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 9 Dope Sheet:
THIS WEEK'S NOTABLE STORYLINES:
-Under the leadership of Head Coach Mike Sherman and quarterback Brett Favre, the Packers continue to exhibit a steady outlook in their approach and perspective - something highly unexpected given the team's 1-6 start and substantial injuries.
-The Steelers return to Lambeau Field for the first time in a decade. It's also the teams' first meeting in seven years. In 2001 during the final year of the old NFL scheduling format, Pittsburgh was the only AFC Central team that did not play Green Bay, a quirk the league hoped to avoid in its new scheduling rotation.
-The two previous Lambeau Field games that featured the Steelers represent two of the most memorable contests during the Brett Favre era.
-The matchup features a pair of Notre Dame running backs who took contrasting routes to reach the prominent roles they'll play Sunday: Jerome Bettis and Tony Fisher.
NATIONAL TELEVISION: CBS Sports, with the network's flagship voice Jim Nantz (play-by-play) and former Pro Bowl quarterback Phil Simms (color) in the booth, Lance Barrow (producer) and Mike Arnold (director) in the truck, and Bonnie Bernstein on the sidelines, will air the contest to a national audience as the anchor of CBS's doubleheader weekend. The network, which is one signifcant reason why teams like the Packers are still operating today, is in Year No. 46 covering the National Football League.
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.
NATIONAL RADIO: Ted Robinson (play-by-play) and Bob Trumpy (color) will call the action on the Westwood One Radio Network.
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers:
All-time regular season: 18-12-0
All-time, Lambeau Field: 2-2-0
Streaks: Packers have won two of last three; Steelers have won five of last seven
Last meeting: Nov. 9, 1998, Three Rivers Stadium; Steelers won, 27-20
Last meeting, Wisconsin: Dec. 24, 1995, Lambeau Field; Packers won, 24-19
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike Sherman: 56-37-0, .602, sixth NFL season, sixth with Packers
Bill Cowher: 143-88-1, .619, 14th NFL season, 14th with Steelers
Head to Head: first meeting
vs. Opponent: Sherman 0-0 vs. Steelers, Cowher 1-2 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. Adversity is again in the Packers' path this season.
-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 6-0 against teams in the Super Bowl the previous season.
BILL COWHER...Became the 15th head coach in Steelers history when he replaced Chuck Noll, Jan. 21, 1992.
-In 1995, at age 38, he became the youngest coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl.
uOnly the second coach in NFL history to lead his team to the playoffs in each of his first six seasons as head coach, joining Paul Brown.
-During Cowher's 20-year coaching career, teams he has been associated with have made the postseason 15 times.
-Began his NFL career as a free-agent linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1979, and then signed with the Cleveland Browns the following year. Cowher played three seasons (1980-82) in Cleveland before being traded back to the Eagles, where he played two more years (1983-84).
-Began his coaching career in 1985 at age 28 under Marty Schottenheimer with the Browns. He was the Browns' special teams coach in 1985-86 and secondary coach in 1987-88 before following Schottenheimer to the Chiefs in 1989 as defensive coordinator.
THE PACKERS-STEELERS SERIES: Sunday's contest will be a rare matchup. Once annual adversaries, back in the 1940s, they met just three times in the '90s and have played only six times since 1975.
-Their most recent Green Bay encounter was memorable, however -one in which the Packers clinched their first NFC Central Division title in 23 years with a heart-stopping, 24-19 victory over the Steelers in their 1995 season finale at Lambeau Field.
-Their first meeting in the '90s also is noteworthy for another reason. The day on which Brett Favre became the Packers' starting quarterback (Sept. 27, 1992), it saw the second-year field general escort the Green and Gold to a 17-3 win over Pittsburgh, also in Lambeau Field.
-Sunday's encounter will be the 31st in a series dating back to 1933 - when the Steelers were known as the Pirates. The Packers own an 18-12 advantage in the rivalry.
Notable connections...Head Coach Mike Sherman, who began coaching at the high-school level, got his first college job in 1981, as a part-time coach at the University of Pittsburgh...Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau spent four years on Bart Starr's Green Bay staff from 1976-79...Packers special teams coordinator John Bonamego was born in Waynesboro, Pa. ...Secondary/safeties coach Joe Baker began his coaching career at East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University...Wide receivers coach James Franklin played quarterback at East Stroudsburg and set seven school records as a senior, before launching his career as a coach at Kutztown (Pa.) and East Stroudsburg...Steelers LB Clint Kriewaldt is a product of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point...Tight ends coach Joe Philbin spent four years coaching at Allegheny College.
LAST MEETING: Nov. 9, 1998, Three Rivers Stadium; Steelers won, 27-20.
-In arrears 27-0 to the Steelers in the third quarter, the Packers found that imposing differential too big a mountain to climb. But, in the final analysis, not by much.
-With 2 minutes remaining in the game and the Steelers facing a third-and-5 at the Green Bay 36-yard line, an outside chance remained. But, just seconds later, all hopes they might have entertained of getting the football back and having Brett Favre preside over a typically miraculous finish evaporated when Steelers running back Jerome Bettis swept left end for a 12-yard gain and a first down, permitting Pittsburgh to run out the clock.
-That development put an end to one of the most memorable comebacks in recent Packers history. It was launched under highly inauspicious circumstances, which found the Steelers leading 27-3, in possession of the football at the Packers' 4-yard line and poised for the kill.
-Pittsburgh had substituted Mike Tomczak for starter Kordell Stewart at quarterback, presumably with the intention of having Tomczak throw a scoring pass to Stewart, a highly versatile athlete. Defensive ends Reggie White and Keith McKenzie combined to thwart that plan, however. The "Minister of Defense" burst through to sack Tomczak, forcing a fumble, and McKenzie, picking up the loose ball, cantered 88 yards for a record-breaking touchdown - the longest run with a fumble in the Packers' 78-year NFL history.
-An attempt at a two-point conversion was unproductive when Favre's pass, intended for Robert Brooks in the end zone, was incomplete.
-The defense then took a strong hand in the proceedings, quickly forcing the Steelers to punt following the kickoff. Here Favre found his rhythm and proceeded to direct a 10-play, 74-yard scoring drive capped by Raymont Harris' 2-yard run into the left corner of the end zone. This time the two-point conversion was successful, Favre finding wide receiver Antonio Freeman in the end zone and suddenly the Packers had narrowed it to 27-17.
-The Green and Gold next pulled off a successful onside kick, Longwell deftly executing the maneuver, which found Jeff Thomason recovering the football at the Green Bay 39-yard line. Favre put together another profitable drive, a 42-yard push that led to a 37-yard Longwell field goal and trimmed the deficit to 27-20. As expected, the Packers essayed another onside kick. But this time, the Steelers recovered the leather at the Green Bay 41-yard line. On first down, nose tackle Gilbert Brown held the Steelers' bulky Jerome Bettis to a 3-yard gain. And, on second down, Reggie White limited him to a two-yard advance.
-On third-and-5, however, Bettis swept around the Packers' right flank for a 12-yard gain and, with only 1:14 left, Stewart proceeded to run out the clock in two plays and seal Green Bay's fate.
LAST MEETING, LAMBEAU FIELD: Dec. 24, 1995, Packers won, 24-19.
-The Packers staged a critical defensive stand in the closing minutes as the Steelers had positioned themselves with a first-and-goal at the Green Bay 5-yard line with 29 seconds to play. Neil O'Donnell saw his first two passes fall incomplete before rookie Kordell Stewart took a snap and was thrown for a 1-yard loss by LeRoy Butler.
-Then, on fourth down with 16 seconds left, O'Donnell's pass cleared a defender who had slipped and sailed in and out of Yancey Thigpen's hands, giving Green Bay its first division title since 1972
