Cheesehead
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,854
- 0
"It was more of a present vibe – 'We understand that Green Bay has a lot of history behind it, but look, we're here to make history of our own' – almost that type of vibe," veteran cornerback Tramon Williams recalled this week leading up to the NFC Championship Game at San Francisco.
"As a player, you're like, 'All right, I'm with you on that.' The history here is not going to go anywhere, but the only thing we can continue to do is create new history. I think that's the vibe that Coach gave us, and that's what we're trying to do right now."
It was about finding the right balance between appreciating the aura but not being consumed by it. Between taking pride in the past but not resting on it. Between understanding what's come before but staying focused on what's ahead.
That perspective has helped get the Packers to the doorstep of another NFC title, as the franchise seeks its sixth Super Bowl appearance. But it's a theme that's been applied in other ways as well.
The Packers' tendency to come up big in clutch moments throughout the season is one example.
Making key plays in those crunch-time, fourth-quarter moments requires a singular focus on the task at hand, setting aside whatever good and bad has produced the current situation. Yet the ability to do it week after week is a trait that has built on itself, that has used successful experience to foster confidence and belief.
The past is always in the right perspective.
"It's the same thing we've talked about all year of not blinking," inside linebacker Blake Martinez said of the defense's mentality, and echoing a favorite phrase of LaFleur's. "We don't go out there saying, 'Oh crap, we have to go back out after a turnover,' or 'Oh crap, they're in the red zone,' or 'Oh, it's a minute-30 left and we have to stop them.'
"Whether you want to believe in football gods or whatever it is, I think that aspect ends up helping us in the long run."