Monday, December 17, 2012

Deck the Hall, Part II

On their way to winning another NFC North Division Championship yesterday, the Packers participated in the NFL's second week of commemorating fifty years of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

That meant another jersey patch, this time on the white roads.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) and linebacker Clay Matthews (52) talk while warming up before an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Seeing elite players like Matthews and Rodgers wearing the patch is one thing, but I can't help but wonder if other men on that field have mixed feelings about it, knowing that the vast majority of them will need a ticket to enter the Hall?

I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but there can't be many more appropriate events to commemorate the Hall of Fame than a game between these two clubs. As strong as the connection is between the Hall and the Packers, it might even be more so for the Bears. They currently have 27 players enshrined in Canton, more even than the Packers. For now.

Is it just me, or do the Bears save their throwbacks for when the Packers come to town? You can dress like the Monsters of the Midway, boys, but you'll have to work harder to play like them.

Cornerback Casey Hayward (29) of the Green Bay Packers intercepts a Jay Cutler pass during week 15 action between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL on Dec. 16, 2012 (Todd Rosenberg/NFL)
Games at Lambeau Field and Soldier Field, against the Bears and the Lions. Traditional rivals from football towns. Regardless of what the rest of the league did, this was a great way to honor the Hall of Fame.

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