*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 Packers-Vikings Week 1 Dope Sheet:*
**MINNESOTA (0-0) at GREEN BAY (0-0)
Monday, Sept. 8 | Lambeau Field | 6 p.m. CDT**
PACKERS KICK OFF 2008 SEASON IN PRIME TIME
-Green Bay kicks off its 90th season in franchise history -- its 88th as a member of the National Football League - as the archrival Minnesota Vikings come to Lambeau Field for a Monday night showdown.
-Green Bay opens the season at home for the third consecutive season. The Packers are 48-36-3 (.569) all-time in season openers but have lost three of their last five.
-For the fourth time in club history, Green Bay opens the season on Monday Night Football. The team is 3-0 in its previous MNF openers.
-Just as it has dealt with the spotlight all offseason, Green Bay kicks off the 2008 season in front of a national audience. All eyes will be on new Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who will become the first quarterback other than Brett Favre to start a Packers game since Don Majkowski, Sept. 20, 1992.
-Monday night marks the 95th meeting in the all-time series between the clubs. For the sixth time in the series, they will meet in the season opener.
-In a rivalry that has exhibited great parity over the years (Packers 48-45-1, including playoffs), Green Bay could establish the first five-game winning streak in the series in nearly 25 years. The last such streak in the series came during the 1983-85 seasons, when the Packers won five straight.
-Honored by the NFL Alumni and Motorola as 2007 NFL Coach of the year, Mike McCarthy has not lost to the Vikings (4-0) since arriving in Green Bay in 2006.
WITH THE CALL
-ESPN enters its third season as host of the most successful series in sports television history, Monday Night Football. Play-by-play man Mike Tirico is joined by analysts Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser for the 39th season of MNF broadcasts.
-The contest also will air as a simulcast locally on WBAY (Ch. 2) in Green Bay and WISN (Ch. 12) in Milwaukee.
-ESPN Deportes, with Alvaro Martin, Raul Allegre and John Sutcliffe, will broadcast in Spanish. ESPN International will air the contest in three languages to over 180 countries.
-Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 56-station Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color) calling the action. The duo enter their 10th season of broadcasts together across the Packers Radio Network, which covers 47 markets in six states.
-Westwood One will air the game across the country. Marv Albert (play-by-play) and Boomer Esiason (analyst) will call the action. Jim Gray hosts pregame and halftime shows.
-For out-of-town listeners, the broadcast is available to NFL Field Pass subscribers on www.packers.com as well as on Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 127 WTMJ feed) as part of the network's NFL Sunday Drive. DIRECTV subscribers can watch the game on channel 206 (HD ch. 73).
PLENTY OF OPTIMISM IN GREEN BAY
-Headed by a strong football operations led by McCarthy and Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year Ted Thompson, the Packers enter 2008 as one of the league's strongest young teams.
-Winners of 17 of its last 20 regular-season games, Green Bay returns much of its core from a team that reached the NFC Championship Game. In fact, 21 of 22 starters return from a year ago.
-The Packers will be among the league's youngest teams for a third straight year. But unlike previous years, Green Bay will have experienced NFL players at nearly every position. Only two rookies made their way onto the season-opening two-deep - both on offense.
-There's no doubt the team will be tested early. Five of its first eight games come against playoff teams from a year ago.
-If the Packers are going to match and exceed their success from a year ago, they again must get outstanding play from all three phases. Last season, the club finished as the league's No. 2-ranked offense and its No. 6 scoring defense. The Packers also finished No. 7 in the Dallas Morning News special teams rankings, a dramatic jump of 25 spots from their last-place finish the previous two years.
A MATCHUP OF YOUNG QUARTERBACKS
-Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been a mainstay in the headlines this offseason as he becomes the first quarterback not named Favre to start under center for Green Bay in nearly 16 years.
-Don Majkowski started for the Packers against the Bengals on Sept. 20, 1992, and 253 games later, Rodgers gets the nod.
-The last Packers quarterback not named Favre to start at Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football? It was Lynn Dickey, who led the club to a 12-9 overtime victory over Tampa Bay on Dec. 12, 1983.
-While Rodgers is slated to start his first game under center, it's not as if he's new to the NFL. Rodgers is entering his fourth year in the NFL - his third in Mike McCarthy's West Coast offense - and is already among the most tenured players in the locker room. Of the 53-man roster, only nine have been in Green Bay longer than Rodgers.
-In his first preseason as the starter, Rodgers proved to be both accurate (68.5% completion rate) and efficient (103.6 rating).
-On Monday night, the fourth-year pro will be competing against a quarterback equally as young. Third-year Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson is slated to make his 15th career start on Monday night.
-Among Week 1 projected starters in the NFC, only Falcons rookie quarterback Matt Ryan is younger than Rodgers and Jackson. A look at the youngest starting quarterbacks in the conference:
Player, Team, Age
Matt Ryan, Atlanta, 23 (5/17/85)
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, 24 (12/2/83)
Tarvaris Jackson, Minnesota, 25 (4/21/83)
Kyle Orton, Chicago, 25 (11/14/82)
Jason Campbell, Washington, 26 (12/31/81)
RESTORING THE LAMBEAU ADVANTAGE
-The crown jewel of the National Football League, Lambeau Field has long been known as one of the tougher venues to play in, particularly during the harsh Wisconsin winter.
-McCarthy stated consistently that one of the team's goals was to reclaim the mystique of playing at Lambeau Field. Mission accomplished.
-The team finished 7-1 at home last season, a marked improvement over the prior three seasons (10-14 combined).
-Green Bay begins the 2008 home slate having won nine of its last 10 home games. Two of those nine wins came against the Vikings.
-Since Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren began the revitalization of the franchise in 1992, no NFL team has enjoyed more consistent success at home. A look at the top home W-L records since the '92 season:
Team (W-L record) Pct.
Green Bay (97-31-0) .758
Denver (95-33-0) .742
Pittsburgh (92-35-1) .723
Kansas City (92-36-0) .719
Minnesota (86-42-0) .672
**
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings:
All-time regular season: 48-44-1
All-time, postseason: 0-1
All-time, at Lambeau Field: 16-16-1
All-time, vs. Minnesota on MNF: 2-3-0
Streaks: The Packers have won the last four meetings. A fifth straight win would mark the longest winning streak in the series in nearly 25 years (1983-85, Packers, five straight victories).
Last meeting, regular season: Nov. 11, 2007, at Lambeau Field; Packers won, 34-0
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike McCarthy: 22-12-0, .647, (incl. 1-1 postseason); 3rd NFL season
Brad Childress: 14-18-0, .438; 3rd NFL season
Head to Head: McCarthy 4-0
vs. Opponent: McCarthy 4-0 vs. Vikings; Childress 0-4 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY...Is in third year as the Packers' 14th head coach.
-Was named Packers head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, his first head coaching job after 13 years as an NFL assistant.
-Honored as the 2007 Motorola NFL Coach of the Year and NFL Alumni Coach of the Year.
-Became the first Packers coach since Vince Lombardi to lead the team to a championship game in his second season.
-Tied franchise record for most victories by a coach in his first two seasons (21).
BRAD CHILDRESS...Is in third year as the Vikings' seventh head coach.
-In his 31st season of coaching and his 11th in the NFL. Broke in as Colts' quarterbacks coach (1985) and spent seven years (1999-2005) in Philadelphia, where he was offensive coordinator.
-Also coached at four colleges, including the University of Wisconsin (1991-98). The staff at Northern Arizona (1986-89) included future NFL head coaches Bill Callahan, Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid.
-In 2007, the Vikings became the first team in franchise history to rank No. 1 in the league in both rushing offense and rushing defense.
-The Vikings' seven Pro Bowlers last year were the team's most since 2000.
THE PACKERS-VIKINGS SERIES
-These two longtime divisional rivals - seperated by some 280 miles down Highway 29 - square off for the 95th time in the history of the rivalry.
-Few, if any, rivalries in sports have exhibited more parity. The Packers own a slight advantage over the Vikings (48-45-1, including playoffs) in the all-time series.
-The teams have met five times previously on Monday Night Football, with the Vikings holding a 3-2 edge, winning the most recent MNF contest on Nov. 21, 2005 (20-17). The MNF series includes Antonio Freeman's famous deflected overtime TD catch in 2000 at Lambeau Field.
-Last season's 34-0 shutout by the Packers was the first blanking by either team in their 94 meetings.
-The Packers look for their first five-game winning streak in the series since the 1983-85 seasons.
-The series began when the Vikings entered the league in 1961, and Vince Lombardi's Packers won the first six meetings and nine of the first 10.
-Over the last 14 seasons (1994-2007), these teams have accounted for 10 NFC Central/North division championships.
{sportsad300}NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Vikings K Ryan Longwell is Green Bay's all-time leading scorer, having racked up 1,054 points in nine seasons with the Packers (1997-2005)...Fifth in Packers history with 36 interceptions, Vikings S Darren Sharper spent his first eight NFL seasons (1997-2004) in Green Bay...The Vikings coaching staff has several ties to the University of Wisconsin, where Childress (1991-98) and offensive line coach Jim Hueber (1992-2005) worked together, and where offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell played quarterback (1992-95) and assistant special teams coach Brian Murphy (2000-05) held various recruiting and administrative roles...Bevell also was a Packers offensive assistant coach from 2000-05, including QB coach (2003-05)...Green Bay director of research and development Mike Eayrs (similar capacity, 1985-99) previously worked for the Vikings...Vikings WR Robert Ferguson spent the first six seasons (2001-06) of his NFL career in Green Bay...Packers DT Colin Cole originally signed with Minnesota as a rookie free agent in 2003 and spent separate one-week stints on the Vikings' 53-man roster that season...Packers staff writer Tom Fanning joined the front office in May after nine seasons (1999-2007) with the Vikings.
INDIVIDUALLY VS. VIKINGS
Greg Jennings' 16-yard TD reception at Minnesota last season (Sept. 30, 2007) was Brett Favre's 421st career TD pass, breaking Dan Marino's NFL record...Donald Driver established a career high for receiving yards with 191 against the Vikings at Minnesota (Nov. 12, 2006), topping the 162 he had on Dec. 24, 2004, also at the Metrodome...Driver also had a career-high 11 receptions (tie) in that 2004 contest, as well as a career-long 45-yard run on Nov. 2, 2003. His six TD catches against the Vikings are his most against any opponent, as are his 65 receptions and 1,021 receiving yards against Minnesota...James Jones had seven receptions for 111 yards and one of his two TDs last season in the two meetings with the Vikings...Ruvell Martin has 12 of his 37 career catches and 225 of his 600 yards against Minnesota, including the first two-TD game of his career in the second meeting last season...After a crucial fourth-quarter fumble in the first meeting with Minnesota last year, Ryan Grant came back to rush 25 times for 119 yards in the rematch...Aaron Kampman originally established his career high of three sacks against the Vikings (Nov. 21, 2005), and tied the mark against Minnesota (Dec. 21, 2006), giving him two of his four career three-sack games in this rivalry...Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila has three career multi-sack games against the Vikings.
LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON
Nov. 11, 2007, at Lambeau Field; Packers won, 34-0.
-The Packers posted the first shutout in the 94-game history of the rivalry.
-Ryan Grant's 30-yard TD run in the first quarter highlighted his 119-yard day.
-Brett Favre was 33-of-46 for 351 yards and three touchdowns, two to Ruvell Martin.
-After cracking 100 yards in the teams' first meeting, Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson was held to just 45 yards on 11 carries before leaving with a knee injury.
-Green Bay's defense held the Vikings to just 247 total yards, and the Packers won the time of possession by more than 20 minutes (40:40 to 19:20).
