Remembering the 1996 World Champion Green Bay Packers

Post #1 » by **humanrefutation** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:55 am

Friday was the 21st Anniversary of Super Bowl XXXI. The Packers beat the Patriots 35-21, and Desmond Howard won MVP. It was the only title of the Favre Era. The Packers had the #1 ranked offense and #1 ranked defense. Favre won MVP for the second time.

Anyone have any memories they wanna share?

I remember that OT win against the 49ers on MNF. Chris Jacke with the 53 yard FG. We lost Robert Brooks to a torn ACL that game, too.

Favre dismantling a great Broncos team (that was missing Elway).

Comeback against the Rams on SNF.

Favre to Levens in the NFC Title Game against Carolina.

"Reggie got him again!"

"WORLD CHAMPIONS! GREEN. BAY. PACKERS."

Post #2 » by **humanrefutation** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:59 am

Watch on YouTube

Post #3 » by **humanrefutation** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 6:01 am

They even have the full Super Bowl on YouTube, if you're looking for more than the NFL Films treatment. I usually watch this once every few years.

Watch on YouTube

th87 · Post #4 » by **th87** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 6:15 am

Doug Evans kind of saved our season on that pick 6 against the Rams.

HKPackFan · Post #5 » by **HKPackFan** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 6:50 am

It was pretty magical.

I was in India for a couple weeks the first time as an adult with my newly wed wife of 1yr. My wife's bday is Jan 5th.

I'm in a small town in India far away from any big city. Days before internet, before streaming, and the sport was completely unheard of beyond America soil.

I called my dad via a payphone (to find out who we were playing in the first round) and it was the 49ers because how else would I know?

The time change was really confusing to figure out when it was playing.

After an incredible amount of stress and By some incredible luck we found the game in my in laws place (my wife's uncles house).

I got so **** pumped up I immediately forgot it was my wife's birthday. They were 15 family members standing around a birthday cake waiting probably 1hr or two for me to come out of the room and cut the cake but I didn't leave. I guess they eventually cut the cake and did a celebration but I don't know because I wasn't there. (I paid for it deservedly so for a few days after).

I was busy watching the famous mud bowl. I couldn't believe i was watching a playoff game and I was seriously going insane over this team. The excitement and that new feeling of a new world of possibilities, the wonder of maybe actually going to a superbowl, after going through the first 20 years of my life never dreaming beyond much more than 8-8 and beating the bears.

It was such an incredible feeling and experience and watching people grab clumps of Lambeau field to remember this moment. Didn't they offer to buy tundra turf or something after. I remember they sold clumps of turf in a little box.

That's how epic the moment was, people actually started collecting and buying dirt to remember the moment.

jakecronus8 · Post #6 » by **jakecronus8** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 7:46 pm

I was 11 years old. I realized what the Packers meant to Wisconsin that night when half the adults I was at the Super Bowl party with were in tears at the end.

Post #7 » by **humanrefutation** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:49 pm

It was my first happy sports memory.

bizarro · Post #8 » by **bizarro** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 3:42 am

Man, that was one hell of a team in 1996. It's a shame it all fell apart after 1997. I was pretty damn occupied as a Freshman DI soccer player that season so this super bowl isn't as magnificent for me though I did watch it at a teammate's grungy-a@@ campus rental.

The 2011 victory was my jam, personally, because it was just so unexpected.

Mags FTW · Post #9 » by **Mags FTW** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 4:04 am

bizarro wrote:The 2011 victory was my jam, personally, because it was just so unexpected.

Yup. Winning in 96 was more of a relief because they were the heavy favorites all year.

Ron Swanson · Post #10 » by **Ron Swanson** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 4:36 pm

Still weird to me how that team isn't constantly mentioned in the Top-5 greatest teams ever. #1 offense and #1 defense en route to a 13-3 record (average point differential of a 14-2 team) and a pretty dominant run through the playoffs.

Post #11 » by **humanrefutation** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:50 pm

Ron Swanson wrote:Still weird to me how that team isn't constantly mentioned in the Top-5 greatest teams ever. #1 offense and #1 defense en route to a 13-3 record (average point differential of a 14-2 team) and a pretty dominant run through the playoffs.

True, though we benefited from a fairly easy road to the SB - we beat a 49ers team at home that was missing Steve Young, and then got the upstart Carolina Panthers at home after they upset the Cowboys in the Divisional Round.

Ron Swanson · Post #12 » by **Ron Swanson** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 9:05 pm

humanrefutation wrote:
Ron Swanson wrote:Still weird to me how that team isn't constantly mentioned in the Top-5 greatest teams ever. #1 offense and #1 defense en route to a 13-3 record (average point differential of a 14-2 team) and a pretty dominant run through the playoffs.

True, though we benefited from a fairly easy road to the SB - we beat a 49ers team at home that was missing Steve Young, and then got the upstart Carolina Panthers at home after they upset the Cowboys in the Divisional Round.

Eh, I dot know if I would've called that an upset. The Panthers had the 2nd ranked defense, went 12-4, and were just a better team than the Cowboys (10-6) in '96. Their (Dallas) title window had thoroughly closed at that point (went 6-10 the next season). And the Packers thoroughly beat essentially the same SF roster with Steve Young in the playoffs the very next year.

I remember thinking how nice it would have been to exact revenge on the Cowboys in the playoffs that year for all the past NFCCG heartbreak they gave us, but would it really have mattered? That '96 squad was on a mission and Dallas would have had to play at Lambeau.

rilamann · Post #13 » by **rilamann** » Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:42 am

humanrefutation wrote:
Ron Swanson wrote:Still weird to me how that team isn't constantly mentioned in the Top-5 greatest teams ever. #1 offense and #1 defense en route to a 13-3 record (average point differential of a 14-2 team) and a pretty dominant run through the playoffs.

True, though we benefited from a fairly easy road to the SB - we beat a 49ers team at home that was missing Steve Young, and then got the upstart Carolina Panthers at home after they upset the Cowboys in the Divisional Round.

There's no such thing as an easy road to a Super Bowl. If the perception is that a team had an easy road to a Super Bowl, the reality is it only appeared that way because that team was really good.

If an easy road to a Super Bowl was a thing, McCarthy would been to more than 1 Super Bowl in 12 seasons with the Packers considering he has had first ballot hall of fame QB play in all 12 of those seasons. With that said and I've said this before, getting to a Super Bowl is hard, but it should be this hard if your QB is a prime Aaron Rodgers.

rilamann · Post #14 » by **rilamann** » Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:50 am

humanrefutation wrote:Friday was the 21st Anniversary of Super Bowl XXXI. The Packers beat the Patriots 35-21, and Desmond Howard won MVP. It was the only title of the Favre Era. The Packers had the #1 ranked offense and #1 ranked defense. Favre won MVP for the second time.

Anyone have any memories they wanna share?

I remember that OT win against the 49ers on MNF. Chris Jacke with the 53 yard FG. We lost Robert Brooks to a torn ACL that game, too.

Favre dismantling a great Broncos team (that was missing Elway).

Comeback against the Rams on SNF.

Favre to Levens in the NFC Title Game against Carolina.

"Reggie got him again!"

"WORLD CHAMPIONS! GREEN. BAY. PACKERS."

The 49ers MNF game still stands as one of the best regular season NFL games I have ever seen.

I fell asleep at halftime of the Rams game and woke up well after it was over. I still kick myself for missing the 2nd half of that one....lol.

The #1 game I kick myself over for missing and always will was the Bengals game in '92 when Favre came in for Majikowski. I watched the 1st half and the game was incredibly boring so I figured I would do my homework in my room instead of watching the 2nd half. I was 12 at the time so I wasn't as die hard as I am now. Anyway, about an hour or two later I hear everyone in the house screaming and going crazy and I come running out and, yeah I missed it...lol.

trwi7 · Post #15 » by **trwi7** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 4:20 am

I sat on the couch watching it with my brothers and parents. I remember the Packers were heavy favorites so when they jumped out to a 10-0 lead all I thought was this is **** easy. Then my dad started getting really nervous when the Patriots took the lead. Then we had the 27-14 lead and I was thinking this is really **** easy again. Then the Pats scored and Howard took the kickoff back and Reggie dominated after that.

It's the happiest I ever remember seeing my dad.

Honestly I remember more of the NFC Championship game than I do of this game for some reason. Weird, I know.

I also remember we were big favorites in Super Bowl XXXII and thinking it would be like the game the year before.

Narrator: It was not.

th87 · Post #16 » by **th87** » Thu Feb 1, 2018 6:04 am

I was 16 that year, and the hype surrounding that team was crazy. SI predicted it was going to be the Packers and Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Pretty comfortable season early on, with the high point being destroying the Bears with Antonio Freeman going crazy before the half. The low point was losing to the Cowboys on MNF with Boniol kicking 7 field goals, and then following that up with a loss to the Chiefs. But then the aforementioned Doug Evans got our season momentum back, and then Desmond Howard started his crazy run. That was the difference - he was good for a TD in almost every game, which was insane.

chuckleslove · Post #17 » by **chuckleslove** » Thu Feb 1, 2018 1:15 pm

th87 wrote:I was 16 that year, and the hype surrounding that team was crazy. SI predicted it was going to be the Packers and Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Pretty comfortable season early on, with the high point being destroying the Bears with Antonio Freeman going crazy before the half. The low point was losing to the Cowboys on MNF with Boniol kicking 7 field goals, and then following that up with a loss to the Chiefs. But then the aforementioned Doug Evans got our season momentum back, and then Desmond Howard started his crazy run. That was the difference - he was good for a TD in almost every game, which was insane.

One of my good friends in high school is/was a Chiefs fan so we had a lot of fun that year and I got the last laugh.

Post #18 » by **humanrefutation** » Thu Feb 1, 2018 3:48 pm

Ron Swanson wrote:
humanrefutation wrote:
Ron Swanson wrote:Still weird to me how that team isn't constantly mentioned in the Top-5 greatest teams ever. #1 offense and #1 defense en route to a 13-3 record (average point differential of a 14-2 team) and a pretty dominant run through the playoffs.

True, though we benefited from a fairly easy road to the SB - we beat a 49ers team at home that was missing Steve Young, and then got the upstart Carolina Panthers at home after they upset the Cowboys in the Divisional Round.

Eh, I dot know if I would've called that an upset. The Panthers had the 2nd ranked defense, went 12-4, and were just a better team than the Cowboys (10-6) in '96. Their (Dallas) title window had thoroughly closed at that point (went 6-10 the next season). And the Packers thoroughly beat essentially the same SF roster with Steve Young in the playoffs the very next year.

I remember thinking how nice it would have been to exact revenge on the Cowboys in the playoffs that year for all the past NFCCG heartbreak they gave us, but would it really have mattered? That '96 squad was on a mission and Dallas would have had to play at Lambeau.

I'm not saying we wouldn't have beaten Dallas or the 49ers with Young. I'm just saying that the road was substantially easier because we didn't have to. Dallas had beaten us earlier in the season, thoroughly shutting down the Packers offense and there was a bit of a physical dustup at the end between Reggie and the Cowboys. They had the third-ranked defense in the league, and were defending SB Champions. They had a mental edge on us that would have made any game a challenge - more of one than playing a Kerry Collins-lead Panthers team, IMO.

We did beat the 49ers the following year at Candlestick, but they were missing Jerry Rice. I still think we beat them either way, though.

RRyder823 · Post #19 » by **RRyder823** » Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:22 am

jakecronus8 wrote:I was 11 years old. I realized what the Packers meant to Wisconsin that night when half the adults I was at the Super Bowl party with were in tears at the end.

I was 13, and while I was comming into my own as a fan I didn't truly appreciate it while it was happening, and very clearly remember my dad sitting on the couch all somber as the clock was winding down and saying "I never thought I would see this happen in my lifetime"

Like you it definitely drove home what it truly meant to be a Packers fan in Wisconsin

Sent from my SM-G892A using RealGM mobile app

Turk Nowitzki · Post #20 » by **Turk Nowitzki** » Sat Mar 24, 2018 3:39 am

I watched the VHS highlight tape thing they put out of this season so many **** times growing up. I might watch it again tonight now.