Week 3, Chargers
Who wishes he wore shorts to the game today?
Me and about 10,000 other people I’m sure. Talk about unexpected weather. All we ever hear from people here when referring to the weather is “you wait” or “have you brought your jackets?” The former is usually followed with a smile, giggle or hearty laugh as they look at us with friendly concern. Now I’m sure I’ll look back on this post in 8 weeks and wish it was as nice as it was today but for now I’m going to say if this is Wisconsin weather then give me more of it.
I missed the bus again today but I guess that is becoming the norm so I wont spend any more time on it. What I do want to talk about is the game. That was absolutely incredible. A win against the much fancied San Diego Chargers making it 3 straight to kick-off the season 3 and 0. Our 7th consecutive win taking into account last year. Brett’s 38th come from behind victory, his 60th 3 or more touchdown game and the record equalling 420th touchdown pass. (For all of our Australian friends, this means that of all of the Quarterbacks to play in the entire history of this game, dating back almost 100 years, Brett has just equalled the best.)
The beauty of the win I think comes from the fact that we didn’t play a perfect game to beat these guys. Amongst all the excitement we had crucial penalties that cost us where it counted. Dropped passes, one in the end zone and missed opportunities that could easily have cost us this win. To take the game after missing the end-zone from 1st and 1 on the 1 - 5 times, showed that this team, has the courage and the tenacity to fight for a win not just take the lead and blow the opposition out.
After being at both the Eagles and the Giants games it has become fairly obvious that a football stadium for almost 4 hours is no place for 2 boys under 3 years of age. That said I came to the game without Kelly, Ben and Luc again. I did however sit with the Father of some friends we have made since being here and like in New York it was good to have someone to chat to along the way.
I sat behind the end-zone this week and again I can confirm what everybody has forever said about this venue, there isn’t a bad seat in the house. This has become somewhat a feature of each game in itself. Not ever sitting in the same seat twice means that I can experience the stadium from every side with a view from every angle. I calculated the time difference between here and Sydney before kick-off and realised that if we didn’t take this trip I’d be sitting in my old office, Outlook, PowerPoint and most-likely half a dozen other programs open whilst I flicked between them and NFL.com to follow the typed action, play-by-play. How things have changed.
Thankfully this week, after the head-rush that was my first experience at Lambeau, I was able to focus on the game and enjoy it for the spectacle that it is. I worried as the Chargers were first to score only to rejoice in the fact that we were able to score 17 unanswered points to lead 17-7. I watched nervously as the Chargers drove some 80 yards late in the 2nd to shave our lead to 3 going into half-time. I began to worry, after seeing Phil Rivers complete 15 consecutive passes and drive the Lightning Bolts another 80 yards to take the lead back, 21-17 at the beginning of the 3rd.
I don’t know if it was just me but the 3rd quarter, now that we were behind, seemed to be over in a second. Before I knew it, it was mid-way through the 4th, we were still trailing and the day was almost over. We missed our 5 shots (courtesy of a penalty) at goal from the 1, then the 6, then the 6 then the 7 and again the 1 and it seemed that without a super-human effort, with just 5 and a half minutes to go, things were looking grim. Not just that but the taunting from what few Chargers fans were in the crowd seemed to add insult to injury.
I’d say we were lucky but the defence came up massive and stopped the Chargers with 2:18 remaining giving us what looked to be one last shot at going 57 yards to win the game. At the same time, we had to manage the clock to avoid giving San Diego the ball back with the game in their hands.
I know I’ve said earlier on in the piece that I’d leave the sports writing to the pro’s and focus on my experience at the games but everything I’ve just written leads to the next 71 seconds. You see, at this point in the game we had been behind by 7, ahead by 10 and behind by 4. I had been nervous, excited, ecstatic and concerned all within the space of an hour or so. Hoping and praying that we could put a solid drive together, Brett, after an incompletion threw a slant to Greg Jennings on 2nd and 10 and he flies 50 yards after the catch to score a touchdown that in taking the entire stadium by surprise, blew the absolute lid off it. Nobody, least of all the Chargers secondary saw a 57-yard touchdown pass coming from mid-field with just over 2 minutes to go. The stadium and I mean all 72,000 people went from “please Brett please” to deafening ecstasy at the drop of a hat. It wasn’t just the excitement of a game-winning touchdown pass. It was the fact that we had come from behind, “toughed it out” and fought for every yard we needed to make the score. It may be remembered forever as Brett’s record equalling 420th touchdown pass but for me it’ll be the legs on number 85 and the sounds of this crowd rising as one that will stay with me for as long as I’m here.
Ahead 24-21 the none-too familiar “De-Fence De-Fence” chant rang out amongst the faithful and 50 seconds into what could have been a devasting drive by the visitors, Nick Barnett takes an intercept on the 38 and returns it 36 yards to the 2 yard line. I’ve got butterflies writing this because I still can’t believe that I’m here let alone experiencing the type of tide-turning play that I was. Just 5 seconds later Brandon Jackson takes the ball a yard into the end-zone to have us leading 31-17.
To say that this place, this team is something special is an understatement. I know I sound like a real blabber-guts when I talk about the emotion of what is essentially a football game, but what happened out there in that last minute and a bit makes you want to believe that anything can happen if you are committed enough to get out there and fight for it. Some people have difficulty understanding how footballers and other sportspeople can be held in such high regard - as idols, heroes and role-models. I challenge those people to experience what happened today, first-hand, amongst this crowd and see if their minds are changed. These men showed us how to push that little bit more, how to fight for what you want and how succeed against an opposition that not many gave them the chance of beating. In 60-odd seconds, if only for a few seconds, this team had some 5 million people believing and a country of football fans in a daze.
The crowd was electric, the noise was deafening and the music rang out for all to hear. Its instructions, in true Badgers style (University of Wisconsin) were to “Jump around” and that’s what every single one of us was doing. I was sitting within range of people 25 years older than I and 25 years younger and there wasn’t a single person that didn’t do as they were told – “Jump up jump up and get down, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump.....”
The win was great, the crowd was awesome and the atmosphere filing out into the car park was incredible. Add a deliciously tasty, if not a little squashed Brat with Kraut and an icy cold beer straight out of a souvenir cup and you’ve got one heck of a Summers Day at Lambeau.
I look back on the last few weeks and can’t believe that my family and I are actually here. I will never again be able to say that I’m off to see my first game at Lambeau Field like I did against the Eagles. I’ll never again sit in quiet awe like I did when I finally took my seat. In 3 weeks I’ve seen my first, my second and my third win. My family and I have travelled to one of the most fantastic cities in the world to watch our Packers play but today, I experienced more than I thought I could at a game of football. Thanks to today I can now say that I will never again see my first 4th quarter comeback or ever live to think that I have experienced all that I think I can.
Being here so far has been worth every cent. Getting to go with Kelly in the next few weeks though will most certainly be the icing on the cake.
