Preston Dennard knows football and he knows what it’s like to play in frigid weather, which is what’s expected in Green Bay today in the NFC championship game.

Dennard, 52, grew up in Phoenix, played collegiately at the University of New Mexico, and then played professionally from 1978-85.

From his rookie year through the 1983 season, Dennard played for the Los Angeles Rams, which only rarely played in cold weather. While with the Rams, he played in Super Bowl XIV, in which the Rams lost to the Steelers. In 1984, Dennard played for Buffalo; in 1985, his last hurrah, he played for Green Bay.

A longtime West Side resident and member of the Rio Rancho Sports Advisory Council, Dennard was asked what playing in January was like in Green Bay.

Truth be told, he said, playing in Buffalo was even worse.

Green Bay, he says, really isn’t all that cold; the stadium doesn’t get the frigid wind that blows off Lake Erie for Bills games.

He played in what was termed at the time “the snow bowl,” a game vs. Tampa Bay, at Lambeau Field on Dec. 1, 1985.

According to Wikipedia, “Snow had begun to fall heavily that morning and continued throughout the day. By kickoff, the roads were impossible to navigate preventing many fans from attending. This gave the game the dubious distinction of having over 36,000 ‘no-shows,’ the most in Packers history. However, 19,856 fans did make it through the gates, many of whom arrived by snowmobile.

“The game itself saw the Packers dominate the Buccaneers en route to a 21-0 victory. The Packers’ offense gained 512 total yards to the Buccaneers’ 65. “

During the game, Packers DE Alphonso Carreker sacked Bucs QB Steve Young a then-record four times in the game.”

“I think it was pretty close to 20-below,” Dennard recalled. “It was snowing — you could barely see past 15 yards. All you knew is coming out of the mist of the snow and the white mist, you would see the ball come out of the white. You knew what the route was and you knew the direction of the ball.”

Dennard said he wore SCUBA gloves to keep his hands warm, yet pliable, for catching the balls thrown his way by QB Jim Zorn.

“It worked and it was a good deal,” he said, adding he also wore a long-sleeve undershirt.

“Guys were used to playing in that weather.”

But Dennard was nearly a no-show, too.

“There was a big, heavy snow 4-5 inches on the ground,” he recalled. “Roads in my neighborhood were packed — I couldn’t get out.

“My neighbors came out of their houses and dug about an eighth of a mile so I could get out and go to the stadium; the main roads were plowed,” he said. “There were about 20 people out there — I’ll never, ever forget that.”

But that’s the way “Cheeseheads” are, he said.

“They’re there, win or lose.”

Dennard said he was in northern Wisconsin last year and a woman at the airport saw his NFC championship ring from the Rams in 1979 and asked him about it.

“I told her I played in Super Bowl XIV, and she asked me my name. I told her and she said she remembered me.

“I said, ‘No you don’t.’ She said, ‘Yes, I do — you were No. 88; you played here in 1985.’”

It reinforced what he had learned that year: “You meet a Green Bay fan, they are Packers for life — and they don’t let you forget that,” he said.

That was before the “Lambeau Leap;” getting high-fives was common 22 seasons ago.

“We didn’t leap but the fans embraced us, though,” Dennard said. “They’re very loyal fans, if you’re not ready to play, if you go into Green Bay, those fans will not let you live it down. You go through like a tunnel of fans; they’re there greeting you.

“Their fan base is unlike any other fans in the world ... Green Bay ahs fans all over the world,” he said. “When you go into Green Bay, you know there’s nobody else they’re going to cheer for except those Packers.

“They show up two or three hours before game time,” he said. “(Former New Mexico Activities Association executive director)

Dan Salzwedel told me once, ‘You never made it to the varsity in the NFL till you went to Green Bay.’”

Dennard won’t argue.

“To experience the NFL was not complete until I went to Green Bay,” Dennard explained. “The frozen tundra, the old locker rooms — we had the original stadium. It wasn’t like it is today.”

The “frozen tundra” is no longer frozen; pipe work under the gridiron keeps the field from freezing.

Former Packers great Forrest Gregg was the head coach in 1985, one of his four seasons at the helm; he never had a winning record.

Dennard was basically the No. 3 receiver; Hall of Famer James Lofton, whom he still stays in touch with, was the No. 1 guy. Phillip Epps was the No. 2 wideout, and Dennard annually invites Epps to play in his golf tournament in the Duke City.

By the numbers, Dennard saw action in all 16 games in 1985, with 13 receptions covering 182 yards and a pair of TDs. (For his career, he caught 232 passes, covering 3,665 yards, and 30 TDs.)

Green Bay, a very ordinary team in the 1980s, finished 8-8 in 1985, a season most fans remember for the “Super Bowl Shuffle,” with Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary and the rest of “Da Bears,” who went on to win Super Bowl XX in 1986.

“We actually had a chance to beat (Chicago) at Lambeau Field and they just got away from us,” he recalled. The Bears emerged 16-10 winners.

The Packers’ only Monday Night Football appearance that season was at Soldier Field against the Bears, a 23-7 drubbing.

Dennard was at the Packers’ training camp in 1986, when he decided to retire.

“I had some opportunities to go elsewhere; I was in broadcast school at the time,” he said. “I was in camp with them; Forrest was not interested in keeping me, so I asked for my release.”

Dennard said he’s pulling for the Packers today; of his three teams, he still feels a part of the Bills and Packers’ alumni, but not of the Rams.