Acme Packing Company
The weirder and wilder the better.
It’s the offseason. OTAs are still a few weeks away, and training camp is even farther. Packers-centric conversations are going to wander.
Ours certainly have. In the APC Slack chat, we recently had a discussion about the most random notable Packers moments we’ve seen in person. We’ve published our moments below. What random Packers stuff have you been lucky enough to see with your own eyes?
Tex Western- My most recent Packers game was last December, when I saw a person who does not exist intercept a pass during Green Bay’s drubbing of the New Orleans Saints. But the actual most interesting thing I have seen at Lambeau Field was in an early-season game in 2002 against the Carolina Panthers. Green Bay won the game 17-14, getting a late go-ahead touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Donald Driver before Shayne Graham shanked a 24-yard field goal that would have sent the game to overtime.
But the most fascinating part of this low-scoring game was the Packers’ first touchdown, which came courtesy of Bubba Franks’ golden left arm. Yes, the Packers tight end lofted a 31-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Driver late in the first half to give the Packers a lead going into the break. There was a huge delay for a replay review, however, with the officials initially throwing a flag on the play and ruling Brett Favre’s toss to Franks in the left flat as a forward pass. But the replays made it clear that Favre’s throw traveled a few yards backwards, and the booth review got the call right.
As far as I can tell, this is the only touchdown pass by a tight end in Packers franchise history and it’s one of a very small number by any non-QB since the turn of the century – Ahman Green and Tony Fisher each had one in 2004, while Tim Masthay had a memorable throw to Tom Crabtree in 2012. (And here’s a fun fact to bring it full circle: Fisher’s touchdown pass went to – guess who – Bubba Franks!)
Jon Meerdink - I haven’t seen anything particularly historic in person, but I’ve seen two cool Donald Driver moments. In 2012, I saw him score what would be the final touchdown of his career in an otherwise nondescript win over the Jaguars. I was also there to see him run through about half of the 49ers’ defense in 2010.
As a uniform enthusiast, I was already tickled to see the Packers wear their blue circle alternates for the first time (which might be historically inaccurate?), but Driver’s catch and run was an incredible portion of icing on an already satisfying cake. Seeing the play unfold in person, it wasn’t immediately clear from where I was sitting that he was going to score. Every broken tackle seemed like its own little moment, and it wasn’t until he shed a defender around the 10-yard line that I realized “holy crap, he’s going...
