For everyone else, the date is probably different. For me, it was September 7, 1980. I was 13 years old. Far too old not to be a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan yet. But times were different back then. Following the departure of Vince Lombardi, and coming on the heels of the infamous John Hadl trade in 1974 that crippled the franchise for a decade or more, the Packers stunk. Bad. It was OK to be a tepid fan. Such was the case for all of us before Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

The day started out no different than most Sundays growing up on a farm outside of New Glarus. Larry Klassy loaded the family into the family boat, a burgundy 1975 Ford LTD sedan, for the long voyage to Madison. After a mandatory stop at Ponderosa for a paper-thin charcoal-grilled steak, foil-wrapped baked potato, glass goblet of cherry Jell-O cubes, and the mother of all salad bars, the family found its way across Gammon Road to West Towne Mall.