Best fans in the NFL?

Let me start by saying I've been to Lambeau. I've rooted vigorously, often venomously against the Packers and their fans. I've cheered their miscues, I've mocked their indiscretions (hot tub). I'm a Vikings fan. The average Packer fan has done the same and that's part of the game. But I have always held that the Lambeau crowd - the true Packer fans, not the ones who populate your Minnesota workplace, annoy your email inbox and may or may not have a second cousin from Green Bay - are admirable good fans. They've welcomed me into Lambeau in Purple, asked my opinion on life, the Vikings and football, and are disarmingly nice. 

We met such a couple at the Ravens game this year. They showed up in Vikings Favre jerseys. They reported that they were still Packer fans, but that after the Ted Thompson debacle, they decided to follow Brett. I have to tell you how awkward this was for our entourage. I don't know what it is to be a fan of a player first and a team second. Honestly, I'd have thought Brett was their son, or at least a nephew. They expressed concern at the reception he was going to get at Lambeau. "Don't worry.", we assured them from our Metrodome seats. "We've been to Lambeau, they're great fans, he'll get a standing ovation." We sincerely believed that.

We were wrong.

I'm not a perfect fan. By some criteria I'm not even a good fan. I'm overly emotional, have little faith when momentum changes against us and occasionally yell some profanities at the TV. We don't have anyone in our recent history quite like Favre with the Packers, so comparisons are somewhat futile. I like to think I wouldn't have booed Cris Carter had he shown up in a Bears jersey. Maybe I'm wrong. But I do think if you are going to call yourselves the "Best Fans in the NFL", you don't show up in Judas jerseys and jeer a HOF player who got shown an early exit by management. It's not as if he left for money, the bright lights of the big city, or to accelerate his movie career. He simply wasn't ready to be done. 

One of my longstanding pet peeves are fans who think the team they root for makes them a better fan. I've been a season ticket holder for many years, so I don't consider myself "bandwagon". But you show me a Lions fan who's been to the same number of games I have and I will salute him - he is definitely a better fan than I. Truthfully, my experiences at Lambeau have made me believe the season ticket holder base in Green Bay is a more dedicated and appreciative fan than they showed tonight. Tonight they looked like Eagles fans, who as my wife (an unabashed Buddy Ryan apologist) would be the first to admit, would probably find a reason to lock him up in the stadium's jail and throw away the key. We did agree, however, that the Fredo signs were really funny. Because Packer fan or Viking fan, if you don't like The Godfather, something's wrong with you.

So what now Packer fan? Favre has already swept the Packers. The "Best Fans in the NFL" label tarnished in front of national audience. Your best players were on the field after the game offering heartfelt congratulations to their former teammate. I'm not going to bend over backwards to defend Favre's actions over recent years. But today,  after embarrassing Packer Nation on the field, he proceeded to give a classy and touching speech thanking the fans that had just booed and heckled him for their 16 years of support. He apologized for the media circus, and his comments about the 1996 team when he could have twisted the knife into Ted Thompson. 

The Lambeau faithful are better than this, and I think they deserve a pass on this one. And I believe there will come a day when he will be welcomed back appropriately. But next time one of your idiot friends says something like "Packer fans are the best in the NFL, and we would never...", you have the right to quietly chuckle.

A little Packer shame, Viking glory and a 7-1 record going into the bye week makes for a Happy Monday....

Skol Vikings.