I don't know if I've ever been more stressed for a 3 hour time period in my life. I warned friends to not talk to me because I more than likely will not be answering my phone. There are a few special people who can say that experienced the game with me as they were recipients of my text messages throughout the game. From the moment that Mason Crosby kicked off the game, I don't think I ever took a deep breath. Once Jordy Nelson scored and the Nick Collins got his Pick 6 we could start to breathe a little easier, but the game was far from over. What really broke Packer Nation's heart was seeing both Donald Driver and Charles Woodson go down in the first half with two game ending injuries. 2 of the players on this team who quite possibly wanted it more than anyone out there. We went into halftime with a 21-10 lead. The Packers locker room at halftime was very emotional. Defensive leader Charles Woodson gave a rousing speech in which he broke down. Everyone knew how badly he wanted to win, so they came out with even more motivation.
The 3rd quarter didn't start off the way we had hoped, the Steelers found their momentum and brought the game 21-17. All season we've referred to the 3rd quarter as the "turd" quarter. The Packers lost majority of their games this season in the 3rd. We had to find a way to get the momentum back in our favor whether it was on defense or offense, didn't matter we needed it back. The 3rd quarter was finally over but the Steelers still had the ball. I turned to my mom and said "All we need is a big defensive play here and we can change this game around". The next play changed the game. Roethlisberger handed the ball off to Mendenhall, a man we had yet to stop during the game. But this play was different, Clay Matthews saw the play and knew what he had to do. He charged the O-Line as Mendenhall got the ball and before our eyes the ball came loose. Everyone watching saw it, but the only person the field to see it other than Matthews and Mendenhall was Desmond Bishop. Bishop fell on the ball and all I can remember is jumping up and down high fiving my mom. The game was far from over. Packers capitalized on that fumble and brought the score 28-17 with a beautiful pass from Rodgers to Jennings. With a lot of time left, no one was ready to say the game was over, and they were right. The Steelers brought it back within 3 when they scored a TD and made the 2 pt conversions. 28-25 with 7:34 left in the game.
This was the Packers' last chance to put the game away for good. If they scored a TD on this drive the game was over, but 7:30 is a lot of time to mess things up. Rodgers and the offense used up 5:30 minutes only to score a field goal making the score 31-25, giving the Steelers the ball back with 2:00 left and only needing a TD to win the game. Big Ben and his offense should never be counted out in a game if they're only down by one TD until the game clock has run out. The Packers D allowed the Steelers a 1st down, but that was the last 1st down they'd have in the game. Facing 4th and 5 and 1:00 left on the clock, the Steelers have no choice but to go for it. Roethlisberger has done it before and could do it again, but not this time. He stepped back, threw the ball, but it wasn't perfect, short and left and with the Packers on double coverage the ball was knocked away. Game Over. With a minute left all the Packers had to do was knee the ball twice with no mistakes and the Lombardi Trophy would be ours once again. Clock run's out, the Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl XLV Champions.
Pandemonium around the state of Wisconsin and all across Packer Nation. Bars from downtown Milwaukee to the podunk towns of Ladysmith and all the way to Green bay erupted, potentially causing some minor hearing losses. House parties became hugging fests, tears of joy pouring down life long Packer Fans. It's hard to describe the feeling but anyone who's experienced knows what it's like. 14 years ago when the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI I was only 11 years old, I remember it happening but I didn't fully understand what was going on. This year though was different. All the nerves, mini heart attacks, profanities, and panic attacks during the season and during the final game was worth it. Seeing the pure joy on my mom's face in those final seconds was what I've waited for. She taught me everything I know about loving the game, and without her (or the rest of my family) my love for the Packers wouldn't be the same. There have been a lot of amazing experience in my life but this chalks up easily in the top 3. Watching the trophy ceremony brought more tears and more smiles. Players like Donald Driver who's been through so much, especially this season, seeing him kiss Lombardi, made everything worth it. It's 4 days later and I still don't think I've come down from the high, I don't think I ever will.
I have a lot of respect for the Steeler organization. They have just as much history as the Packers do and have built their own dynasties throughout the years. Their fans are just as dedicated as we are, there are many teams who have fans that will fill the stadiums even when it's 10 degrees outside, often shirtless. As much as the Steelers and their fans wanted this win, the Packers needed it. Green Bay is a small town, hell the attendance at the game, even without the 400 people who didn't get into their seats, is more than Green Bay's population. Without the Packers, Green Bay doesn't have anything. This team is the heart and soul of Wisconsin and Green Bay itself. It's a publicly owned organization with thousands of shareholders who have bailed the team out in times of need. No other team can say that they are owned by the people. Fans drove from Wisconsin without tickets, just to be near the stadium with hopes that the Packers would win. The trophy itself is called the Vince Lombardi Trophy, while other teams do deserve to win it, it belongs at home, in Green Bay, where Lombardi changed the game forever.
The Return to Titletown was not just a one time thing, in Green Bay it lasted 2 days. the team came back on Monday afternoon to be greeted by 35,000 fans lining the streets as the Green Bay Metro buses drove them back to Lambeau Field. Schools cancelled classes because the truancy rates would have been too high to even try to teach, to make it easier, it was declared a holiday. Coming off the plane fans erupted in cheers for each player. Riding on the buses players hung out the windows despite the cold temperatures to get videos of the fans, just like all the fans were doing as the buses passed. Donald Driver looked like a kid who just won a trip to Disney World. Arriving at Lambeau Field the players found the fans gave them high fives and signed some autographs. The real celebration was set for Tuesday. Tickets $5 to get into the stadium, we had to go up. I bought 3 tickets and despite the forecast for 0 degree weather, it was only fitting to go welcome home the champions back to the Frozen Tundra.
Bundled in nearly all of our winter gear we made it to the sold out Lambeau Field along with 50,000 other of our people. Every where you walked chants of "Go Pack Go" and "woo-hoos" were heard. On a day like this, everyone is friends with everyone. You bump into someone on accident, you didn't say sorry, you just said "Go Packers!". Before the team even came onto the field the jumbo screens replayed highlights of the season and with the amount of cheering you could have sworn it was gameday. Waving our flags proudly we welcomed each player and their coaches into the stadium with Head Coach Mike McCarthy coming in last holding Lombardi. The roars of the crowd were deafening as the infamous "Go Pack Go" cheered started out of nowhere. In Green Bay when we win Super Bowl's we rename streets, this year we added McCarthy's Way. Majority of the field still covered in snow, players huddled by the space heaters to keep warm but as some individuals came up to speak they braved the cold with smiles on their faces. Stand out leaders on the team: Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson, Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings and Jared Bush all spoke. John Kuhn came to the stage to the sound of the "KKKKUUUHNNNNNNN" cheer. But the star of the day was fan favorite, Donald Driver. Our all pro wide receiver got the loudest and longest cheer of the day, you could clearly tell who was the favorite. As he spoke about how much this meant to him, I got chills. To see the man smile was worth the trip alone.
To close out the celebration, who better than our So.Cal leader and Super Bowl MVP, Aaron Rodgers. With the crowd cheering "M-V-P! M-V-P!" he grabbed the Lombardi trophy and raised it to the sold out stadium. The man has truly been a leader since he took over as our starting quarterback in 2008. Always, fighting and uphill battle to get where he is today, you could hear in his voice the genuine feelings of appreciation to all the fans and the Packer organization for believing in him from day one. As he put it, August 29, 2005 was the greatest day of his life (drafted by the Packers) up until February 6,2011. The California boy has found his place in life in the Frozen Tundra, and we're not letting go of him anytime soon. Rodgers spoke to the crowd and to the team like he's been doing it for years and as he put it "we'll see you guys here next year!".
It's been 4 days since we became champions, I'm still waiting for someone to pinch me and tell me it was all a dream. Football season is officially over, but now all we can hope is that we have a season next year so we can bring home another championship. In the meantime, I can look at my phone with it's new background of Donald Driver and the Lombardi trophy. I love this team and everything that goes with it. As Charles Woodson put it: "No one can take this away from us, I'm never coming down from this high. Ever." This is the start of a new era with hopefully many more Lombardi Trophies being brought back to Green Bay.
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