The Super Bowl is history and the Philadelphia Eagles are the world champs.  Quarterback Jalen Hurts won the MVP award. In my opinion the real MVP was the four defensive lineman that seemed to have lived in the backfield, making life miserable for Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Speaking of Mahomes, he’s considered the best quarterback in the league currently, although I would argue its quarterback Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills.

Before and during the super bowl, much was made of the Chiefs going for three consecutive super bowl championships, a feat never before accomplished in the history of the game, they said. Frankly, The people pushing that honor on the Chiefs are ignoring National Football League history. In fact, there is a team that has won the NFL championship three consecutive times, and they did it twice!

The NFL has been around since 1920 and have been hosting championship games since 1933 when the Chicago Bears beat the New York Giants 23-21 at Wrigley Field. Before the 1933 season the title went to the team with the best record at the end of the season. The Green Bay Packers had the best record for three straight years, from 1929 to 1931. They were the first and only team to be considered the NFL’s best team for three consecutive years.

Naysayers, particularly Bear fans, will claim the Packers didn’t beat anybody in a championship game, so saying they won the first 3-peat might be considered a stretch. If you look at the NFL champion history, you will see the Packers did have the best record and were considered the NFL’s best team for three consecutive years. They won 37 games, with 5 losses and 2 ties, including a perfect season in 1929 with 12 wins and 1 tie. The Packers didn’t make those rules, they just went about being the best team for three consecutive years under what was the NFL system at the time.

There were 34 championship games before the league got around to calling the championship game a “Super Bowl.” And once again,  you will find the Packers as the only 3-peat team for winning the championship game. The Packers won the championship game in 1965 when they beat the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship game. 

The quarterback of that ‘65 Packer team was a quiet, reserved Alabama native by the name of Bryan who had been selected in the 17^th round of the 1956 NFL draft. He signed for a salary of $6,500.

Bryan’s statistics for the ’65 season were average, but at the time, the running game was emphasized over passing. His quarterback rating was a middling 89, but there was no question on that championship team that Bryan was their leader.

The following year, Bryan had a great year with a quarterback rating of 105 for the season and won the MVP award. In the championship game, now called the Super Bowl, the Packers beat the Chiefs handily by a score of 35-10. Bryan was the MVP of the game.

The following year, 1967, the Packers struggled somewhat with 9 wins and 4 losses. Bryan’s statistics suffered as he played with a hand injury all season. Backup quarterback Zeke Bratkowski started three of the games. They lost their last two regular season games and hobbled into the playoffs. They rebounded to beat the Los Angeles Rams in the first playoff game.

Next up was the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC championship in Green Bay to see who would play in the second super bowl. In what would be immortalized the Ice Bowl, the temperature dipped to minus twenty, with a  wind chill of minus 48. The wind chill would dip to minus 70 before the game was over. That game is still the coldest game ever played in NFL history and is considered the third greatest game in NFL history.

Down 17-14 in the fourth quarter, the Packers got the ball for their last possession. They drove down to the one-yard line but were stymied on the next two running plays. It was now third down on the one yard line. Bryan called for a Brown right 31 wedge play, a short yardage play with a double-team block which should force a hole for the fullback.  Bryan didn’t tell his teammates he was keeping the ball to run in. Jerry Kramer and Ken Bowman executed a double team on tackle Jethro Pugh and Bryan plunged across the goal line for a 20-17 lead. The Packers held on and won the right to face the Oakland Raiders in the super bowl.

The Packers beat the Raiders easily 33-14. Bryan again was named the MVP of the game. He became the only quarterback in NFL history to lead a team to three consecutive league championships. The Packers became the only team in history to win three consecutive championships, a record that still exists 57 years later.

Bryan was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 and has the second highest passer rating (104.8) in postseason history. Mahomes currently has the best with 105.8, just 1/2 point above a man who played over 50 years ago. 

Racked by injuries, Bryan retired in July of 1972 at age 38.  He would become the Packers head coach and general manager in 1975 lasting nine years. His jersey number 15 was retired, only one of six retired numbers by the Packers. There is an NFL award named after him for the player that exemplifies outstanding character and leadership.

By now, surely you recognize the only quarterback to win three consecutive NFL championships as Bryan Bartlett Starr, or Bart Starr as immortalized on his Pro Football Hall of Fame bust. And to those that don’t know their NFL history, it is the Green Bay Packers who are the only team to 3-peat in the championships.