Marco Rivera file
‘Tough guy with a great work ethic’ became one of NFL’s best linemen
When Marco Rivera arrived in Green Bay for the start of training camp in 1996, the sixthround draft choice from Penn State had doubts. Serious ones.
The Packers, coming off a third straight season-ending playoff loss to the rival Cowboys in Dallas, were being hailed as Super Bowl favorites with a talent-laden roster headlined by quarterback Brett Favre and defensive end Reggie White.
“You’re pumped to be drafted by such a great team,” Rivera said. “But I’m a sixth-rounder (208th overall). I’m like, ‘Wow, this is really a talented team.’ You meet the rookies first, and then the vets come in. It got pretty real when Reggie and Brett walked into the locker room and the talk is all about a Super Bowl season and maybe even going undefeated.”
Twenty-five years later, talking via phone from his North Texas home, Rivera was candid about his feelings.
“I mean, I had doubts,” he said. “Am I good enough to be in this locker room, to make this team? Am I going to get a shot? In college, you can overpower a guy and get away with it. In the NFL, this team — I’m going up (against) guys like Reggie and Gilbert Brown every day in practice and had a lot to learn about techniques of an NFL offensive lineman.”
The son of a butcher growing up in Brooklyn, the 6-foot-4, 309-pound guard enjoyed the perks of his father’s profession.
“Our family always had a nice piece of meat on the dinner table,” Rivera said. “My mom never played sports and my dad was 6-foot-2 and on the husky side. Where I got my athletic ability is a mystery I’m still trying to solve.”
Penn State University
Played in Super Bowl XXXII. Durable right guard started 99 straight regular-season games. Pro Bowl selection, 2002-04. Named All-Pro, 2003. Packers’ Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, 2004. Ed Block Courage Award winner, 2004. Played in 125 regular-season games in Green Bay tenure. Inducted into Packers Hall of Fame in 2011.
Dallas Cowboys, 2005-06.
62.
1996-2004
North Dallas.
Offensive line coach and assistant head coach at June Shelton High School in Dallas. a game-changer in his career. He went overseas to hone his game and gain valuable experience and reps with the Scottish Claymores of the World Football League, starting all 10 games and earning honorable mention All-World League honors.
“That experience was invaluable for him,” Wolf said. “He was on his way to becoming a starter for us. And then he made himself into a Pro Bowl player. I love his story. We were fortunate to get him in the sixth round and then he develops into one of the best. Marco was one of my favorite players because he made it happen himself.”
Rivera contributed mainly on special teams units in the 1997 season, which ended with the Denver Broncos’ Super Bowl upset over the heavily favored Packers in San Diego, 31-24.
“I was the wedge guy and played on all the special teams units,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s not the way we wanted our season to end, but John Elway and the Broncos played a nearly perfect game. It was their day. I think we were the better team, but they beat us on that particular Sunday.”