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This weekend’s NFC Championship is history lesson in rivalry, football
The “Old Man” would be proud. He’d be happy; but man, would he be itching to play ball.
Vince Lombardi, the coach that truly made Green Bay famous, was honored during the 40th anniversary year of his death in 2010 on Broadway (“Lombardi” is ongoing at Circle in the Square) and in an HBO documentary. With much reverence decades after he proved his coaching magic from football sidelines, it only seems right that his former team and its arch rival Chicago Bears meet for the 1982nd time and just the second time in playoff history, for the NFC Championship and right to go to the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The tradition – the rivalry – was introduced by guys named Papa and Curly: Chicago Bears’ founder and coach George Halas (aka “Papa Bear”), and Green Bay Packers’ pioneer, Curly Lambeau. Today it stands as the oldest rivalry in football dating back to 1921. Each coach and teams represented humble beginnings, Lambeau’s of an organization from a small Wisconsin city sponsored by a meat packing company, and the former Decatur, Illinois Stayleys, which grew up to become the “Monsters of the Midway” in the Windy City. From the beginning, each were dominant as teams and dominated by the men who led them
Great stars have shone upon both teams, and while there were lulls in between periods of dominance and greatness for each, the rivalry never ceased. When theLombardi Era began in Green Bay in 1959, it seems fitting now as we look back, that he faced, and defeated Halas’ Bears 9-6 in a typical hard hitting, low scoring game, in his inauguration to the rivalry.
Chicago, which holds the series record 92-83-6, won the only other playoff meeting on its way to an NFL title in 1941. Then, as in recently past years, the coaches were most discussed (Lambeau, Lombardi, Mike Holmgren for Green Bay, and Halas and Mike Ditka for the Bears), but in this contest, the focus is more on the players: Aaron Rodgers, Donald Driver, Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson for the Packers, and Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers, Lance Briggs, and Jay Cutler for the Bears. Both defenses are ranked in the top five in the NFL, and both quarterbacks have excelled during the playoffs. In fact, Rodgers logged an impressive 31-for-36 when he beat the top-seeded Atlanta Falcons, and Cutler evoked memories of the Browns’ peerless Otto Graham when he threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in Chicago’s crisp win over Seattle.
This 2011 NFC title game has the makings of a classic. It’s fitting that these rivals are meeting for the right to go to the Super Bowl, after the regular season during which each won on their own fields. For the Packers, it would mark its fifth Super Bowl trip in franchise history, the Bears’ second.
If you are an NFL traditionalist, this just SOUNDS right, doesn’t it?
About the Author
The past taught Davis to respect and grow in the television business to the point that he treasures his current roles in the FOX NFL booth, NFL Network studio shows and as the host for SEC Gridiron Live, even though the hours rival those of highly touted coaches. What does it mean for his future? He doesn’t know, but he continues to hone his craft to keep up with television and technology and make each call better than the last.
A former four-year starting collegiate defensive back for the University of Tennessee (1983-1986), Davis is all about stats, facts and film from the gridiron for most of each calendar year. During the few months when stadium turf isn’t even striped, the game is never far from Davis’ mind.
