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This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following: p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
The Saints were among the NFL's least successful franchises in their first several decades, where they went 20 consecutive seasons without a winning record or qualifying for the playoffs. They earned their first winning record and postseason berth in 1987, while their first playoff win would not occur until 2000, their 34th season. The team's fortunes improved in the 21st century, especially during the late 2000s and 2010s, which saw them become more consistent postseason contenders. Their greatest success to date came in the 2009 season, when they won Super Bowl XLIV over the favored Indianapolis Colts, the team's first and only Super Bowl appearance so far.[12] The Saints, along with the New York Jets, are one of two NFL franchises to win their sole Super Bowl appearance.
Parts of this article (those related to events from 2016 onwards) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2021)
Local sports entrepreneur Dave Dixon and a local civic group had been seeking an NFL franchise for over five years and had hosted record crowds for NFL exhibition games. To seal the NFL-AFL merger, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle arrived in New Orleans within a week, and announced on November 1, 1966, that the NFL officially had awarded the city of New Orleans an expansion franchise.[10][11] The team was named for "When the Saints Go Marching In", the classic jazz standard associated with New Orleans. When the deal was reached a week earlier, Dixon strongly suggested to Rozelle that the announcement be delayed until November 1, to coincide with All Saints' Day. Dixon cleared the name with New Orleans' Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, who "thought it would be a good idea," according to Dixon. "He had an idea the team was going to need all the help it could get."[13]
Boggs' Congressional committee in turn quickly approved the NFL merger. John W. Mecom Jr., a young oilman from Houston, became the team's first majority stockholder. The team's colors, black and gold, symbolized both Mecom's and New Orleans' strong ties to the oil industry. Trumpeter Al Hirt was part owner of the team.[14]
Archie Manning, pictured attempting a pass in 1980, was one of the first players to be inducted into the Saints' Ring of Honor.
The inaugural game on September 17, 1967, started with Saints receiver John Gilliam returning the opening kickoff 94-yards for a touchdown, in a losing effort, 27–13, to the Los Angeles Rams at Tulane Stadium, with over 80,000 in attendance.[15] It was one of the few highlights of a 3–11 season, which set an NFL record for most wins by an expansion team.
For most of their first 20 years, the Saints finished third or fourth in their division until 1979. Until 1987, the 1979 and 1983 teams were the only ones to finish at .500.
One of the franchise's early bright moments came on November 8, 1970, when Tom Dempsey kicked an NFL record-breaking 63-yard field goal at Tulane Stadium to defeat the Detroit Lions 19–17 in the final seconds of the game; the previous record was seven yards less, set in 1953.[16][17] Dempsey's record was not broken until 2013 by Matt Prater of the Denver Broncos, who kicked one yard farther.
In 1980, the Saints lost their first 14 games, prompting local sportscaster Bernard "Buddy D" Diliberto to advise Saints supporters to wear paper bags over their heads at the team's home games; many bags rendered the club's name as the "'Aints" rather than the "Saints."[18]
Tom Benson, a successful automobile dealership owner and banker, acquired the franchise in 1985, and hired Jim Finks as general manager and Jim Mora as head coach. That combination provided the Saints with their first-ever winning record and playoff appearance, going 12–3 in 1987, which had one fewer game than normal due to a players' strike. Another playoff berth would follow during the 1990 season, and the club's first division title came in 1991. During Mora's tenure, the Saints made the playoffs four times, with teams marked by strong defenses led by the "Dome Patrol" linebacking corps, but they were never able to win a playoff game. Mora coached the Saints until the middle of the 1996 season, when he stepped down halfway through the 3–13 season. His 93 wins were three more than the Saints won in their entire history prior to his arrival, and would remain the most for any Saints coach until 2016.
After the end of the 1996 season, ironically as Diliberto had suggested before Mora's resignation, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka was hired to replace Mora. Although this initially generated a lot of excitement among Saints fans, Ditka's tenure ended up being a failure. The Saints went 6–10 in their first two seasons under Ditka (1997 and 1998). During the 1999 NFL Draft, Ditka traded all of his picks for that season, as well as the first-round and third-round picks for the following season, to the Washington Redskins in order to draft University of TexasHeisman Trophy running back Ricky Williams in the first round. Ditka and Williams had a mock wedding picture taken to commemorate the occasion. However, Ditka, most of his coaching staff, and general manager Bill Kuharich were fired at the end of the 1999 season due to the club's 3–13 record.
Jim Haslett held the post from 2000 to 2005. In his first year, he took the team to the 2000 playoffs and defeated the defending Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams for the team's first-ever playoff win. The team lost the following week to the Minnesota Vikings. After winning the 2000 NFL Executive of the Year Award, General Manager Randy Mueller was fired between the 2001 and 2002 seasons without explanation by Benson. The Saints failed to make the playoffs in 2001 and 2002, although in the latter year they had the distinction of beating the eventual Super Bowl XXXVII champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in both of their regular-season meetings, only the second team to do so in NFL history.
In 2003, the Saints again missed the playoffs after finishing 8–8. The 2004 season started poorly for the Saints, as they went 2–4 through their first six games and 4–8 through their first twelve games. At that point Haslett's job appeared to be in jeopardy; however, he managed to win the three straight games leading up to the season finale, leaving the Saints in playoff contention in the final week of the season. In week 17, the Saints defeated division rivals Carolina; however, the Saints needed other results to break their way and when the St. Louis Rams beat the New York Jets the Saints were eliminated despite having beaten the Rams, who finished with the same record. The Rams, Saints, and Vikings all were 8–8, with the Rams having a 7–5 conference record, Saints 6–6, and the Vikings 5–7. The Rams received the number 1 wild-card due to having the best conference record out of the three, followed by the Vikings due to the 38–31 loss handed to the Saints in Week 6. Haslett was fired after the 2005 season, in which the Saints finished 3–13 and did not play any regular-season games in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina.
On January 17, 2006, the Saints hired Sean Payton as their new head coach and, on March 14, signed former San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees to a six-year, $60 million deal.[19]
On March 23, the Saints announced that the team's two 2006 preseason games were to be played at Shreveport, Louisiana, and Jackson, Mississippi. After a $185 million renovation of the historic stadium, on April 6 the Saints released their 2006 schedule, with all home games scheduled to be played at the Superdome. On September 19, Saints owner Tom Benson announced that the team had sold out the Louisiana Superdome for the entire season with season tickets alone (68,354 seats), a first in franchise history.[20]
The September 25, home opener, the first home game in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, was won by the Saints 23–3 against the Atlanta Falcons, who were undefeated in the 2006 season at that time. The attendance for the game was a sellout crowd of 70,003. Meanwhile, the broadcast of the game was ESPN's highest-ever rated program to date, with an 11.8 rating, and viewership by 10.85 million homes. It was the most-watched program for the night, broadcast or cable, and was the second-highest rated cable program of all time at the time. Green Day and U2 performed "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "The Saints Are Coming", respectively, before the game. The game received a 2007 ESPY award for "Best Moment in Sports." The game is remembered by Saints fans for Steve Gleason's blocked punt on the opening series that resulted in a touchdown for New Orleans.
On December 17, the Saints clinched their third division title and their first NFC South title in franchise history. For the first time in Saints' history, they clinched their NFC South title on their home field. Sean Payton became the second consecutive Saints coach to win a division title in his first season. After the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys 23–7 on Christmas Day 2006, the Saints clinched a first-round playoff bye for the first time in franchise history, finishing the regular season with a record of 10–6.
Sean Payton was the head coach of the team from 2006 to 2021.
After the first-round bye, the Saints beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27–24 in the Superdome in the 2006 Divisional Playoffs. No team had ever had such a poor record in the prior year (3–13) and then gone on to a league or conference championship game since the 1999 St. Louis Rams who advanced to win their first Super Bowl after being 4–12 the season before. Since the Saints' only previous playoff win was in the wild card round, this was the farthest the Saints had ever advanced at the time. The victory was only the second playoff win in team history. The season ended on January 21, 2007, when the Saints lost 39–14 to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game.
The Saints announced that for the second year in a row, the Louisiana Superdome had sold out every ticket for the season.[21]
The first game of the season was against the defending Super Bowl XLI champion Indianapolis Colts. The Saints lost this game, 41–10, and lost their next three games. In one of these three games, against the Tennessee Titans, the Saints lost running back Deuce McAllister for the season with his second career (second time in three seasons) ACL tear. After winning their first game, against the Seattle Seahawks, two weeks later, the team went on a four-game winning streak to bring their record to an even 4–4. After reaching 7–7, the Saints lost their final two games to finish 7–9.
Following a disappointing 7–9 record in the 2007 season, the Saints ended the 2008 season 8–8. Failing to qualify for the post-season for the second straight year, the Saints found themselves struggling on defense. However, the Saints would match the explosive offense they had in the 2006 season. Drew Brees ended the 2008 season just 16 yards short of beating Dan Marino's single-season record of 5084 total passing yards, and receiver Lance Moore came 72 yards short of his first 1000-yard season.
The Dolphins were founded by Joe Robbie, an attorney and politician, and Danny Thomas, an actor and comedian. They began play in the AFL in 1966. The region had not had a professional football team since the days of the Miami Seahawks, who played in the All-America Football Conference in 1946, before becoming the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts. For the first few years, the Dolphins' full-time training camp and practice facilities were at Saint Andrew's School, a private, boys boarding prep school in Boca Raton. Miami joined the NFL as a result of the 1970 AFL–NFL merger.
The team played in its first Super Bowl in Super Bowl VI, losing to the Dallas Cowboys, 24–3. The following year, the Dolphins completed the NFL's only perfect season, culminating in a Super Bowl win, winning all 14 of their regular-season games, and all three of their playoff games, including Super Bowl VII. They were the third NFL team to accomplish a perfect regular season, and remain the only team to do so including playoffs since the AFL-NFL merger, the time known as the Super Bowl era. The next year, the Dolphins won Super Bowl VIII, becoming the first team to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls, and the second team (the first AFL/AFC team) to win back-to-back championships. Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games.
For most of their early history, the Dolphins were coached by Don Shula, the most successful head coach in professional football history in terms of total games won. Under Shula, the Dolphins posted losing records in only two of his 26 seasons as the head coach. During the period spanning 1983 to the end of 1999, quarterback Dan Marino became one of the most prolific passers in NFL history, breaking numerous league passing records. Marino led the Dolphins to five division titles, 10 playoff appearances, and an appearance in Super Bowl XIX before retiring following the 1999 season.
Since Marino's retirement, they have experienced mediocre levels of success and have just six playoff appearances (2000, 2001, 2008, 2016, 2022, and 2023) and two division titles (2000 and 2008) with one playoff win. They currently have the longest postseason win drought in the NFL.
The Dolphins were the worst team with a 15–39–2 record in their first four seasons under head coach George Wilson, before Don Shula was hired as head coach. Shula was a Paul Brown disciple who had been lured from the Baltimore Colts, after losing Super Bowl III two seasons earlier to the AFL's New York Jets, and finishing 8–5–1 the following season. Shula got his first NFL coaching job from then-Detroit head coach George Wilson, who hired him as the defensive coordinator. The AFL merged with the NFL in 1970, and the Dolphins were assigned to the AFC East division in the NFL's new American Football Conference.
For the rest of the 20th century, the Shula-led Dolphins emerged as one of the most dominant teams in the NFL, with only two losing seasons between 1970 and 1999. They were extremely successful in the 1970s, completing the first complete perfect season in NFL history by finishing with a 14–0 regular-season record in 1972 and winning the Super Bowl that year. It was the first of two consecutive Super Bowl wins and one of three appearances in a row.[12] The 1980s and 1990s were also moderately successful. The early 80s teams made two Super Bowls despite losing both times and saw the emergence of future Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, who went on to break numerous NFL passing records, holding many of them until the late 2000s. After winning every game against the division rival Buffalo Bills in the 1970s, the two teams gradually developed a competitive rivalry in the 80s and 90s, often competing for AFC supremacy when Jim Kelly emerged as the quarterback for the Bills. The Dolphins have also maintained a strong rivalry with the New York Jets throughout much of their history.
Joe Robbie, founder and former principal owner of the Dolphins (1966–1990)A statue of coach Don Shula outside of Hard Rock Stadium
Following the retirements of Marino and Shula and the rise of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, the Dolphins suffered a decline in the 2000s and 2010s. During this period, the team's level of play was largely described as mediocre.[13][14][15] They have only made the playoffs four times since Marino's retirement and have largely been unable to find a consistent quarterback to replace him. The team suffered a franchise-worst 1–15 season in 2007. They rebounded the following season, becoming the second team to make a 10-game improvement over the previous season.[16] That same season, the Dolphins upset the New England Patriots on the road during Week 3 thanks to the use of the gimmick Wildcat offense, which handed the Patriots their first regular-season loss since December 10, 2006, in which coincidentally, they were also beaten by the Dolphins. However, this success in 2008 proved to be an outlier during this period in the franchise's history; to date, it is the last season the Dolphins won the AFC East.[17] However, the Dolphins have been competitive against the Patriots despite their decline, with notable wins coming in 2004, 2008, 2014, 2018, and 2019. Until 2020, they were also the last team in the AFC East to win the division championship aside from the Patriots, doing so in 2008.
The Dolphins dominated the New England Patriots during the 1970s and the 1990s, but there were some notable moments as well, including a 1982 game now known as the Snowplow Game. Fortunes changed when Tom Brady became the franchise quarterback for the Patriots, and during his tenure with the Patriots, New England dominated the AFC, especially the AFC East, winning 16 of 17 division titles between 2003 and 2019, with the Dolphins winning the only non-Patriots division title in that time frame when Brady was out due to injury. Miami posed the biggest divisional challenge to the Brady-led Patriots, however, winning more games against them than the Bills or Jets did during that era.[18][19]
Notable wins over New England by the Dolphins include the Miracle in Miami, which involved a dramatic last-minute game-winning touchdown that paralleled "The Night that Courage Wore Orange", where in 2004, the Dolphins, at 2–11, upset the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots 28–29, and handed them the second of their 2 losses that season.[20] The rivalry briefly intensified in 2005 when Nick Saban, Bill Belichick's former Browns defensive coordinator was hired as their new head coach and when Saban nearly signed quarterback Drew Brees, as well as in 2008, when the two teams battled for the AFC East division title. Miami and New England are also the only two franchises to have posted undefeated regular-season records since the NFL-AFL merger, with Miami going 14–0 in 1972 and New England going 16–0 in 2007, but only the 1972 Dolphins were able to win the Super Bowl.
The Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills have a long-standing rivalry, as there are stark characteristic differences between the cities of Miami and Buffalo, especially in climate and culture. The rivalry was extremely lopsided in favor of Miami during the 1970s, as the Dolphins won all 20 games against the Bills during that decade. Fortunes changed in the 1980s and 1990s when Jim Kelly became the Bills' starting quarterback. Though both teams were extremely dominant during that period, the Bills ultimately held the edge and dominated the Dolphins during their four playoff matchups in the 1990s, with the Dolphins' only playoff win coming after Kelly's retirement. With the rise of Tom Brady and the Patriots during the 2000s and the retirements of Kelly and Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, the Bills-Dolphins rivalry faded in relevance, but remains somewhat intense to this day. Some former Dolphins have gone to play for the Bills as well, most notably Dan Carpenter, Chris Hogan, and Charles Clay.
In the 2020s, the rivalry sharpened, with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, drafted in 2020, leading a resurgent Dolphins team against the Josh Allen-led Bills, who had gained a streak of success after Brady's departure from the Patriots and the division. Though Allen's career record against Miami currently stands at 11–2, Tagovailoa led the Dolphins to their first win over Bills in 8 games in 2022, and the Dolphins played the Bills tightly in the teams' two other meetings that year despite losing both, including the playoffs.
The New York Jets are perhaps Miami's most bitter rivals.[21] Dolphins fans despise the Jets due to the sheer amount of New York City transplants who have moved to South Florida and the Jets' usual cocky demeanor. Just as the Bills-Dolphins rivalry is motivated by differences, the Dolphins-Jets series is also notable for the differences between New York and Miami. Unlike the former, this rivalry has been more consistent over the years. Some of the more memorable moments in this rivalry include Dan Marino's fake spike, Vinny Testaverde leading the Jets to a notable comeback on Monday Night Football, and former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington signing with the Dolphins and leading them to a divisional title. The two teams have also played in the 1982 AFC Championship, with Miami winning to face the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII.
The Dolphins have taken part in a minor rivalry with the Jacksonville Jaguars as both teams are the only two AFC franchises located in Florida.[22][23] The two teams first met during the 1998 NFL season on a Monday Night Football matchup.[24] Both teams later met in the 1999 AFC Divisional Round in what would ultimately be the final career game for Dolphins' hall-of-fame quarterback Dan Marino. The Dolphins entered the game as heavy underdogs as they had finished the 1999 season 9–7, securing the lowest wild card berth. Meanwhile; the Jaguars had boasted an impressive 14–2 campaign under pro-bowl quarterback Mark Brunell; culminating in the Jaguars destroying Miami in a 62–7 blowout loss.[25] The Jaguars managed an improbable upset victory during the 2021 Season as the team had declined severely under controversial head coach Urban Meyer. Despite this; the Jaguars managed a comeback victory against the Dolphins in London during week 6.[26] The teams are tied 5–5 all time, though the Jaguars lead 1–0 in the postseason.
When the then-Baltimore Colts were inserted into the AFC East following the AFL/NFL merger, they sparked a heated rivalry with the Dolphins, as a controversy involving the hiring of former Colts coach Don Shula forced Miami to forfeit a first-round draft pick. The Dolphins and Colts faced off several times in the AFC playoffs during the 1970s, including the AFC championship game leading up to Super Bowl VI, which the Dolphins lost to the Dallas Cowboys. The rivalry cooled down in the 1980s after the Colts struggled and moved to Indianapolis, but heated up once again in the late 90s until the Colts were reassigned into the AFC South as a result of the 2002 realignment of the NFL's divisions.[22]
Since the founding of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976, the Dolphins and Buccaneers have shared a mellow in-state rivalry and were the only two teams in Florida until the Jacksonville Jaguars joined the NFL in 1995.
The Dolphins won a notable pair of games against the Kansas City Chiefs, defeating them in "The Longest Game", the final game in Municipal Stadium,[27] and then the first regular season game at Arrowhead Stadium in 1972.[28]
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The promotion was founded in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), a Northeastern territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Following a dispute, CWC left the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in April 1963. After rejoining the NWA in 1971, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1980 before the promotion left the NWA for good in 1983. In 2002, following a legal dispute with the World Wildlife Fund, the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In 2011, the promotion ceased branding itself as World Wrestling Entertainment and began solely branding itself with the initials WWE.[10]
Prior to September 2023, the company's majority owner was its executive chairman, third-generation wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, who retained a 38.6% ownership of the company's outstanding stock and 81.1% of the voting power. The current entity, which was originally named Titan Sports, Inc., was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, but reincorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law in 1987. It acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., the holding company for the WWF, in 1982. Titan was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, and then World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in 2002. In 2023, its legal name was changed to World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC.[11]
As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not true contests but entertainment-based performance theater, featuring storyline-driven, scripted, and partially choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury, even death, if not performed correctly. The pre-determined aspect of professional wrestling was publicly acknowledged by WWE's then-owner Vince McMahon in 1989 in order to avoid taxes from athletic commissions. WWE markets its product as sports entertainment, acknowledging professional wrestling's roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater.
In 2023, WWE began to explore a potential sale of the company, amidst an employee misconduct scandal involving McMahon that had prompted him to step down as chairman and CEO, although he returned as executive chairman.[14] In April 2023, WWE made a deal with Endeavor Group Holdings, under which it would merge with Zuffa, the parent company of mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to form TKO Group Holdings, a new public company majority-owned by Endeavor, with McMahon serving as executive chairman of the new entity, and Nick Khan becoming president. The merger was completed on September 12, 2023.[15] In 2024, McMahon, who was by now no longer the majority WWE stockholder, ended his ties with the company amid a sex trafficking scandal.[16]
The Packers are the last of the "small-town teams" that were common in the NFL during the league's early days of the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl "Curly" Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, the franchise traces its lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. Between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest, before joining the American Professional Football Association (APFA), the forerunner of today's NFL, in 1921. In 1933, the Packers began playing part of their home slate in Milwaukee until changes at Lambeau Field in 1995 made it more lucrative to stay in Green Bay full-time; Milwaukee is still considered a home media market for the team.[16][17][18] Although Green Bay is the smallest major league professional sports market in North America,[a][19]Forbes ranked the Packers as the world's 27th-most-valuable sports franchise in 2019, with a value of $2.63 billion.[20]
The Packers have won 13 league championships, the most in NFL history, with nine pre-Super BowlNFL titles and four Super Bowl victories. The Packers, under coach Vince Lombardi, won the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967; they were the only NFL team to defeat the American Football League (AFL) before the AFL–NFL merger. After Lombardi retired, the Super Bowl trophy was named for him, but the team struggled through the 1970s and 1980s. Since 1993, the team has enjoyed much regular-season success, making the playoffs 23 times and winning two Super Bowls in 1996 under head coach Mike Holmgren and 2010 under head coach Mike McCarthy.[21] The Packers have the most wins (826) and the second-highest win–loss record (.571) in NFL history, including both regular season and playoff games.[22][23]
The Packers are longstanding adversaries of the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions, who today form the NFL's NFC North division (formerly known as the NFC Central Division). They have played more than 100 games against each of those teams, and have a winning overall record against all of them, a distinction only shared with the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, and Miami Dolphins. The Bears–Packers rivalry is one of the oldest rivalries in U.S. professional sports history, dating to 1921.
The Green Bay Packers were founded on August 11, 1919,[1] by former high-school football rivals Earl "Curly" Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun.[24] Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company, a meat packing company.[25] He was given $500 ($8,800 today) for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named after its sponsor.[26] The Green Bay Packers have played in their original city longer than any other team in the NFL.
On August 27, 1921, the Packers were granted a franchise in the American Professional Football Association, a new national pro football league that had been formed the previous year. The APFA changed its name to the National Football League a year later. Financial troubles plagued the team, and the franchise was forfeited within the year before Lambeau found new financial backers and regained the franchise the next year. These backers, known as "The Hungry Five", formed the Green Bay Football Corporation.[27]
After a near-miss in 1927, Lambeau's squad claimed the Packers' first NFL title in 1929 with an undefeated 12–0–1 campaign, behind a stifling defense which registered eight shutouts.[28] Green Bay would repeat as league champions in 1930 and 1931, bettering teams from New York, Chicago and throughout the league, with all-time greats and future Hall of Famers Mike Michalske, Johnny (Blood) McNally, Cal Hubbard and Green Bay native Arnie Herber.[29][30] Among the many impressive accomplishments of these years was the Packers' streak of 29 consecutive home games without defeat, an NFL record which still stands.[31]
Don Hutson with the Packers; his jersey number was the first retired by the Packers (1951)
The arrival of the end Don Hutson from Alabama in 1935 gave Lambeau and the Packers the most feared and dynamic offensive weapon in the game. Credited with inventing pass patterns, Hutson would lead the league in receptions in eight seasons and spur the Packers to NFL championships in 1936, 1939 and 1944. An Iron Man, Hutson played both ways, leading the league in interceptions as a safety in 1940. Hutson claimed 18 NFL records when he retired in 1945, many of which still stand.[32] In 1951, his number 14 was the first to be retired by the Packers, and he was inducted as a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
After Hutson's retirement, Lambeau could not stop the Packers' slide. He purchased a large lodge near Green Bay for team members and families to live in. Rockwood Lodge was the home of the 1946–49 Packers. The 1947 and 1948 seasons produced a record of 12–10–1, and 1949 was even worse at 3–9. The lodge burned down on January 24, 1950, and insurance money paid for many of the Packers' debts.[33]
A 1950 depiction of Tony Canadeo, whose No. 3 was retired by the Packers in 1952
Curly Lambeau departed after the 1949 season. Gene Ronzani and Lisle Blackbourn could not coach the Packers back to their former magic, even as a new stadium was unveiled in 1957. The losing would descend to the disastrous 1958 campaign under coach Ray "Scooter" McLean, whose lone 1–10–1 year at the helm is the worst in Packers history.[34]
The Packers' first regular-season game under Lombardi was on September 27, 1959, a 9–6 victory over the Chicago Bears in Green Bay. After winning their first three, the Packers lost the next five before finishing strong by sweeping their final four. The 7–5 record represented the Packers' first winning season since 1947, enough to earn rookie head coach Lombardi the NFL Coach of the Year.
The "Golden Boy" Paul Hornung, featured on a 1961 sports card
The Packers returned to the NFL Championship game the following season and faced the New York Giants in the first league title game to be played in Green Bay. The Packers scored 24-second-quarter points, including a championship-record 19 by Paul Hornung, on special "loan" from the Army (one touchdown, four extra points, and three field goals), powering the Packers to a 37–0 rout of the Giants, their first NFL Championship since 1944.[35] It was in 1961 that Green Bay became known as "Titletown".
The Packers stormed back in the 1962 season, jumping out to a 10–0 start on their way to a 13–1 season. This consistent level of success would lead to Lombardi's Packers becoming one of the most prominent teams of their era, and to be featured as the face of the NFL on the cover of Time on December 21, 1962, as part of the magazine's cover story on "The Sport of the '60s".[36] Shortly after Time's article, the Packers faced the Giants in a much more brutal championship game than the previous year, but the Packers prevailed on the kicking of Jerry Kramer and the determined running of Jim Taylor. The Packers defeated the Giants in New York, 16–7.
The Packers returned to the championship game in 1965 following a two-year absence when they defeated the Colts in a playoff for the Western Conference title. That game would be remembered for Don Chandler's controversial tying field goal in which the ball allegedly went wide right, but the officials signaled "good". The 13–10 overtime win earned the Packers a trip to the NFL Championship game, where Hornung and Taylor ran through the defending champion Cleveland Browns, helping the Packers win, 23–12, to earn their third NFL Championship under Lombardi and ninth overall. Goalpost uprights would be made taller the next year.
Packers Willie Davis (left) and Henry Jordan tackling a Chiefs player in the first AFL-NFL Championship (Super Bowl I)
The 1966 season saw the Packers led to the first-ever Super Bowl by MVP quarterback Bart Starr. The team went 12–2, and as time wound down in the NFL Championship against the Dallas Cowboys, the Packers clung to a 34–27 lead. Dallas had the ball on the Packers' two-yard line, threatening to tie the ballgame. But on fourth down the Packers' Tom Brown intercepted Don Meredith's pass in the end zone to seal the win. The team crowned its season by rolling over the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs 35–10 in Super Bowl I.
The 1967 season was the last for Lombardi as the Packers' head coach.[37] The NFL Championship game, a rematch of the 1966 contest against Dallas, became indelibly known as the "Ice Bowl" as a result of the brutally cold conditions at Lambeau Field.[38] Still the coldest NFL game ever played, it remains one of the most famous football games at any level in the history of the sport.[39] With 16 seconds left, Bart Starr's touchdown on a quarterback sneak brought the Packers a 21–17 victory and their still unequaled third straight NFL Championship. They then won Super Bowl II with a 33–14 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Lombardi stepped down as head coach after the game, and Phil Bengtson was named his suc
Fred Zollner owned the Zollner Corporation, a foundry that manufactured pistons, primarily for car, truck, and locomotive engines in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[9] In 1937, Zollner sponsored a semi-professional company basketball team called the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons after he received a request from his workers.[10] In 1941, the Zollner Pistons shed their works team roots and joined the National Basketball League (NBL).[1] The Zollner Pistons were NBL champions in 1944 and 1945.[1] They also won the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1944, 1945 and 1946.[11]
In 1948, the team became the Fort Wayne Pistons and jumped to the Basketball Association of America (BAA).[9] In 1949, Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the National Basketball Association from the BAA and the NBL at his kitchen table.[9]
There are suggestions that Pistons players conspired with gamblers to shave points and throw various games during the 1953–54 and 1954–55 seasons. In particular, there are accusations that the team may have intentionally lost the 1955 NBA Finals to the Syracuse Nationals.[12] In the decisive Game 7, the Pistons led 41–24 early in the second quarter before the Nationals rallied to win the game.[13][14] The Nationals won on a free throw by George King with 12 seconds left in the game.[13][14] The closing moments included a palming turnover by the Pistons' George Yardley with 18 seconds left, a foul by Frank Brian with 12 seconds left that enabled King's winning free throw, and a turnover by the Pistons' Andy Phillip in the final seconds which cost them a chance to attempt the game winning shot.[13][14] In the following season, the Pistons made it back to the NBA Finals. However, they were defeated by the Philadelphia Warriors in five games.[15]
Dave Bing joined the team in 1966, scoring 1,601 points in his rookie year.
Though the Pistons enjoyed a solid local following, Fort Wayne's small size made it difficult for them to be profitable, especially as other early NBA teams based in smaller cities started folding or relocating to larger markets.[1] After the 1956–57 season, Fred Zollner decided that Fort Wayne was too small to support an NBA team and announced the team would be playing elsewhere in the coming season. He ultimately settled on Detroit.[1] Although it was the fifth largest city in the United States at the time,[16] Detroit had not seen professional basketball in a decade.[1][17][18][19] They lost the Detroit Eagles due to World War II, both the Detroit Gems of the NBL (who became the Minneapolis Lakers) and the Detroit Falcons of the BAA in 1947, and the Detroit Vagabond Kings in 1949.[1][17][18][19] Zollner decided to keep the Pistons name, believing it made sense given Detroit's status as the center of the automobile industry.[1][9]George Yardley set the NBA single-season scoring record in the Pistons' first season in Detroit, becoming the first player to score 2,000 points in a season.[20][21]
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Pistons were characterized by talented players including George Yardley, Bailey Howell, Dave Debusschere, Dave Bing, and Bob Lanier, questionable trades, and frequent coaching changes.[22][23][24][25][26][27] At one point, DeBusschere was the youngest player-coach in the history of the NBA.[25] Then a trade during the 1968–69 season sent DeBusschere to the New York Knicks for Howard Komives and Walt Bellamy, both of whom had their best seasons behind them.[25] DeBusschere became a key player in leading the Knicks to two NBA titles.[25] Howell had previously been dealt to the Baltimore Bullets in 1964 and former Pistons guard Gene Shue, who was the head coach of the Bullets at the time, assessed the Pistons thusly: "Detroit has the worst management in the league."[28][29] Howell would go to win two championships as a member of the Boston Celtics. Yardley, Lanier, and Bing all ended their Pistons tenure being traded away, frustrated with the direction and opportunities with Detroit.[30][31][32]
In 1974, Zollner sold the team to glass magnate Bill Davidson, who remained the team's principal owner until his death in 2009.[33][34]
The team had a winning season in 1971, having spent the 1960s below .500, and then had a brief period of sustained success in the mid-1970s, qualifying for the playoffs in four straight seasons (1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977).[35][36][37][38] Hope was then placed in Dick Vitale in 1978, the former head coach at the University of Detroit, but he was fired the following season, and the team limped into the 1980s with a 16–66 record in 1979–80.[39] The 1979–80 team lost its last 14 games of the season which, when coupled with the seven losses at the start of the 1980–81 season, constituted a then-NBA record losing streak of 21 games.[40]
Over time, Davidson became displeased with Cobo Arena, but opted not to follow the Red Wings to the under-construction Joe Louis Arena next door. Instead, in 1978, he moved the team to the suburb of Pontiac, where they played in the 82,000 capacity Silverdome, a structure built for professional football (and the home of the Detroit Lions at the time).[22][41]
Isiah Thomas against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on January 19, 1985.
Initially, the Pistons had difficulty moving up the NBA ladder. In 1984, the Pistons lost a tough five-game series to the underdog New York Knicks, 3–2.[45] In the 1985 playoffs, Detroit won its first-round series and faced the defending champion Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals. Though Boston prevailed in six games, Detroit's surprise performance promised that a rivalry had begun.[39] In the 1985 NBA draft, the team selected Joe Dumars 18th overall, a selection that proved to be very wise.[46] They also acquired Rick Mahorn in a trade with the Washington Bullets.[47] However, the team took a step backwards, losing in the first round of the 1986 playoffs to the more athletic Atlanta Hawks.[48] After the series, changes were made in order to make the team more defensive-minded.[39]
Prior to the 1986–87 season, the Pistons acquired more key players: John Salley (drafted 11th overall), Dennis Rodman (drafted 27th) and Adrian Dantley (acquired in a trade with the Utah Jazz).[49][50] The team adopted a physical, defense-oriented style of play, which eventually earned them the nickname "Bad Boys".[51]
In 1987, the team reached the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics. After pushing the defending champions to a 2–2 tie, the Pistons were on the verge of winning Game 5 at the Boston Garden with seconds remaining.[52][53] After a Celtics turnover, Isiah Thomas attempted to quickly inbound the ball and missed Chuck Daly's timeout signal from the bench. Larry Bird stole the inbound pass and passed it to Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup.[52][53] While the Pistons did win Game 6 in Detroit, they lost the series in a tough Game 7 back in Boston.[52][53]
Chuck Daly, coach of the 1989 and 1990 NBA champions.A ticket for Game 1 of the 1988 NBA Finals at The Forum.
Motivated by their loss to the Celtics, the Pistons, aided by midseason acquisition James Edwards, improved to a then-franchise-record 54 victories and the franchise's first division title in 32 years.[39][54][55] In the postseason, the Pistons avenged their two previous playoff losses to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, defeating them in six games and advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since the franchise moved to Detroit.[39]
The Pistons' first trip to the Finals in 32 years saw them face the Los Angeles Lakers, who were led by Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[15][39] After taking a 3–2 series lead back to Los Angeles, Detroit appeared poised to win their first NBA title in Game 6. In that game, Isiah Thomas scored an NBA Finals record 25 points in the third quarter while playing on a severely sprained ankle.[56] However, the Lakers won the game, 103–102, on a pair of last-second free throws by Abdul-Jabbar following a controversial foul called on Bill Laimbeer, referred to by many as a "phantom foul".[56][57][58] With Thomas unable to compete at full strength, the Pistons narrowly fell in Game 7, 108–105, as the Lakers became the first back-to-back NBA Champions since the 1969 Boston Celtics.[56][59]
Dennis Rodman, NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991
Prior to the 1988–89 season, the Pistons moved to Auburn Hills to play at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the first NBA arena financed entirely with private funds.[60] The 1989 Pistons completed the building of their roster by trading Adrian Dantley for Mark Aguirre, a trade that Pistons fans criticized heavily initially, but later praised.[61][62][63][64] The team won 63 games, shattering their one-year-old franchise record, and steamrolled through the playoffs and into an NBA Finals rematch with the Lakers. This time, the Pistons came out victorious in a four-game sweep to win their first NBA championship. Joe Dumars was named NBA Finals MVP.[65]
The Pistons successfully defended their title in 1990, despite losing Rick Mahorn to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the expansion draft.[66][67] After winning 59 games and a third straight division title, the Pistons cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs before playing a tough Eastern Conference Finals series against Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the Chicago Bulls. Facing each other for the third straight season, the Pistons and Bulls split the first six games before the Pistons finished the series with a decisive 93–74 victory in Game 7.[68][69][70] Advancing to their third consecutive NBA Finals, the Pistons faced the Portland Trail Blazers.[67] After splitting the first two games at The Palace, the Pistons went to Portland, where they had not won a game since 1974, to play Games 3, 4 and 5.[71] The Pistons won all three games in Portland, becoming the first NBA team to sweep the middle three games on the road.[72] The decisive game came down to the final second. Trailing 90–83 with two minutes remaining, the Pistons rallied to tie the game, then took a 92–90 lead when Vinnie Johnson sank a 15-foot jumper with 00.7 seconds left in the game; this shot earned Johnson a new nickname in Detroit, "007", to go with his original, "The Microwave".[67][73] Isiah Thomas was named NBA Finals MVP.[67]
The Pistons' championship run came to an end in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, as they were swept by the eventual NBA champion Chicago Bulls in four games.[74] The most critical injury during this time belonged to Isiah Thomas, who had suffered a wrist injury a few months prior to the NBA playoffs.[75] The Conference Finals is best remembered for the Pistons walking off the court in the last game just before it ended, willingly letting the final seconds tick away, unwilling to shake hands with the Bulls. After the series, Michael Jordan said, "You see two different styles with us and them. The dirty play and the flagrant fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct. Hopefully, that will be eliminated from the game. I think we play clean basketball. We don't go out and try to hurt people and dirty up the game. You never lose respect for the champions. But I haven't agreed with the methods they used. I think people are happy the game will get back to a clean game [with a Bulls triumph] and away from the 'Bad Boy' image."[76][77][78] It was later revealed that the real reason the Pistons walked off the court without shaking hands with the Bulls was due to comments said by Jordan in a pre-game interview before Game 4, where he said, "The Pistons are undeserving champions. The Bad Boys are bad for basketball."[79]
After getting swept by the Bulls, the Pistons traded James Edwards and waived Vinnie Johnson during the off-season.[80][81] In the
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