Possible changing of the guard

In sports, dynasties come and go. Some teams are seemingly able to keep the good times rolling forever. Oh sure, there’s a slight hiccup here and there, the occasional down year, but you almost always figure a college football team like Alabama is going to be good, UNC will be good in basketball and the Yankees will probably make the playoffs.

College and professional teams here in Wisconsin have seen their share of ups and downs over the years. The Green Bay Packers have scaled the highest heights more than any other NFL team. Hence the nickname “Titletown, USA.”

The early years of the NFL were good years for the Green Bay Packers, replete with winning teams and early stars with great names like Johnny “Blood” McNally or Curly Lambeau that call to mind a nearly forgotten and bygone era.

Green Bay won multiple league titles in the 1930’s and a title in 1944 over the Giants, but then suffered a spate of bad years before the tail end of the 1950’s. That’s when revolutionary coach Vince Lombardi arrived in Green Bay and began calling the shots. He also had a legendary quarterback in Bart Starr taking snaps under center. Throughout the 1960’s the Packers were one of the most well-known, well-established and successful sporting franchises.

And then it all fell apart and a second Dark Age covered the Frozen Tundra.

Over the course of the next two decades, the Packers would toil in ignominy, relegated to the bottom of the NFL. Draft picks failed to pan out, coaches could not coax wins out of their players, and for years Green Bay suffered though the fans stood firmly behind their hapless football team.

Then, miraculously, the Packers found a combination of brilliant coach, legendary quarterback and game-changing lineman. Mike Holmgren, Brett Favre and Reggie White all teamed up to usher in another Golden Age, and the Packers made it to back-to-back Super Bowls, winning one. But no matter how good an athlete is, Father Time stands undefeated. Favre got older, but little did Green Bay know what they had waiting behind the gunslinger from Mississippi.

Of all things, a kid from California would continue Wisconsin’s winning ways, nabbing another Super Bowl win. I’m talking about Aaron Rodgers, of course. Since he took over for Favre in 2008, the man has been brilliant. But, at 37 years of age, one wonders how much time he has left in Titletown.

I figured he’d be in Green Bay for at least a few more years, maybe win another Super Bowl, but at the moment, that does not appear to be the case. There are rumblings that he might be gone. These next few months will no doubt be very interesting.

I’m not sure what to make of all of it. On the one hand, I knew the timewasfastapproachingwhenRodgerswouldbegone, and Green Bay would have to find a new quarterback. I was just hoping that would take a few more years.

If he wants to leave, so be it. If we have another Dark Age, so be it. The Green Bay Packers have endured for over a century, and it seems their destiny to rise, fall, only to rise again. If Aaron Rodgers leaves, the Green Bay Packers will endure, and a new hero will arrive.

M USINGS AND G RUMBLINGS

ROSS PATTERMANN REPORTER