Chasing Perfection and Catching Excellence Once Again
Most football seasons end in disappointment, but there's happiness in appreciating the journey.
By Mark Ballard
I grew up about an hour east of Buffalo, NY. It was the mid-1980’s and the Bills had been a joke of a football team for as long as I could remember (this was before the Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith Super Bowl years). In my neighborhood, you were either a Cowboys fan or a Steelers fan. Franco Harris or Tony Dorsett, pick a side. My older brother was a Steelers fan. I hadn’t really committed to a team, but my Mom was from Wisconsin and she cheered for the Packers, and that seemed, well, different.
Right around that time, Don Majkowski and Sterling Sharpe started producing some fireworks, and being the Momma’s boy that I was, I decided to hitch my young wagon to the Green & Gold and cheer with Mom. Not long after that, Majkowski went down, a young guy named Brett Favre took over, and the rest was history.
Watching Favre as a kid on Sundays was a formative experience. A significant part of that was the Packers playing in the NFC, meaning many of their games had John Madden and Pat Summerall on the call. The greatest announcer duo to ever do it, Madden’s nasal pitch, grunt delivery, and overflowing enthusiasm was perfectly counterbalanced by Summerall’s smooth baritone and cool delivery. Together, they somehow enhanced and elevated Favre’s on-field artistry in a way that was hard to separate. It was like they were working together, part of the same sensory orchestra.
Together with Reggie White and a colorful cast of characters, Favre eventually took Green Bay to Super Bowl glory in New Orleans, and came close to repeating that feat on numerous other occasions. One of those games was the freezing cold 2007 NFC Championship, Favre’s last game as a Packer, and my first game at Lambeau Field.
With a real job and modest income for the first time in my life, I decided it was time to splurge. I found a pair of tickets on Craig's List and invited my brother. We prepared for that game like we were leaving for an Arctic expedition. The 6th coldest game in NFL history, with a wind chill of -24 degrees, I remember buying a 6-pack of High Life tall boys before the game and having about 15 seconds of drinking time before the beer turned to slush. Inside Lambeau, it was like the March of The Penguins movie, where the penguins pack in tight, using their collective body heat for survival. Even though the Packers lost in heartbreaking fashion (something that would become a trend), it was a day and an adventure I won’t ever forget.
As Favre rode off into the sunset (sort of), Green Bay fans were blessed with another superstar quarterback, who somehow, almost impossibly, was every bit as magical as his predecessor. In 2010, Aaron Rodgers led the Packers on another incredible run to Super Bowl glory, this time in Dallas. I watched that game alone in my New York apartment with my dog, Rosie. Afterward, I took Rosie (and a cigar) to “Lombardi” on Broadway, and then down to take some pictures of The Empire State Building, which was lit up in Green and Gold for the victors. Another moment I’ll never forget.
The following day, through a connection at work, I was able to score tickets to the David Letterman Show, with special guest, Super Bowl MVP, Aaron Rodgers. Still perhaps, maybe, probably a little drunk from the night before, our cheers from the balcony were captured on camera, and I even earned a playful scolding from Dave for my enthusiasm when Rodgers came on stage. Another all-time memory for sure.
Rodgers’ Packers never again reached that peak, but there were so many incredible highs and lows along the way. I remember running around in New York City traffic after Jeff Janis’ second Hail Mary, only to crash back to Earth like a meteor in overtime. I remember after the crushing, unfathomable Seattle defeat in 2014, my friend handing me a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue, with the instruction, “do whatever you need to do with this”. I remember, “He’s got Cobb!!” I remember the Hail Mary in Detroit, and the Fail Mary in Seattle. I remember running the table in 2016 and so many more memories in between. Too many to count.
Rodgers eventually exited, and the Packers nation was blessed with yet another superstar quarterback. Three exciting years in, it feels like Jordan Love is destined to take this team back to the mountaintop. And while it wasn’t to be this year, the future remains very bright.
At the end of this year, I’ll turn 50 years old, and in my lifetime, the Packers have won two Super Bowls. And while we’ve been close on so many other occasions, including this year, two championships is still a lot more than most teams. Cardinals, Falcons, Bills, Browns, Bengals, Vikings, Lions, Texans, Jaguars, Chargers, Panthers, and Titans fans have never won a Super Bowl.
I know, we’re Green Bay – Titletown – the standard is different, and God bless us for that. But still, fans must understand that most seasons don’t end with a parade. To survive that annual disappointment, you have to appreciate the journey. It’s the draft day crowd going nuts when Green Bay finally selects a wide receiver in the first round. It’s getting the text on your phone that Gutekunst has traded for Micah Parsons. It’s Parsons sacking Jared Goff and pointing to the sky. It’s Christian Watson catching the game winner at MetLife. It’s the Packers beating the crap out of the Bears in Chicago 21-3, and then losing – it’s the journey.
I don't mean to tell anyone how to fan, but I've read so much despair online. Maybe, appropriately, it's because the devastating Chicago loss is still pretty fresh. I get that.
Still, I want to share the mindset that helps get me through, in case its helpful for anyone else. And that mindset is this: Go absolutely crazy when you win. Stay level and cool when you lose. It’s the only way I've been able to survive as a lunatic football fan all these years. Win or lose, we’re all so lucky to be a part of this incredible family, with the richest history, the most special stadium, the greatest fans, and the promise and hope of another season, and another journey. I can’t wait for the next one. Go Pack go.
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Mark Ballard is an obsessive Green Bay Packers fan, born in Buffalo Bills country, but raised right by a Mom from Rice Lake, WI. You can find him on X at @ballark
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Comments (47)
splitpea1
January 16, 2026 at 11:03 am
Gee, thanks for the psychological tip...Maybe the journey would be a little more enjoyable if we hadn't been stuck in neutral for the last three years and never resolving the issues that always seem to plague us. Fans are always going to despair in periods with clouds on the horizon and uncertainty ahead. Hope starts with cleaning up this front office mess and incoming change.
BuckyBadger
January 16, 2026 at 12:06 pm
Stuck in neutral? The team went through a complete rebuild. Most teams miss the playoffs for 2 years while doing that. Yea this year fell short but that was mostly do to bad injury luck. To blow up a rebuild that is just peaking because it isn't on your time frame is just silly.
SicSemperTyrannis
January 16, 2026 at 01:15 pm
Despite your down votes, (2 upon my reading this, so not much engagement) I agree with you and am stunned at how many can't recognize this big picture. And while there were LOTS of problems throughout the year, they should all be easily solvable; with the exception of we need some CBs and DTs / NT. I think ex-Packers would make the ideal assistant coaches to teach technique in their specific rooms.
HarryHodag
January 16, 2026 at 01:19 pm
You missed the entire point of his article.
KenEllis
January 16, 2026 at 11:31 am
Who doesn’t love a journey that ends with 5 straight defeats including 2 absolute choke jobs to the arch rivals, one of them in the playoffs.
And so what if our journeys now consistently feature disappointing regular seasons followed by, at best, 1 and done playoff appearances.
So yes, we must always enjoy the journey no matter what happens on the field … because the Packers (and CheeseheadTV’s) revenues depend on such mindless loyalty.
BuckyBadger
January 16, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Or you can be grumpy old man mad because his team wasn't the one that came home with a title.
KenEllis
January 16, 2026 at 12:28 pm
Yeah, who cares about winning titles in what used to be known as TITLE town when we can re-live and celebrate all the unicorn, rainbow, and daisy moments of the season like 4 year- old girls a birthday party.
HarryHodag
January 16, 2026 at 01:20 pm
You missed the entire point of his article.
BuckyBadger
January 16, 2026 at 12:03 pm
Throw the check down pass to Ryan Grant Favre and he can run to FG range!!
LambeauPlain
January 16, 2026 at 12:10 pm
I have a few more decades on you as a Packer fan, Mark. You have been relatively spoiled.
I became a fan as a kid during Lombardi, then the hapless 70's (they were not Devine), the Starr years where playing solid defense was an interesting concept, something to be grasped...the 80's Dark Days of Forest Gregg, then greatest Packer HC in history - Lindy Infante (as voted in a poll of fans).
Finally with Harlan, Wolf, and Holmgren and his outstanding staff the light returned to Lambeau Field in the 90's (Holmgren lost only 3 games in Lambeau as Packer HC).
The team isn't sliding into an 80's complacency yet, but the trend is not good.
After 3 years, LaFleur looked to be "the Guy" after going 39-10...2-3 in the playoffs albeit with some real clunkers in the tourney, but many felt the young HC would get better with experience.
The 4 years since, he has led the Packers to 37-30...1-3 in the playoffs as the last seed 3 times, missing the playoffs with a win to get in clunker loss to the lions in 2022.
Now, Tom Silverstein reports:
“It’s about LaFleur having some security, knowing he can coach without worrying about getting fired."
In other words, more status quo, little accountability. So what will change from the last 4 years?
LaFleur may possibly be arguing if Policy dissolves the Football Committee management and appoints a real GM, then he wants a long term guarantee or else, in exchange for receiving more accountability from the GM.
The next few days will provide an indication of Ed Policy as President and CEO. Will he be more Harlan? Continue with the Murphy status quo? (I hope not a morphing into Judge Parins!)
HarryHodag
January 16, 2026 at 01:21 pm
I think you also missed the point of his article.
Idaho Cheese
January 17, 2026 at 01:06 pm
Damn, how fun. How bout you summarize the point then?
sugarbair
January 16, 2026 at 01:25 pm
When I first heard the speculation about a contract to coach without the fear of being fired. My thought was your kidding. who wouldn't like that setup. If that type of comment was mentioned during the negotiations I would trade him to Las Vegas for a 7th rounder and call it quits.
Guam
January 16, 2026 at 01:43 pm
Superb comment LP!
Strat
January 16, 2026 at 01:05 pm
"I don't mean to tell anyone how to fan," yeah, well you just did. And you can shelf that stupid, overused buzzword "Journey." With this team it's more like repeatedly falling down the same flight of stairs. The greatest fans as long as they just roll over and accept an overhyped, underperforming regime. If they want fans that really give a damn, then a lot of those fans are going to be pissed off with the results delivered...again. To bad the playoff game wasn't at Lambeau. They could've started a "Go Pack Go Backwards" chant after being backed up 15 yards for another IDIOTIC personal foul penalty. Or maybe do the wave for the delay of game penalty AFTER the timeout. They should feel fortunate fans are only pissed off, because if they get to the point where they don't care anymore, that's when they leave. Cue the "Go ahead and leave" types.
But save this article. If they extend this HC/GM combination for say two to three years, you'll be able to use it again for two to three years.
On a positive note, I still like the Parsons trade while some others don't, but that's fine with me, to each their own. They got one hell of a player as well as the bonus of not having first round draft picks to botch.
HarryHodag
January 16, 2026 at 01:22 pm
Please re-read the article and expand the thinking to include it's good to be a Packers fan.
HarryHodag
January 16, 2026 at 01:24 pm
Thanks for the article, Mark. Being a fan of the most unique franchise in the world is a joy to me. I feel sorry for the folks who think that if you don't win the Super Bowl every year by 50-0 you're the first loser.
Regardless of what happens this off season I will be a loyal Packers fan until the eternal dirt nap.
Mark Ballard
January 16, 2026 at 01:46 pm
Thanks, Harry. It's a joy to me, too. Glad you get it and appreciate you reading.
TarynsEyes
January 16, 2026 at 01:50 pm
Yeah, all of us here than criticize the Packers are losers because they don't win the SB every year. Amazingly enough, we're all still here with the same hope as you 'loyal' fans that are fine with whatever because of your loyalty. Get a grip, criticism is not only part of the game, it's a huge part of life. If a door should be hitting anyone in the arse, it's your type of fan. How's your safe-space?
HarryHodag
January 16, 2026 at 02:50 pm
Criticism not only means negativity but also providing insights not commonly found in dialogue.
Being eternally negative only provides vinegar to the soul.
crayzpackfan
January 17, 2026 at 09:42 am
While blind optimism only leads to participation trophies and mediocracy.
TXCHEESE
January 16, 2026 at 03:19 pm
It really isn't that we lost in the playoffs and didn't get to the SB. It's that this team has struggled mightily in the second half of football games when having the lead, over and over again. Rarely have they put a team away and kept them at arms length, regardless of the disparity in talent.
Can someone please tell me how MLF can rightly argue that he deserves a long term extension. We made the playoffs. Great. Do you realize if the NFL hadn't expanded the field, we would have missed the playoffs the last 3 years?
Boothie8739
January 16, 2026 at 04:58 pm
Simple: The other choices for the HEAD Coach position are far worse. With John Harbaugh out of the picture, I don’t see a better option. La Fleur isn’t the next Vince Lombardi, but there haven’t been many coaches of that quality.
The NFL is an entirely different beast than it used to be. Parity makes life difficult at best. What team / coach combo in the league is better than the Packers? I would have said the Chiefs, but they are showing their mortality.
If the Packers believe they can find a better coach, they are probably better qualified than any of us to determine that. I think the problem is that the Head Coach has them over a barrel and the Packers are reluctant to shell out the necessary cash.
crayzpackfan
January 17, 2026 at 12:00 pm
"Simple: The other choices for the HEAD Coach position are far worse"
Kind of a daft observation actually. How do you know unless they get an opportunity? Far worse? There is a guy out there who won coach of the year twice for the crappy Browns. When was MLF's last Coach of the year trophy?
SicSemperTyrannis
January 17, 2026 at 03:34 pm
While you have a valid point, off the top of my head the habit of being significantly up at halftime and still losing isn't a long term thing. Which means team performance is measurably getting WORSE.
I don't think that's due to lack of talent on the roster, otherwise they couldn't be winning at halftime. Certainly Cooper getting injured can be directly tied to our defense declining in the second half, but that's one game and one player.
TarynsEyes
January 16, 2026 at 01:39 pm
"Six long months on a dust covered trail
They say heaven's at the end, but so far it's been hell".
Fire on The Mountain
Marshall Tucker Band
PearlyBakerBest
January 16, 2026 at 01:44 pm
Thought I heard a baby cry today
TarynsEyes
January 16, 2026 at 01:53 pm
Stop listening to yourself.
PearlyBakerBest
January 16, 2026 at 04:24 pm
You thought you was the cool fool
egbertsouse
January 16, 2026 at 02:33 pm
Love stinks!
J. Geils Band
SicSemperTyrannis
January 17, 2026 at 03:35 pm
Lol
Actually JL10 played really well
Packerlifer
January 16, 2026 at 02:07 pm
No, I don't expect the Packers to go undefeated and win the Super Bowl every year. And yes, I'm glad when the season ends, however and whenever it does, I'm their fan and not a Jets, Raiders, Titans, or Vikings time waster.
But some other franchises have demonstrated in recent history that excellence and achieving the ultimate prize on a somewhat periodic basis in the modern NFL is still possible. And with all they can point to with pride the Packers haven't been one of them. The Packers could've been mentioned in the same breath as New England, Kansas City, Philadelphia or San Francisco when it came to championship attainments. They've been better than most, as good as a number, not so hot as the elite few.
Reading the speculation on the LaFleur contract extension issues something strikes me as missing in the discussions. THE GREEN BAY PACKERS DO NOT EXIST TO EMPLOY PLAYERS, COACHES, FRONT OFFICE OR EXECUTIVE PEOPLE. The Packers are not the property or play thing of spoiled, egotistical owner. They are a public corporation to put a winning and ultimately championship football team on the field of play.
Coaches, players, front office and executive. people are employed to meet that purpose. When they don't over a reasonable period of time they need to pursue those who can and will instead.
If I pay for a trip to Rome but end up at an Italian restaurant in Milwaukee instead I might find something interesting and fun in the journey but I'm not getting what I paid for.
Lombardi famously said pursue perfection to achieve excellence. He also said he wasn't interested in "just being good." The Packers now are "just being good."
TXCHEESE
January 16, 2026 at 03:23 pm
Very well put!
Packerlifer
January 16, 2026 at 03:39 pm
I took a lot of journeys with the Packers in the '70s & '80s. And that's about all they were.
SicSemperTyrannis
January 17, 2026 at 03:42 pm
"I'm not getting what I paid for."
Is GB getting what they (under) pay for? I'm not sure, but when it comes to coaches it seems possible.
An organization priding itself on "draft and develop" should be sure to have the best positional coaching assistants teaching technique possible. It seems to me that ex-Packers would be unbeatable for that, even though GB had bad luck with ex-players as HC.
MooPack
January 16, 2026 at 03:49 pm
When presented with a glass that is filled to the mid-point and asked if the glass is half full or half empty, the correct answer is... Yes, it is.
THESZOTMAN1
January 16, 2026 at 04:37 pm
Chasing perfection?
Of course.
Chasing excellence once again?
Sadly, it's more like ----- chasing excellence once in a while.
Crucial off season coming.
The Szotman
ps-On Lafleur: No contract extension now. Make this year a "show me" year.
TarynsEyes
January 16, 2026 at 05:03 pm
Walter Alston, manager of the Dodgers had 21 one year show me contracts. Some aren't afraid to prove themselves yearly, while some want only the guarantee of a job they likely know they can't succeed in.
LeotisHarris
January 16, 2026 at 05:51 pm
A great manager indeed, but we need to recognize a one-year contract was standard for an MLB manager in the 50s through the mid 60s. The internet machine tells me the average tenure for managers from 1970 though 1981 (Alston hung it up in 1976) was 2.4 seasons in the National League, and 1.9 seasons in the American league.
So, in addition to Jackie Robinson, Don Drysdale, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax and Pee Wee Reese, Alston may have had giant cajones, but his employment contracts were more SOP for the era in which he managed.
TarynsEyes
January 16, 2026 at 07:48 pm
Whether it was SOP or not, you had to coach/manage or be gone. If you had talent, you had better do something with it.
LeotisHarris
January 16, 2026 at 08:22 pm
Taryn your post said look how unique Walter Alston was with his one-year contracts and confidence in himself. It was not unique to the time.
And, yes, you'd better win, hence the short stays for those managers in the 70s.
TarynsEyes
January 16, 2026 at 08:41 pm
I didn't use the word unique, I said he had 21 one year contracts, and whether if it was the norm back then, to get 21 is/was 'unique' and a testament to his being successful.
LeotisHarris
January 17, 2026 at 10:27 am
Well, I suppose you're right if you call winning only four World Series Championships in 23 years successful. I wonder how "successful" Alston would have been if Walter O'Malley had been enough of a visionary to put Alston on a temp hire basis? Man, that would have really turned up the heat on his dead ass, but he could also have walked at any time. I guess we'll never know.
BDUB
January 16, 2026 at 07:14 pm
Chasing Perfection With a coaching staff that has WR coach who never was a WR (Vrabel)
Offensive line coach never played offence (Butkus) ...Linebacker Coach never Played linebacker (Campanile) ....Special Teams Coach who played safety (Bisaccia) Wonder why we have OL problems and Special Teams problems. Please explain why we were using Doubs who has major head injuries on returns? Run out of timeouts and poor clock management that never gets better including delay of game penalties after a time outs? LaFluer is a nice guy, but you know where nice guys finish! There was no one in the history of mankind nicer than Bart Starr and even he had to go as a coach! Time for major coaching changes in Green Bay...
SicSemperTyrannis
January 17, 2026 at 03:50 pm
Campanile wasn't our LB coach this season and the team was worse for it. Although generally speaking I agree with what appears to be your basic sentiment here, that teaching technique is a major component of "draft and develop" and GB simply hasn't been getting that done.
Lare
January 17, 2026 at 10:46 am
"the Packers have won two Super Bowls. And while we’ve been close on so many other occasions, including this year,"
And an opinion from another planet.
Idaho Cheese
January 17, 2026 at 01:14 pm
Which season are you defining as "ellecellence, again"? This one?!? I wonder if any in the front office would agree with you? The players? No? Oh, but the fans should? Of course, I mean the REAL fans, right? I have been one of those "fans" through the 70s and 80s and understood the assignment. I never heard fans boo, even when you could say the play deserved that. Too bad Harlan, Wolf and Holgrem came in and ruined everyone's expectations.