Driver is Reason Enough to be a Packers Fan

By Kevin Gibson

As a Packers fan for 35 years, I’ve seen everything from Super Bowl campaigns to scabs to the forgettable Randy Wright era (although I cheered for Wright as much as I ever did Brett Favre — maybe more). Still, few Packers have been easier to cheer for than wide receiver Donald Driver.

Donald Driver is perhaps the easiest Packer for whom to root.

When Favre vomited his dignity all over the field in overtime of the NFC Championship game after the 2007 season, I thought it was probably Driver’s last chance to make it to the Super Bowl. I’m glad I was wrong.

Why? That’s easy: Because Driver is one of the NFL’s great role models. He came from a more than difficult childhood determined to “make it” in life and better himself. The Michael Vicks and Ben Roethlisbergers may get the headlines, but it’s Driver who deserves the respect and the success.

I am the first to groan when he makes bone-headed drops (and he’s had his share the last two or three seasons), but Driver — or “Quickie,” as  his friends and family call him — makes just as many highlight-reel and clutch grabs. Off the field, though, his dedication to charity and community, not to mention his family, mean he rarely drops the ball in the game of life. At 36, he is near the end of an amazing career in which he has broken many of Green Bay’s receiving records, surpassing icons like Don Hutson and Sterling Sharpe in the process.

As such, it’s fitting that the Packers’ deserving Driver has found his way to his ultimate prize. To that, I say “Congratulations.” Nevertheless, ESPN’s Wayne Drehs said it better than I ever could.

Tags: don hutson, Donald Driver, Green Bay Packers, record, sterling sharpe, Super Bowl, wide receiver