During the days leading up to Super Bowl XLV, I heard so many current and former players make the same observation: “It’s just so hard to get there.”
The rookie who happens to be on a team that goes to the Super Bowl might be easily deceived. Because the experience comes right away, he might not realize how rare it is: how many players don’t make it back, and how many don’t make it at all. And he can hardly fathom the likelihood that his rookie achievement might not be matched throughout the rest of his career.
And so, from a wide variety of perspectives, I heard players making that same observation again and again.
As Packer fans, of course, we recognize the truth of it. We have fielded teams ranging from fairly competitive to excellent just about every season since the beginning of the Ron Wolf era. And yet, in all those years, we’ve been to the Big Game just three times -- and that’s still a better rate than the majority of other teams in the NFL!
All of which brings to mind the sorry case of those teams that fail to seize the day.
There are some seasons, you know, when the stars are all aligned. You have all the right people in place -- all the pieces -- and so you know that it’s your year, it’s your turn. And if you don’t get it done that year, well…
I think we have seen that phenomenon illustrated in our own Division in each of the past two seasons. This year’s Chicago Bears and last year’s Minnesota Vikings were both charmed teams. Everything clicked. Everything went their way. It was their moment!
Yet both lost in the Conference Championship game. And, in each case, it was a game they could have won.
But who seriously thought that the 2010 Vikings could duplicate what the previous year’s team accomplished? It was too perfect. They couldn’t possibly do that again. And, likewise, who really believes that the 2011 Bears will be able to pull off the record that this year’s squad managed?
The most bitter example of all, of course, is the near-perfect Patriots of a few years ago. To go undefeated in the regular season and through the playoffs only to lose in the Super Bowl…?! That is the ultimate version of failing to seize the day.
Going into 2010, many prognosticators picked the Packers to win it all. This was our year, it seemed. We had all the pieces in place, and people realized it.
But no one expected us to lose so many key pieces to season-ending injuries. No one expected us to squeak in as a 6th-seed Wild Card team. No one expected us to have to win on the road for three straight games against the NFC’s best teams in order to get to Dallas.
Ours was a quite different case than the 2007 Patriots, 2009 Vikings, or 2010 Bears. This was not the year where everything went right, but we blew it in the end. On the contrary, this was the year when so many, many things went wrong -- yet we won it all in the end! Remarkable, really. And very satisfying.
And while no one expected the 2008 Patriots to go undefeated again, or the 2010 Vikings to make it back to the NFC Championship Game, I reckon that a fair number of folks will figure the Packers to be favorites to repeat.
Next year may be “our year.” Yet we managed to seize the day today!
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