Football and Loathing

Oft-captioned photo mischaracterized as vintage football helmet testing but still a great shot for discussing football fans. (Wikimedia Commons: “In a 1912 issue of Flight magazine, British inventor W.T. Warren’s invention, a protective flight helmet, is demonstrated.”)

Heading into the last week in January with Groundhog Day just around the corner, the Green Bay Packers played another conference title game.

The qualifier for the NFL Super Bowl has been a recurring nightmare for the Green & Gold for several seasons over the past decade. Last season, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur led the storied franchise to a division title and the NFL semi-final conference title game in only his first year in a head coaching job. Sure, postseason elimination is rough but coming only one game short of a Super Bowl appearance in only the first year of a brand new coaching regime is not something to complain about.

Then Groundhog Day came early again this year. The Packers started rolling in November, straight on through December and earned a playoff bye week and home field advantage with the top seed in the conference. After dominating the LA Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs, gashing and shredding one of the stingiest defenses in the NFL, the Packers had Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers between them and a return to the Super Bowl after ten years when they battled the Pittsburgh Steelers to expand their league leading NFL championships to thirteen. Since Super Bowl XLV, following the 2010 season, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have been eliminated in conference title games in Seattle, Atlanta and San Francisco.