Menu
Glenns Ferry goes Green and Gold
With their 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game, the Green Bay Packers are headed to Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6 to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Local fans have an added interest in the game, as former Glenns Ferry Pilot and Boise State Bronco Korey Hall is a fullback with the Green Bay Packers.
"It's pretty exciting out here right now," said Hall during a telephone interview from Green Bay last week. "Everybody's making plans to get down there (Dallas) for their family and friends. We have one more day to do that, then we'll start really focusing on football here."
Hall was trying to let it sink in that he is going to be playing in the Super Bowl.
"Yeah, it's been real exciting. I'm getting a lot of calls from back home. I think it's a little different when you come from a small town, you kind of have a little more personal relationship with everybody. It's been really fun.
"It's starting to sink in. I think it will actually be a lot better after the next couple of days, after you get all the plans worked out here, you have a little bit more time to enjoy it," Hall said.
As a kid growing up in Glenns Ferry, did Korey ever dream of some day playing in a Super Bowl?
"I think every kid that likes football growing up kind of dreams of playing in the Super Bowl. I didn't ever know if that would be possible. With kind of the road I've been on the last few years here, you think about it more and more, and having the chance to do it, it's just a great opportunity, and hopefully it will go well for us."
At his football camp in Glenns Ferry last summer, Korey thought that the Packers had a good chance to make the Super Bowl -- if injuries and other factors could be kept at a minimum. Team members have had a number of injuries this year, with at least 15 players on injured reserve, including nine starters.
"It's been kind of a crazy season for us. We started out, and like I said, on paper we had a great team, and by the end of the season we have almost a completely different team. I think we have like 15 or 16 guys on IR (injured reserve) right now, which is like crazy and unheard of. With the team that we have, we've been able to go out and get it done, and we're probably playing better in the last three weeks of the season here than we have all season. That's really good for us."
The Packers' hopes were dimmed early when running back Ryan Grant went down, but Hall said other guys have stepped up.
"I think that's one of the signs of being on a great team. A guy like Ryan Grant goes down (with an injury) the first part of the season, and we did struggle a little bit in the run game and we started relying a little more on throwing the ball.
"But now we have a young rookie, James Starks, and Brandon Jackson and John Kuhn have all contributed to make up for that loss, and James is really playing well right now, and I think you can look for him to make a lot of plays next week," Hall said.
Hall has missed a few games due to injuries, but did play on special teams in the NFC Championship game.
"It's been really frustrating the first part of the playoffs not being up, but it was good to go last week -- I just mostly played special teams and hopefully I'll work into the offense here a little bit in the Super Bowl and still be on all the special teams."
Hall expects a good game with the Pittsburgh Steelers. "I know we played them last year at Pittsburgh. One thing about them, they're real physical -- especially on special teams -- I thought they were one of the more physical groups we've played against on special teams, but I think we can play with them on all three phases of the game.
"And I think if our offense plays how they've been playing, we should be all right."
Glenns Ferry Mayor JoAnne Lanham issued a proclamation last week designating Saturday, Feb. 6, 2011, as Korey Hall Day.
On Friday, Feb. 4, a "noise" parade from the fairgrounds to the high school will leave at 4 p.m. and the public is invited to participate. Line up begins at 3:45 p.m.
Immediately after the parade, a community photo will be taken on the football field, with everyone invited to wear their green and gold and be in the photograph.
On game day (Sunday, Feb. 6) there will be a tailgate (potluck) party at Stew's Place at 1 p.m.