A Look Back: Green Bay Super Bowl History

As you may know by now, the Green Bay Packers will be facing off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, set to begin at 6:30 ET on February 6, 2011. The game will feature two of football's most legendary franchises squaring off in the home of another legendary franchise in the Dallas Cowboys. Both the Packers and the Steelers have been to multiple Super Bowls before, and here we'll be taking a look at those Super Bowl moments, starting with the Packers.

SUPER BOWL I
Prior to Super Bowl I, the Packers had already been dominant in the National Football League, winning 9 NFL championships in all. The first ever Super Bowl was the culmination of a major battle between two rivaling professional football leagues in the NFL and AFL (American Football League). Compared to the already established NFL, the AFL was squandering "wannabe" league that challenged the NFL in everything from television audiences to players' contractual rights. The first Super Bowl (held after the merger of the leagues in 1966) featured the greatest franchises of each league at the time, in the Green Bay Packers of the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL. The Packers, featuring legendary players like Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, and Jerry Kramer, along with legendary coach Vince Lombardi, kept the game close before pulling away in the second half and destroying the Chiefs 35-10. The Packers had won the Super Bowl I, and Bart Starr was named the MVP.

SUPER BOWL II
In 1968, the Packers once again represented the NFL in Super Bowl II, with the Oakland Raiders representing the AFL. Oakland had crushed its AFL opponents en route to their first Super Bowl berth. Many experts believed that although Oakland was tough and Green Bay wasn't as good as last year, Green Bay still had the edge due to their level of competition in the NFL. The experts were right as Green Bay scorched the Raiders from the very start, and never looked back. The final score was 33-14, sealing another victory for the NFL over the AFL. It wouldn't be until next year that the AFL would gain its first Super Bowl victory, and change the face of the two leagues forever.

SUPER BOWL XXXI
Fast forward about 30 years and we arrive at Super Bowl XXXI between the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots. Green Bay featured some of the best players in the league, including a young quarterback named Brett Favre and a veteran defensive end in Reggie White. The Patriots were also respectable in their own right, with key players like Drew Bledsoe and Curtis Martin, along with coach Bill Parcells. Green Bay and New England kept it close, with running back Curtis Martin scoring a touchdown in the 3rd quarter that narrowed the Green Bay lead to 6. But Desmond Howard, a legendary return man in his own right, returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, sealing a Green Bay win and their third Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl history.

SUPER BOWL XXXII
The Pack returned in force for Super Bowl XXXII, with Brett Favre winning his third consecutive NFL MVP award. Favre and the Pack were determined to become repeat champions, but it was not to be as John Elway and Terrell Davis narrowly escaped another Brett Favre miracle, clinching a 31-24 win.