On one July afternoon, a large crowd rallied outside Lambeau Field, demanding Favre be reinstated as Green Bay’s starting quarterback.
Amazingly, Aaron Rodgers — the man who eventually replaced Favre — is in his own struggle against the Packers today.
On April 29, work leaked that Rodgers doesn’t want to play for the Packers again.
Bill Michaels, who does a statewide radio show, asked listeners who’s to blame for the current mess.
“Aaron is so calculated that I’m sure he felt coming off an MVP season he’d have all the fans on his side,” one AFC executive told me Friday.
For the most part, Wisconsinites are tough, hearty folk that show up to work each day regardless of their beefs.
At one point in the summer of 2008, Green Bay was losing the public relations battle so badly that it called in one-time White House press secretary Ari Fleischer for counsel.
“Immediately, the backlash was focused on Rodgers because of when the story broke,” said Bart Winkler, who hosts an award-winning morning show on WSSP in Milwaukee.
With Rodgers dug in for the time being, and the Packers certain not to trade him until the salary cap ramifications aren’t as severe next month, this battle figures to linger into June.
I have covered the Green Bay Packers for several media outlets since 2001, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s “Packer Plus” and currently Conley Media.