Packers Vs. Giants Brings Back Painful Playoff Memory For Brain

As a sports fan, you're going to have great memories and you're going to have some painful ones. As a Green Bay Packer fan, I've been treated to some amazing games and some championships sprinkled in too. Super Bowl wins in 1996 and again in 2010 put the title back in 'Title Town'. But there is one loss so painful it kills me to write about it to this day. The 2008 NFC Championship game.

That game was the very first Packer playoff game I'd ever been to. It also turned out to be Brett Favre's final game in a Packer uniform. He would soon retire, un-retire, get traded...you know the rest. But here was the old gunslinger with one last shot at the Super Bowl. Old number 4 going out on top.

First, lets talk about the weather. It's one of the coldest playoff games in history. Single digit temperatures at kickoff with dangerously low wind chills. It was so cold that beers would freeze over by the time you bought one and got to your seat! I'll never forget Giants coach Tom Coughlin's face. It was bright red and looked like he had frost bite. I'll also always remember the crazy fans who weren't wearing shirts at all! The benefits of a full day of tailgating.

The game was a back and forth affair that eventually went to overtime. Green Bay got the ball first and on first down, Brett Favre threw one of his NFL record interceptions and the Giants drove into to field goal range and kicked the winning score.

A stunned Lambeau Field was silent. I suddenly felt the pain in my feet from my frozen toes. We exited the stadium in silence. It was like a funeral, and in a way it was. Only we didn't know it yet. It was the end of the Favre era in Packer football.

As we got on our bus to return to Iowa, there was one person happy on the bus. The lone Giants fan who took grief from Packer fans all the way to Wisconsin finally had his say. I honestly didn't care. My body was so cold I couldn't speak anyway.