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Holmgren Not Harping On Packers History

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By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 12, 2008

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Green Bay Packers history engulfed Mike Holmgren as he nervously sat in the Lambeau Field lobby before his job interview in 1992.

"The lobby was a collage of pictures," Holmgren said. "As a youngster, I remembered all those players. I memorized their names. You just see them and you see pictures of Coach Vince Lombardi and I drove in on Lombardi Avenue.

"I'm going, 'Whoa, Bart Starr' and the great players that were coaches there later on. What I tried to do at the time, and I was kind of soaking that in as a fan, was that I absolutely had to be myself."

Holmgren's originality helped him become the Packers' head coach that year. It also did not hurt that he was San Francisco's offensive coordinator from 1989-91 and a pupil of 49ers coach Bill Walsh, another coaching legend.

Ten years after his departure, Holmgren returns again to Lambeau Field today with the similar aura of Green Bay's legendary fixtures.

Holmgren will lead Seattle (11-6), the team he has coached the past nine years, against Green Bay (13-3) in the NFC divisional playoffs. Four years ago, the Seahawks fell to the Packers, 33-27 in overtime, at Lambeau. Once again, he will remind his players about the Packers' history and then move on.

"Of course, we talked to the players about Lambeau Field and those types of things. I think you automatically do that. Then, it's done," Holmgren said. "You don't want to over-sell it or over-talk about it."

Holmgren speaks from experience.

He coached Green Bay for seven seasons, compiling a 75-37 record and leading the Packers to three straight NFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl appearances and one championship in the 1996 season before his departure in 1998.

Holmgren was so successful and revered there was a street near Lambeau Field named after him.

"I think when we dedicated the street, I drove down it. That was quite something," Holmgren said. "We had the little five-piece polka band right over here."

Holmgren also was the maestro for the career of Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre, who eventually will retire and be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame five years later.

Under Holmgren's leadership, Favre won three consecutive MVP awards, plus a Super Bowl ring.

"Holmgren and I have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. That will never change," Favre said. "I think the world of him and I wouldn't be here today without him. We've gone on our separate ways, but there's a lot of him still within the way I play today."

Holmgren's influence on Favre is similar to his influence on Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who was a sixth-round draft choice by the Packers in 1998. Hasselbeck played there for three seasons before Holmgren, who originally was Seattle's executive vice president/general manager/coach in 1999, gave up a first-round pick in 2001 for him.

It was a trade Favre predicted and Hasselbeck doubted.

"No one ever told me anything," Favre said. "I just had this gut feeling. I really felt like, deep down inside, he would be crazy not to. I thought he was a perfect fit. ... But he thought I was crazy."

The only foolish thing was anyone questioning why Holmgren wanted Hasselbeck to join the Seahawks.

Hasselbeck has thrown for 22,188 yards and 140 touchdowns since arriving in Seattle, leading his team to five consecutive postseason appearances and the Super Bowl in the 2005 season.

"I don't know if I'm even in that category. It's really Brett Favre and Mike Holmgren," Hasselbeck said. "They're the ones that really did a lot of things special in Green Bay; took their team to two consecutive Super Bowls, won one. Brett won three MVPs while they were together; really turned that franchise around, put them right back into the playoffs year after year.

"For me, I was 17 games on the practice squad and then the backup quarterback for the next two years. Starting holder, that's probably my claim to fame there. We had a couple of fake field goals, screwed up the end zone celebration on one of them. I'm not in their league at all."

Holmgren understands Hasselbeck fully. He once had the same sentiment sitting in the Packers' lobby years ago.

"Our time there was great, it really was," Holmgren said. "It was a very unique place; it's small, no owner really, no one owner. Wonderful atmosphere to coach in. Looking back on it, as I think about the other teams I talked to, it really was the absolute best decision I ever made."

Reporter Anwar S. Richardson can be reached at (813) 259-8425 or arichardson@tampatrib.com.

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