NFL London: Green Bay Packers v New York Giants 'a dream' for MVP Aaron Rodgers
- Published
Aaron Rodgers with the Lombardi Trophy, named after legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi, after his sole Super Bowl win in 2011
The NFL will complete the set at a sold-out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend.
Just one franchise is yet to feature since the International Series began in 2007, with 31 regular-season games staged in London.
But the Green Bay Packers will become the 32nd and final NFL team to play in the UK on Sunday.
Winners of a record 13 NFL championships, including the pre-Super Bowl era, they are led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, named the league's Most Valuable Player for a fourth time last season.
And they will make their British bow against another of the NFL's legendary teams, eight-time champions the New York Giants.
It was they who won the first game at Wembley back in 2007, external, so it seems fitting the Giants face the Packers in the second of this year's three-game London series.
Rodgers has called his first international trip "a dream", but not everyone in Green Bay is relishing it as much as the future Hall of Famer.
Why has it taken so long for the Packers to play in London?
This year the Packers had the sixth stock sale in their history. The fifth paid for the expansion of Lambeau Field at the south endzone in 2013.
For NFL teams to play regular-season games in London, one of them has to give up a home fixture.
When guaranteed only eight a season, the Packers were reluctant because of their staggering support and surely the longest waiting list in world sport.
Founded in 1919, the Packers soon became the pride of Green Bay. The city became known as 'Titletown' in the 1960s when coach Vince Lombardi, who the Super Bowl trophy is named after, led the team to five NFL championships.
The Packers are the only major fan-owned team in American sport and have played in their original city longer than any other NFL team. Such is the team's status that its logo features on the city's official seal.
Today, Green Bay is the smallest city to host an NFL team. About 75% of its population of 107,395 would fit into Lambeau Field, which holds 81,441.
The demand for tickets is huge - the Packers told BBC Sport that this summer the waiting list for season tickets stood at 147,000.
Typically, just 70-100 fans come off the list each year, and some of this year's lucky ones had been waiting for nearly 50 years., external
Being Wisconsin's only NFL team, the Packers attract fans from across the state so home games are a significant boost to the local economy.
But when the NFL expanded the regular season to 17 games in 2021, team owners agreed to a rotating international schedule. It means each team will stage one 'home' game overseas every eight seasons.
And with the Packers scheduled for nine home games in 2022, the time had come to finally fly across the Atlantic.
Rodgers hopes to find time for a Guinness 'or whatever the local brew is'
The Lambeau Leap is a touchdown celebration that has been performed by many NFL players since LeRoy Butler first did it with the Packers in 1993
While the Packers took their name from a meat-packing company, their fans call themselves 'cheeseheads' because Wisconsin produces about a quarter of America's cheese.
Many even wear foam or plastic cheese hats, plenty of which will be on show this Sunday - they were on sale at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Sunday when this year's London Games kicked off with a nail-biting win for the Minnesota Vikings.
There will also be the more familiar sight of a soccer ball at the home of Spurs as Green Bay receiver Allen Lazard has taken to doing keepie uppies during his pre-game warm-up.
Both the Packers and the Giants arrived on Friday, and Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur has made it clear how he feels about having to squeeze a trans-Atlantic flight and acclimatisation into their game week.
"I'm not going to give you my honest answer. I'd rather refrain," he said. "It feels like a Thursday night game for us as coaches, just in terms of all the preparation you've got to do. But you just do it, so it is what it is."
But Rodgers, 38, downplayed that comment by saying: "Coaches are creatures of habit, even more than players. Any time there's a minute adjustment to the schedule, it throws them all out of whack."
He added: "We're all excited. I wanted to go over early [in the week] to experience a bit of that culture, to be able to get out, see some sights and interact with fans, go to a pub and have a Guinness or whatever the local brew is.
"I've been talking about doing this for years, since they started this - I couldn't wait to get over. But nobody wants to give up a Green Bay home game, so it's exciting to finally get a chance to go over."
Barkley back to his best for Big Blue
Nicknamed 'Saquad' for the size of his thighs, Saquon Barkley has claimed two rushing touchdowns and 463 rushing yards so far this season
Rodgers will become the first reigning MVP to play in London since running back Adrian Peterson helped the Vikings beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2013.
But despite now being a four-time MVP, and enjoying three consecutive 13-win seasons under LaFleur, a second Super Bowl win has eluded Rodgers since his first in 2011.
The Giants won the following Super Bowl and although they have reached the play-offs just once since, they have made a positive start under new coach Brian Daboll.
Both they and Green Bay come into Sunday's game with a 3-1 record, and Saquon Barkley looks back to his best after a torn ACL in 2020 as the Giants running back, 25, leads the league for rushing yards.
However, the Big Blue are sweating on the fitness of quarterback Daniel Jones, who sprained an ankle in last week's win over the Chicago Bears but had to come back into the game after back-up Tyrod Taylor suffered a concussion.
In Green Bay's overtime win over the New England Patriots last week, Rodgers became just the fifth player in NFL history to reach 500 career touchdown passes.
If Jones misses out, his replacement is set to be third-stringer Davis Webb, a 27-year-old yet to attempt an NFL pass.
On a historic day for the Packers and the NFL, it would be quite an occasion for Webb to make his first start.
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