Jackson Free Press

No disrespect to the other three NFL Playoff games in the Divisional Round, but the Green Bay Packers at the Dallas Cowboys is the marquee matchup. This will be the eighth playoff meeting in these two historic franchises.

The Cowboys have a 4-3 record against the Packers in the playoffs, but the bulk of those four wins came in the 1990s. Dallas defeated Green Bay three straight years (1993,1994,1995) in the playoffs when the Cowboys were in the midst of their last dynasty.

In the most recent playoff meeting, Green Bay won 26-21 at Lambeau Field over Dallas in 2014 in a game that featured controversy. Most football fans will remember the catch-no catch that Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant made.

The referees ruled it as a catch at first. Then, Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy challenged the ruling on the field. After a replay review, referee Gene Steratore ruled, “Bryant didn’t complete the entire process of the catch” and ruled the pass incomplete.

Another famous meeting between these two teams took place in the 1967 NFL Championship Game. This game is also known as the “Ice Bowl,” as the players battled dangerously low temperatures.

Green Bay won, just like the Packers did over the Cowboys in the 1966 game, and returned to the NFL-AFL World Championship Game, which is now known as Super Bowl II, but the name Super Bowl wasn’t used until the third game.

Green Bay and Dallas combined have made 13 Super Bowl appearances. The teams have combined to reach 20 NFC Championship games.

The two boast a wide number of legendary coaches and players. They are two of the most talked about franchises in the NFL even when they are suffering from a down season.

One could argue that no team is discussed more than the Dallas Cowboys. The men with the star of their helmet are expected to carry on the winning tradition every season.

And one could argue that no player is more discussed than the Dallas Cowboys quarterback. Playing that role leads to instant stardom for not only the starter but for the backups as well.

Playing quarterback for Green Bay comes with its own burden of following in the footsteps of Bart Starr and Brett Favre. Cowboy quarterbacks must live up to Don Meredith, Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers already has a Super Bowl win to carry on the tradition that Starr and Favre set. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott is trying to take the Cowboys to the Super Bowl as a rookie.

This game features well-established stars for Green Bay such as Rodgers, linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, and wide receivers Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson. Dallas also features well-known stars in Bryant, tight end Jason Witten and linebacker Sean Lee.

The Cowboys hopes will fall on two budding stars in Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott. Both rookies played a major …

UPDATED Jan. 14: After a national firestorm and a No. 1 trend on Twitter, Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said the Biloxi City Council on Tuesday, the day after the holiday, should change the city’s Code of Ordinances" to reflect the official federal name of the holiday, 'Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,' commonly known as 'Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.'”

“In my opinion,” Gilich said in a statement on the city's website, “that is the appropriate step to take, for the holiday to have the same name as the federal holiday.”

The statement also conflicts with what city workers put out in social media yesterday, blaming the State of Mississippi for making the city call King Day "Great American's Day."

"The name has since been traced back to a City Council on Dec. 23, 1985 to proclaim the third Monday of every January “to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as other great Americans who have made important contributions to the birth, growth and evolution of this country.”

Presumably, among the other "great Americans" is Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who the State of Mississippi also honors the same day.

Did the State of Mississippi Rename MLK Day 'Great Americans Day'? Short answer: Not that we can figure out. The City of Biloxi apparently did rename the holiday, however, with local ordinance 15-2-2 declaring the third Monday of January as "Great American's Day. No sign of a state law, yet, however.

Still, the City of Biloxi is claiming that the State of Mississippi made 'em do it on its Facebook page (see image below), even as social media is starting to blow up nationally criticizing Biloxi, and maybe the whole state, for quietly changing the name of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to "Great Americans Day." Considering that Biloxi is the home of Jefferson Davis' museum-home, run by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, this does not completely surprise. (SCV are major opponents of changing the Mississippi flag).

The City of Biloxi posted this Friday: "Non-emergency municipal offices in Biloxi will be closed on Monday in observance of Great Americans Day, a state-named holiday.""

When challenged under the post, the unnamed Biloxi employee double-downed that this name came down from above: "The City of Biloxi did not declare nor name this holiday. The holiday was declared and named by the state Legislature. The city, in fact, as it has done for years, touted our upcoming MLK celebration in a Bmail and on the city website this afternoon."

The problem is that, so far, we have not found evidence that the state Legislature officially changed the name of the holiday, and lawmakers we've reached say they have no idea about it, either. Rep. Jay Hughes, D-Oxford, said on the Facebook page of Lea Campbell of the Mississippi Rising Coalition that the "Great Americans" name applies to a different holiday altogether: "Great Americans Day is a combination of all presidents days, …