2008 Green Bay Packers: A New Dawn
After losing a heartbreaking NFC Championship game on January 20, 2008, the Green Bay Packers found themselves in a state of transition. Their long-time signal caller, Brett Favre, announced his retirement after years of a game of “will he, won’t he” in a heartfelt press conference on March 6th, and the reigns were now in the hands of the quarterback that fell to them in the 2005 draft: Aaron Rodgers.
Yes, this situation is currently playing out in 2023 with the transition from Rodgers to Jordan Love, but the saga that preceded it 15 years ago was just as excruciating for Packers fans, the events just played out a bit different.
New faces for the new era
In the 2008 draft, the Packers would trade their 30th overall to the New York Jets for the 36th and 114th pick (unbeknownst to both, foreshadowing their futures as trade partners). The Packers took future Packers Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Jordy Nelson with the 36th pick, giving their heir to the offense another weapon to throw to that was already loaded with talent.
The next round would see them draft another weapon in Tight End Jermichael Finley, and protection in the fourth round in Guard Josh Sitton. The team would also take QBs Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn in the second and seventh rounds, respectively. Flynn would go on to serve as perennial backup for Rodgers, even starting a few games for the Packers in 2010, 2011, and 2013.
Brohm on the other hand, would not see action, even though he was at one point considered to be better than Rodgers by ESPN analysts Merrill Hodge and Todd McShay. As for free agency, the Packers would add depth in LB Brandon Chillar, but would release long time TE Bubba Franks, who would end up with the Jets not too long after, a move that would prove ironic in the coming months.
The prodigal son returns
In July, rumblings of Brett Favre wanting to return to football were heard. No one was sure what was going to happen. Would he be released? Would the Packers welcome back but in a backup role? Would he take over a starter again? Fans were all for a Favre return, even if it meant trading the new guy away. Fans let their voices heard during training camp, but the front office would do what they thought was best for the team.
Reports varied, but Favre would confirm that month that he did indeed want to play football. Initially, the quarterback asked for his release on July 11th, after the team announced that they were committed to Rodgers starting in 2008. He would state a few days later that he regretted retiring and felt pressured by the organization to make a decision prior to the start of the new league year.
There was also a report that came out days later that Favre and Vikings were in talks, which would have violated the league’s tampering policy, but nothing came of it (at least, not for another year). Favre would be reinstated at the end of the month, and after a visit from Packers president Mark Murphy, the old gunslinger was back in Green Bay….to seek out a trade to a new team.
Two teams were in negotiations with the Packers for Favre’s services. The first was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The move made sense since their head coach, the ever-infamous Jon Gruden, was a coach in Green Bay in Favre’s first three seasons on the team. The other team in question was an unlikely team that has yet to be mentioned in this article…the New York Jets.
Of course, on August 6th, exactly five months after Favre announced his retirement, the Packers and Jets came to an agreement that sent the old QB to the Big Apple for a conditional 4th rounder, which is ironic considering the time it took for the teams to make a deal for Aaron Rodgers and the compensation for him was much more. With Favre officially gone from Green Bay for the next seven years, it was full speed ahead on the Aaron Rodgers Era.
Showing promise
With the 38-year-old quarterback now a member of a different team, the Packers were ready to embark on their first season with a new QB starting for the first time since 1992. They would open at home against rival Minnesota on Monday Night Football.
The scoring didn’t commence until the second quarter, but Rodgers would find FB Korey Hall for a 1-yard score early in the second on a beautiful play action pass to take a 7-3 lead. Later in the fourth, leading 17-12, Rodgers would his own number and run it in for another 1-yard score. The Packers would end up winning 24-19, with Rodgers impressing in his first start, as he finished with a 82% completion percentage and two total touchdowns and no turnovers.
The following week, the Packers would take down the Detroit Lions by a score of 48-25. In a game that looked like it would favor the Packers, the Lions roared back from a 24-9 lead, going up 25-24 at one point. Then things unraveled for them soon after, as the Packers scored 24 unanswered after that, including two pick-sixes from CB Charles Woodson and S Nick Collins. Green Bay was now 2-0.
Things would get a bit rocky in the next few games, as they would drop the next three, including a Week 3 tilt against the Dallas Cowboys, a team that Rodgers would only lose to one more time as a member of the Packers (in 2016, for those that wanted to know). They would also lose to the Buccaneers and Falcons, and they were now 2-3. They would rebound the following week against the Seattle Seahawks to bring their record back to .500 but were about to meet Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in Lambeau.
Coming into the game, the Colts were three-point favorites. Peyton Manning was a favorite to win MVP (which he would win that season and the next), but the Colts were struggling a bit coming into the game. Their offense was one of the best, but their defense was one of the worst at the time of the game. Fortunately for the Packers, both sides of the ball decided to not show up that day, as they absolutely trounced the team from Indianapolis by a score of 34-14.
Rodgers would have yet another efficient game, going 21/28 for 186 yards and a TD, while RB Ryan Grant had 31 carries for 105 yards and a score. The Packers once again had two pick sixes in the game, including a 99-yard score from DB Aaron Rouse to go up 34-7.
The Packers were looking like a team that could go blow for blow with best in the league going into their bye and it had seemed that business would continue as usual for the team in terms of being a perennial playoff team.
Going off the rails
Coming off the bye, the Packers were 4-3 and had another tall order against the undefeated Tennessee Titans. While Rodgers would outplay his QB counterpart, Kerry Collins, it wasn’t enough as they fell 19-16 in overtime.
There was still optimism abound however, as head coach Mike McCarthy said: “We felt good about it, We liked the position we were in and even kicking it off to them when we lost the coin toss we expected the defense to stop them. It didn’t work out that way.”
The Packers would then lose another close one to Minnesota after Mason Crosby missed a game-winning FG as time expired by a score of 28-27, then would demolish the Bears 37-3, the beginning of Rodgers “ownership” of the team, and the team continued to hover at .500.
Then the wheels began to fall off.
In their second of three Monday night games, the Packers would be beaten down by the New Orleans Saints, with Rodgers having a rare three interception night and defense surrendering 51 points. This game is most noticeable for this hit by Rodgers however:
The team would drop their next three games by a combined 14 points to Carolina, Houston, Jacksonville, and the Bears in overtime. The latter game saw their third and final appearance on Monday Night Football in a chilly affair that was reminiscent of their NFC Championship game 11 months earlier, minus the backbreaking interception. The team was well out of the playoff picture at 5-10 and were looking to close the season on a high note against a Lions team that was coming into the game at 0-15.
History would be made one way or another, as either the Packers would drop their first home game to the Lions since 1991, or the Lions would achieve infamy and be the first team to be 0-16. The game would be a back-and-forth affair, but the Packers managed to pull away in the fourth quarter and win 31-21, sending the Lions to 0-16 and ended the season on a high note.
A promising future
The new signal caller would finish his first full season with a 63.4% completion percentage, 4038 yards and a 28/13 TD to INT ratio (a similar stat line to his final year in Green Bay) and the offense would finish 5th in points for and 8th in yards. Their defense would need some work, finishing 22nd in points allowed and 20th in yards allowed.
There was work to be done on the defense, even with bright spots such as Woodson, Collins, and Harris commanding the secondary. The Packers would address this the following season, and the defense would see an improvement in the next two seasons (but never anytime after, but I’m getting ahead of myself).
As for Favre, he would lead his new team to an 8-3 start, but a rotator cuff injury and some back luck would ultimately derail the Jets season, finishing 9-7 and missing the playoffs as well. He would go on to retire soon after, and that would be another bitter end of one of the greatest careers in NFL history…if he decided to stay retired. In August, he would unretire yet again and join the Vikings, whom themselves won the NFC North in 2008, and were only a QB away from being a Super Bowl contender.
The Packers would certainly have their work cut out for them in 2009. An old ghost was on the horizon, but the new blood was rising, and was primed to continue the tradition and legacy of the Green and Gold.
