It has been over a decade since the Green Bay Packers won the most recent of their four Super Bowl titles, but they still remain one of the most successful teams in NFL history.
Only four teams – the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers – have more Super Bowls than the Packers.
And if you dare to look beyond the Super Bowl era, the Packers have won more NFL championships than any other team, boasting 13 triumphs in total.
Indeed, Green Bay were the dominant force at the inception of the Super Bowl, winning the first two installments in 1967 and 1968, but the title has become much more elusive in recent times, with the franchise claiming just two victories since that 1968 success.
At the start of every season, optimistic Packers fans hope that it will be their year; and with sports betting now a big part of the American game, some fans even go to the extent of putting their money on Green Bay to become champions again. Unfortunately, that has not happened a lot in recent times. Good job American sportsbooks have many NFL betting promotions to somewhat compensate for the lost bets!
Titles may have been hard to come by, but Green Bay’s imprint is etched on the Super Bowl every year, with the championship trophy named after Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach who guided the Packers in their triumphs in Super Bowls I and II.
In this article, we relive all four of Green Bay Packers championship rings.
1966-1967: Super Bowl No. 1
The 1966-67 season marked the first time when the AFL winners and the NFL winners would meet in a final game to decide the champions for the season.
As at then, the title decider was still called the AFL – NFL Championship game, but it was retrospectively renamed Super Bowl I, after the title “Super Bowl” was officially adopted for the big game in 1969.
Green Bay had been the team to beat in the NFL in the early-to-mid 1960s, winning the league in 1961, 1962 and 1965, and they continued that form in the 1966-67 campaign, amassing a league-best 12-2 record to win the NFL western conference.
The Packers then took down Eastern conference winners, Dallas Cowboys in the NFL decider game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas to set up a historic meeting with AFL champions, Kansas City Chiefs.
Staged at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Kansas gave as good as they got in the opening half, trailing 14-10 at half time, but Green Bay powered away in the second half of the contest, scoring 21 unanswered points to confirm their pre-game status as hot favorites and claim an ultimately comfortable 35-10 victory.
Quarterback, Bart Starr was named Super Bowl MVP.
1967-1968: Super Bowl No. 2
In 1968, the NFL expanded to 16 teams and split into four divisions. Green Bay Packers won the Central Division with a 9-4-1 record, before scoring a 28-7 victory over Coastal Division winners, Los Angeles Rams in the Western Conference play-off.
That took the Packers to yet another NFL Championship game, where they took on the Dallas Cowboys for a second straight season in a game that remains one of the most memorable in American football history.
Dubbed the Ice Bowl because of the incredibly cold weather conditions at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, the home side flew out of the blocks to open a 14-0 lead, but Dallas roared back impressively to take a 17-14 lead, only to be undone by a late Packers touchdown with seconds left on the clock. That game remains the coldest in NFL history.
An incredible contest ended with Packers advancing the Super Bowl for a second successive year, with AFC champions, Oakland Raiders emerging as their opponents.
Staged at Miami’s Orange Bowl, Super Bowl II was less dramatic than then NFL championship game, with Green Bay controlling the Raiders for much of the contest before emerging with a 33-14 victory.
1996-1997: Super Bowl No. 3
After winning the first two Super Bowls, not many would have predicted that it would take another 30 odd years before the Green Bay Packers returned to the big match.
But that was exactly what happened.
Lombardi stepped down as head coach after the 1968 Super Bowl, prompting a prolonged period of underperformance from the former champions.
It wasn’t until the 1990s, and the hiring of coach Mike Holmgren and acquisition of quarterback Brett Favre that the Packers began to rediscover their feet.
Holmgren arrived in 1992, and after a few promising seasons, finally returned Green Bay to the Super Bowl in 1997.
They finished top of the NFC Central Division with a 13-3 record, and proceeded to defeat San Francisco 49ers 35-14 in the Divisional play-offs.
That earned them a return to the NFC championship match, where they scored a 30-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
And off they went to the Louisiana Superdome for their first Super Bowl since 1968, with the New England Patriots as the opponents.
An electric opening quarter saw Green Bay open up a 10-0 lead, but New England ended the quarter on a 14-0 run, taking a 4-point lead into the break.
The Packers dominated the second period, scoring 17 unanswered points to establish a 27-14 half time lead. From there, Green Bay largely controlled the ballgame, and ran out 35-21 winners to claim their third Super Bowl and maintain their perfect record in the big match. Wide receiver Desmond Howard was named MVP.
2010-2011: Super Bowl No. 4
Following their 1997 triumph, Green Bay put together an impressive defense of the title, going all the way to the Super Bowl in 1998.
But their perfect Super Bowl record was soiled in that Californian final, as they fell to the Denver Broncos.
They did not return to the Super Bowl again until 2011.
Holmgren left after the 1998 season, and was soon followed through the exit door by general manager Ronald Wolf in 2001, signaling the end of another Parkers era. They remained competitive through the next few seasons, but didn’t have enough to get over the line, until the 2010-2011 campaign.
Green Bay’s 10-6 record in the 2010 regular season was by no means their most spectacular, but it was good enough to earn them a berth in the post-season.