The Green Bay Packers are one of the most beloved teams in the NFL. The Super Bowl, Vince Lombardi Trophy, is the trophy that was born in Green Bay and named after the coach of the Packers. The Packers were the first team to win the Super Bowl and they are probably the only place in the World where the whole town watches the game on Sunday.
Pack Attack
Packing Packers
So what the heck is a Packer anyways? Well, Green Bay was named after their very first team way back in 1920. They called themselves the Packers after the Indian Packing Company who funded their jerseys.
Fan Franchise
The most amazing thing about the Green Bay Packers is that their fans own them. The Packers are the only sports franchise owned by a community of people, rather than just one owner or corporation. In the 1930s, when the depression almost forced the Packers to be sold out of the small town of Green Bay, the people rallied together to buy the team and keep it in Green Bay.
Small Town Team
Lots at Lambeau
Another amazing statistic about the Green Bay Packers is that their city only has a population of 101,025 people and the team does better than teams from big cities like Los Angeles. Lambeau field, their football stadium, has a seating capacity of 73,000 (that’s ¾ of their population!). And get this… every game since 1960 has been sold out! In fact, there is a waiting list for season tickets that is 80,000 people long. People are signing up their babies for season tickets as soon as they are born.
Gist of the “G”
Greatness
A lot of people don’t actually know what the “G” on the Packers helmet stands for… you might think it stands for Green Bay… but you’re wrong! It actually stands for “Greatness”.
Cheesehead Cheers
Cheesehead Chowder
Why do all the fans wear cheeseheads? Well, it all began when rival baseball and football teams’ fans insulted anyone from Wisconsin because that state makes a lot of cheese. They called the fans “Cheeseheads”, but the fans of Green Bay embraced the insult and now they are proud of the name. Everyone wears cheesehead helmets in Green Bay.
Challenging Champions
Lombardi Legend
Besides all the small town miracles, the Green Bay Packers have the most amazing history of success in professional football. Before the NFL’s Super Bowl was the championship award, the Packers won 12 NFL World Championships, more League Championships than any other team. Of course that all ended in the 1970’s and it wasn’t until 1996 that Brett Favre brought the Super Bowl back home to Green Bay.
