For more details on this topic, see NFL season ticket waiting lists.
A cheesehead hat, commonly worn by Packer fans
Packers fans are often referred to as cheeseheads. The term is often used to refer to people from the state of Wisconsin in general (because of its cheese production), but is also used to refer to Green Bay Packers fans in particular. The name originated in 1987 as an insult from Chicago White Sox fans at a Milwaukee Brewers game. In years since and particularly beginning in 1994, the name and the hats called "cheeseheads" have also been embraced by Packers fans.
During training camp in the summer months (held outside the Don Hutson Center), young Packers fans can take their bikes and have their favorite player ride their bike to the practice field from the locker room. This is an old Packers tradition dating back to approximately 1957 (the first years of Lambeau Field's existence). Gary Knafelc, a Packers end at the time, said, "I think it was just that kids wanted us to ride their bikes. I can remember kids saying, 'Hey, ride my bike.'" The practice continues today.
Each year the team holds an intra-squad scrimmage, called Family Night, at Lambeau Field. During 2004 and 2005 over 60,000 fans attended, selling out the stadium bowl. The Packers hosted the Buffalo Bills for the 2005 edition of Family Night setting an attendance record with 62,492 fans attending.
In August 2008, ESPN.com ranked the Packers as having the second-best fans in the NFL. The team initially finished tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers (who finished ahead of the Packers) as having the best fans, but the tie was broken by ESPN's own John Clayton, a Pittsburgh native.
Nickname, logo, and uniforms
Packers logo 1961–present.
Green Bay Packers uniform: 1984–1988
Curly Lambeau, the team's founder, solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $250 for uniforms and equipment, on condition that the team be named for its sponsor (a similar event would occur the following year with the Decatur Staleys, who later became the Chicago Bears). An early newspaper article referred to the new Green Bay team as "the Indians" but by the time they played their first game they had adopted the name "Packers."
In 1920, the Indian Packing Company was purchased by the Acme Packing Company. Acme continued its support of Lambeau's team, and in its first season in the NFL the team wore jerseys with the words "ACME PACKERS" emblazoned on the chest.
Lambeau, who had attended the University of Notre Dame, borrowed the team's colors of navy blue and gold from the Irish, much as George Halas borrowed team colors from his alma mater Illinois for the Chicago Bears. And like the Irish in the 1930s and 1940s, the Packers sometimes used green and gold before returning to the traditional blue and gold.
In the early days, the Packers were often referred to as the "Bays" or the "Blues" (and even occasionally as "the Big Bay Blues"). These never were official nicknames, although Lambeau did consider replacing "Packers" with "Blues" in the 1920s.
By 1950, the Packers changed their colors to hunter green and gold. Navy blue was kept as a secondary color, seen primarily on sideline capes, but it was quietly dropped from the team colors list on all official materials shortly thereafter. The color scheme yields the common Packer nickname, "The Green and Gold". In 1994, the NFL's 75th anniversary season, the team participated in the league-wide use of "throwback" jerseys. The Packers would wear them again for two Thanksgiving Day games against the Detroit Lions: in 2001, throwback uniforms as worn in the 1930s; in 2003, uniforms from the 1960s (which were only slightly different from the current uniforms).
The oval "G" logo which stands for the "G" in Green Bay was created in 1961 by Packers equipment manager Gerald "Dad" Braisher. Tiki Barber falsely reported[37] it to stand for "greatness" without a reliable source to back up his claims. Other reputable media outlets then published similar stories using Barber's false claim as a source.The Packers' Assistant Director of PR and Corporate Communications had the following to say: "There’s nothing in our history that suggests there's any truth to this. The Packers Hall of Fame archivist said the same thing.". The team used a number of different logos prior to 1961, but the "G" is the only logo that has ever appeared on the helmet. The Packers hold the trademark on the "G" logo, and have granted limited permission to other organizations to utilize a similar logo, such as the University of Georgia and Grambling State University. Adopted in 1964, the Georgia "G", though different in design and color, was similar to the Packers' "G". Then-Georgia head coach Vince Dooley thought it best to clear the use of Georgia's new emblem with the Packers.
While several NFL teams choose to wear white jerseys at home early in the season due to white's ability to reflect the late summer sunrays, the Packers have done so only twice, during the opening two games of the 1989 season. Although alternate gold jerseys with green numbers are sold on a retail basis, the team currently has no plans to introduce such a jersey to be used in actual games.
During the 2010 season, the Packers paid tribute to their historical brethren with a third jersey modeled after that worn by the club in 1929, during its first world championship season. The jersey was navy blue, again making the Packers "the Blues."
Stadium history
Lambeau Field after its 2003 renovation
After their early seasons at Bellevue Park and Hagemeister Park, the Packers played home games in City Stadium from 1925 to 1956. The team won its first 6 NFL world championships while calling City Stadium its home.
Once the NFL threatened to move the franchise to Milwaukee if stadium conditions were not improved in Green Bay, the city responded by building a modern facility for the Packers, open in time for the 1957 season. The new stadium became the first built exclusively for an NFL team. Lambeau Field was originally known as City Stadium, like its predecessor, but its name was changed in 1965 after the death of Curly Lambeau.
When Lambeau Field opened in 1957, it had a seating capacity of 32,150. The stadium was expanded seven times before the end of the 1990s, and seating capacity reached 60,890. In 2003, Lambeau Field was extensively renovated to expand seating, modernize stadium facilities, and add an atrium area. These renovations raised Lambeau Field's seating capacity to 72,928. Despite the multiple expansions of Lambeau Field, ticket demand has far outpaced supply, as all Packers games have been sold out since 1960. Over 78,000 names are on the waiting list for season tickets.
The Packers played part of their home slate in Milwaukee starting in 1933, including two to three home games each year in Milwaukee's County Stadium from 1953 to 1994. The Packers worked to capture their growing fan base in Milwaukee and the larger crowds. By the 1960s, threat of an American Football League franchise in Milwaukee prompted the Packers to stay, including scheduling a Western Conference Playoff in 1967. Since County Stadium was primarily a baseball stadium, the field could barely fit a football field, and the end zones extended onto the warning track. By 1994, improvements and seating expansions at Lambeau prompted the Packers to leave County Stadium after 62 years in Milwaukee, and again be based solely in Green Bay.
All about Green Bay Packers:
No comments:
Post a Comment