The architect of the Super Bowl champions saw Favre on Saturday for the first time since the gunslinger was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. Wachholtz was one of several who shared memories of their Super Bowl XXXI experience and their time with the Packers. I just try to maintain it and be as functional as I can so you can have quality of life and go to work and be able to play with your kids and do things you need to do around the house.” Hips, knees, and I’m sure it will be in my ankles and feet in a few years. I hurt my back, had the back surgery, got released. “When I made that switch, that is when I started getting hurt. “I play it back in my mind, and I tell myself I wish I wouldn’t have played and played so hard. “I think about that a lot,” said Wachholtz, now a high school football coach. He also has had significant problems with his back and knees. Wachholtz had hip replacement surgery in April after his doctor told him he had the hip of an 80-year-old. The idea of the change started during a practice late in 1996, when he was asked to play tight end and replicate the tendencies of San Francisco 49ers star Brent Jones.īy the next season, he no longer was a quarterback being groomed as a potential backup for Favre and instead was a full-time tight end. He has been in a lot of physical pain since the Packers released him toward the end of the 1998 season, and he feels a lot of what happened was because of the position switch. Wachholtz, though, has paid a price for the good times. I feel lucky, and I’m glad you got one, too.’ ” I’m in my first year, and I get a ring, so I just want you to know that I thank you. You have been in the league like 15 years and finally got your first ring. “He had this big smile on his face, and I told him, ‘Hey, thank you. “When we were flying back on the airplane, I looked over and Reggie White was sitting next to me,” Wachholtz said. He got a chance to be in the locker room and hold the Lombardi Trophy. He still earned a Super Bowl ring and a lot of memories. He was cut before the season but eventually was signed to the practice squad and added to the 53-man roster for the playoffs, although he was on the inactive list for the Super Bowl. Wachholtz, 46, was drafted by the Packers in the seventh round in 1996 after throwing 13 career touchdowns at USC. Come back and see everybody and just reconnect and maybe network a little bit and get some phone numbers to be able to at least touch base with them in the future.” You don’t get all the playing time, you don’t get all the accolades. Sometimes, you don’t feel like you can be part of the team. I haven’t seen these guys, and most of these guys were a big part of the team where I was kind of a backup. “I was really nervous,” said Wachholtz, who flew in from California. The event was highlighted by appearances from Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre and Hall of Fame general manager Ron Wolf.īut it also had some of the lesser-known players from that team, including Wachholtz, who enjoyed walking around backstage and reminiscing with old friends such as tight end Mark Chmura and wide receiver Don Beebe. The quarterback-turned-tight end, who was promoted to the active roster for the Super Bowl after spending most of his first season on the practice squad, hadn’t been contacted for a get-together in the years since the Packers’ 35-21 win over the New England Patriots in January 1997.īut that changed Saturday, when he appeared with several former teammates at a Super Bowl reunion autograph signing at State Fair Park. WEST ALLIS – Kyle Wachholtz had not seen any of his Green Bay Packers Super Bowl XXXI teammates in two decades. Watch Video: Super Bowl XXXI-winning Packers reunite in Milwaukee
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