Worst moments in Green Bay Packers history
What are the worst moments for each NFL franchise? Yahoo Sports provides our opinion, which you are free to disagree with (and we’re sure you will).
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5. The Hadl trade
This really happened: After the Green Bay Packers started 3-3 in 1974, coach Dan Devine traded five draft picks for 34-year-old quarterback John Hadl. Devine gave the Rams first-, second- and third-round choices in 1975 and first- and second-round choices in 1976 (imagine the social media reaction if that trade went down today). Then, Hadl absolutely stunk with the Packers. The Packers went 7-12 with Hadl in 1974 and 1975, with Hadl throwing nine touchdowns and 29 interceptions (!) during his Packers tenure. Green Bay made the playoffs just once between that trade and 1993. It’s one of the worst transactions in NFL history.
4. 15-1 and one-and-done
Nobody will fondly remember the 2011 Packers, even though they were 15-1 and one of the best teams in recent NFL history. That’s what happens when you lose your playoff opener. The Packers started the season 13-0, including a win over the New York Giants on the road. But their quest toward greatest ever was halted in their first playoff game, when they were dominated by the New York Giants, 37-20. With that, they lost a shot at back-to-back titles and a chance to be remembered as one of the greatest teams ever.
3. Charles Martin slams Jim McMahon
In the mid-1980s, the Packers were an embarrassment on and off the field. They were consistent losers and also had plenty of players get in trouble off the field. Sports Illustrated’s Frank Deford wrote an unflattering piece in 1987 and asked if the publicly owned Packers should sell the franchise to Milwaukee and move there. If there’s one low point from that low era, it was in 1986 when defensive end Charles Martin picked up Bears quarterback Jim McMahon and slammed him after an interception. It was perhaps the cheapest shot in NFL history, it ended McMahon’s season and Martin’s slam was the moment the Packers sunk to being the NFL’s worst franchise.
2. Collapse in Seattle
The Packers have had a ton of heartbreaking playoff losses. When the famous “4th-and-26” catch by Philadelphia Eagles receiver Freddie Mitchell that led to a Packers loss doesn’t make this list, you know there are some rough defeats. The worst this century came in the NFC championship game at the end of the 2014 season against the Seattle Seahawks. The Packers led 19-7 with a little more than two minutes left. Seattle scored, got an onside kick when Green Bay tight end Brandon Bostick inexplicably tried fielding it and fumbled, and the Seahawks scored again to take the lead. The Packers somehow tied it, but Seattle’s Jermaine Kearse scored a touchdown on the first drive in overtime to seal a brutal loss for Green Bay.
1. Upset by the Broncos
The Packers looked like a potential dynasty going into the 1997 season. They won Super Bowl XXXI and then made it right back to Super Bowl XXXII, where just about everyone expected them to beat the Denver Broncos. Then, Terrell Davis led one of the greatest upsets in football history, John Elway helicopter spun on his way to a ring and disappointed Packers general manager Ron Wolf told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Bob McGinn after the game, “We’re a one-year wonder, just a fart in the wind.” The Packers never made another Super Bowl with Brett Favre, and nobody in Green Bay has gotten over that loss.