Why the Green Bay Packers owe the Arizona Cardinals a Super Bowl ring

The Green Bay Packers were actually bad for a long time

Having been born and raised in Wisconsin myself, it’s always nice to remind the Packers fans my age that they didn’t always have 30 years of franchise quarterback play. The only time Green Bay made the playoffs after winning Super Bowl II over the Oakland Raiders was in 1972 and 1982. Remember earlier when I mentioned that irony would be a part of this story?

The only playoff win for the Packers was against the Cardinals (who were still in St.Louis), 41-16. That was it, one playoff win from 1968 to 1994 – 26 years of futility. Fast-forwarding to 1990, the green and gold were led by quarterback Don Majkowski and wide receiver Sterling Sharpe. Green Bay stumbled to a 6-10 record, so just barely better than Phoenix.

In fact, during the 1990 season, the Cardinals lost to the Packers in a close 24-21 game in the desert. The Packers’ offense was the 23rd-best in the league in 1990, just one spot ahead of the Cardinals. Green Bay got off to a 6-5 start before losing out the rest of the season and going 6-10. Packers head coach Lindy Infante would eventually be fired after the 1991 season.

This would bring a new head coach and a general manager that would look to right the ship in the 1991 NFL Draft. And there was a certain signal-caller new Packers general manager Ron Wolf just couldn’t be more excited about.