A bunch of veteran players who are better known for long careers elsewhere were part of the Packers’ Super Bowl XXXI squad.
In 2017, football analytics savant Aaron Schatz put on his historian hat for an interesting piece in ESPN. The creator of metrics like DVOA and DYAR went back into the archives to find players who had “hidden Super Bowl rings,” a term he coined to describe when a player is on a title-winning team for a brief, forgettable period in their careers.
Schatz’ prime example is Bernie Kosar, the long-time Cleveland Browns quarterback. Kosar had a falling-out with Browns head coach Bill Belichick and landed with the Dallas Cowboys midway through the 1993 campaign. The Cowboys, with Kosar helping to back up Troy Aikman, won Super Bowl XXVII, earning Kosar his first and only ring.
That got me to thinking about players who either earned a hidden ring as a member of the Green Bay Packers as well as those who spent long or memorable stints in Green Bay but who won rings elsewhere.
Today we will look at the first category, which describes several members of the 1996 Super Bowl-winning team nicely. Many of these names are well-known by Packers fans who remember that season, but may come as a surprise to NFL fans who know these players from their much longer tenures elsewhere.
Contrasting with the 1996 team, the 2010 Packers won Super Bowl XLV with a roster made up almost entirely of homegrown talents and a few select free agent signings from years prior who spent long, productive portions of their career in Green Bay (namely, Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett). Ron Wolf, however, wasn’t afraid to take a chance acquire the occasional veteran for a brief mercenary spell and many of those players helped the Packers win Super Bowl XXXI.
Don Beebe
The speedy receiver finally got a ring as a Packer in Super Bowl XXXI after being a member of the Buffalo Bills’ legendary team that lost four straight appearances. Beebe spent one year with the Carolina Panthers in 1995 in between his tenures in Buffalo and Green Bay.
Eugene Robinson
After 11 years and two Pro Bowl seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, the Packers acquired Robinson in a trade during the summer of 1996 for backup defensive end Matt LaBounty in an extremely lopsided trade.
While LaBounty spent the next six years as a backup and occasional spot starter in Seattle, Robinson proved to be the perfect free safety to pair with All-Pro LeRoy Butler. He intercepted a total of eight passes in 1996, including a pair in the Divisional Playoff win over the 49ers, and helped the team make the Super Bowl in both of his seasons in green and gold. Robinson signed with the Panthers as an unrestricted free agent in 1998 and made the Super Bowl for a third straight season while adding another Pro Bowl to his career totals, then eventually retired after 2000.
Keith Jackson
A prototypical receiving tight end, Jackson finished one vote shy of winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1988 after being a first-round pick by the Eagles, but he did make three straight All-Pro teams in his first three years. Jackson spent four years in Philly and three years in Miami, recording at least 550 receiving yards each season. Then in 1995, the Dolphins traded him to the Packers. He was quiet during his first season in Green Bay but was a huge part of the passing game in 1996, catching 10 regular season touchdowns before retiring following the Super Bowl.
Andre Rison
The middle of the 1996 season found the Packers in a bind at receiver following Robert Brooks’ torn ACL. They claimed Rison off waivers from the Jacksonville Jaguars, who released him after signing him to a three-year, $6 million contract as a free agent that spring.
Rison was a first-round pick by the Colts in 1989 and was the only other player to earn an OROY vote besides Barry Sanders, then got traded to the Falcons as part of a move up for the #1 pick in 1990 (which the Colts used on QB Jeff George). In Atlanta, Rison would go to four consecutive Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro in 1990, and his second year there coincided with the rookie year of a certain future Packers quarterback.
After one year in Cleveland in 1995, Rison signed with the Jaguars, and his frequent moves to different teams was due in part to a flashy personality and issues with missed assignments. However, he and Brett Favre were on the same page in the Super Bowl, connecting on the opening touchdown of the game on Green Bay’s second offensive snap.
Rison played a total of 8 games for the Packers, then signed with the Chiefs in the offseason where he would regain his Pro Bowl form in 1997. He spent three years in Kansas City and one in Oakland before retiring after the 2000 season.
Jim McMahon
McMahon was the Bears’ starting QB in 1985 when they won that franchise’s only Super Bowl, but signed with Green Bay ten years later and backed up Favre in 1995 and 96, making him the only member of this group who had won a ring previously.
Bruce Wilkerson
A former 2nd-round draft pick, Wilkerson played for the Raiders from 1987 to 1995 and was in Jacksonville as a backup tackle in 1995. He signed with Green Bay the following year as a backup, but he started two regular season games then was the team’s starter at left tackle in Super Bowl XXXI amid injuries to Ken Ruettgers and rookie John Michels. He returned for one more year in 1997 as a swing tackle but retired after the season.
Stay tuned in the coming days as we take a look at some players who had notable Packers careers but who won their Super Bowl rings elsewhere.