GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Streets named after sports celebrities are usually short, quiet thoroughfares notable only for their ceremonial importance. Roads like Peyton Manning Pass in Knoxville or Tarkanian Way in Las Vegas aren't vital parts of their communities.

There's nothing small or ceremonial about Holmgren Way. It stretches more than three miles through suburban Ashwaubenon, Wis., winding past a mall, a car dealership, a 12-screen movie theater, the corporate headquarters of ShopKo stores, even a Hooters restaurant.

It's a big tribute by the Green Bay community to the man that resurrected its most prized possession, the Green Bay Packers. Mike Holmgren's street ends at Lombardi Avenue, which runs along the north side of Lambeau Field.

But Holmgren no longer works in the community where his Way is located. Last January, Holmgren took his way with football teams to Seattle, where he's trying to work miracles with the once-moribund Seahawks.

Holmgren returns to Lambeau on Monday night to try to beat the team he spent seven years building. He posted a 75-37 record with the Packers, second only in victories and winning percentage to Vince Lombardi himself.

"I expect I will be treated like most opposing coaches, as fans will do," Holmgren said. "I think the fans also know what I tried to do while I was there, and how important they were to me when I was there."

For once, players and coaches conditioned to deny the presence of personal motivations are admitting the game will mean something extra to them.

"I'm going to have a little hop in my step," said receiver Antonio Freeman, one of the many Packers who became stars under Holmgren's leadership. "It's nothing at all against Mike; that was a good decision for him. But still, you can't deny it's a big game for us."

And the game means everything to the fanatical supporters of the Packers, who felt betrayed by Holmgren's abandonment of the community where he raised his children and became one of their neighbors. Holmgren also took six assistant coaches and a chunk of the Packers' front-office personnel with him to the Pacific Northwest.

"I know the fans were hurt when he left, and that's understandable," said the namesake of Brett Favre Pass, an extremely short street off Holmgren Way which essentially leads only to Brett Favre's Steakhouse.

"Mike probably won't get a great reception when he comes back. I hope the fans will remember all the good things he did while he was here, but it will be hard."

But aside from the myriad subplots surrounding it, Monday night's game should be an exciting chess match between two coaching staffs that know each other much too well. Packers coach Ray Rhodes is one of five assistant coaches from Holmgren's original Green Bay staff who are now head coaches.

"I can't be worrying about all the noise that's floating around about Mike coming back," Rhodes fumed. "This team has got a game to win."

Seattle (4-2), fresh off a win over Buffalo, has football's best Monday night record at 11-5, though the Seahawks haven't appeared in the game since 1992. They haven't lost a Monday night game in over a decade.

The Packers (4-2) haven't lost at Lambeau Field since last season's Monday night thrashing from the Minnesota Vikings. Green Bay and Seattle are tied for first place in their respective divisions.

Holmgren wanted to leave Green Bay because the team's personnel decisions were made by GM Ron Wolf. When Holmgren bolted, he left only because the Seahawks gave him complete control of every aspect of the team's operations.

"Both (Packers team president) Bob Harlan and Ron Wolf were very up-front with me, and I tried to be with them," Holmgren said. "They knew what my career goals were. We didn't try to pull any end runs on that."

Holmgren said he learned a great deal about running a personnel department from Wolf and about being a boss from Harlan. Both skills have come in handy since being made "The Emperor" of the Seahawks, as the Seattle media have come to call him.

In truth, neither Holmgren nor Wolf will draw any particular satisfaction from a win on Monday night. It's only one game. The true measure of success and victory for these men will come at season's end, or even several seasons from now.

"I'm trying to build a quality football team in Seattle, just like we built in Green Bay," Holmgren said. "That's what this thing is really all about."

One face that will be missing is Fritz Shurmur, the Packers' defensive coordinator who made Green Bay his permanent home during his years with Holmgren. He also left for Seattle, but became ill and died of cancer before ever coaching a game for the Seahawks.

"Fritz would have loved this game," Freeman said.

SEATTLE Season schedule and results

GREEN BAY Season schedule and results

September 12 Detroit L 20-28 September 19 @Chicago W 14-13 September 26 @Pittsburgh W 29-10 October 3 Oakland W 22-21 October 17 @San Diego L 10-13 October 24 Buffalo W 26-16 November 1 @Green Bay 9:00pm ET November 7 Cincinnati 4:15pm ET November 14 Denver 8:20pm ET November 21 @Kansas City 1:00pm ET November 28 Tampa Bay 4:05pm ET December 5 @Oakland 4:15pm ET December 12 San Diego 4:05pm ET December 19 @Denver 4:15pm ET December 26 Kansas City 4:05pm ET January 2 @NY Jets 1:00pm ET

September 12 Oakland W 28-24 September 19 @Detroit L 15-23 September 26 Minnesota W 23-20 October 10 Tampa Bay W 26-23 October 17 @Denver L 10-31 October 24 @San Diego W 31-3 November 1 Seattle 9:00pm ET November 7 Chicago 1:00pm ET November 14 @Dallas 4:15pm ET November 21 Detroit 1:00pm ET November 29 @San Francisco 9:00pm ET December 5 @Chicago 1:00pm ET December 12 Carolina 1:00pm ET December 20 @Minnesota 9:00pm ET December 26 @Tampa Bay 4:15pm ET January 2 Arizona 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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