It wasn’t until the next “Super Bowl Preview” issue that the Packers adorned the SI cover — for the 23rd time. Receiver Antonio Freeman is depicted being tackled by a San Francisco player during the rainy NFC Championship game victory (23-10) played on the West Coast. Ominously on the cover is the text: “Denver’s Defense: Better than you think.”
Inside, the magazine stated in the headline to open the article, “As the 49ers found out in the NFC title game, the NFL’s best team and its best quarterback reside in Green Bay.” The article reviews the game mostly, and plays a bit on the differences between Holmgren and Favre. Then there‘s this quote: “But as much as some Green Bay players (complain) about Holmgren’s overbearing authority, they love having him on their sideline come Sunday. ‘Mike is the smartest coach in the League,’ safety LeRoy Butler says, ‘The only coach who should be compared with him is dead, and that‘s Lombardi.’ ”
Although the article is brimming with confidence about the Packers’ prospects of repeating as Super Bowl champs (“One dose of Favre might be all the Broncos can take”), it appears that the Sports Illustrated cover “jinx” finally caught up to them, as the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl XXXII 31-24 in San Diego.
Very few Packer fans will discuss that game today.
