Duh ‘Boys New Nemesis For Packers

A crowd of 40,000 showed up at Lambeau Field for Green Bay’s intrasquad scrimmage last month, and the Packers were serenaded with chants of “Bring on Dallas” and “Super Bowl.” Expectations have shot through the roof in 1996.

And well they should. In their final four football games of 1995, the Packers beat defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco and eventual AFC champion Pittsburgh and also led eventual NFC champion Dallas in the fourth quarter. But the Cowboys rallied to beat the Packers in the NFC title game on their way to a third Super Bowl this decade.

An argument can be made that the Cowboys won’t be as good in ‘96 as they were in ‘95. They took their usual round of hits in free agency, losing four more starters on defense, and also must play the first five games without Pro Bowl receiver Michael Irvin because of an NFL suspension.

An argument also can be made that the Packers will be better in ‘96 than they were in ‘95. Veteran additions Santana Dotson at tackle, Ron Cox at linebacker and Eugene Robinson at safety improve the defense, and rookie wide receiver Derrick Mayes upgrades the offense.

The overwhelming mood in Green Bay is that ‘96 can be a special season.

“The people are excited around here,” Packers’ Coach Mike Holmgren said. “Everyone’s up. It’s a wonderful place to be right now.”

But looming on the schedule is a November game in Dallas and another, presumably, in January. The Packers have played in Dallas in the playoffs each of the past three Januarys - and lost each time.

“People come up to me and say, ‘I’m the biggest Green Bay Packer fan of all time. But if you can’t beat Dallas, I may as well be a Cowboys fan,”’ Packers’ safety Leroy Butler said. “That’s like spitting on me.

“People want winners. They feel they can just jump on the Dallas bandwagon. Well, we want to knock off the king of the hill and be the new champion. But it’s really getting urgent. We want to achieve that goal, and the only way to achieve it would be to beat them.”

The last time there was this much excitement for the Packers was in 1966-67, when they won back-to-back Super Bowls. Both times they beat the Cowboys in NFL title games. All of Green Bay wants the Packers to win another Super Bowl - but the town also wants the Packers to again beat the Cowboys along the way.

There’s a hatred for the Cowboys brewing in Green Bay that’s starting to rival that in San Francisco.

“This is no longer a beat-the-Bears town any more,” Butler said. “They don’t care about the Bears any more. The fans tell us, ‘We hear you hollering all this Super Bowl crap … Well, beat Dallas. If you can’t beat Dallas, you’re just another team with some talent. So what?”’

No one knows the magnitude of that task better than NFL MVP Brett Favre. He has been a Dallas watcher from afar and has become an admirer. When he sits down during the season to study films of Troy Aikman, he shakes his head at the proficiency of the team around him.

“I’m amazed at how smooth their team is and how easily they can beat people,” Favre said. “We can go into a place and we’re better than they are, but we struggle a little bit. They don’t. It seems like when they want to - like after we jumped out on them (in the NFC title game) - all of a sudden they’ll say, ‘We’ve had enough of this,’ and march 99 yards. They’re pretty amazing.

“The last few years when they’ve wanted to they could beat anyone. As much as you hate them, they’re pretty darn good. They really are. You respect that and appreciate that. When I look back at (our playoff losses), I think we got beat by a helluva football team.”

But Green Bay fans argue that their Packers have not been playing on a level field with the Cowboys. Green Bay has played six consecutive games in Dallas over the past three years and lost them all.

Ranking Wannstedt

Jim Harbaugh, who found a second career in Indianapolis, still obviously hasn’t forgotten that Coach Dave Wannstedt got rid of him in Chicago.

When Harbaugh heard reports that Wannstedt wasn’t high on two former Bears who signed with the Colts as free agents, Troy Auzenne and Jay Leeuwenburg, Harbaugh said, “I told Jay and Troy, ‘Don’t worry about it. Dave Wannstedt is not the best judge of talent.’ I said ‘I wouldn’t let it hurt your feelings because his track record isn’t the best.’ “

Irvin for hire?

After 12,851 fans attended the preseason opener for the lame duck Houston Oilers last week, the team’s radio announcer, Tom Franklin, said: “The Oilers were so desperate for fans they offered Michael Irvin four hours of community service if he’d show up.”

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