I looked at the calendar today and realized it was 2026. That means that this fall will mark 30 years since the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl season of 1996. How is that possible? Where did the time go? It was a special season for the Packers and their fans, because they had waited 29 years since Vince Lombardi and his team won Super Bowl II to win another title.

The season was special for me and for Packers fans everywhere. It was full on anticipation because everybody expected Brett Favre and the Packers to get there. After nearly three decades of struggles and false hopes, the Packers were finally favorites to win it all.

In 1995, they won their first division title in a non-strike season since 1972. Then, they reached the NFC Championship Game after upsetting the 49ers in San Francisco in the Divisional Playoff round. That win broke the monopoly the Cowboys and 49ers had atop the NFC. The Packers had arrived.

The offseason brought scary news. Favre committed himself to a rehab facility to deal with an addiction to prescription pain killers. Thankfully, he was able to complete the program and get his life back on track. He was also ready to start the season on time.

I was fortunate to be there when the Packers opened the season against the Bucs in Tampa Bay. It was a hot humid day in Tampa, and it was also Tony Dungy’s Bucs coaching debut. The fans were friendly enough even though I was wearing my Packers jersey.

Favre threw four touchdown passes including three to tight end Keith Jackson as the Packers cruised to an easy 34-3 win. Most of the Bucs fans left early so we moved down close to the Green Bay bench and got to cheer on Reggie White and company up close.

The Packers won their first three games that season by a combined score of 115-26. You could feel how different things were. The team was dominant in all three phases of the game. The offense scored the most points in the league, and the defense gave up the fewest. Even special teams were dangerous with Desmond Howard, who barely made the team out of training camp, returning punts for touchdowns throughout the season.

Yes, there were bumps along the road. The team lost wide receiver Robert Brooks for the season early on. Antonio Freeman also missed some time midseason due to injuries and the Packers had to rely on backup receivers. Don Beebe came up big on Monday Night Football against the 49ers in Week 7 catching 11 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown. The Packers won in overtime on a 53-yard field goal by Chris Jacke back when 53-yard field goals were not necessarily expected to be made.

After a midseason slump that included another loss to the hated Cowboys, the Packers won their final five regular season games to finish the season 13-3. Favre won his second consecutive league MVP award after throwing for 3,899 yards and a league high 39 touchdowns.

In the playoffs, the Packers ran past the 49ers in the mud 35-14 before defeating the Panthers at Lambeau Field 30-13 in the NFC Championship Game. Even on TV, Lambeau felt different that day. It was my great aunt’s 99th birthday, but she let me watch the game and helped me root the Pack on. I miss her.

Super Bowl XXXI was held down in New Orleans. I was fortunate enough to have family working down there at the time, so I had a place to stay. I flew down hoping to get tickets through some friends of my fathers. Unfortunately, Packers fans traveled so well, the price was more than the thousand dollars I had to spend. I ended up in the parking lot but never got inside the Superdome. It is the closest I’ve gotten to attending a Super Bowl game to date.

I managed to watch the game on TV after listening to the first 10 minutes on the radio as I headed back to the apartment. It was a back-and-forth game, but when Howard returned that kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter, I knew the game and the title was ours. The Packers won 35-21.

I had been a Packers fan for 25 years before 1996. I had been through a lot of losing seasons under Dan Devine, Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg and Lindy Infante. Growing up in New York, it was not easy to see the Packers and I took a lot of flak from friends who wondered why I rooted for the Packers when they weren’t very good. I even made my first pilgrimage to Green Bay when I was in college at Michigan, renting a car and driving the seven hours each way from Ann Arbor for Week 1 in 1986.

But that championship, the first I got to experience, was special. All the struggles of the previous 25 years made it that much sweeter. I was there for the first game of the season, and in town at least for the Super Bowl, even if I didn’t get to see the game in person. It was a special time. You never forget your first championship season. Where did 30 years go?