FANS WATCH RODGERS, GREEN BAY LOSE 31-26
It’s not the way Green Bay Packer fans in Chico wanted to see the season end.
The Packers lost 31-26 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field.
The Buccaneers will face the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.
Normally, fans would’ve packed Chico restaurants and bars to watch the game but with COVID-19, and Butte County in the purple tier, fans stayed home. The purple tier allows restaurants that serve food outdoors to remain open but bars and pubs are closed.
Those who did watch the game were sitting outside at places like the Pour House and Buffalo Wild Wings as a cold front rolled into the north valley. There, they watched Chico’s own Aaron Rodgers try to reach his second Super Bowl.
But for the second straight year, this time at Lambeau Field, the former Pleasant Valley Vikings and Butte College Roadrunner star was denied a return trip.
Going into the game, local Packer fans were confident.
“I feel like the Packers have a really good chance to win better than I did say last year (against the 49ers),” Casey Lee said outside Buffalo Wild Wings. “I had gone to a regular season game (Packers lost) so I didn’t have a good feeling.”
Much like the year before, the Packers were playing a team in the NFC Championship Game that had dominated them in the regular season.
“But I think it’s a different feel this year,” Lee said, before Rodgers tossed three touchdowns and one interception in the loss.
The Packers went into halftime trailing 21-10 after a last-second touchdown pass from Brady.
But despite turning the ball over to start the second half, Rodgers was able to draw the Packers back to within 28-17 with an 8-yard TD toss to Robert Tonyan.
“I was excited but nervous because I have a lot of friends who are Tom Brady fans, I didn’t want to lose to them,” Jessica Guterding said as she and Rey Mendez sat outside at Pour House. “I think we needed that really bad (score.)”
While both Guterding and Lee enjoy having a local on the team, Rodgers isn’t why they root for the green and gold.
“That’s not really why I root for the Packers,” said Guterding, who like Lee gets asked that a lot. “My grandpa was a Packer fan and we went to Lambeau — it’s more than just that he’s from here.”
Lee said that it’s both cool and frustrating to have a local hero on the field.
“It’s awesome having a great player who is from here,” Lee said. “But it can be a little frustrating because you get a lot of people assuming that you like the team because Aaron Rodgers is from here.”
The loss denied one fan a dream matchup for Super Bowl Sunday.
Kansas City Mike was decked out in his Kansas City shirt and hat and said his NFC team is the Packers. He was hoping to see Rodgers and his quarterback, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, square off in the big game.
“I wish him all the best,” he said as the game was nearing kickoff. “I would love to see a Packers- Chiefs Super Bowl, but I am getting ahead of myself.”
Had the game occurred Mike said that he would’ve been rooting for the Chiefs.
“But if the Packers won, that’s the next best scenario,” he said.