Two years after he co-founded the Packers with Curly Lambeau, George Calhoun began writing a piece called The Dope Sheet, which served as the official press release and game program from 1921-24.
Honoring Calhoun, the first publicity director, the Packers are running this weekly feature as their release, which is being made available to fans exclusively on Packers.com.
A complete edition of the Dope Sheet will be available each week during the season in PDF format, located in the Packers.com Game Centers.
Here are some highlights from the Week 13 Dope Sheet:
THIS WEEK'S NOTABLE STORYLINES:
-Facing an uphill battle against the league's top-ranked defense, Green Bay bids for a win in the NFL rivalry with the richest history. The teams meet for the 169th time (170th contest, including playoffs).
-With a 12th consecutive road win at Chicago, the Packers can match the NFL record, shared by the L.A. Rams (at San Francisco, 1969-80) and San Francisco (at L.A./St. Louis Rams, 1987-98). Green Bay hasn't lost on the road to the Bears since Dec. 5, 1993. Brett Favre is 12-1 in road games with Chicago; he's 11-1 at Soldier Field.
-The Packers play their last noon kickoff of 2005, and their last game. Networks will broadcast their final four contests to a national audience, including a Christmas Day rematch with Chicago at Lambeau Field.
TELEVISION: FOX Sports will air the contest to a regional audience. Play-by-play man Dick Stockton, now in his fourth decade as a professional broadcaster, joins former Pro Bowler Daryl "Moose" Johnston in the booth. Tony Siragusa, a key cog in Baltimore's 2000 Super Bowl title, is on the sideline. And, veterans Bob Stenner (producer) and Sandy Grossman (director) are in the truck.
-The contest also is available to DIRECTV(r) subscribers on Channel 710.
PACKERS RADIO: Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 62-station Packers Radio Network, with versatile Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color). Spanning five states, the network covers 50 markets in the upper Midwest. The broadcast also is available to NFL Field Pass subscribers on packers.com.
-The broadcast also is available to NFL Sirius Radio subscribers on Channel 125.
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
Packers vs. Decatur Staleys/Chicago Bears:
All-time regular season: 78-84-6
Postseason: 0-1
All-time, Soldier Field: 17-15-0
Last meeting, regular season: Jan. 2, 2005, Soldier Field; Packers won, 31-14
Playoff meeting: Dec. 14, 1941, Wrigley Field, NFL Western Division playoff; Bears won, 33-14
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike Sherman: 57-40-0, .588, sixth NFL season, sixth with Packers
Lovie Smith: 13-14-0, .481, second NFL season, second with Bears
Head to Head: Tied, 1-1
vs. Opponent: Sherman 8-2 vs. Bears; Smith 1-1 vs. Packers
MIKE SHERMAN...Is in his sixth year as the Packers' 13th head coach.
-Is no stranger to adversity, having overcome several hurdles each of the past three seasons to win a trio of NFC North titles.
-Since the 1993 collective bargaining agreement, teams have made 84 coaching changes and only Sherman's tenure has produced winning records in each of its first five seasons.
-Over their first five regular seasons as an NFL coach, since 1970 only Chuck Knox, George Seifert, Joe Gibbs and Mike Ditka produced better records than Sherman (53-27, .663).
-In 2004, his team became only the ninth in NFL history to reach the playoffs after a 1-4 start.
-Has led the Packers to three straight division titles and four consecutive playoff appearances.
-Is 6-1 against teams in the Super Bowl the previous season.
LOVIE SMITH...like Sherman is the 13th head coach in his franchise's history, officially joining the Bears Jan. 15, 2004. He has 22 years experience as a coach, combined at the college and pro levels.
-Smith joined the Bears from the St. Louis Rams, where he spent three seasons (2001-03) as defensive coordinator and molded one of the league's top units. He helped the club return to the Super Bowl in 2001. Last season, his unit was among league leaders in takeaways, defensive TDs and sacks.
-The Texas native has coached on playoff teams four of the last six years, and five of his nine NFL campaigns.
-Brett Favre and the Packers know Smith from his five seasons (1996-2000) as linebackers coach in Tampa Bay, where he helped turn around a defense that hadn't finished above 12th in the four seasons before his arrival. In Tampa, Smith coached under highly regarded defensive minds Tony Dungy and Monte Kiffin.
-A former All-American safety, Smith coached collegiately at Tulsa, Arizona State, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio State and Wisconsin, where he tutored linebackers in 1987.
THE PACKERS-BEARS SERIES: These teams mark meeting No. 169 in another chapter of one of sports' greatest rivalries.
-The Packers' recent run against Chicago (21 wins in last 25 meetings) has sent shockwaves through the history of the series. Before the run, the Bears led the NFL's richest rivalry by 23 games, 80-57-6. Now, Chicago's lead is only six, 84-78-6. The last time the gap was closer? The end of World War II and the Don Hutson era, 1945, when the Packers trailed 27-20-5.
-The last time Green Bay led the series? On the heels of its three straight NFL championships, 1932, when the Packers led 11-10-5. Two months after Babe Ruth allegedly called his shot at Wrigley Field in the '32 World Series, the Bears stole from Green Bay a fourth straight title (which at the time was determined by league standings). Chicago barely finished atop the league standings, which unlike today did not count ties. Had the league counted ties in standings, the Packers would have won. The next year, 1933, the NFL began determining its champion with postseason games.
-On the Bears' home turf, the Packers have won 11 straight and 12 of their last 13.
-The Packers meet Lovie Smith for the third time as Bears head coach. Smith on Jan. 15, 2004, elevated one of sports' richest rivalries to another level, saying his No. 1 goal, ahead of winning the division and Super Bowl, was to beat Green Bay. He won on Sept. 19, 2004.
-The Packers went 18-2 against Chicago from 1994-2003. On only four occasions in NFL history has a team enjoyed a better 20-game stretch against a single opponent.
-Green Bay against Smith during his career as an NFL coach is 9-6 (all Brett Favre starts).
Other notable connections...Green Bay running backs coach Edgar Bennett finished his playing career in Chicago (1998-99)...Bears running backs coach Tim Spencer played with the late Reggie White, the Packers' all-time sacks leader, with Memphis of the USFL in 1985...Offensive coordinator Tom Rossley spent two seasons (1997-98) as a Bears assistant...The late Mark Hatley, the Bears' top personnel executive from 1998-2001, also coached Lovie Smith in 1976 at Tulsa...Smith was a Wisconsin assistant in 1987...Long-snapper Rob Davis held that role for the Bears in 1996...Antonio Chatman played for the Arena League's Chicago Rush...Bears LB Hunter Hillenmeyer was taken by Green Bay in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL Draft...Rookies Samkon Gado (Green Bay) and Airese Currie (Bears) are products of Columbia, S.C., high schools; Gado graduated from Ben Lippen High School, Currie from Richland Northeast...Bears quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson joined the Falcons in 1992, after Atlanta dealt Brett Favre to Green Bay.
LAST MEETING (AP): Jan. 2, 2005, Soldier Field, Packers won, 31-14:
-Brett Favre worked up a sweat, threw two touchdowns in a short work day and got the Green Bay Packers tuned up for the playoffs. Green Bay's defense wasn't bad, either, tying a team record with nine sacks - four by Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila - and the Packers defeated the Chicago Bears 31-14.
-The Packers (10-6), who were already locked in as the No. 3 seed in the NFC, had no intention of completely resting their starters because they wanted to be sharp before the playoffs. Favre played the first quarter and one series in the second, going 9 of 13 for 196 yards and two TDs, helping to beat the Bears (5-11) for the 21st time in the last 26 meetings - including 11 straight on the road.
-Instead there was another milestone performance in an abbreviated afternoon: Favre went over 4,000 yards passing in a season for the fourth time in his career and reached 30 TD passes for an NFL-record eighth time before backup Craig Nall took over.
-Wearing "92" on their helmets in memory of former teammate Reggie White, who'd passed away the week of the game, the Packers gave up an early touchdown before roaring to a 28-7 halftime lead against their oldest rival. Their defense played a White-like game.
-Darren Sharper, who returned an interception 43 yards for a TD to make it 21-7, tied Herb Adderley's team record with his seventh career defensive TD, Nall entered the game with 9:02 left in the second quarter and immediately completed three straight passes, hitting Javon Walker for a 25-yard TD. It marked the first time in six NFL appearances that Nall had entered earlier than the fourth quarter.
-Gbaja-Biamila finished with 131/2 sacks, matching his 2001 career high, and giving him double digits for a fourth straight season.
