Green Bay Packers

There's No Tanking In Green Bays DNA

Photo credit: Mark Hoffmann (PackersNews via USA TODAY Sports)

Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a place unlike any other. The smallest market in America to host a professional sports franchise, there’s a mystique to Lambeau and its inhabitants. Football might not have been invented in Titletown, but you could argue it was perfected there in the hands of Vince, Bart, and the boys.

The beautiful and iconic branding of the Green and Gold is important, not just to the fan base and the sport but to the Packers’ everyday way of doing business. Their image is crucial to their success. And for that exact reason, you will never see tanking at 1265 Lombardi Ave.

After Jordan Love’s performance in the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, people started asking questions about Aaron Rodgers’ availability and what was best for the organization moving forward. After a win in Chicago, and with Green Bay still mathematically alive for a playoff spot, those questions have continued. Should Love start the moment the players are eliminated? Should Green Bay rest prominent players to achieve the highest draft pick?

It’s important to understand that players and coaches rarely if ever tank. You’d be hard-pressed to find any athlete or professional coach on the planet who would accept the idea of sacrificing their own career to further a front office’s future goals. One needs to look no further than the Brian Flores situation in Miami. Getting to the NFL is hard. Staying in the NFL is even harder. These guys have their livelihoods on the line every week, and none of them will sacrifice that for anything.

Organizations are another thing entirely. They will act in the best interest of the organization. But in Green Bay, the organization is larger than a greedy owner or a temporary football front office. The Packers are owned by the fans. Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears fans can laugh all they want at the shareholders, but the people have the power, and that is a good thing. Even if it might be shortsighted, given the potential upside of tanking, Green Bay doesn’t have a guy like Jim Irsay around to make that decision. Green Bay is different.

Being a Green Bay Packer takes a level of buy-in. The Frozen Tundra exists in a state without tax breaks or warm weather and in a city with virtually no social life, let alone a nightclub scene. Coming to Green Bay isn’t about getting rich and famous or having the time of your life off the field; it’s about joining one of the league’s premier organizations in hopes of winning a title.

Just think back to how Bill Belichick discussed Green Bay and Lambeau heading into the Packers’ matchup with the New England Patriots this season.

That’s the way people discuss and view you when the championship trophy is named after your iconic head coach.

I completely understand the portion of the fanbase that would like to see Jordan Love play or the Packers lose to achieve higher draft status. Losing for high picks sometimes works. Micah Parsons not only changed the Dallas Cowboys defense but their entire organizational outlook. The idea that winning games could move you further away from a game-changing player like that is difficult.

But it’s just not how Green Bay presents itself. Not only does the team represent the league’s football past, but also its present. Thirty years of Hall of Fame quarterback play surrounded by strong organizational buy-in has created a vibe that echoes throughout the state of Wisconsin. Green Bay fights until the very last moment. Tanking is for weak franchises that take no pride in their history. Go out, play Green Bay Packer football, and let the chips fall where they may.

There are still meaningful games to be played as the Packers have a slim but possible path to the playoffs, but even if the Packers are eliminated, don’t expect to see benched starters or a different approach. It’s not gonna happen. It’s not the Green Bay way.

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