The Green Bay Packers opened the 1994 season against the Minnesota Vikings. But there was more drama in Green Bay in the hours leading up to the game than there was on the field. Two days before the game, Packers star receiver Sterling Sharpe announced he would not play on Sunday without a new contract. The Packers were facing the potential problem of losing Brett Favre’s top offensive weapon before facing their division rivals. But Sharpe settled his differences with the front office before the game and showed up to play. Then he led the team in catches and scored the only Packers touchdown in a 16-10 win over the Vikings. This is the story of when Sterling Sharpe returned from his holdout at the last minute and helped the Packers beat the Vikings.

Sterling Sharpe Returned from His Holdout and Helped the Packers Beat the Vikings: The Crisis

Sharpe announced his holdout Friday morning, two days before the season opener. Packers safety George Teague was one of the first to find out what was happening. He heard it from Sharpe’s wife.

“She came in Friday morning and said, ‘Sterling’s not going to play,’” Teague said. The “holdout” was brief, it was settled by Saturday night. And the catalyst for the settlement was Packers head coach Mike Holmgren.

“Mike [Holmgren] should get the credit for getting the parties talking again,” GM Ron Wolf said Sunday before the game.

Holmgren heard from an assistant coach that it would be a good idea to call Sharpe’s agent, Tank Black. Holmgren spoke to negotiator Mike Reinfeldt and convinced him to call Black. The deal was worked out Saturday night.

“The next I know he’s at the hotel on Saturday night. It’s a relief,” Teague added. “We had a lot of confidence in the rest of the guys. There are 22 starters and 53 guys on the team. I don’t think one guy can win the ball game for us.”

The settlement didn’t change Sharpe’s $1.99 million cap hit for 1994 but reportedly gave him more money in 1995. Ironically, Sharpe suffered a career-ending injury in the 1994 regular season finale and never played another game in the NFL. But nobody knew that at the time.

“Say what you want; those types of things are distractions,” Holmgren told reporters after the game. “You try to battle through or ignore or deal with it the best way you can. We’re all human.”

The Packers Score First

By the time the game started, the Packers had already won their biggest battle. Now they faced the Vikings who had future Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon making his debut with the team.

The Packers punted on their first possession and Minnesota took over at their own 40. Moon tried to find wide receiver Qadry Ismail, but his pass bounced off the receiver and was intercepted by Teague who ran it back 12 yards to the Minnesota 43. It was the first of two picks by Teague in the game.

Favre drove the Packers down to the Vikings seven on passes to Ed West, Robert Brooks and Sharpe. The drive stalled there and Chris Jacke connected on a 25-yard field goal to give the Packers an early 3-0 lead.

The Packers defense set them up with a short field midway through the second quarter when they forced the Vikings to punt from deep in their own territory. Favre utilized the rushing attack here, with Reggie Cobb gaining 12 yards on two carries and Edgar Bennett carrying up the middle for six more. It all led to a 14-yard touchdown pass to Sharpe that put the Packers ahead 10-0.

“The touchdown play that I threw to Sterling was put in for the red zone,” Favre said. “Even if Sterling wasn’t here, we were going to run that play in the red zone. Sterling was here and made that play. We didn’t change anything.”

The Packers extended their lead right before halftime. They got the ball back at their own 37 with 1:03 remaining in the half. The two key plays on this drive were passes to West. The first went for 24 yards and the next one for 11 more. That set up a 39-yard field goal by Jacke, and the Packers led 13-0 at the half.

Sterling Sharpe Returned from His Holdout and Helped the Packers Beat the Vikings: The Game Gets Close

The Vikings put together their best drive of the game in the third quarter. Moon led the team on a 12-play, 55-yard drive to get Minnesota on the board. The longest gains were a 14-yard pass to Adrian Cooper and a 13-yard completion to Jake Reed. But the Packers defense held and the Vikings couldn’t get closer than the Green Bay 10. Fuad Reveiz kicked a 28-yard field goal, and the Packers lead was cut to 13-3.

The Packers turned the ball over the first time they touched the ball in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Ed McDaniel forced the fumble by slipping into a gap over center so quickly, he disrupted the snap. The ball popped out, and defensive end James Harris scooped it up at the Green Bay 13 and rumbled into the end zone. Suddenly, the lead was down to 13-10, and the Vikings had the momentum. There were still more than 13 minutes left in the game.

But Favre answered immediately. He engineered a 13-play drive that stalled at the Minnesota 31. No play on this drive gained more than nine yards, but it took valuable time off the clock. Jacke booted a 49-yard field goal, and the Packers extended their lead to 16-10.

The Green Bay defense put the game away with one last turnover. Two completions from Moon to Chris Carter gained 17 yards and got the Vikings to the Green Bay 39. But linebacker James Willis intercepted Moon’s pass that was intended for Reed and snuffed out the last Vikings threat. Green Bay held on for a 16-10 win.

The Aftermath

The Packers defense was the key to victory. The recorded three sacks and three interceptions while holding the Vikings to just 48 yards rushing on 17 carries and 194 total yards.

Sharpe caught seven passes for 53 yards and a touchdown while Favre finished the game by completing 22-of-36 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown. He did not throw an interception.

The win ended a four-game losing streak for the Packers against Minnesota.

After the game, the Packers tried to put Sharpe’s brief holdout behind them.

“He played his butt off, and I have no grudges against him because I threw the ball to him,” Favre said when asked about Sharpe. “I told him I said some things he may not approve of, but I hope he would understand why I said it,” Favre added. “Basically, what he said is, ‘We’re grown men; we’re beyond that.’ We shook hands, and that was it.”

“We get paid to do a job, and we have to go out and perform our jobs every day,” West said. “We couldn’t think about what was going on with management.”

The Packers finished the season with a 9-7 record and reached the playoffs for the second straight season under Holmgren. The Packers prevented a potentially divisive holdout and got the 1994 season off to a strong start in Week 1.

 

 

 

 

 

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