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 4 Dope Sheet:
The Packers dust off a series with one of their oldest rivals, welcoming the Giants to Lambeau for the first time in nine years...Including five NFL championship games, Sunday marks the 52nd meeting in a series that began in 1928...Green Bay reaches the quarter pole on its 2004 season...'Gold' package season-ticket holders from Milwaukee draw an attractive conference battle.
TELEVISION: FOX Sports, with play-by-play man Joe Buck, color analysts Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth, sideline reporter Pam Oliver, producer Richie Zyontz and director Artie Kempner.
LOCAL RADIO: Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 62-station Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and Larry McCarren (color). The broadcast also is available to NFL Field Pass subscribers on packers.com.
NATIONAL RADIO: Sports USA Radio Network, with Bill Schoening (play-by-play), Charles Arbuckle (color) and Justin Cazana (sideline).
LAST MEETING: Jan. 6, 2002, Giants Stadium, Packers won, 34-25.
*Ahman Green rushed for 102 yards and two TDs and Brett Favre threw a pair of scores, helping Green Bay secure a first-round home playoff game.
*Green Bay jumped out to a 14-0 lead on its first seven snaps. Favre connected with Bill Schroeder, then Green ran 25 yards for another TD, cashing in a Darren Sharper interception.
*Field position and turnover margin won the game for Green Bay. The Packers also scored, on a 54-yard pass from Favre to Corey Bradford, after Vonnie Holliday recovered a Kerry Collins fumble.
*Dorsey Levens, returning kicks for the last half of 2001, delivered two key returns, including a 53-yard burst to open the second half.
*Michael Strahan sacked Favre to establish the NFL's single-season record.
*The Packers were scheduled to play at New York in Week 2, five days after the Sept. 11 attacks, but the league postponed the contest until season's end.
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike Sherman: 46-26-0, .639, fifth NFL season, fifth with Packers
Tom Coughlin: 74-65-0, .532, ninth NFL season, first with Giants
Head to Head: Sherman 1-0 vs. Coughlin (2001)
vs. Opponent: Sherman 1-0 vs. Giants; Coughlin 0-2 vs. Packers
MIKE SHERMAN...Is in his fifth year as Packers head coach, and fourth as executive vice president and general manager. Sherman also:
*Is now 6-0 against teams that played in the Super Bowl the previous season, including Sept. 13 at Carolina.
*Is 26-7 at home during the regular season. By comparison, Mike Holmgren was 27-6 during his first 33 regular-season home games.
*Is tied for the league's second-best record among active coaches. His regular-season record Dec. 1 and later is 17-2.
*Since the merger, only three have posted a better regular-season record over their first four years as an NFL coach - George Siefert, Chuck Knox and Joe Gibbs.
*Guided the Packers to only their second set of consecutive division titles since the Lombardi era.
TOM COUGHLIN...Returns to Green Bay for the first time since he coached receivers and coordinated the Packers' passing game under Forrest Gregg, from 1986-87. Coughlin also:
*Coached the Jacksonville Jaguars over their first eight seasons, 1995-2002. No other expansion team won more over its first seven years, and no other expansion club advanced to the playoffs in four of its first five years. Coughlin guided the Jaguars to the AFC championship in their second season, 1996. Three years later, Jacksonville owned the NFL's best record, 14-2.
*Served on staffs of the Eagles (1984-85) and Giants (1988-90), where he earned a Super Bowl ring under Bill Parcells.
*Was head coach at Boston College (1991-93). Before entering coaching as a college assistant, he played wingback at Syracuse with Larry Csonka and Floyd Little.
SHERMAN'S HOME RECORD BEST IN NFL SINCE 2000: No one cares more about winning at home than Mike Sherman, and his record proves it. Since 2000, his first season as head coach, the Packers own the league's best home mark, 26-7. The Top 10:
Green Bay, 26-7-0, .788
St. Louis, 26-8-0, .765
Denver, 25-9-0, .735
Baltimore, 24-9-0, .727
Minnesota, 24-10-0, .706
Oakland, 24-10-0, .706
New England, 23-10-0, .697
Miami, 23-11-0, .676
Philadelphia, 23,-11-0, .676
Tennessee, 23-11-0, .676
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
Packers vs. N.Y. Giants:
All-time regular season: 24-20-2
Postseason: 4-1
All-time, Lambeau Field: 2-2-0
Last meeting, regular season: Jan. 6, 2002, Giants Stadium, Packers won, 36-25
Last meeting, regular season, Green Bay: Sept. 17, 1995, Lambeau Field, Packers won, 14-6
Postseason meetings (all NFL championships):
Dec. 11, 1938, Giants 23-17, Polo Grounds, New York
Dec. 10, 1939, Packers 27-0, State Fair Park, Milwaukee
Dec. 17, 1944, Packers 14-7, Polo Grounds, New York
Dec. 31, 1961, Packers 37-0, City Stadium, Green Bay*
Dec. 30, 1962, Packers 16-7, Yankee Stadium, New York
*-renamed Lambeau Field in 1965
THE PACKERS-GIANTS SERIES: Calvin Coolidge was in the White House when the teams launched their series in 1928.
*The Packers have won three consecutive games, the last two at Giants Stadium (1998, 2001).
*Most franchise meetings to decide NFL championship, 1933-2003:
6, Chicago Bears vs. N.Y. Giants
5, Green Bay Packers vs. N.Y. Giants
4, Chicago Bears vs. Washington Redksins
*The Giants' make their first trip to Lambeau since Sept. 17, 1995. In that contest, a 14-6 Green Bay win, Robert Brooks resurrected the Lambeau Leap, flying into the North bleachers after a 19-yard touchdown reception. LeRoy Butler invented the celebration after a 1993 touchdown, but the move remained dormant until that '95 Giants game. Brooks, who became the Packers' go-to receiver after a neck injury forced Sterling Sharpe into retirement, took the Leap to another level from 1995-98.
*Had the Giants lost to Philadelphia on the season's final weekend in 2002, the Giants would have traveled to Green Bay for a Wild Card playoff game. Instead, New York topped Philly in overtime, 10-7, as the Packers drove by on the New Jersey Turnpike (they were in town to play the Jets the next day). Michael Vick upset the Packers one week later, 27-7.
*Including that '95 game, Brett Favre at home against NFC East opponents is 9-2, winning eight of his last nine.
*Tom Coughlin returns to Green Bay, where he was Forrest Gregg's receivers/passing game coach from 1986-87. Coughlin is one of five current head coaches who previously coached in Green Bay. Former Green Bay coaches against the Packers, since 1997:
Head Coach, W-L (Pct), In Green Bay
*Andy Reid, Phi, 2-1 (.667), TE/offensive line asst., 1992-96; QB, 1997-98
*Mike Holmgren, Sea, 1-2 (.333), Head coach, 1992-98
Jon Gruden, Oak-TB, 1-2 (.333), Receivers coach, 1992-94
*Steve Mariucci, SF-Det, 2-7 (.222), QB coach, 1992-95
Dick Jauron, ChiB, 2-8 (.200), DB coach, 1986-94
Tom Coughlin, Jax, 0-2 (.000), Receivers coach, 1986-87
Marty Mornhinweg, Det, 0-4 (.000), Off. asst./quality control, 1995; QB, 1996
Totals, 8-26 (.235) *-includes playoffs
Other notable connections...The Giants' Billy Davis (defensive assistant 2000), Tim Lewis (player, 1983-86) and Pat Ruel (assistant offensive line (2001-02), like Vince Lombardi (Giants offensive assistant before becoming Packers head coach) coached for both venerable franchises...John Bonamego coached under Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville...R-Kal Truluck and Marco Rivera are Brooklyn natives.
