shrine and the Passion will always be there for that town, and that's a great thing.
Many thanks to Grant for making the weekend possible. It was a great way to catch up with friends, and it was a reminder to me why the NFL is such a great league to follow.
Epilogue: As we rode home in the car, we listened to the Packers post-game shows. They were generally upbeat, so much so in fact that you wouldn't ever know that they had lost. But things turned quite negative on the broadcast after Packers backup CB Bhawoh Jue was interviewed. Jue had been burned on the winning TD by Eddie Kennison, and also had the coverage on a critical 67 yard Tony Gonzalez gain in the fourth quarter. I thought Jue was pretty up front about the fact that he simply got beat by Kennison. Hey, it happens to the best, right. Unfortunately, Jue also went the ill-advised route of choosing to say that the Packers had plenty of chances at other points in the game, and so it wasn't really all his fault. (And hey, Ahman Green did fumble it away...)
Well, when the radio hosts heard Jue's claim about the other parts of the game not being his fault, they opened up on him after the interview was over. They referenced the Budweiser commercial running now, where the star player who fumbled three times claims a loss is not his fault. (It goes kind of like this: "Hey, somebody on my team could have fallen on those balls, couldn't they? I can't do everything.") One of the hosts then said: "No, Bhawoh, those six touchdowns you gave up didn't lose the game at all," and then called what Jue said "a steaming pantload."
Sheesh. Guess it's easier to hang a loss on that guy than it is your stud halfback. So, Brent and I drop Brad off at home, and we finish up the evening with a game of Madden on the PS2. We're playing a game where we are both on the same team that I have created, and at one point we complete a fantastic pass that just roasts the cornerback on the other team. We zoom in on the instant replay to see the catch up close, and to see which corner we just burned.
And there he was again: Bhawoh Jue. It just wasn' his day...
Parting Shot-The Bradley Center isn't the only place in Wisonsin to see the lifeless Bucks...
1:10:10 PM 
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