Return To Glory: The Inside Story Of The Green Bay Packers' Return To Prominence

by Kevin Isaacson, Tom Kessenich

You'll help fan the flames of the incredible Packer comeback nearly 30 years after the NFL team's historic Super Bowl victories. Get the scoop on Brett Favre, Reggie White, and the controversial Sterling Sharpe. And you'll get up close and personal with Coach Mike Holmgren. Kevin Isaacson broke many of the stories that defined the Packers of the 1990s. Now the authors the Packer's amazing return to glory.

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1996

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response
I really liked the book "Return to Glory". I liked this book because it went into very good detail about exactly what the Packers did to return to glory in the 1990's. I thought it was a good idea to start the book way back when Lombardi coached the Packers to show how far it had been since the Packers were a good team. I thought the timeline of the book was a little confusing at the beginning because the author jumped around from year to year alot. It also might be confusing for someone to read this today because the book was published in 1996, so when they refer to now it doesn't actually mean current day.
Plot Summary
The plot starts back in the mid 1960's when the Packers were a great team lead by head coach Vince Lombardi. The story then glosses over the 1970's and 80's when the Packers weren't so good. The majority of the book takes place in the mid 1990's when the Packers hired Kevin Harlan as their CEO. After being hired, Harlan then proceeded to hire General Manager Ron Wolf and Head Coach Mike Holmgren. The Packers then acquire Brett Favre from the Falcons, and Reggie White via free agency and that's when the climax of the book starts to happen. I would estimate over half the book is centered around the 1995 season and offseason. With the loss of Sterling Sharpe a lot of people didn't think the Packers would be able to build of their success they had in 1994. However, with the emergence of Robert Brooks the Packers went 11-5, and with the help of a Pittsburgh All-Pro wide receiver, win the division.
Recommended Audience
I would recommend this book to Packers fans of all ages. For adults, it may just bring up good memories of these days of the Packers, but for young fans it may bring a whole new era of Packers football to them that they never knew existed.

[Cian Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response-
When I started reading Green Bay's Packers; Return To Glory by Kevin Isaacson I was intrigued by the fascinating tales of the early Green Bay Packer coaches. It was interesting to hear some of the backstory of what the players went through. I thought the most interesting part of the whole book was watching the team develop from the underdogs to being near the top of the food chain in the NFL. Knowing what the Packers did to improve their lineup and overall team gave me a better understanding of how today’s NFL coaches have to do their job correctly to maintain and improve their teams. My only disappointment with this book is the fact that it doesn’t go any further from the 1995 season and keeps re-telling the story through a different set of eyes every chapter.

Plot-
Green Bay's Packers; Return To Glory starts out by showing the need for improvement in the Packers staff. It talks of the several individuals which coached the Packers and their views on coaching. Mike Holmgren ends up as coach and begins hiring a staff of well prepared individuals to help him get the packers back in shape for winning a playoff title. From this point on the book focuses on the players Holmgren hires and their backstory. It tells brief stories of Brett Favre and other football legends. One of the last things the book touches on is the season the new team has in 1995 and the gain in improvement due to staff and players. The book also gives the key to Mike Holmgren’s coaching success. He valued a family aspect in the team. He created a surrounding group of players which got along well and had the same goal. Eventually at the end of the 1995 season the Packers reach their goal of becoming NFC division champs but fell short of reaching a superbowl championship.

Characterization-
The main character in this book is the Green Bay Packers. The team grows in wisdom throughout the book by hiring a better coaching staff. It also improves overall by adding needed players which lead the team through good times and bad. Since the team lost some players they were also forced to grow and adapt to the situations at hand. The many players also grow from being only players on a team to being large family..

Recommendation-
I would recommend this book to boys around the age of 13 mainly because boys are more sports minded and by this age usually know a lot of the definition behind most football positions and terms. I would give this book a rating of 4 out of 5 because it was quite enjoyable, but it repeated itself a bit too much for my liking. Overall I think anyone who is interested in the Packers would enjoy reading this book

[Collin Jorgensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response: I read ¨Return to Glory¨ by Kevin Issacson. Overall this was a well put together good book. I enjoyed how it went from chapter to chapter talking about the history of the Green Bay Packers. I enjoy looking into the history of football teams. How they started and where they came from is exciting to figure out.

Plot: This book was about the history of the Packers and how they built their team up to become a legacy.It all started in 1991, the Packers were on a downhill spiral and were getting worse. The GM decided to get a new vice-president who´s name was Ron Wolf. In 1992, WOlf made some bold decisions, trading Tony Mandrich, drafting a sub-par cornerback, and hiring Mike Holmgren. Many fans and players at the time thought these decisions were absurd and didnt want to play for the Packers. But gradually, going into the 1993 season, the Packers started winning more games then they did before. Wolf did a good job of rebuilding the team and making it succeed. 1993 was a dry year, not many things happened and wasn´t very interesting except, the got Brett Farve.. In 1994, the season was good, but not good enough. The Packers almost made it to the Super Bowl, but came up short. 1995. That is the year the Packers were great. The Packers all played as a team and went to the NFC Championship but failed to move on to the Super Bowl. Brett Farve won the MVP that year though, and next year would hopefully be better.

Characterization: Sense they´re is no really ¨Main Character¨ I´m doing Brett Farve. Farve was drafted by the Falcons then traded the the Packers. He did great with his time at the Packers, an won multiple awards. He had to face some adversity with his addiction to Vikey, but overcome it.

Recommendation: I enjoied this book, and would recommend it. Mostly High School Boys would like this book, but younger people could too but there is some big words. Any Packer fan though could read this book.

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This dang book was written a year too early, and you can tell the author is biased. It's got it's fair share of interesting anecdotes, but it buries its one true golden nugget – that Jurkovic had given Favre at least 50 Vicoden about 80% through the book – and gives it about 2 pages of treatment. The book is rather scattered.

Also, there's a postcard at the back of the book to order another copy of the same book.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read this book back in 98 and still don't know why I did not leave a review. first, I am a diehard Packer fan, so I remember the tail end of the glory days of the '60s, this is where the author begins. he then goes lightly over the '70s and '80s which really he could have spent a little more time on with at least the mistakes the team made. the jOHN Hadl trade where we gave a boatload of picks to the Rams for an aging quarterback. then how we like others skipped over Montana three times, passed on Marino when he came up years later, we did take Mandrich at number 2 when Akimen went number one and Sanders three. I lived through all of that. was happy when Harlin hired Wolfe for i knew who he was and that he worked for years with Raiders, then one year with the Jets, then to the Packers. he began the change hiring Holmgren making the trade for Farve then Reggie White signing as a free agent even with the loss of Sharpe which was huge. the team had made the playoffs and won in a spectacular fashion one that only Farve could do. for me, a Packer fan is what brought the team back around and now is what everyone has forgotten. this was a very good then and still, is today.