Holmgren has moved on, but his link to Packers remains

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Immortality is getting cheaper.

Just off the airplane, at the Cheese Shop in Austin Straubel International Airport, I come across a 10-year-old picture of Mike Holmgren. The coach is atop his players' shoulders, right fist in the air, celebrating the Packers' Super Bowl XXXI victory. Beside the image hangs a price tag.

Was $150. Now $99.95.

Eleven years after Holmgren's triumph, his legend is on sale.

The Packers have moved on, and so has this city, although it only takes a few questions to ignite the nostalgia.

"Mike Holmgren — that's the talk of the town," said Packers guard Daryn Colledge, who was 14 when Holmgren won that title. "Even if people don't admit it, they're talking about him."

The conversation is different now, though. Holmgren is no longer the great coach who seemingly left just yesterday. Kids have become adults since he departed 10 years ago. Holmgren has brought his Seahawks teams to Lambeau Field six times. This homecoming angle probably ranks second to Brett Favre retirement speculation around here.

Quietly, the 59-year-old coach has become more Seahawk than Packer. He has been in Seattle for nine seasons, compared to seven in Green Bay. But the average football fan remembers his Cheesehead tenure the most. His past will always define him.

Asked about his identity, Holmgren joked that people first mistake him for Craig Stadler, a thick-mustached golfer nicknamed "The Walrus" who looks like he could be the coach's brother. After Holmgren tells them that he's "that other guy," his Green Bay days tend to come up more than his Seattle tenure.

"Not in Seattle, of course, but out and around," Holmgren said. "The Packers, we won the Super Bowl, they're on TV a lot. They've had more exposure, it seems."

Despite all the reminiscing, Holmgren considers himself a Seattleite now.

"All my children have moved here," Holmgren said. "We're very involved in the community. This is our home now, and so this is where I am. This is my place."

His old place isn't the same. Holmgren used to walk across the street from his office to get a haircut. He'd go to a spot called "Men's Room, Ladies Choice," a salon owned by Mer and Patti Meyer. Holmgren and Mer Meyer would discuss everything from schools to tractors during those visits. He came to enjoy seeing his barber every three weeks.

Today, a sign hangs on the door of the salon: "Closed, Retired & Tired."

Even Holmgren Way, a street named in honor of the coach, is fighting change. On Wednesday, two radio personalities asked a local board to temporarily rename the street before Saturday's game. The board declined, but the station, WAPL-FM in nearby Appleton, posted possible new names for the street on its Web site, www.wapl.com.

Among the candidates: Traitor's Trail; Defector Drive; Benedict Arnold Boulevard; Walrus Face Way; Holmgren Go-A-Way; Holmgren Way Overrated; and If I Can't Be GM, I'm Going to Take My Ball and Go Home Highway.

"I talked to a couple of administrators, and while they liked the idea, they didn't want to get involved," WAPL-FM's Len Nelson told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "I guess they didn't want to commit to something as controversial as being a Packers supporter."

Packers fans could always boycott the street this weekend. Then again, Holmgren Way is only one block from Lambeau Field and features some of the most popular bars in town.

So we have a coach and a town that can't avoid each other. To truly break free from the Holmgren era, the Packers must beat their old coach and keep their Super Bowl hopes alive. To finish what he has started in Seattle, Holmgren must beat his old team to keep chasing an elusive second championship.

"It's probably the most unique situation in pro football," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said of this reunion. "I don't know if anybody else has had to do that.

"Maybe I'll stay off Holmgren Way for a while."

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck plans to have some fun with Holmgren's return. Earlier this week, when asked if he knew Holmgren had his own street, Hasselbeck said, "Holmgren Way? I think there's a Hooters there, isn't there? I'm trying to get a T-shirt that says 'Hooters on Holmgren.' That'd be awesome."

On Thursday, I visited the Hooters for lunch and to see if any of those T-shirts existed. While I was eating, Hasselbeck called the restaurant and asked if someone could get 40 "Hooters on Holmgren" shirts printed. A manager said he'd make the order right away.

Well, that's one way of preserving a legacy.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com. For more columns and the Extra Points blog, visit seattletimes.com/sports