August 7, 2017 at 12:51 p.m.
Shoutouts & Callouts
Fans' love of the Packers is a bond like no other
Shoutouts & Callouts
That struck me last week while I vacationed with my family. Sure, I mixed a little work with pleasure as we had a 4:30 wake-up call last Monday, loaded up the Mayo-mobile and traveled to Green Bay for training camp practice. It was clear we weren't the only ones with this idea. We arrived in Green Bay to find Armed Forces Drive lined with Packers fans wanting to catch a glimpse of their favorite players making their way from Lambeau Field on bicycles to the adjacent Ray Nitschke Field where practice is held.
The Packers practiced that day in front of packed bleachers on the east end of the field. Luckily, my wife saved me a seat to catch the end of practice when I was done with my photo-shooting obligations.
Since we already decided to make a day of it in Green Bay, we stuck around and did the touristy thing, visiting the Packers Hall of Fame and taking a Lambeau Field stadium tour. The overriding theme expressed by our tour guide and made apparent going through the exhibits in the Hall of Fame is the Packers' franchise is just as much about the fans as it is the players and executives.
Maybe that's why 63,000-plus braved a passing thundershower to pack Lambeau Field Saturday night for the Packers' annual Family Night practice. Or why a smaller, but equally loyal, group came out to Mike Webster Stadium Saturday morning. Not only did they come to watch the Rhinelander High School football team's Green vs. White practice, but to have the opportunity to mingle with former Packers' fullback William Henderson, who came to the event as part of a promotion with Rhinelander GM/Toyota.
"It's great being back in Packer country, being around the people who support the Green and Gold, the team that I played for and loved," Henderson told the crowd. "The people who supported us when we weren't as good, but also came and stayed through the bad weather, the terrible weather and drove the distances to come see us. It's just a pleasure to come back."
Packers fans don't just love the team, they love the players and not just the quote-unquote superstars. Fullback is a prime example. Henderson was consistently one of the most popular figures with the team during his tenure, so were two of his successors. Where else but in Green Bay would 80,000 fans chant out the name of the fullback, as they did during John Kuhn's time with the Green and Gold? Even his successor, Aaron Ripkowski, has quickly earned the nickname "The Ripper," and is becoming a household name among Packer backers.
So what's the deal with Packers fans' affinity toward the fullback? Henderson says the position has a natural connection with the fans.
"It is the position that really epitomizes blue collar," he said. "We have to go out there every day, strap on our lunch pail, go out there and make it happen. You have to earn every play and every down. That's what fullbacks do. John did it well. Ripkowski's doing it. We love what Ripkowski's going to do for the Packers for this season ... The love for the state, the love for the people, the love for what the fullback goes out and does every day, reflects what hard work and effort is. I guess that's why we appeal to the Wisconsin fan."
That's the thing. Wisconsinites, in general, are a hard-working and loyal lot. That loyalty creates a bond for Packers fans and that bond makes every win so special and every loss so painful. The fans are personally invested. Some are even financially invested, if they've purchased shares of the team during one of several stock sales over the years.
Maybe that helps explain the surprisingly emotional moment I had last week toward the end of our Hall of Fame visit. There's so much to see, from the special exhibits honoring Vince Lombardi and Brett Favre, to the glory years of the '60s and the modern glory years of from 1992-present. When you pass through all of that, you're naturally drawn toward a hall that features all the Packers Hall of Fame inductees - Donald Driver and Mark Lee were the latest to be enshrined just last month. Past the hall of inductees are lockers featuring some of the team's more prominent Hall of Famers.
And then, you enter what may be the single-most awesome location at Lambeau Field. You exit the hall into a room that prominently displays each one of the Packers' NFL championship trophies, including their four Lombardi trophies. Each trophy is enclosed in a suspended pedestal, the light carefully angled to make each one glisten just so. You can't help but get goosebumps as an angelic melody plays in the background and you stand next to four of the most coveted trophies in all of sport. I didn't see it coming, but I was completely awestruck by the scene.
I've said it before in this column - and it's a hypothesis only strengthened by what I experienced last week - the symbiotic relationship between the Packers and their fans help make it one of the, if not the greatest franchise in professional sports.
The preseason begins for the Packers on Thursday and the regular season starts one month later against Seattle. Who knows what the 2017 campaign will bring, but optimism abounds, as it does every year around this time.
"It's going to be a good one and I think it's going to be one of those that people want to stay tuned for," Henderson said.
Hopefully, for Packer fans' sake, he's right. Either way, win or lose, I'm ready to kick back and enjoy the ride.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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