Rob Reischel - Leaders of the Pack: Starr, Favre, Rodgers and Why Green Bays Quarterback Trio is the Best in NFL History

To my wonderful familywife Laura and daughters Madison and Mia who are supportive and patient with my hectic schedule.

To my siblingsJenni, Ryan, and Jessie who have been there for me time and time again.

And to my grandmother, Dorothy, who brings joy into every room she enters.

I love you all!

Contents

Preface by Ron Wolf

When the Green Bay Packers offered me the general manager job, all I had to hear was that I was in charge of the entire football operations. I was given that and I was given an opportunity. When they told me that I had full control, I had absolutely no trepidation about coming to work for the Packers.

They hadnt always done it that way. But I think those guys on the board and the executive committee were pretty beat down. They had, what, 20, 21 years of losing up there? Im sure it wasnt a great thrill to go to Oneida or go out to eat and youre on the executive committee of the Packers and people are saying, What the hell are you guys doing?

But we turned it around and turned it around in a hurry. We made Lambeau a very nice place to play, and its still an incredibly nice place today.

I loved to trade. I really did. I always believed that if I have a player and I can get a player thats better than the guy Im playing with, then Im going to go out there and get that player.

And thats one thing I told my guys: when its all said and done, Im going to have two six-shooters on me and Ive got 12 rounds on me. And I can guarantee you fellows Im going to fire all 12 rounds. Im not coming back here with one revolver half full.

The first rule of the game is you have to have a quarterback, and we didnt have one. So I made the trade for Brett Favre, which wasnt very popular at the time. But you look at that trade today, look at all the things Brett did, all the records after that trade, and thats definitely one of the top five trades of all time.

Im going to the Hall of Fame this year, which I still cant believe is happening. And Im smart enough to realize that I wouldnt be in there if it wasnt for Brett Favre.

Theyve always had really good quarterback play in Green Bay, from Cecil Isbell and Arnie Herber to Bart Starr. But theyve never had anyone like Brett. I know Im biased because he was my guy, but to me hes one of the top five quarterbacks of all time. He gave us a chance every game.

People ask me, what if the Favre trade had never happened? What if the queen had balls? Shed be king. I mean, I dont even want to think about it. I dont want to think about what we would have done.

We traded for Brett Favre and it gave us a chance. We had a chance every week. Without a quarterback, we had no chance. Theyve been pretty lucky up there to have this great tradition of quarterbacks. Its why theyve had so much success, because if you dont have one, you really dont have a chance. Well, we got ours and the records kind of speak for themselves.

Ron Wolf

March 2015

Foreword by Brett Favre

Playing quarterback in Green Bay is unlike anything else in sports. Its a special place, a remarkable place. It was the perfect place for me to play. And I say it was the perfect place more than anything because thats who wanted me. At that time, things had gone bad in Atlanta. And even though I had no idea they were trying to get rid of me, they were.

So when I say coming to Green Bay was the perfect fit, it was the perfect fit because we had success. But it was also the perfect fit because thats who wanted me and they gave up what they gave up to get me (a No. 1 draft pick).

When I came to Green Bay, I felt like it was a great opportunity. I didnt know a whole lot about the Packers at the time. But I knew a lot about the history of the franchise in general and I knew the franchise was struggling. So I knew this was an opportunity I was lucky to get and then it was up to me to make the most of it. And thats what I tried to do each and every week.

Trying to get that done, trying to do your job each day, is probably easier in some ways when youre in Green Bay than it would be if youre in other cities. We dont have the distractions in Green Bay that you do in some places. We didnt have guys getting in as much trouble as maybe some other teams did. Now, if you want trouble, can you find trouble? Of course you can. But for the most part, we didnt.

And the best way I could sum it up was when youre in Green Bay, youre here to play football. If youre in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, it might not always be the same way. But in Green Bay, youre here to play football. You have very few distractions. Its easy to get from work to your house. You dont have to travel to the other side of town, which can be an hour or two in some places. Youre not in the car a long time if all you want to do is get a bite to eat.

Things in Green Bay are simple. Youre there to play football. The people in Green Bay are fanatical, and thats great. Thats how you want it to be. There was never a problem. And I was home in three, four, five minutes, every day. It was all about football. Thats how it should be.

I dont know why Green Bay has had this kind of quarterback success. Part of it, Im sure, is you have to be a little bit lucky. But you also have to be good at your jobs, too, and the guys finding the quarterbacks certainly have been.

And then I think playing in a town where football is king and the players all realize youre there to play football has to help. You dont want to let anybody down, especially with this tradition now. Its a pretty special thing, to be part of something like that and to play quarterback in Green Bay. Im just really proud and extremely fortunate I got to be part of that.

Brett Favre

Introduction

Who is the greatest quarterback in NFL history?

Its a debate thats been waged for years.

Sammy Baugh, Sid Luckman, and Otto Graham were the best of their generation. Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr were dominant players in their time.

In the Super Bowl era, the names Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, John Elway, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Dan Marino come up most often.

Its an argument that will never be resolved.

If your case is centered around championships, Starr, Montana, Bradshaw, and Brady reign supreme in the modern era. Graham was a dominant force between 1946 and 1955, winning seven titles in the old AAFC and later the NFL.

If you look deeper than that, maybe the eye-popping statistics compiled by Manning, Favre, and Marino send those players up your list.

What happens, though, when you go beyond just one quarterback? How about two, or even three, with the same franchise?

Thats what weve done here with Leaders of the Pack .

When you delve deep inside each organization and examine the three greatest quarterbacks every team has had, one thing becomes crystal clear.

No franchise anywhere has had a better trio than Green Bays threesome of Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers.

Starr was the gold standard for winning football and titles.

Between 1961 and 1967, Starr led the Packers to five NFL Championships in seven years. His career playoff record was a remarkable 91.

Starr was a four-time Pro Bowler, won an MVP, and ran Vince Lombardis offense to perfection.

There were certainly flashier players than Starrones with stronger arms who made more highlight-reel plays.

But there havent been many players who were greater winners than Starr.