"Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." --Vince Lombardi
Since their founding in 1921, the Green Bay Packers have played countless games that have thrilled pro football fans across the country. In this book, a veteran sportswriter examines eleven contests that have defined the team over different eras in its 101-year history. From the season-ending win in 1929 that delivered the Packers’ first NFL championship, to Vince Lombardi’s first victory as Packers coach in 1959, winning both the “Ice Bowl” and first Super Bowl in 1967, and on through the Favre and Rodgers eras in a new century, Chuck Carlson goes beyond events on the field to trace the significance of each of these signature games in the arc of Packers history.
"Chuck Carlson does so much more than just take the reader back through the Green Bay Packers’ towering history. With deft writing and keen analysis, he explains why a few games stand out among the many that have made the unique franchise so successful. I can already hear the debates."
Few writers know the Packers better than Chuck Carlson, which is a good thing for this book because in Catching Excellence he has taken on the seemingly impossible task of reducing the history of the most storied franchise in the NFL down to just 11 games. Eleven games to cover 103 years; to account for 13 championships; to take the measure of men like Lambeau and Lombardi, Hutson and Hornung, Favre and White, Rodgers and Woodson; to capture the essence of a team that not only embodies a sport and a league, but that also defines a place and a people. This is not only a must-read for Packer fans, but also an enduring contribution to the legacy of the most decorated team in the annals of pro football."
