Read More: Charles Woodson (CB – GBP), Clay Matthews (LB – GBP), Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers non-parade Super Bowl celebration at Lambeau Field continued with defensive stars being brought on stage.

Charles Woodson, injured during Super Bowl XLV, said he never plans to come down from his Super Bowl high. He also says the week after the team’s game against the New England Patriots was the critical moment in the season.

Clay Matthews spoke quickly and forcefully about his teammates and fans, showing he still has some things to work on before he can begin his professional wrestling career. Matthews talked about Woodson’s passionate halftime speech, when the injured defensive back urged the team to keep fighting despite being down so many players.

Nick Collins, whose pick six of Ben Roethlisberger gave the Packers an early 14-0 lead, praised Green Bay’s poise and resolve. Collins mentioned how special it was to see Packers fans waiting for the team’s arrival after the game.

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers claimed the best defensive players and fans in the NFL.

ASHWAUBENON — Fans hoping to see the Green Bay Packers depart to Super Bowl XLV from Austin Straubel International Airport on Monday might be disappointed.

Ken Dax, chief of staff for Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt, said there will be no public celebration at the airport Monday when the team departs.

Airport officials want to avoid a large crowd, Dax said, and they are planning to conduct airline security checks at Lambeau Field so the team can just go straight to its airplane at Austin Straubel.

City officials are trying to arrange some sort of ceremonial public send-off elsewhere on Monday. Details are not yet available.

The city and county also still are working out details of a pregame pep rally Feb. 4 in downtown Green Bay. High school marching bands may be involved with this event.

Details also might be announced soon for the Feb. 7 victory parade or welcome-home celebration.

The Green Bay Packers won’t bring cheerleaders or other game day promotional groups, including the Tundra Line drum line, to Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas.

Representatives from the St. Norbert College and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay athletic departments, whose cheerleading squads also serve as the Packers’ cheerleaders at home games, said Tuesday the Packers would not take the cheer squads, or other home game fixtures to the Feb. 6 game against the Pittsburgh Stealers.

“Those game day elements we have at Lambeau Field, including the cheer leaders, the Tundra Line, DJ Malcolm and our Ambassador Line are unique to Lambeau Field and are not involved in any road games — preseason, regular season, playoffs and including the Super Bowl — and were not part of our plan,” for the Super Bowl, team spokesman Aaron Popkey said Tuesday.

The schools’ cheer squads have served as the Packers’ cheerleaders since the team disbanded its squad in the late 1980s.

Tim Bald, athletic director for St. Norbert College, said the Packers told school officials the role of the cheerleaders and other promotional groups was limited to Lambeau Field, which is why they haven’t been invited to any away games or playoff games, including Super Bowl XLV.

“We’re just glad to be able to support them at the Sunday games at Lambeau and be part of that experience. It’s an honor for our kids to be down there representing St. Norbert College,” Bald said.

Ann Rodrian, UWGB cheer coach, said the cheer teams were invited to the two Packers Super Bowls in the 1990s, but that they had to raise most of their own funding for those trips.

Rodrian said the Packers told her role of cheer squads had changed since the Packers’ appearances in Super Bowls XXXI and XXXII.

“Obviously, yes, (the cheer squad) will be disappointed. The expectations probably were there that there was a chance we would go because we did for XXXI and XXXII,” Rodrian said. “It was a team decision, an organizational decision.”

ATLANTA (AP) — As Aaron Rodgers trotted off the field, savoring another playoff win, he was serenaded with chants of “Go, Pack, Go!”

This wasn’t Lambeau Field, but it sure sounded like it.

Looking very much at home, Rodgers threw three touchdown passes, ran for another score and led the Green Bay Packers to their second straight postseason road victory with a stunning 48-21 rout of the top-seeded Atlanta Falcons on Saturday night.

“This just feels so good right now,” said Rodgers, who threw for 366 yards and led Green Bay to the highest-scoring playoff game in its storied history.

The Packers (12-6) will have to win one more on the road to complete their improbable run from sixth seed to the Super Bowl, but nothing looks out of the question the way Rodgers is playing. He’ll lead Green Bay into the NFC championship game at either Chicago or Seattle next weekend.

“This probably was my best performance — the stage we were on, the importance of this game,” Rodgers said. “It was a good night.”

He completed 31 of 36 passes and put up more yards than Brett Favre — the guy he replaced in Green Bay — ever threw for in a playoff game. After knocking off Michael Vick and the Eagles in Philadelphia, then dominating Matt Ryan and the Falcons in Atlanta, Rodgers is creating his own legacy in Titletown USA.

Brett who?

Green Bay scored 35 consecutive points, including Tramon Williams’ 70-yard interception return on the final play of the first half that left the Falcons (13-4) and a crowd of more than 69,000 in a state of shock as the teams headed to the locker room.

The Packers could’ve left punter Tim Masthay at home. He was never needed.

Story Continues →

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Story Created: Dec 30, 2010 at 11:21 AM CST

Story Updated: Dec 30, 2010 at 12:46 PM CST

GREEN BAY– The yearly event that brings Green Bay Packers fans together with players at Lambeau Field will not be held in 2011. The two-day event gathered coaches, players and staff of the Green and Gold with fans.

Packers representative Aaron Popkey said that said the lack of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was “not a significant consideration, but with the uncertainty of where things may be, it potentially could have impacted the event.”

There was also concern with the lagging ticket sales for the event and even considered canceling the event this past year but the organization still hosted in 2010.

There is a chance the Green Bay Packers will host Fan Fest again in 2012 and would like to host it at least every other year.

“We appreciate the interest and support of the thousands of fans who have attended through the years and look forward to again hosting the event in 2012,” Popkey said.

Packer Fan Fest first started in 2005.

Coaches and teammates have had some good-natured fun at John Kuhn’s expense all season, joking that he’s always lobbying for carries by reminding people that he was the career rushing leader at Division II Shippensburg.

The unheralded fullback is laughing all the way to the end zone these days. Kuhn rushed for two touchdowns and caught another in the Green Bay Packers’ blowout victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.

His ability to get tough yards, especially near the goal line, has put him on the track to folk hero status in Green Bay. Fans at Lambeau Field growl “Kuuuuuuhn!” every time he touches the ball.

“It sounds like they’re booing him, but they’re saying ‘Kuhn,”’ special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum said.

Kuhn isn’t letting his newfound notoriety go to his head, but his friends and family are enjoying it.
“They’re excited about it,” Kuhn said. “(Fans) kind of did it a little bit in college, too. So my family’s a little used to it.”

Slightly bigger venue this time around, though?

“Yeah — a lot bigger,” Kuhn said, laughing.

Kuhn began his career on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad in 2005 and joined the Packers in 2007. Coming into this season, Kuhn had only 18 career rushing attempts — although he already showed an ability to score, running for two touchdowns and catching four more in the previous two seasons.

But after a season-ending injury to Ryan Grant in Week 1, Kuhn steadily has worked his way into the Packers’ running back rotation. Going into Sunday’s critical game against Chicago with the playoffs on the line, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Kuhn has become one of the team’s leaders.

“I think he’s making the push like everybody else on our football team,” McCarthy said. “He’s one of our leaders. He’s a tough guy and well-respected in the locker room, and he’s really stepped to the forefront.”

Nobody will mistake Kuhn for a feature back; he hasn’t rushed for more than 50 yards in a game. But he seems to be at his best near the goal line; he has six touchdowns this season, four rushing, two receiving.

And as if that wasn’t enough to feed Kuhn’s growing popularity in Green Bay, he also is a key player on special teams. He earned not one, but two, game balls from the coaching staff for his efforts Sunday — one on offense and one on special teams.
 

Big Blue can clinch playoff spot with victory

By The Associated Press

Published: 2:00 AM – 12/26/10

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Last week’s losses left the Giants and Green Bay Packers scrambling to make the playoffs. Their situations are similar, but the mood surrounding each team was dramatically different leading into Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field.

The Packers (8-6) found plenty of positives to emphasize after they nearly knocked off New England on the road without starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. They played pretty good defense against Tom Brady, ran the ball better than they usually do, got good play from backup quarterback Matt Flynn — and now they’re getting Rodgers back from a concussion.

Meanwhile, the Giants (9-5) are coming off a stunning fourth-quarter collapse against Philadelphia and spent the week fending off the perception that they’re falling apart.

Quarterback Eli Manning made a short speech during a team meeting Monday, and expects the Giants to be focused.

“We’re still in a good spot,” Manning said. “And whether the game against Philadelphia went differently and we’d have won, we’re going to play this week and need a win this week. So in our minds, nothing’s changed.”

Green Bay’s Charles Woodson doesn’t expect the Giants to crumble.

“We’ll see two teams fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive,” Woodson said. “That’ll be the mindset. We don’t look at it from a standpoint of what happened to them last week and trying to make that happen again. We’ve just got to go out and play good football.”

Despite the crushing loss, the Giants have a clear path to the playoffs: They’re in if they win Sunday.

“If you’re going to dwell on what happened last week and let it affect the way you prepare the following week, you’re not going to be good — win or lose,” Giants guard Rich Seubert said. “So we’ve had some big wins, and we’ve had some big losses. This is my 10th year, and this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. The beautiful thing is destiny is still in our hands. We go win, we’re in the playoffs.”

The Packers can get in if they win their last two games, both at home.

“Our playoffs started when we got on the plane to come home Sunday,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.

It won’t quite equal the atmosphere when the two teams met at Lambeau Field three years ago.

With the NFC title on the line in below-zero temperatures, the Giants beat the Packers in overtime. It should be somewhat warmer on Sunday, with temperatures expected in the 20s and a chance of snow.

“It was obviously a great moment for the guys that were here, that remember it,” Manning said. “But, hey, it’s a new year, new team, new circumstances, and just because we’ve been there and won one game is not going to make any difference.”

Still, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said he might use that game to motivate his team.

“There’s a lot of young guys here that weren’t a part of that team,” Coughlin said. “But the idea of referring to that night in Green Bay, we certainly will use to the best extent that we can.”

Packers defensive lineman Ryan Pickett hasn’t forgotten.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about that game,” Pickett said. “That was a game that stopped our season, going to the Super Bowl. So I definitely think about that game. And it’ll be nice to get this win on our home field because they came and beat us on our home field and that’s a taste that’s probably going to be in my mouth for the rest of my life.”

Both teams have been hit hard by injuries this season, but Green Bay got some good news this week: Rodgers returned to practice after sitting out last week because of his second concussion of the season. He’s expected to start.

“I don’t worry about it,” Rodgers said. “I’ve gone through all the testing and I’ve been assured there isn’t anything to be worried about.”

The Packers could make it tough for the Giants’ offense. They are allowing 15.7 points per game, tying them with Pittsburgh for No. 1 overall.

Green Bay expects the Giants to run at them, even though Philadelphia held Brandon Jacobs to 34 yards on 12 carries after he rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns in the Giants’ previous two games.

Manning has a league-high 20 interceptions, and he’ll be facing a Packers defense that let a few footballs slip out of their hands against Brady last week.