August 10, 2015 at 3:16 p.m.
Shoutouts & Callouts
Wolf's arrival signaled start of Golden Age for the Packers
Shoutouts & Callouts
Packers fans have been spoiled the last two-plus decades with countless division titles, plenty of playoff berths and two Super Bowl titles.
Ron Wolf, the man who single-handedly changed the fortunes of the Packers' franchise, was enshrined Saturday in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
You have to wonder where the Packers would be if Wolf never became the Packers general manager.
A couple of years earlier, the Packers had a shot at future Hall of Famer Barry Sanders with the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, but GM Tom Bratz instead selected lineman Tony Mandarich, who would go down as one of the biggests busts in NFL history.
That was how it was for the Packers in the 1970s and 1980s as the team floundered in its attempts to recapture the success it enjoyed during the Vince Lombardi era.
That changed when Wolf came to town in 1991. Coach Lindy Infante was soon replaced by San Francisco offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren. Wolf pulled the trigger on a trade for a gunslinging quarterback named Brett Favre prior to the 1992 season. In 1993, Wolf lured Reggie White to Green Bay in the infancy of modern-day free agency. The rest, as they say, is history.
Wolf thanked Holmgren, Favre and others for the Packers' metamorphosis Saturday during his acceptance speech, though it was Wolf who made the pivotal calls and set the Packers down their current path.
His legacy still lives on with a number of his former assistants becoming general managers in the league - including Packers GM Ted Thompson, who himself had made a few of organization-changing moves: hiring Mike McCarthy, drafting Aaron Rodgers, bringing in Charles Woodson in free agency and trading away Brett Favre in a deal that eventually led to the selection of Clay Matthews in the draft.
Prolonged runs of success are rare in pro football, but those teams that have accomplished that feat usually have a great synergy between general manager, head coach and elite quarterback. It's been that way for the Packers going on a quarter century now.
For all the parity in the NFL, there are still teams who enter training camp knowing in the back of their minds they do not have much of a chance to be successful. Imagine what it would be like being a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Oakland Raiders - teams that haven't sniffed success in more than a decade and have no immediate hope of a turnaround. That's what it was like for the Packers in the '70s and '80s. Wolf was the man who helped change that.
"There was always a threat to players of other teams that if they didn't shape up, they would be traded to Green Bay," Wolf said during his speech. "We worked hard to eliminate that stigma."
Wolf helped put the "title" back in Titletown and has earned his rightful place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Reggie White has already entered the Hall. Favre and Holmgren will be enshrined soon enough, but Wolf brought them all to Green Bay. For that, all Packers fans should be grateful.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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