GREEN BAY ALL DAY!!!

Submitted by Sunset Brown.

Its crazy to admit how I became a football fan, let alone a Green Bay Packer Fan. People always say "You're from L.A. why Green Bay?" Truth be told in 1988 I was 6 years old and I became a cheerleader for the LA Sherriff Packers Youth Football league. I had never payed much attention to football at all but I loved cheering. In order to be a good cheerleader you have to know the right time to call the right cheers. So I began brushing up on the basics.

Offense, Defense, 1st down, Sack, Punt return, interception, all of which I wrote cheers for. As I got older I also began having a crush on certain players so I payed attention to their game. In watching their particular contribution in plays, I learned what each position does. By crushing on players I learned more and more about the game.

Now to how I became a Green Bay Fan. Much of it, I admit, is because I fell in love with my youth team named after the Packers. My whole family was so dedicated to the Youth Packers. My uncle was the president, others coached, played, cheered and were team moms. We had tons of Packer gear and it sort of leaned the family toward the Packer Professional Team, Green Bay.

Once again, I started crushing on players and they helped me love Green Bay more and more. In 1996 I keyed in on my greatest Packer love, Wide Reciever Antonio Freeman. He was powerful, had great hands, and perfect chemistry with Brett Favre. Every pass he dropped, I blamed on Brett because in my eyes, #88 was the best in the league! "You suck Brett!"....or "He was overthrown! No one could catch that!" I'd often be screaming at the TV screen on Sundays.

That '96 team was my absolute favorite till this day! Dorsey Levens at Running back, plowing through defenses, Robert Brooks who always caught the long passes, Big man Reverend Reggie blasting the opposing quaterbacks, and of course QB Brett Favre who I've had a love hate relationship with over the years (he always threw too many interceptions for my liking).

The next season the Packers would go on to win the Superbowl against the Patriots and I was ecstatic. My Antonio (yes mine, even though he was 10 years older than me) and crew had been the best team in football for the past 2 years and finally we proved it to the world. I rode high on my Packer Pride when we went back to the Superbowl the very next year against the Denver Broncos! I talked so much trash and then.... WE LOST!!! I was at my aunts house, grabbed some scissors out of her drawer and busted all the Blue and Orange balloons in the house. My aunt cursed me out for ruining her beautiful decorations she had worked on all morning! She had balloons for both teams. I didnt care! I was pissed! We deserved the back to back wins and the look on my teams face made me feel even worse. We havent been back to the Superbowl since.

I've stuck by my team (even through I almost subconsciously jumped ship during a brief infatuation with the incredible kick off return talents of Kansas City's WR "X-Factor" Dante Hall) and Im excited to see QB Aaron Rodgers' growth and leadership this year. Also, I know our top draft picks B.J. Raji will be killing quarterbacks and USC's Clay Matthews will have alot to offer. Our team is young and thats a good thing. New Blood is just what we need to get us back to the
Bowl! Its gonna be an exciting season folks! GREEN BAY ALL DAY!!!!

Sunset Brown
Los Angeles
Green Bay Packers to the Heart