These Heartland Guys May Deserve Our Hearts

If it is really absolutely necessary that America have a team to call its very own, then one worthy of that title emerged Sunday night.

The Packers of Green Bay are what we have become unaccustomed to in our athletic mercenaries. They are actually likable.

Also trustworthy, reverent, mannered, felon-free, without any visible arrogance, not pictured on post-office walls and, oh, yes, quite capable of knocking you into next week. And then helpfully assisting you to the sideline, if not the hospital.

It is more comforting to consider the Packers America’s Team than those Dallas rapscallions. They are from the heartland, and they display heartland values.

With the help of a game but overmatched opponent, they made their return to glory official Sunday night in Super Bowl XXXI. They beat the Patriots of New England, 35-21, and did so because they were better and more versatile and because the Patriots were mostly one-dimensional.

The Patriots had Drew Bledsoe, alias When-In-Doubt-Air-It-Out. He threw and he threw and he threw. But you sling it 50 times a game and it is inevitable that a few of your efforts will find their way into enemy paws. Last night, four did.

The Packers had no such limitations. They got three touchdowns from their quarterback, backcountry Mississippi boy Brett Favre. But they also got several football fields worth of punt and kickoff returns from the elusive Desmond Howard, the game’s MVP. And they were able to mix in just enough running to keep the Patriots’ defense off-balance.

In all, it was a classic effort by a well-rounded team.

This was not a surprise. The Packers began the season as almost everyone’s choice to do what they did last night. This championship was four years in the making. It was justly deserved.

It was also a culmination for Reggie White, arguably the best defensive end in pro football history and also an exemplary citizen. For all his many and varied individual achievements, never, at any level, had White won a championship.

He contributed heavily Sunday night, frequently demanding double-teaming and then performing back-to-back Monster Mash sacks of Bledsoe. When it was over, he wept. So did many of his teammates as they came to him with embraces. White has been both mentor and good-luck talisman for the Pack.

When the triumph was complete, White, as is his custom, gathered with some players from both teams to kneel at midfield in prayer. As is not always the case, there was not a whiff of hypocrisy. The Reverend White always has walked his talk.

The game was better than most Super Bowls. Indeed, it started off as a shootout, with 24 points in the first quarter, Favre and Bledsoe throwing so fast and so furiously, the game didn’t need officials as much as air traffic controllers.

But the single most important trend of the game was set early: New England was calling four passing plays for each run. That offense was lopsided, and it was doomed to fail. But it sure was fun to watch.

The Pack took a 27-14 lead into halftime, which was a 20-minute interlude full of sound and fury and signifying nothing of significance that was discernible.

On a happier and more wholesome note, there were no felons participating in this game. And the winning team is Heartland America in every sense, a team of which any league would be proud.

Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.