The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers have competed in the National Football League (NFL) since 1921, two years after their original founding by Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. [1] They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) and play their home games at Lambeau Field in central Wisconsin. [2] [3] The early era of the NFL and American football in general was not conducive to passing the football, with the forward pass not being legalized until the early 1900s and not fully adopted for many more years. [4] Although the quarterback position has historically been the one to receive the snap and thus handle the football on every offensive play, [5] the importance of the position during this era was limited by various rules, like having to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage before a forward pass could be attempted. [6] These rules and the tactical focus on rushing the ball limited the importance of the quarterback position while enhancing the value of different types of backs, such as the halfback and the fullback. [7] Some of these backs were considered triple-threat men, capable of rushing, passing or kicking the football, making it common for multiple players to attempt a pass during a game. [8]
As rules changed and the NFL began adopting a more pass-centric approach to offensive football, the importance of the quarterback position grew. [6] [7] Beginning in 1950, total wins and losses by a team's starting quarterback were tracked. [9] Throughout the late 20th century and early 21st century, the significance of the position has grown exponentially. [7] The modern starting quarterback is often viewed as the leader of the team and its player spokesperson. [5] The position is often the highest paid player on an NFL team's roster, with teams assigning significant resources in trying to draft, acquire or trade for a franchise quarterback. [10] [11] These resources are based on the high expectations placed on the position, which include handling the ball on every offensive play (whether it be to pass the ball or hand it off to another player), relaying plays (or sometimes calling plays themselves) to the offense and understanding every teammate's role, formation and responsibility for every play. [5] The emergence of the dual-threat quarterback has also seen additional focus on the position, with quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen leading their team in both passing and rushing yards during any given game. [12]
Prior to 1950, the Packers had numerous players identified as playing the quarterback position, including Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Arnie Herber. [13] However, the combination of unreliable statistics in the early era of the NFL and the differences in the early quarterback position make tracking starts by quarterbacks impractical for this timeframe. Since 1950 however, the Packers have had 33 starting quarterbacks in the history of their franchise. Five of those quarterbacks each made over 70 starts and between them started over 75% of the team's games in that time period, with varying levels of success. [9] Tobin Rote, who started 73 games in the 1950s, and Lynn Dickey, who started in 101 games in the late 1970s and early 1980s, saw little on-field success. [14] [15] However, Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers all led the Packers to Super Bowl victories, with Starr winning five NFL championships in the 1960s. [16] [17] [18] All three quarterbacks were named the NFL's Most Valuable Player at least once in their careers. [19] Favre started the most games as quarterback for the Packers, both in the regular season (253) and during the playoffs (22). [20] Favre never missed one start with the Packers, contributing to his NFL record of 321 consecutive starts by a quarterback. [21] After Favre was traded to the New York Jets, Rodgers took over as starting quarterback, a role he would hold for 15 seasons. [22] [23] Combined, from Favre's first start in 1992 to Rodgers' last start in 2022, the two quarterbacks started 476 out of 495 possible regular season games. [9] After Rodgers was traded to the Jets in 2022, the Packers named Jordan Love starting quarterback for the 2023 NFL season. [24] Love started all 17 regular season games and 2 playoff games for the Packers in 2023. [25]
† | Inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame | ||||
‡ | Inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame | ||||
Quarterback | Seasons with the Packers | Seasons with at least one start as QB | Games started | Record | Refs | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | % [lower-alpha 1] | |||||
Lynn Dickey † | 1976 – 85 | 1982 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | [32] [15] |
Brett Favre ‡ | 1992 – 2007 | 1993 – 98, 2001 – 04, 07 | 22 | 12 | 10 | .545 | [20] [17] |
Scott Hunter | 1971 – 73 | 1972 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | [39] |
Jordan Love | 2020 – 23 | 2023 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | [25] |
Aaron Rodgers | 2005 – 22 | 2009 – 16, 19–21 | 21 | 11 | 10 | .524 | [23] |
Bart Starr ‡ | 1956 – 71 | 1960 – 62, 65–67 | 10 | 9 | 1 | .900 | [50] [16] |
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, dating back to 1919, and is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Home games have been played at Lambeau Field since 1957. They have the most wins of any NFL franchise.
Michael John McCarthy is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). From 2006 to 2018, he was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. In 2011, McCarthy led the team to a win in Super Bowl XLV over his hometown team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. McCarthy was previously the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints.
Donald "Majik" Vincent Majkowski is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, and Detroit Lions. He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers.
Aaron Charles Rodgers is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, before being selected in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, spending 18 seasons with the team. He is regarded among the greatest and most talented quarterbacks of all time.
Sterling Sharpe is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, and played in the NFL from 1988 to 1994 with the Packers in a career shortened by a neck injury. He became an analyst for the NFL Network. He is the older brother of Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe.
Clifford Lynn Dickey is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats and was selected in the third round of the 1971 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers, where he spent his first five seasons. Dickey was a member of the Packers for his remaining 10 seasons, leading them in 1982 to their first playoff appearance since 1972 and victory since 1967. He also led the league in passing touchdowns during the 1983 season. For his accomplishments with the franchise, he was inducted to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1992.
Frank Mitchell Winters is an American former professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Green Bay Packers. He played college football for the Western Illinois Leathernecks.
Ted Thompson was an American professional football player and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He was the general manager of the Green Bay Packers from 2005 to 2017. Thompson had a 10-year playing career in the NFL as a linebacker and special teams player with the Houston Oilers from 1975 to 1984.
Brett Lorenzo Favre is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 2010, including 297 regular season games, the most in league history. He was also the first NFL quarterback to obtain 70,000 yards, 10,000 passes, 6,000 completions, 500 touchdowns, and victories over all 32 teams.
The Bears–Packers rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. The two teams have a combined 70 members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, have won a combined 22 NFL championships, and includes five Super Bowl championships. They hold the top two spots for most wins all-time; the Bears had the record from 1921 until 2022, when the Packers took over in a game between the two teams, who were tied at 786 wins going into the game.
Jordan Alexander Love is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah State Aggies, where he was named to the second-team All-MWC (2018) and was selected as the MVP of the 2018 New Mexico Bowl. After announcing that he would forgo his senior year of college, Love was drafted by the Packers in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He served as the back-up quarterback to starter Aaron Rodgers for three years, before being named the starting quarterback of the Packers for the 2023 NFL season. During his first season as a starter, Love recorded over 4,000 passing yards and threw 32 touchdowns while leading the Packers to a victory in the playoffs.
The 49ers–Packers rivalry is an American football rivalry between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers. As the 49ers play in the NFC West, and the Packers play in the NFC North, both teams do not play every year; instead, they play once every three years and at least once every six seasons at each team's home stadium due to the NFL's rotating division schedules during which their divisions are paired up. Additionally, not only both teams could meet in the playoffs, but also if they finish in the same place in their respective divisions, they would play the ensuing season. The rivalry became prominent during the 1990s, as the Brett Favre-led Packers defeated the Steve Young-led 49ers in three of four playoff meetings. In the 2005 NFL Draft, the 49ers selected Alex Smith with the first overall selection, passing on northern California native Aaron Rodgers; Green Bay later selected Rodgers with the 24th pick. Since Rodgers became the Packers' starter in 2008, the Packers and 49ers met in the playoffs five times, four with Rodgers, though the 49ers have won all five of these meetings.