[3rd September 2000 – 4:18 PM, Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin]
The roar of 60,790 Packers fans shook the stadium as John Hall's opening kickoff sailed through the clear Wisconsin sky. Leon Johnson, the Tigers' kick returner, caught the ball three yards deep in the end zone, hesitated for half a heartbeat, then took off. The white jersey with green accents—brand new, flashed under the afternoon sun as Johnson burst through the first wave of coverage.
He found a seam at the twenty-five, cut left, made one defender miss at the thirty, and was finally dragged down at the thirty-two-yard line by a Packers special teamer who came in from the blind side. "Good return!" Rex Ryan shouted from the sideline, clapping his hands together as the players hurried off the field. "Let's go, offence!"
The Tigers' offence jogged onto the field under Vinny Testaverde's lead, who just hoisted his helmet onto his head, fastening the straps. In the broadcast booth high above the field, Fox's lead commentary team was already setting the scene.
"Welcome to Lambeau Field," announcer Joe Buck said, his voice magnetic. "The Green Bay Packers are hosting the New York Tigers in Week One. This is new ownership, new coaching staff, new players for the Tigers—and they're walking into one of the toughest venues in football."
"They'd better be ready," colour commentator Troy Aikman added. "Brett Favre doesn't care that you're rebuilding. This crowd doesn't care about your preseason record. You either execute here, or you get embarrassed. There's no in-between."
Down on the field, Testaverde settled under centre, Kevin Mawae's hands steady as they prepared for the snap. The Packers' defence—eleven men in green and gold—shifted slightly, showing a cover-two shell with both safeties deep.
"Blue thirty-two! Blue thirty-two!" Testaverde barked. "Hut!"
Mawae snapped the ball cleanly as he pounced forward at the opposing Defender. Testaverde took a three-step drop, his eyes immediately scanning the field. The play was a simple mesh concept in which the tight end and WR moved across the middle a couple of yards behind the line of scrimmage.
The play was designed to attack the middle of the field, and Anthony Becht did just that, crossing from the left, as Laveranues Coles came underneath from the right. WR1 Dedric Ward exploded from the line, running down the field, selling the long play.
Becht's route developed cleanly, but the Packers' linebacker read it perfectly, dropping into the passing lane and forcing Testaverde to hold the ball an extra beat. He felt pressure collapsing from his right—Todd Wade, the rookie tackle, had been beaten clean by Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila's speed rush.
Testaveros stepped up into the pocket, Head turning to the right and fired to Curtis Martin, who had raced to the side of the field. The ball arrived in a second, and Martin secured it, turned upfield as he stiff-armed a nearby corner trying to latch onto him.
Wall of green jerseys met him moments later, and he put his head down, pushing as far as he could before being taken out of bounds. "Second and seven," Buck announced. "Not a great start for the Tigers' offence."
In the VIP suite overlooking the fifty-yard line, Xavier James sat forward in his chair, hands clasped together. He wore a charcoal suit with a green tie with the team's crest. Beside him sat Dr Maria in a casual burgundy dress, her slender figure covered by a long beige coat. His grandfather Nathan occupied the seat to his right, headset draped around his neck, his expression calm.
"Is that a problem, or is he just nervous?" Xavier absent-mindedly asked as the offence reset for their second attempt.
Before Nathan could even answer, Dr Maria had beaten him to it. "Chalk it up to nerves. His measurements have been pretty consistent. I don't see him struggling too long to adapt."
[Q:1, 13:30, 2&7]
She was right, as in the next snap, Wade laid out the opposing pass rusher in Violent fashion. At the snap, the rookie tackle exploded out of his stance, hands firing like pistons into Gbaja-Biamila's chest. The Packers' edge rusher staggered, cleats skidding, before Wade drove him straight into the turf.
The Lambeau crowd howled as their defender ate grass, but none of that mattered to Testaverde, who dropped three steps. He twisted his shoulders and fired off a powerfill through to the right into Coles' slant. The Receiver caught the ball cleanly just past the forty and immediately knifed between two green jerseys, dragging a safety an extra three yards before going down.
"First down, Tigers!" Joe Buck called. "And Laveranues Coles, the rookie out of Florida State, gives New York a little spark."
[Q1 — 12:55 | 1st & 10, NYG 49]
The Packers shifted late, showing a blitz formation just before the snap. Testaverde recognised it and immediately called an audible, tapping his helmet twice. "Kill! Kill! 38 stretch! On one!"
The offensive line reset with urgency, cleats digging into the grass as the Packers' linebackers crowded the line, threatening to shoot every gap they could find. Curtis Martin shifted his alignment slightly behind Mawae's right hip.
"Hut!"
The Tigers' line fired off the snap, flowing left in perfect unison. Mawae sealed the play-side defensive tackle, guard Randy Thomas climbed to meet the strong-side linebacker, and Wade hooked the edge rusher just long enough to create daylight. Martin took the handoff and cut immediately outside, reading the block like a chef cutting through meat.
The crease wasn't big, but Curtis didn't need much. He planted his foot, ripped into second gear, and charged upfield. A Packers defender lunged, fingertips grazing Martin's hip, but the veteran back ducked under the tackle and pushed forward for an elegant six-yard gain.
"Martin again showing that elite vision," Aikman noted as the chains reset. "He's the stabiliser for any team. Everything runs through 28."
[Q1 — 12:08 | 2nd & 4, GB 45]
Testaverde wasted no time as he took the snap and rolled right on a half-bootleg. The Packers bit hard on the run fake—Martin's managing to sell the run long enough that for a moment the entire right side of the field opened like a curtain. Becht slipped into the flat unnoticed and Testaverde flicked the ball to him, a simple pitch-and-catch, but Green Bay's pursuit closed fast.
Becht turned upfield, lowered his shoulder, and bulldozed the first man, dragging another defender two yards before finally going down at the Packers' 39. "Another first down for New York," Joe Buck called. "Tigers moving the ball well on this opening drive."
Aikman nodded. "Belichick wants efficiency. Nothing flashy. Just rhythm and control."
[Q1 — 11:20 | 1st & 10, GB 39]
The next play was designed to take a shot, as Coles widened his split and Ward crouched into a sprinter's stance. The Packers' corners edged back, sensing danger.
"Hut!"
However, it was a Play-action again, Martin froze the linebackers that managed to beat the tackle. Testaverde set his feet, eyes locked on Ward streaking up the right sideline. The veteran QB launched—high arc, tight spiral—a picture-perfect deep ball.
But Green Bay's All-Pro safety, Darren Sharper, read it instantly. He broke from the deep third, gliding across the field in full stride. Ward leapt—but Sharper leapt higher, arms extended like a thief picking something clean from the air, making the interception.
Almost the entirety of Lambeau erupted, a wave of sound that washed over the field. "Darren Sharper with a fantastic play!" Buck shouted. "Testaverde wanted the home run ball and paid for it!"
~~~
Green Bay took over at their own 18, and Lambeau felt alive again. The Tigers' defence tightened their chinstraps as Brett Favre jogged onto the field, helmet tilted slightly back, the swagger unmistakable. The first play was a hard play-action fake, a deep drop, and a missile to Antonio Freeman on the left sideline. The ball was threaded between two defenders before they even recognised the route for a nineteen-yard gain.
Next came Ahman Green —slicing through a crease behind left guard for eight. Then a swing pass for twelve. Then, a tight-end seam route for another chunk as the Packers methodically made their way up the field. "New York's defence is on its heels," Aikman said. "No pressure on Favre yet, and that's asking for trouble."
[Q1 — 8:02 | 2nd & 3, NYT 34]
Green Bay spread out in a shotgun formation with four wide receivers. Favre scanned, the defence nodded once, and snapped the ball. Julius Peterson on the Tigers' defence exploded forward, blitzing off the edge with a clean tackle. Upon their collision, a path to the QB opened, and he charged forward without hesitation.
Favre didn't blink his fear as he floated backwards, fading left, tossing a side-armed dart thirty yards downfield while falling away—an impossible throw only he'd attempt, let alone complete. Driver caught it in stride at the four-yard line and was tackled immediately, but he managed to push forward so that he fell into the end zone.
Lambeau detonated boisterous cheers as the home side celebrated their score. "TouchDOWN! Packers," Buck exclaimed above the din.
[Q1 — 6:02 |Packers 7 – Tigers 0]
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To Be Continued...