GREEN BAY, Wis. _ Mike McCarthy Way was Bourbon Street with a curfew.
Thousands of Packers fans flooded the industrial neighborhood last Sunday, dancing to a cover band in one parking-lot tent and a DJ in another. A sports restaurant pushed capacity. The Tundra Line pounded drums and clashed cymbals down a sidewalk.
Then, the crowd scattered, trotting for 15 minutes in 15-degree wind chill to a 5:40 p.m. postseason kickoff at Lambeau Field. Like the man for whom it is named, the street knows a hard truth.
No party lasts forever.
Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl, achieved nine playoff berths and claimed six division titles in 13 seasons as Packers coach. His tenure concluded when he was fired during the 2018 season. After a year out of the NFL, this month he became the ninth head coach in Cowboys history.
Dallas added more than a coach, several people close to McCarthy say.
His legacy in northeast Wisconsin extended off the field with various charitable contributions and engagement with community members.
The totality of McCarthy's impact helps answer a question his 9-year-old daughter once asked while McCarthy drove through the village of Ashwaubenon, a Green Bay suburb. She read aloud each street sign they passed until reaching one whose name she recognized: Mike McCarthy Way.
Her father explained why the street was named after him, citing the Packers' wins over the years.
She wondered about the third word.
Not street. Not avenue. Not road.
"What's a way?" she asked.
