Green Bay Packers

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Note: Basketball teams from Chicago and Anderson once used the name Packers as well. Template:NFL team

The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are currently members of the Northern Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team is sometimes affectionately referred to as simply 'The Pack'.

The Packers are the last remaining example of the "small town teams" that comprised a majority of the NFL during the 1920s. Green Bay is by far the smallest media market to be the home of a North American major professional sports league (though their fanbase includes Milwaukee, the rest of Wisconsin, and beyond).

Founded in 1919, the Packers joined the NFL in 1921 during the league's second season. The team currently holds the record for the most NFL league championships with 12: nine NFL Championships prior to the Super Bowl era, Super Bowl I, Super Bowl II, and Super Bowl XXXI. The team also holds the distinction of winning the first two AFL-NFL Championship Games that were held before the AFL-NFL Merger, later referred to as Super Bowl I and II.

The Packers are currently the only publicly owned major league level professional sports team in the United States. Currently, a total of 4,749,925 shares are owned by 111,921 stockholders - none of whom receives any dividend. [1]

Contents

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Franchise history

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Founding

The Green Bay Packers were founded on August 11, 1919 by Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named for its sponsor.

The Packers became a professional franchise in 1921. Financial troubles plagued the team and the franchise was lost the same year. The Packers found new backers the next year and regained the franchise. The financial backers, known as the "Hungry Five," formed the Green Bay Football Corporation.

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Public company

The Packers are now the only publicly owned company with a board of directors in American professional sports (although other teams, such as the Atlanta Braves [Time Warner], the Chicago Cubs [Tribune Company], New York Rangers [Cablevision] and the Seattle Mariners [Nintendo of America] are directly owned by publicly traded companies). Typically, a team is owned by one person, partnership, or corporate entity; thus, a "team owner." It has been speculated that this is one of the reasons the Green Bay Packers have never been moved from the city of Green Bay, a city of just over 100,000 people. By comparison, the typical NFL football city usually is populated in the millions. However, the Packers have long had a large following throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest; in fact, for decades, the Packers played four (one pre-season, three regular-season) home games each year in Milwaukee, first at the State Fair Park fairgrounds, then at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Packers did not move their entire home schedule to Green Bay until 1995. The reason for ending the series of Milwaukee games, according to team president Robert Harlan, was the larger capacity of Lambeau Field and the availability of luxury boxes, which were not available at Milwaukee County Stadium. Template:Fact At the time, Miller Park in Milwaukee was being planned as a baseball-only stadium instead of a multipurpose stadium.

Based on the original "Articles of Incorporation for the (then) Green Bay Football Corporation" put into place in 1923, if the Packers franchise was sold, after the payment of all expenses, any remaining monies would go to the Sullivan-Wallen Post of the American Legion in order to build "a proper soldier's memorial." This stipulation was enacted to ensure the club remained in Green Bay and that there could never be any financial enhancement for the shareholders. At the November 1997 annual meeting, shareholders voted to change the beneficiary from the Sullivan-Wallen Post to the Green Bay Packers Foundation.

In 1950, the Packers held a stock sale to again raise money to support the team. In 1956, area voters approved the construction of a new stadium, owned by the city. As with its predecessor, the new field was named City Stadium, but after the death of founder Lambeau in 1965, on September 11, 1965, the stadium was renamed Lambeau Field.

Another stock sale occurred late in 1997 and early in 1998. It added 105,989 new shareholders and raised more than $24 million, money utilized for the Lambeau Field redevelopment project. Priced at $200 per share, fans bought 120,010 shares during the 17-week sale, which ended March 16, 1998. As of June 8, 2005, 111,921 people (representing 4,749,925 shares) can lay claim to a franchise ownership interest. Shares of stock include voting rights, but the redemption price is minimal, no dividends are ever paid, the stock cannot appreciate in value, and there are no season ticket privileges associated with stock ownership. No shareholder is allowed to own more than 200,000 shares, a safeguard to ensure that no one individual is able to assume control of the club. As a means of running the corporation, a board of directors is elected by the stockholders. The board of directors in turn elect a seven-member Executive Committee (officers) of the corporation, consisting of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and three members-at-large. The president is the only officer who receives compensation. The balance of the committee is sitting "gratis."

The team's elected president represents the Packers in NFL owners meetings unless someone else is designated. During his time as coach, Vince Lombardi generally represented the team at league meetings in his role as general manager, except at owners-only meetings.

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Championships

The Packers have won 12 league championships (including three Super Bowls), more than any other American professional football team. Their arch-rivals the Chicago Bears are second, with nine world championships (including one Super Bowl). The historical rivalry with Chicago extends to the Hall of Fame - the Packers have the second most Hall of Famers (21, behind the Bears' 26). The Packers are also the only American professional football team to win three straight NFL titles, which they did twice (1929-1931 and 1965-67).

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Lombardi era

The Packers of the 1960s were one of the most dominant NFL teams of all time. Coach Vince Lombardi took over a last-place team and built it into a juggernaut, winning five league championships over a seven-year span culminating with victories in the first two Super Bowls. After the death of Vince Lombardi in 1970, the Super Bowl trophy was renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy in recognition of his and his team's accomplishment.

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Fan base

The Packers' fan base is famously dedicated: no matter how the team performs, every Packer game at Lambeau Field has been sold out since 1960. The Packers have one of the longest waiting lists for season tickets in professional sports. The current wait time for season tickets is approximately 35 years. For this reason, it is not unusual for fans to designate a recipient of their season tickets in their wills.

The Packers also draw the largest national TV audiences for the NFL's Monday Night Football telecasts.

An informal name for Packer fans is "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 Packer fans in particular. Many Packer fans, embracing this nickname, wear foam triangle hats made to look like cheese.

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Nickname, logo, and uniforms

Curly Lambeau, the team's founder, solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named for its sponsor (this is similar to what would happen the following year with the Decatur Staleys, who would become the Chicago Bears). The new Green Bay team was referred to as "the Indians" in one of the earliest newspaper articles about the new squad, but by the time they played their first game they had adopted the name "Packers."

In the early days, the Packers also were referred to as the "Bays" and 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.

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 attended the University of Notre Dame, chose the team's colors of blue and gold/yellow from the college. In the 1930s, the Packers briefly experimented with green and gold, although they always returned to the traditional navy.

In 1959, new head coach Vince Lombardi changed the colors to the current hunter green and athletic gold/yellow (navy blue was kept as a secondary color, but it was not actually used and quietly was dropped from the team colors list on all official materials shortly thereafter). This color scheme yields the common Packers nickname, "The Green and Gold". In 1994, the NFL's 75th anniversary, the team participated in the league-wide use of "throwback" jerseys, and for the first time since the 1950s, a Packers team wearing blue took the field. The team has not done so since and has not worn throwback uniforms at home, although it has worn them for Thanksgiving Day games against the Detroit Lions.

The oval "G" logo was created in 1961 by Packers equipment manager Dad Braisher. The team actually used a number of different logos prior to 1961, but the "G" is the only logo that has ever appeared on the helmet.[2] Although other organizations, notably the University of Georgia and Grambling State University, utilize a similar logo, the Packers were the first to employ it and hold the trademark for it.[3]

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2005 season

The Packers finished their season at 4-12, in last place in the NFC North division (one game behind the third-place Detroit Lions). The Packers' November 27 loss to the Eagles assured the Packers their first losing season since 1991 and Brett Favre's first losing season in his career. The team's offensive roster was devastated by injuries, including many of the team's standout players. For example, wide receivers Javon Walker and Robert Ferguson and running backs Ahman Green, Najeh Davenport, Tony Fisher, and Samkon Gado all suffered major injuries. Also hampered by injuries yet remaining in the line-up were linebacker Na'il Diggs and Favre, who suffered repeated injuries to his throwing hand. One day after the conclusion of the regular season, Packers General Manager Ted Thompson announced the firing of head coach Mike Sherman, who had been at the helm for six years. Sherman compiled records of 9-7, 12-4, 12-4, 10-6, 10-6 and 4-12. This included four straight playoff appearances and three straight NFC North division titles, both of which streaks came to an end in 2005. As a result of their dismal season, the Packers ended up with the fifth overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, which is to be held April 29-30.

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Team records and season records

Main article: Green Bay Packers statistics

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Players of note

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Current players

Template:Green Bay Packers roster

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Pro Football Hall of Famers

In addition, the Green Bay Packers were the first professional football team to have its own Hall of Fame. To date, it has honored 134 players, coaches and executives. The Packers were also the first team to have a Hall honoring its fans. The Green Bay Packers FAN Hall of Fame currently has 8 inductees.

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Retired numbers

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Not to be forgotten

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First round draft picks

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2005 NFL Draft picks

Round/Pick Player Position College
1/24 Aaron Rodgers Quarterback California
2/51 Nick Collins Safety Bethune-Cookman
2/58 Terrence Murphy Wide Receiver Texas A&M
4/115 Marviel Underwood Safety San Diego State
4/125 Brady Poppinga Linebacker BYU
5/143 Junius Coston Guard/Tackle North Carolina A&T
5/167 Michael Hawkins Cornerback Oklahoma
6/180 Mike Montgomery Defensive End Texas A&M
6/195 Craig Bragg Wide Receiver UCLA
7/245 Kurt Campbell Linebacker Albany
7/246 Will Whitticker Guard Michigan State
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Head coaches

1921-1949 Earl (Curly) Lambeau (212-106-21)
1950-1953 Gene Ronzani (14-31-1)
1953 Hugh Devore and Ray (Scooter) McLean (0-2-0)
1954-1957 Lisle Blackbourn (17-31-0)
1958 Ray (Scooter) McLean (1-10-1)
1959-1967 Vince Lombardi (98-30-4)
1968-1970 Phil Bengtson (20-21-1)
1971-1974 Dan Devine (25-28-4)
1975-1983 Bart Starr (53-77-3)
1984-1987 Forrest Gregg (25-37-1)
1988-1991 Lindy Infante (24-40-0)
1992-1998 Mike Holmgren (73-36-0)
1999 Ray Rhodes (8-8-0)
2000-2005 Mike Sherman (56-39-0)
2006-Present Mike McCarthy (0-0-0)
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Current coaching staff

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Head coach

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Offensive coaches

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Defensive coaches

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Special teams coaches

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Conditioning coaches

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Board of Directors

Template:Details Green Bay Packers, Inc., is governed by a seven-member Executive Committee, elected from a board of directors. The committee directs corporate management, approves major capital expenditures, establishes broad policy and monitors management's performance in conducting the business and affairs of the corporation.

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See also

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External links

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