Tuesday, March 20, 2012

46 Years of Media Guides — Part III

In the latest offseason installment of our media guide retrospective, we now visit the Infante and Gregg dynasties of the Green Bay Packers. Remember all of the post-season thrills and championships? Neither do we.

1991 RECORD: 4-12 • Before he was fired after the season by new GM Ron Wolf, Lindy Infante’s team struggled to a losing record that equalled his first season’s record in Green Bay. The team was at it’s lowest point on many levels, but all of that would begin to change when the team hired an assistant coach from the San Francisco 49ers.

1990 RECORD: 6-10 • All the expectations from the exciting previous year came crashing down in ’90, and Majkowski was injured mid-year. They could only muster a .600 record for fourth place in the NFC Central.

1989 RECORD: 10-6 • Infante’s (above) second year at the helm saw a huge improvement record-wise, and the team won a series of last-second, heart-stopping victories that raised the hopes of Packer fans. Much was expected of this team that finished second in the NFC Central, just missing out on the playoffs. This year was also the rise of QB Don Majkowski, who fans hoped would lead the team back to greatness.

1988 RECORD: 4-12 • New head coach Lindy Infante looks over an empty Lambeau Field in the Spring of that year, before he led the team to a disappointing 4-12 record, bad enough for last in the NFC Central. Not much more to say.

1987 RECORD: 5-9-1 • A season with one win better than the previous was not enough to keep Forrest Gregg around Green Bay, as he left for Southern Methodist University (SMU). The Packers finished third in the NFC Central, and the season was marked by a 24-day players strike, reducing the number of games from 16 games to 15. Three games of the Packers' season were played with replacement players, with the result being a 2-1 “strike record.” On the cover, “Mark Lee, who had a near-record 9 interceptions overall, flashes triumphant gesture after picking off a Bear pass at Chicago last November.”

1986 RECORD: 4-12 • The third season under Forrest Gregg saw the team take a nose dive — they were only able to muster a 4-12 record, finishing fourth out of five NFC Central teams. On the cover, the “Packer defense, spearheaded by Charles Martin (#94) and Alphonso Carreker (#76), smothers Dolphins’ Tony Nathan on turf of Green Bay’s Lambeau Field last December. John Anderson (#59), Tom Flynn (#41), Brian Noble (#91), and Robert Brown (#93) also are involved.”

1985 RECORD: 8-8 • Forrest Gregg’s second season as Packers’ head coach had the same result as his debut — a .500 record. Again, the Packers finished second in the NFC Central. On the cover, “amid falling flakes from a 15-inch snowstorm, QB Lynn Dickey drops back to pass behind protection of Ron Hallstrom (left) and Greg Koch in Denver’s Mile High Stadium last October 15 (1984).”

1984 RECORD: 8-8 • In former Packer legend Forrest Gregg’s first year in Lombardi’s old office, the team finished with a .500 record, good enough for second place in the NFC Central. Gregg (pictured on the media guide cover) came back to Green Bay from Cincinnati, where he led the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance.