Mike Holmgren
Mike Holmgren
Michael George Holmgrenis a former American football coach and executive, most recently serving as president of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. Holmgren began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers, where they won Super Bowl XXIII and XXIV. He served as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 1998, appearing in two Super Bowls, and of the Seattle Seahawks from 1999 to...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth15 June 1948
CitySan Francisco, CA
There's a lot of reasons this is an important game. You don't want to have a losing streak against anybody.
As I've told the team, ultimately you'll be judged by what happens and where you are at the end of the season. I understand why we are the underdogs, and there's really only one way to handle that. That's not by talking, it's by playing the game and seeing what happens.
That team (Green Bay) was a little bit more of a star team. We had more than a couple guys that were really pretty well known at their positions throughout the country and went to Pro Bowls. Our team now, even though we are fortunate to have a number of players go to the Pro Bowl, is really a team in the truest sense of the word.
You see a guy like Marquand get thrust into a role and you're not sure what's going to happen, but then you see how hard he works because he wants it so bad and he doesn't want to let people down. It's a really incredibly satisfying thing to see as a coach.
You're not quite sure what's going to happen at that point. Do we miss Ken Hamlin? Certainly, we do. But Marquand Manuel has been better than good this season.
You played a great game, but it wasn't the perfect game.
There were five or six players that left, and the five or six players that we brought in to replace those fellows have been tremendous.
There were a couple of times we could have gotten the ball to Peter, and they probably would have been pretty good plays, and we just didn't throw it to him. He's going to get nothing but better. He's a good addition for us.
There were some guys who made some great plays, but we did drop the ball uncharacteristically. ...We played against a good team, and you can't overcome those things.
Anything I say sounds like an excuse. We had our chances.
Anytime someone wants to compare me to Joe Gibbs, it's a compliment. He's one off the guys that if I could pattern my coaching after, he would certainly be one of the guys I've admired for a long, long time. He's one of the best ever.
As he explained to me exactly what happened, I believe I understand what happened. At that point I have made the decision that he will play in the football game.
As happy as the other locker room is, that's how disappointed we are. I think we were careless with the football and had too many penalties. And that combination against a good team like Pittsburgh is not a good combination.
As happy as the other locker room is, that's how disappointed we are.