Super Bowk Anti-Climatic

[bobblehead]

The Packers, Bears (then Decantur Staley's) and Cardinals (then Chicago Cardinals) were all started in 1919 as private organizations. The NFL began in 1920. The Staleys and Cardinals were two of the original 6 teams. The Packers stayed private. In 1921 the Decantur Staleys changed their name to the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers joined up with the NFL. The Packers and Bears are the two longest standing teams with the same city and the same name. They both started in 1919 with the Bears joining the NFL a year earlier than the Packers. The Packers have the most championships of any team in the NFL. The Steelers have the most SB's. This is the year we chip away at that. If the Packers end up getting to 6 SB's before the Steelers get their 7th, the Packers will stand alone as the most amazing team in the history of the NFL. I already think they are, but it would crush all debate.

CLAPPY HANDS!! Someone who really gets my point.

[Tarlam!]

CLAPPY HANDS!! Someone who really gets my point.

Come on, Bobble, we got it, but I at least don't think there's any dispute. Packers have the most championships. The End.

[vince]

The Packers, Bears (then Decantur Staley's) and Cardinals (then Chicago Cardinals) were all started in 1919 as private organizations. The NFL began in 1920. The Staleys and Cardinals were two of the original 6 teams. The Packers stayed private. In 1921 the Decantur Staleys changed their name to the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers joined up with the NFL. The Packers and Bears are the two longest standing teams with the same city and the same name. They both started in 1919 with the Bears joining the NFL a year earlier than the Packers. The Packers have the most championships of any team in the NFL. The Steelers have the most SB's. This is the year we chip away at that. If the Packers end up getting to 6 SB's before the Steelers get their 7th, the Packers will stand alone as the most amazing team in the history of the NFL. I already think they are, but it would crush all debate.

Totally agree with this great post. I just want to clear up one thing based on the research that Denis Gullickson and Carl Hanson did for their great book, "Before They Were the Packers."

First off, there is a lot of legend surrounding the game of football back in the incubation days of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the Packers legend fits right in with that. Much of what is accepted today has been passed down through word of mouth. The legend of Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun "starting" the Packers in 1919 is just such a story. Even the Packers perpetuate this myth in their version of Packer lore. The reality, as Gullickson and Hanson determined through extensive research of newspaper archives is a bit different than the lore that Calhoun and Lambeau perpetuated years afterward. Calhoun was a great storyteller that didn't let the truth get in the way of a good tale, and Lambeau wasn't wont to set the record straight, since he obviously benefitted from being known as the "founder."

The Green Bay team was first called the Packers in 1919, and Lambeau was voted captain of the team for the first time that year, and Lambeau did procure $500 for uni's, balls, etc. from the Indian Packing Company for whom he worked for the first time that year, but the team had been in existence for many years before that. From the 1918 town team, all but one played on the "Packers" in 1919 and/or 1920, so there was strong continunity from the 1918 town team and the 1919 team that Lambeau played on and was elected captain of after his year at Notre Dame. In fact, it was against high school and college rules but common practice, but Lambeau can be found on Green Bay town team pictures taken in 1917.

So long story short, the 1919 Packers were a seamless continuation of the town team that came years before it, dating all the way back to 1895 when football was first introduced in Green Bay.

The Cardinals were started as the Morgan Athletic Club Cardinals in Chicago in 1897.

The Bears were started as the Decatur Staleys by the Staley Starch Company in 1919.

There is no question that these are the three oldest football franchises still in existence. There is a lot of legend, much of it false or misleading, surrounding them all.

[MadtownPacker]

Man it is gonna be sad when all you old fucks die and we dont get to hear these great stories.

[vince]

Man it is gonna be sad when all you old fucks die and we dont get to hear these great stories.

What do you think I'm 90 Mad? It's called reading and research. Try it sometime. It takes a little more effort than a 10-second "Fuck off pandejo" sound byte though amigo.

[Smidgeon]

Man it is gonna be sad when all you old fucks die and we dont get to hear these great stories.

Agreed. Who else is going to set us straight?

[pbmax]

Man it is gonna be sad when all you old fucks die and we dont get to hear these great stories.

You are truly a beautiful mind.

[bobblehead]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/114876244.html

Bob McGinn makes a compelling case for the packers making this a habit.

[The Shadow]

The Packers certainly seem to now have the talent to compete annually for the Super Bowl in the next few years.

[Freak Out]

Wow...I give more money each year to the Co-Rec softball team I play on.

[esoxx]

The Super Bowk is only a pre-cursor to the Mayan Calendar. Beware!