I love everything about this video. Every. Single. Thing. Pre-renovation Lambeau Field, the grainy standard-def video quality, blaze orange and Starter jackets all over the stadium, snow coming down, Lambeau turf chewed up for the final regular season game of the year, Christmas Eve, all of it.
This is one of those Packer games that I will always remember fondly. I was 11 years old and doing what I did for every Packer game at that point in my life: Watching it with my family in our living room on 6th Street in Sheboygan. Getting set to go to Grandma’s house for Christmas Eve! This was year #4 of the renaissance in Green Bay, and we all knew a win would break down the ‘division title’ barrier that the franchise hadn’t crossed since 1972. Another stepping stone en route to what we hoped would be a Lombardi Trophy. The Steelers were the cream of the crop in the AFC, they were driving late, and when Neil O’Donnell reared back with that last pass and the camera panned over to see Yancy Thigpen WIDE OPEN in the end zone, we all thought our dreams were about to be shattered.
But then? A true Festivus Miracle! One of the best wide receivers in the NFL that season inexplicably dropped his easiest reception of the year. Maybe his gloves were slick from the snow, maybe his fingers still had butter on them from a pregame meal at Kroll’s, maybe it was the ghost of Vince Lombardi, but I remember losing my mind when the realization set in that the Packers were going to win the game and the divison. Pandamonium at Lambeau. Panadamonium at Younkers in Sheboygan that afternoon as we all rushed out the door to get our NFC Central Champs swag.
I’d argue that Yancey Thigpen deserves a spot in the Packer Hall of Fame. Right nex to Nathaniel Poole. Happy birthday, Yancey!
PS: Given how long it had been since the Packers had won the divsion, we didn’t care at all what the hats looked like. But looking back on it? YEESH:
You know how they say “less is more”? The designer of this hat took that to the extreme. It looks like a project that was turned in last minute when you had the whole semester to get something more extravagant accomplished. Basically this is the hat representation of my senior year in Point.
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