I’ve been a Packer fan since the mid 70’s. Week in and week out I watched my dad get tormented by mediocre and sometimes downright awful Packer teams. His frustration toward the Packers spilled over onto me and I spent the better part of the 70’s and 80’s letting the Packers torment me as well. My frustration at watching inept play caused me to damage many toys, pieces of furniture and remote controls.

Fast forward to the 90’s and Brett Favre. Wow, what a ride. Simply the most spectacular player I’ve ever watched. And he was our QB!! Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the ride while it lasted. I was angry and frustrated with every loss just as I was in the 70’s and 80’s. Aside from the one Super Bowl year I treated every year like a complete loss. I still took each loss personally. After a loss I would be PO’d for the next few days. I loved the Packers, but hated them at the same time. And even worse, I rarely enjoyed games even when the won. I was mad that they didn’t win by more, or properly “finish” games.

After surviving a slew of personal issues in the mid to late 2000’s I’m now able to look at things with a different perspective. I understand that I can’t control how the team plays or how the front office runs the team. So I no longer takes losses or poor play personally. All I can do is try to enjoy a team that has been huge part of my life for 40+ years. Sure, I still get annoyed when a player drops an easy pass or misses a sure tackle, but I don’t come unglued anymore. And I no longer care if the Packers squeak one out when they had a big lead in the 3rd quarter. I enjoy every win and try to enjoy the positive parts of the losses.

So I hope tonight’s game is the start of something special. Maybe the Packers will run the table. Maybe they won’t. I’m going to enjoy it either way.

Go Pack!