Amateur burglar Joe sent me this article by Sal Palontonio, along with a few thoughts:
“I cannot disagree more with Sal. He seems to forget that after the super bowl win, he had Holmgren for one or two more years I think, which were followed by Ray Rhodes and Mike Sherman as head coaches and finally Mike McCarthy (the former two of which were bad in my book). He forgets to mention that there were nearly zero pro-bowl, let along hall of fame caliber players left on the team in the second half of his career (or first for that matter). Reggie White, Sharpe, Brooks, Butler, Sharper all gone, retired or traded. Brett Favre was the only true pro-bowler on the team and was often left to him to win games. He had unheralded running backs such as Edgar Bennett and Dorsey Levens and receivers such as Antonio Freeman, Robert Brooks, Donald Driver after his go-to-guy Sterling Sharpe retired from a career-ending neck injury. Reggie White is the only other hall of famer on the team since the 60’s era besides James Lofton who retired 6 years before Favre ever showed his face in Green Bay.”
“I’m not bashing Bart Starr, but other hall of fame players around Bart Starr and members of the Packers 60’s dynasty include: Vince Lombardi, Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Ray Nitchke, Herb Adderly, Willie Davis, Jim Ringe, Paul Hornung, Willie Wood, and Henry Jordan.”
“I liken the Bart Starr era to current Tom Brady era and this past years NE Patriots. Sure Brady is a great quarterback, but there were many other weapons on that team that teams had to contend with besides Brady. Its tough for an entire team to match up against NE just as it was for other teams to line up against the 60’s Packers, but week in and week out defenses lined up to focus on Favre or his mediocre receivers, running backs, and defenses and he still managed to beat them most of the time. That’s what the Brett Favre Packers brought. No surprises. They have a star quarterback and not much else who could win a gave with shear will and determination to get his team in the end zone or lose the game going all out.”
“P.S. I don’t have precise stats on this, but its my general impression and recollection that while some poor performances by Favre surely cost them some games, many of the poor performances were surely exacerbated by him not giving up until the last interception was hauled in, on the last drive, with the Packers down by 14.”