Midwest Migration: Why Packers players are moving to Minnesota
A trend continues of players who leave the Green Bay Packers to play for the Minnesota Vikings.
After the recent signings of Za’Darius Smith and Chandon Sullivan by the Minnesota Vikings, the common theme of players swapping the green and yellow for the purple and yellow continues.
It states the obvious that the Vikings are a very well-run organization and have been for years. They have state-of-the-art facilities, committed ownership, and one of the most passionate fan bases in the NFL. Compare that to Green Bay, who plays in a rundown stadium whose past is brighter than its future, and it is no wonder players often trade in their cheese heads for a new set of horns.
The first Packer to play for the Vikings was Carrol Dale, a wide receiver who played for the Packers from 1965-72 before playing his lone season with the Vikings in 1973. Since Dale came to his senses, there have been 17-players who migrated from Green Bay to Minneapolis. This includes Hall-of-Fame quarterback Brett Favre, who won Super Bowl XXXI with the Packers in 1997 and led the Vikings to the NFC Championship game in 2009.
On the other side of things, there have only been two players to have played for the Vikings and then the Packers – Letroy Guion and Koren Robinson, who only played a combined six seasons with the Vikings.
Among the longest-tenured Packers to play for the Vikings are Ryan Longwell (eight seasons), Paul Coffman (seven seasons), and Greg Jennings (six seasons).
What does it say about the Minnesota Vikings that players from their rival want to jump ship and play for them?
As we all painfully know, the Vikings have never won the Super Bowl while the Packers have won several. So why would so many players jump ship to play for the Vikings? There is an optimism about the Vikings organization that comes with the pain of never winning a championship. There is something about always being the bridesmaid and never the bride that motivates players to be the one that brings the city a championship.
Perhaps conditions at Lambeau are so brutal that players would much rather play in a dome. Perhaps players don’t want their fans claiming ownership of the team and waiving meaningless paper in the stands. Or perhaps players like Aaron Rodgers simply drive people out of town.
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Whatever the reason may be, it is very telling how many former Packers have gone on to play for the Vikings and how few Vikings went to play in Green Bay. The days of “Title Town USA” are long gone and it seems to be in agreement amongst players that the better environment and best chance of winning is not in the city that has witnessed 30-years of Hall-of-Fame quarterback play, a coach who is the namesake of the most sought after trophy in the sport and is home to the back-to-back MVP, but rather a city built for the future. Minnesota is not reminiscing over the past but exciting those around them for the future. The Vikings are an organization of “will-bes” not “has-beens,” and it has been attracting Packers for decades.