By now you’ve likely read the latest Packers-pummeling installment of Deadspin’s second annual “Why Your Team Sucks” series. Like it or lump it, the mean-spirited and brutally honest written roast has quickly become as much a part of Green Bay’s preseason tradition as Family Night, players riding to practice on kids’ bikes, and losing a starting offensive lineman to a season-ending injury.

In addition to penning acerbic and admittedly accurate demolitions of every NFL team, Deadspin columnist Drew Magary is a GQ correspondent (maybe you recall the controversy after his interview with Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson last year), the co-founder of Kissing Suzy Kolber, and the author of The PortmortalMen With Ballsand his latest book, Someone Could Get Hurt. In the wake of dismantling the Pack, we emailed Magary in search of more information about the popular series, his experiences in Wisconsin, and the response he expects when Brett Favre gets his number retired next season.

Milwaukee Record: Why did you wait so long to post the Packers installment? As a Vikings fans, were you saving one of the teams you actually hated for close to the end?

Drew Magary: I usually go by divisions and I save the North and East teams for the end because I am hideously biased.

MR: As someone who grew up in Minnesota, when did your disdain for the Packers start? When did it peak?

DM: It started in the Majik Man years. I hate that I have no real counter to Packers fans. They’re better than us. The team is better. The stadium is better. The fans are more fun and more loyal. I’m annoyed I root for the clown team.

MR: I read somewhere that you went to summer camp in Wisconsin, and I know you had a signing for The Postmortal at Boswell Books a couple years back. What was your experience like here? Did it inspire any of the material for either of the WYTS posts?

DM: Only a little. I took a long stroll around Milwaukee and the joint was fairly empty, but that was kind of what I expected. Everyone was super nice and one of the readers gave me free weed. I got no issues. And the burger at Sobelmans was good.

MR: What volume of submissions do you receive from Packers fans wanting to issue friendly fire compared to submissions you get from fans from other teams? Do Packer Backers send the most emails?

DM: I don’t keep count but the pile grows as the series drags on. By the time we get to the Packers, there are usually hundreds. It’s a better way to start the season than to be all sunshine and rainbows.

MR: What was the most common complaint? I mean, other than low-hanging fruit about the weight of Green Bay’s general fan.

DM: Bleacher seating.

MR: What was the reaction to last year’s Packers post? Did you get a lot of hate mail or wake up next to a partially eaten horse head wrapped in a faded Mark Chmura jersey? Or were Packers fans better sports about being made fun of?

DM: [There’s] not that much hate mail this year. People tweet their hate mail now. It’s really lazy.

MR: What fans seem to care the least—both in terms of amount of submissions and retorts—about Why [Their] Team Sucks? It has to be Jaguars fans, right?

DM: No, they get REALLY defensive. It varies by year and whether or not people have read the series before. Raiders fans were chill this year. Last year? Homicidal.

MR: What do you think the reaction will be at Lambeau Field when the Ol’ Dongslinger has his number 4 retired next season?

DM: He’ll be cheered. Those people aren’t dumb. You win a title, you get cheered.

MR: Thanks for the insight. Go Pack Go!

DM: Screw you.

Read the rest of Magary’s “Why Your Team Sucks” series HERE.

About The Author

Avatar photo
Co-Founder and Editor

Before co-founding Milwaukee Record, Tyler Maas wrote for virtually every Milwaukee publication (except Wassup! Magazine). He lives in Bay View and enjoys both stuff and things.