PackerBlues
09-09-2007, 04:06 AM
Thinking back on the 96-97 Packers, you automatically think of that Defense. In all honesty, the offense was not something that you would have expected to gel as well as it did. I recall watching the games with fans of other teams while in the Navy. None of the guys who were fans of the Packers opponents on any given weak, thought that the Packers were anything to worry about. The Packers were not getting any respect from these guys until late in the season, when their records and stats were the glaring proof to what we as Packer fans already knew, that this team came together in such a special way, that you had confidence, that they could beat anyone.
Lets take a look at what Favre and the Packers had for WR's during the 96-97 season.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Freeman
Freeman was a 3rd round pick in 1995. The peak of Freeman's career occurred during his first tenure with the Green Bay Packers including a victory in Super Bowl XXXI in 1997 over the New England Patriots. During that Super Bowl Freeman caught a Super Bowl record-length touchdown pass of 81 yards from Brett Favre, since eclipsed. That play would give the Packers the lead for good as they went on to win 35-21. In the course of that Super Bowl season, Freeman made several acrobatic catches for touchdowns from QB Brett Favre, several of them jaw-dropping. Three in particular occurred against the Seattle Seahawks(1), and Chicago Bears(2). He was the go-to wide receiver during this time and teamed with Brett Favre to catch over 50 touchdown passes in his career with the Packers(57).
The following season, Freeman recorded a career high 81 receptions for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns, assisting the Packers to their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance. His team lost the Super Bowl XXXII 31-24 to the Denver Broncos, but Freeman had an outstanding performance in it. Freeman caught 9 passes for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also gaining another 104 yards on 6 kickoff returns, giving him 230 total yards, the third highest total in Super Bowl history.
In 1998, Freeman had his best NFL season, catching 84 passes for a league leading 1,424 receiving yards and making his first, (and only), trip to the NFL Pro Bowl.
Wearing uniform #86 in his career, he made what ESPN in 2005 labeled as the greatest play in the history of Monday Night Football. During the game on November 6, 2000, he caught a presumed incomplete pass in bad conditions from Brett Favre on his back against the Green Bay Packers rival the Minnesota Vikings. He then quickly and alertly got up and waltzed into the end zone for the winning score in overtime. The touchdown prompted ABC play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, who was obviously stunned by the play, to famously say, "He did WHAT???"
The next WR you think of right away is Andre Rison.
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2006/08/27/2/
"Bad Moon Rison."
Even if you had no idea about the man, the nickname alone might cause you to have a few preconceived notions about him.
The "Bad Moon Rison" term had been attached to Andre Rison throughout most of his NFL career and often times led people to view the 6-foot-1, 195-pound wide receiver in a negative light regardless of whether they knew him or not.
So, when 1996 rolled around and the Packers were in need of a wide receiver, many people raised their eyebrows when Rison was claimed off waivers from Jacksonville.
The Packers had a 6-1 record at the time Robert Brooks suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and patellar tendon in his right knee, but they went 2-2 without his services. Sitting at 8-3 and at a crossroads in the season, Green Bay was entering the stretch run without one of its top playmakers.
And that's when Rison entered the scene.
Rison came in and helped make up for the loss of Brooks by starting in seven games and giving the Packers another vertical dimension in the passing game. Still, some thought that he'd be a bad influence on a team with such strong chemistry. Others said Rison wasn't going to be satisfied without being the focal point of the offense. (remind you of anyone that Thompson didn't pick up this year? Moss?)
So, was this a bad move for the Green and Gold?
Well, considering the Packers were 8-0 with Rison in the lineup and became Super Bowl XXXI champions, it'd be difficult to argue against the addition of "Bad Moon."
The Packers also picked up unrestricted free agent Don Beebe in 1996.
He (Don Beebe) is perhaps best known for one of the more memorable moments in Super Bowl history. While with the Bills during their rout at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXVII, Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett recovered a fumble and was preparing to return it for a touchdown. Lett began celebrating prematurely, and though the Bills were down 52-17 at the time, a relentless Beebe streaked across the field and knocked the ball out of Lett's hands, preventing the touchdown, and regaining possession of the ball on the touchback. Beebe also caught 2 passes for 50 yards, including a 40 yard touchdown reception from Frank Reich earlier in the game.
Don Beebe was a member of six Super Bowl teams, including three appearances with the Buffalo Bills (Super Bowl XXV, Super Bowl XXVI, and Super Bowl XXVII) and two with the Green Bay Packers (Super Bowl XXXI and Super Bowl XXXII). Beebe won his first World Championship with the Packers at Super Bowl XXXI.
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2006/07/18/1/
Don Beebe put his hands on his knees and gazed skyward as the final 10 seconds ticked off the clock in the Packers' 35-21 Super Bowl XXXI victory. He crouched 10 yards behind Brett Favre as the quarterback hiked the ball for the final kneeldown. Favre then turned and gave Beebe that game ball, a reward for reaching the top after coming so close four times before.
"I don't think there's anybody on that team that could feel the accomplishment and how hard it is to really win a Super Bowl more than me," Beebe said.
The wide receiver who lost four consecutive Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills before winning one in Green Bay cherishes the souvenir Favre bestowed upon him. The symbol of salvation appropriately rests in the den of his Yorkville, Ill., home alongside his rings from losses in Super Bowls XXXII, XXVIII, XXVII, XXVI and XXV.
The ball also sits near another deserving gift, a second game ball from Super Bowl XXXI autographed by Desmond Howard. Beebe did not catch any passes in that Super Bowl, but his special teams block helped spring Howard for the game's final score, a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter.
"Whatever it took for me to do in that game, be it a cheerleader on the sideline or whatever," Beebe said, "I was going to do that."
Terry Mickens had actually been around for a couple of years as opposed to the 3 WR's previously mentioned.
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2006/08/22/1/
In many cases, people don't enjoy going to work. But Terry Mickens was never one of those people when he played in Green Bay.
In fact, Mickens couldn't wait to arrive at 1265 Lombardi Ave. because he knew he wasn't the only one who enjoyed being there.
"We were having fun all year," Mickens said. "We were having fun everyday during practice, during games. We were always having fun. But at the same time, we were getting our jobs done."
Mickens, a 6-foot, 198-pound wide receiver who played for the Green and Gold from 1994-97, admits that the situation he stepped into while in Green Bay probably wasn't common for young players.
"I think for me, it made me kind of spoiled," Mickens, 35, explained. "My first four years with Green Bay, we went to the playoffs every year. In the third year, we won the Super Bowl, and in the fourth year we went to the Super Bowl and lost.
"In my mind, because success was happening with that team so frequently, when I left, I didn't realize how hard it was to make the playoffs. When I left and went to Oakland, and when the season was over and we didn't make the playoffs, it was weird. So, that was different, and I learned that it takes more than just a good team to make the playoffs. It takes chemistry."
Another less remembered WR for the 96-97 Packers was Derrick Mayes, a 2nd rd pick in 1996:
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2006/08/17/1/
Wide receiver Derrick Mayes had a unique role on the Packers' Super Bowl XXXI championship team. Former college teammates Aaron Taylor and Lindsay Knapp watched out for the rookie second-round draft pick while veterans like Brett Favre, Andre Rison and Santana Dotson treated him like their little brother, even giving him a fraternal nickname that has endured.
"Being the baby of that family, it was totally new," Mayes said. "I was their 'Sugar Bear.'"
While I wish I could have shown you all some impressive stats of Mayes, I really didn't see much. Mayes was traded to Seattle in 1999, making Bill Schroeder, the Sheboygan native and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse product, the No. 1 split end.
The last WR to mention for the 96-97 Packers was Desmond Howard, he also joined the Packers in 1996 as an unrestricted free agent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Howard
His most notable professional season was in 1996 when he was playing for the Green Bay Packers. He led the NFL in punt returns (58), punt return yards (870), punt return average (15.1), and punt return touchdowns (3), while also gaining 460 kickoff return yards and catching 13 passes for 95 yards. His 870 punt return yards were an NFL record, easily surpassing the old record of 692 yards set by Fulton Walker in 1985. During the 1996 NFL post season, Howard contributed a punt return for a touchdown in a game between the Packers and the San Francisco 49ers. The Packers reached Super Bowl XXXI against the New England Patriots, where Howard would have both the defining game and moment of his pro career.
The Packers took the lead at halftime 27-14 but Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe led his team on a short drive that ended with Curtis Martin's 18-yard touchdown run to pull the Patriots within six late in the third quarter. With new life, the Patriots boomed the ensuing kickoff to the one-yard line, but Howard effectively shattered the Patriots' hopes for a comeback with a Super Bowl record 99-yard kickoff return for a Packers touchdown. His return and the Packers' subsequent two-point conversion closed out the scoring of the game, and the Packers eventually won 35-21. Bill Parcells, the Patriots' head coach, commented after the game; "We had a lot of momentum and our defense was playing better, But [Howard] made the big play. That return was the game right there. He's been great all year and he was great again today". Howard totaled a Super Bowl record 90 punt return yards and 154 kickoff return yards with a touchdown; his 244 all-purpose yards also tied a Super Bowl record. His performance won him the Super Bowl MVP award, making Howard the first player to ever win the award based solely on a special teams performance.
It amazes me that other than Terry Mickens and Freeman who ws drafted just the previous year, the WR position in 1996 was filled with guys that were picked up that year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers
In 1996 the Packers' turnaround was complete. The team posted a league-best 13-3 record in the regular season, dominating the competition and securing home field advantage throughout the playoffs. After relatively easy wins against the 49ers and Carolina Panthers in the playoffs, the Packers advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in 29 years. In Super Bowl XXXI Green Bay defeated the New England Patriots to win their 12th world championship, which is still a NFL record. A 2007 panel of football experts at ESPN ranked the 1996 Packers the 6th-greatest team to ever play in the Super Bowl.
http://www.packers.com/history/birth_of_a_team_and_a_legend/#chapter11
Putting nearly three decades of disappointment emphatically behind, the Packers rewarded their long-patient faithful in 1996. Shunting aside eight of their first nine foes, they swept to a 13-3 record and their second straight division championship. Then, they captured their first NFL title since 1967, dispatching New England, 35-21, in Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome.
Displaying impressive consistency on both sides of the ball, they documented their superiority, outscoring three opponents 100-48 in a postseason sweep. Appropriately, the first two wins were before their Lambeau loyalists -- a 35-14 divisional triumph over the 49ers and a 30-13 win over the upstart Carolina Panthers in the NFC title game.
In winning a 12th NFL championship, extending their own league record, the Packers joined an elite group of teams with three-or-more Super Bowls (Dallas, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Oakland and Washington).
Lets take a look at what Favre and the Packers had for WR's during the 96-97 season.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Freeman
Freeman was a 3rd round pick in 1995. The peak of Freeman's career occurred during his first tenure with the Green Bay Packers including a victory in Super Bowl XXXI in 1997 over the New England Patriots. During that Super Bowl Freeman caught a Super Bowl record-length touchdown pass of 81 yards from Brett Favre, since eclipsed. That play would give the Packers the lead for good as they went on to win 35-21. In the course of that Super Bowl season, Freeman made several acrobatic catches for touchdowns from QB Brett Favre, several of them jaw-dropping. Three in particular occurred against the Seattle Seahawks(1), and Chicago Bears(2). He was the go-to wide receiver during this time and teamed with Brett Favre to catch over 50 touchdown passes in his career with the Packers(57).
The following season, Freeman recorded a career high 81 receptions for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns, assisting the Packers to their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance. His team lost the Super Bowl XXXII 31-24 to the Denver Broncos, but Freeman had an outstanding performance in it. Freeman caught 9 passes for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also gaining another 104 yards on 6 kickoff returns, giving him 230 total yards, the third highest total in Super Bowl history.
In 1998, Freeman had his best NFL season, catching 84 passes for a league leading 1,424 receiving yards and making his first, (and only), trip to the NFL Pro Bowl.
Wearing uniform #86 in his career, he made what ESPN in 2005 labeled as the greatest play in the history of Monday Night Football. During the game on November 6, 2000, he caught a presumed incomplete pass in bad conditions from Brett Favre on his back against the Green Bay Packers rival the Minnesota Vikings. He then quickly and alertly got up and waltzed into the end zone for the winning score in overtime. The touchdown prompted ABC play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, who was obviously stunned by the play, to famously say, "He did WHAT???"
The next WR you think of right away is Andre Rison.
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2006/08/27/2/
"Bad Moon Rison."
Even if you had no idea about the man, the nickname alone might cause you to have a few preconceived notions about him.
The "Bad Moon Rison" term had been attached to Andre Rison throughout most of his NFL career and often times led people to view the 6-foot-1, 195-pound wide receiver in a negative light regardless of whether they knew him or not.
So, when 1996 rolled around and the Packers were in need of a wide receiver, many people raised their eyebrows when Rison was claimed off waivers from Jacksonville.
The Packers had a 6-1 record at the time Robert Brooks suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and patellar tendon in his right knee, but they went 2-2 without his services. Sitting at 8-3 and at a crossroads in the season, Green Bay was entering the stretch run without one of its top playmakers.
And that's when Rison entered the scene.
Rison came in and helped make up for the loss of Brooks by starting in seven games and giving the Packers another vertical dimension in the passing game. Still, some thought that he'd be a bad influence on a team with such strong chemistry. Others said Rison wasn't going to be satisfied without being the focal point of the offense. (remind you of anyone that Thompson didn't pick up this year? Moss?)
So, was this a bad move for the Green and Gold?
Well, considering the Packers were 8-0 with Rison in the lineup and became Super Bowl XXXI champions, it'd be difficult to argue against the addition of "Bad Moon."
The Packers also picked up unrestricted free agent Don Beebe in 1996.
He (Don Beebe) is perhaps best known for one of the more memorable moments in Super Bowl history. While with the Bills during their rout at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXVII, Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett recovered a fumble and was preparing to return it for a touchdown. Lett began celebrating prematurely, and though the Bills were down 52-17 at the time, a relentless Beebe streaked across the field and knocked the ball out of Lett's hands, preventing the touchdown, and regaining possession of the ball on the touchback. Beebe also caught 2 passes for 50 yards, including a 40 yard touchdown reception from Frank Reich earlier in the game.
Don Beebe was a member of six Super Bowl teams, including three appearances with the Buffalo Bills (Super Bowl XXV, Super Bowl XXVI, and Super Bowl XXVII) and two with the Green Bay Packers (Super Bowl XXXI and Super Bowl XXXII). Beebe won his first World Championship with the Packers at Super Bowl XXXI.
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2006/07/18/1/
Don Beebe put his hands on his knees and gazed skyward as the final 10 seconds ticked off the clock in the Packers' 35-21 Super Bowl XXXI victory. He crouched 10 yards behind Brett Favre as the quarterback hiked the ball for the final kneeldown. Favre then turned and gave Beebe that game ball, a reward for reaching the top after coming so close four times before.
"I don't think there's anybody on that team that could feel the accomplishment and how hard it is to really win a Super Bowl more than me," Beebe said.
The wide receiver who lost four consecutive Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills before winning one in Green Bay cherishes the souvenir Favre bestowed upon him. The symbol of salvation appropriately rests in the den of his Yorkville, Ill., home alongside his rings from losses in Super Bowls XXXII, XXVIII, XXVII, XXVI and XXV.
The ball also sits near another deserving gift, a second game ball from Super Bowl XXXI autographed by Desmond Howard. Beebe did not catch any passes in that Super Bowl, but his special teams block helped spring Howard for the game's final score, a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter.
"Whatever it took for me to do in that game, be it a cheerleader on the sideline or whatever," Beebe said, "I was going to do that."
Terry Mickens had actually been around for a couple of years as opposed to the 3 WR's previously mentioned.
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2006/08/22/1/
In many cases, people don't enjoy going to work. But Terry Mickens was never one of those people when he played in Green Bay.
In fact, Mickens couldn't wait to arrive at 1265 Lombardi Ave. because he knew he wasn't the only one who enjoyed being there.
"We were having fun all year," Mickens said. "We were having fun everyday during practice, during games. We were always having fun. But at the same time, we were getting our jobs done."
Mickens, a 6-foot, 198-pound wide receiver who played for the Green and Gold from 1994-97, admits that the situation he stepped into while in Green Bay probably wasn't common for young players.
"I think for me, it made me kind of spoiled," Mickens, 35, explained. "My first four years with Green Bay, we went to the playoffs every year. In the third year, we won the Super Bowl, and in the fourth year we went to the Super Bowl and lost.
"In my mind, because success was happening with that team so frequently, when I left, I didn't realize how hard it was to make the playoffs. When I left and went to Oakland, and when the season was over and we didn't make the playoffs, it was weird. So, that was different, and I learned that it takes more than just a good team to make the playoffs. It takes chemistry."
Another less remembered WR for the 96-97 Packers was Derrick Mayes, a 2nd rd pick in 1996:
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2006/08/17/1/
Wide receiver Derrick Mayes had a unique role on the Packers' Super Bowl XXXI championship team. Former college teammates Aaron Taylor and Lindsay Knapp watched out for the rookie second-round draft pick while veterans like Brett Favre, Andre Rison and Santana Dotson treated him like their little brother, even giving him a fraternal nickname that has endured.
"Being the baby of that family, it was totally new," Mayes said. "I was their 'Sugar Bear.'"
While I wish I could have shown you all some impressive stats of Mayes, I really didn't see much. Mayes was traded to Seattle in 1999, making Bill Schroeder, the Sheboygan native and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse product, the No. 1 split end.
The last WR to mention for the 96-97 Packers was Desmond Howard, he also joined the Packers in 1996 as an unrestricted free agent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Howard
His most notable professional season was in 1996 when he was playing for the Green Bay Packers. He led the NFL in punt returns (58), punt return yards (870), punt return average (15.1), and punt return touchdowns (3), while also gaining 460 kickoff return yards and catching 13 passes for 95 yards. His 870 punt return yards were an NFL record, easily surpassing the old record of 692 yards set by Fulton Walker in 1985. During the 1996 NFL post season, Howard contributed a punt return for a touchdown in a game between the Packers and the San Francisco 49ers. The Packers reached Super Bowl XXXI against the New England Patriots, where Howard would have both the defining game and moment of his pro career.
The Packers took the lead at halftime 27-14 but Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe led his team on a short drive that ended with Curtis Martin's 18-yard touchdown run to pull the Patriots within six late in the third quarter. With new life, the Patriots boomed the ensuing kickoff to the one-yard line, but Howard effectively shattered the Patriots' hopes for a comeback with a Super Bowl record 99-yard kickoff return for a Packers touchdown. His return and the Packers' subsequent two-point conversion closed out the scoring of the game, and the Packers eventually won 35-21. Bill Parcells, the Patriots' head coach, commented after the game; "We had a lot of momentum and our defense was playing better, But [Howard] made the big play. That return was the game right there. He's been great all year and he was great again today". Howard totaled a Super Bowl record 90 punt return yards and 154 kickoff return yards with a touchdown; his 244 all-purpose yards also tied a Super Bowl record. His performance won him the Super Bowl MVP award, making Howard the first player to ever win the award based solely on a special teams performance.
It amazes me that other than Terry Mickens and Freeman who ws drafted just the previous year, the WR position in 1996 was filled with guys that were picked up that year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers
In 1996 the Packers' turnaround was complete. The team posted a league-best 13-3 record in the regular season, dominating the competition and securing home field advantage throughout the playoffs. After relatively easy wins against the 49ers and Carolina Panthers in the playoffs, the Packers advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in 29 years. In Super Bowl XXXI Green Bay defeated the New England Patriots to win their 12th world championship, which is still a NFL record. A 2007 panel of football experts at ESPN ranked the 1996 Packers the 6th-greatest team to ever play in the Super Bowl.
http://www.packers.com/history/birth_of_a_team_and_a_legend/#chapter11
Putting nearly three decades of disappointment emphatically behind, the Packers rewarded their long-patient faithful in 1996. Shunting aside eight of their first nine foes, they swept to a 13-3 record and their second straight division championship. Then, they captured their first NFL title since 1967, dispatching New England, 35-21, in Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome.
Displaying impressive consistency on both sides of the ball, they documented their superiority, outscoring three opponents 100-48 in a postseason sweep. Appropriately, the first two wins were before their Lambeau loyalists -- a 35-14 divisional triumph over the 49ers and a 30-13 win over the upstart Carolina Panthers in the NFC title game.
In winning a 12th NFL championship, extending their own league record, the Packers joined an elite group of teams with three-or-more Super Bowls (Dallas, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Oakland and Washington).