People become Packers fans for a lot of reasons. I hope at the end of this post that you will tell me how you became one. After the draft, I asked the question (to the chagrin of many Packers fans) “How many of you have become Packers fans this weekend”. The reason for the question was that many people become Packers fans when a college player they love is drafted by the Pack.
I don’t care how anyone becomes a Packers fan…I love all Packers fans regardless of how they became one. Here is how I became one.
Packernation is just that, a group of fanatical NFL team lovers that is not governed by gender, race, or geography. We love the Pack and we love each other like a family…even if we don’t always agree about the fine points. Two words govern Packernation…Go Pack!
For me, as a young boy growing up in West Central Wisconsin, love of the Packers began as I watched games that I didn’t understand played by players I cannot remember. I watched these games on green shag carpet on the living room floor with my head on my Dad’s chest, listening to him breathe as he napped. My dad was a High School Biology teacher and a football coach so his rest was well deserved. The game came across only after the antenna on top of the house was properly positioned to bring the game in from where it was transmitted, 50 miles away. And the image was well viewed from the living room floor as it was broadcast on an old, console Magnavox TV that was basically a huge cabinet that brought me the gift of the Green Bay Packers every Sunday in the Fall.
How can you love a team before you even know the names of the players? How can you be a Packers fan
before you even know who the Packers are? I was in grade school and played football almost every day on the playground with all my buddies. I played catch with my brother (and sister) on the lawn outside our tiny little house as the leaves fell off the trees and the sun went down, casting the Wisconsin landscape in sepia-gold.
I love the Packers because I…love…football. And there is no other team that embodies the love of family (playing with my brother and sister and watching with my Dad and Mom), and fierce loyalty for friends (my buddies on the playground), and the game itself like the Green Bay Packers.
It doesn’t matter how you get there, the love of the Packers comes down to the same two things:
- The love of American football
- The love for the team that embodies the best in American football
There is NO OTHER “America’s Team”. There is no other legacy. There is no other Champion. There is no other team! Nothing can take the place of the Green Bay Packers in my mind and heart. So how did you become a Packers fan? What does the team mean to you? Leave me a message on the Facebook page or make your journey known in the comments below.
Go Pack!
My Army husband got stationed in Wisconsin ( the rest of the fam stayed in AZ) and found out IMMEDIATELY that when in Wisconsin being a Packer’s fan is not optional! So he complied. It did not take very long to find out why…. Folks genuinely LOVE their Packers. We did what everyone visiting (or living) in Wisconsin should do: we visited Lambeau field! Never was it more evident that when a team is ‘owned’ by shareholders there is a whole new level of respect that works BOTH ways. If you own it-you love it. ‘Tis that simple! Without too much detail….We went there looking forward to a tour of a stadium and came back die-hard fans. Only Green and Gold in our closets! Go Pack Go….this year all the way!
What a great story Claudia! If your husband happened to be stationed at Fort McCoy, he was about ten miles from the tiny Wisconsin home that I spoke of in the post! Great insight! Thank you so much!
I grew up in a town about 20 miles from Fort McCoy. Born into the PackerNation. Wouldn’t want it ant other way. GO PACK GO!!!
born in Wisconsin and just runs in the family being Packers fan. I also agree there’s nothing like Packer nation! Go Pack Go!!!
That’s right Jeanne! Can’t wait for the season to start!
I became a Packer fan because of the fans. Nobody loves their team more or travels better than Packers Nation. From the top down this organization is run first class!!! The players also don’t seem to get into off field troubles,which become a huge distraction for the team as well as players who play for themselves. The last time I looked looked there was no “I” in team….A great team,classy organization top to bottom. I’am proud to be apart of the best fan base in football for the best team in football! Go-Pack-Go
Well said Jim! I totally agree that the organization is first class! And I love that it is so family friendly!
Ya stole my thunder! It’s the feeling that we, the people, are not only financially invested in our team, but that we actually are a part of their every victory. It’s the kinship that one feels instantly when someone strikes up a conversation with me at the hardware store when they see my Packer championship hat or my packer pull-over, even though I live squarely in the middle of Redskin country. Strangers instantly have a common bond bred of fond memories- that’s what makes Packer Nation so very special. A classy bunch, of every social stripe, who enjoy being a part of something that embraces so much of what makes America great- quiet pride, selflessness, and the relentless pursuit of perfection- on and off the football field… jem
Did I fail mention that I’m from Minnesota!
I became a packer fan at the age of eight years old so that would be 1960 because they are owned by the stockholders for which I am proud to say I am one of those lucky ones. Went there eighteen years ago for our honeymoon. We have seen them play in person seven times. They are truly America’s team. ( go packers) !!’m
Right on Chuck! America’s team for sure!
In 1964, I was a 12-year-old in Connecticut. On TV we had the New York Giants – and I knew I didn’t want to be any part of that team.
The Patriots were in something called the AFL – which to this day I regard as the Amateur Football League. So what was a boy looking for a team to support supposed to do?
There was a very famous team at the time, with a budding legend of a coach, and a quarterback whose life story I had read in a book fair paperback. The inspiration of “Bart Starr – Quarterback” was magical all by itself.
It was easy to make Bart Starr my hero, and the Green Bay Packers my team. Though I never lived in Wisconsin, when I get there it often feels like going home. I own two shares of stock today, and I’m always surprised when I don’t actually bleed green and gold.
13 time world champions!!!!! !!!!! !!!
The greatest fan base in all sports!
And never forget – WE ARE EVERYWHERE!
Bart Starr is a great hero to have! And the Packers are the best team for sure. Thank you for that story…so great to hear how we come to love (bleed) the Green and Gold!
I grew up 30 miles from Green Bay, however my family were not football fans – they were baseball fans. After I met my husband I became a Packer fan. Another reason I am a fan is because of the history of the Packers. A city of just over 100,000 and the Packers do not have a greedy owner is one of the many reasons I am a Packer fan.. My husband and I own a share of stock in the Packers and watch every game even though we now live in Washington State.
Awesome Kathleen!
As a kid my dad would be relaxing after being gone all week in the semi truck,my dad would turn on the tv to what ever game was on. I would sit down and ask him who was playing who he wanted to win etc. I always left it at that. Then one Sunday I asked my dad who the Packers are. (Mind you I was about 8-9 yrs old) After my dad explained everything to me I told my dad “That’s my team!” My dad just shook his head and laughed. (I guess it was funny because living in Oregon I did not pick a west coast team.) Here I am 25 yrs later still a Packers fan, and proud to say my house is Green and Gold. Go Pack Go
Great story Missa…thanks!
As a kid from upstate NY the Giants were pushed on me, it never stuck. The Niners were hot in the 80’s and all my classmates were jumping on that bandwagon and getting picked on for being frontrunners. I needed a team, a bad one, an underdog team to avoid the frontrunner title. The Pack wasn’t that hot in the 80’s and Don Majkowski had the same haircut as me! Big deal to a 9 year old!!! So that was that, I would cheer for the Pack, and 28 years later I still do.
I was a born with Green and Gold blood I was 10 when I went to my first Packer game and it was at the Old County Stadium it was like 20 degrees and we won. It took 7 more games before I seen them lose, Lambeau is a whole other story…..I was at the first Lambeau leap game Dec. 26 1995-96 season Reggie throwing it to Leroy Butler as he was falling out of bounds, so I still bleed Green and Gold!!!!!!
I became interested in football in University. Yes, I am Canadian! The guys in the apartment across the hall from us asked my roomies and I in to watch football, at first the CFL, but I was much more interested when they put on NFL, I did some reading, and found my team, not just based on watching them play, but on the history of the team. I am now a proud owner of a share as a birthday gift from my husband (not a football fan, but a ‘football husband’) who has to watch football or leave the house to camp out in his man cave until the games of the day are over, and the end of the season. I am still planning to make the journey to Lambeau for a game in the near future! Packer fans are not just fans of a team or the sport, they are part and parcel of The Pack, and I am proud to be one of them. Oh, the UPS driver keeps telling the other football fans in the neighbourhood that I am an owner, and a bigger fan than any one of them, my wheelchair even sports Packer flags!
I grew up in South Carolina and live in Virginia now. My parents were Colts fans because of Johnny Unitas. I was about 10 when I decided to pick my own team. I picked the Packers and have been a fan ever since. I have been lucky enough to go to Green Bay to see a game and hope to get back one day.
My earliest memories of the Packers are from the mid forties. I grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee named Cudahy. My parents were immigrants and not sports fans but all us kids played all the sports and that is how I discovered football and the Packers. I would listen to Packer games on WTMJ announced by Bob Heines(sp). The players I remember from the era are Ted Fritch, Irv Comp. Indian Jack Jacobs. Bob Forte, Lou Brock, Tony Canado, Walt Schlicklman and Dick Wildung. It has been a fun time following the Packers. Yes there have been dry years but the Pack is Back.
Growing up in a household where NO sports were enjoyed, I then married a Packer Fan. At first, it bored me. My husband, a fan since he was a young kid, watched (when available on TV because we’re East Coast fans), he watched all through the not-so-good years and his loyalty never wavered. Over the years I finally started to understand the game and the next thing I knew….25 years later….I’m as big a fan-atic as my husband. I even have the Packer license plate frame on my car. I love the Packers and admire the fact that they are most loved by their fans and not owned by some rich person, but by the fans that love them.. They are a special Pack for sure.
I too have been a football fan since I was a small child watching games with my dad. We watched whichever game was televised. We are from Washington State, so my dad always rooted for the home team of the Seahawks, but I remember him always being very frustrated that they weren’t very good. He used to talk about the Green Bay Packers and what a legendary team they were. He had a lot of respect. I even met a man who was a GB Linebacker in the 70’s. Can’t remember his name, just remember he was the largest man I’ve ever met. I didn’t have a favorite team for many years. I liked the 49ers during the Joe Montana days, but it wasn’t until I started watching football with my husband that I really noticed the Packers. His family is from Wisconsin, they have all been Packers fans for generations. He is a huge fan of Brett Favre. He would tell me all about the Packers while watching the games and about Favre. He told me there was a QB named Arron Rodgers that was going to be he thought, as good as Favre. So I became a Packers fan while watching the games with my husband. But it wasn’t until Clay Matthews III that I became really vested. That guy could kick some butt and I LOVED it!! I also love the history of the Packers, the fans, the fact that the people own them. I have much respect for the Packers. And once you become a Packers fan, you are part of a special family for life! We live in WA but someday hope to visit Lambeau. Go Pack!!
My father was born and raised in Weyauwega and as I grew up in California we would watch the pack whenever we could. The only game I ever went to with my father was when the pack played the LA Rams in the coliseum, unfortunately the pack did not prevail. I am a stockholder and wish the NFL would allow more teams to follow in the packs model. It is all about the fans and the community that the pack embrace! I will always be a Packer fan! go Pack!
i became a packer fan when i was 5 in the heart of cowboys territory probably cause of the colors but im 33 now and my love of the game and the greatest team to gace the field has only grown stronger and more loyal….go pack go.
I grew up in Minnesota as a Vikings fan. Then came the Humpty Dump and Hershelll Walker trade. Oh I almost fortgot, there was this Brett Favre kid.
i am a Packers fan , because back in 1969 when i was 19…. me and a friend of mine were hitchhiking around Boston Ma…..and we got a ride from a football player …..A Green Bay Packer …… and while we were riding and talking with him ,,, he taught me a little about football…. and it got me interested in the sport and i have been a die hard Green Bay Packer fan ever since ……..GO PACK !!!!!!
What a cool story! Go PackGo!
Bart the start of course.an the greatest coach ever
I was a huge Milwaukee Braves fan when I was a little girl. Then Ted Turner bought the team and moved it to Atlanta. I couldn’t understand how the team was suddenly the Atlanta Braves. My dad told me that if I wanted to be a fan of a team that would stay, I would have to learn about football and become a Packer backer. So I did. Even though I’ve lived in Texas for 36 years, I’m still a Packer fan. (I didn’t watch baseball again until Hank Aaron was on his run for the record.)
Having grown up in S.W. Iowa I remembered watching the Packers in the early 60″s I was pretty much a Packer fan then but later on after watching the Ice Bowl in 67 I was hooked for life. Became a shareholder later on and have made 8 or 9 pilgrimages to Lambeau (the colder the better). I can think of nothing better than being part of the best and most unique franchise in professional sports, period.
became a packer fan in 1965,and the legend continues,meeting some of the greatest,be safe always
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share our particular reasons for being attracted to, and remaining loyal to, the Green Bay Packers. So many heart-felt expressions of admiration, and respect for, the legacy of good sportsmanship and citizenship that our team has come to embody for us. Man’s tendency for competition, and the need to belong to something greater than our selves come together so seamlessly in the unity expressed between player and fan alike in Packer Nation. Long live the Pack!!!
I grew up in Michigan so here your either a Detroit fan or Greenbay Fan, my family was split between the two but Greenbay did better so as a young kid I began to like them and have been dedicated ever since
My Dad was a Packer fan as far back as I can remember and watched the games religiously. When I first started the Packers were struggling, but I loved football and watched always hoping that the Packers would win. Being a grade schooler, I was very sad if they didn’t. Then Vince Lombardi came on board and I was hooked by Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung running the sweep. With Thurston and Kramer they seemed unstoppable. I was hooked and have been a fan ever since.
I became a Packers fan by being born to parent who both were born in Wisconsin. After we lost my dad to cancer, it became a way to celebrate his memory. My mother lives in Deseret which is a suburb of Green Bay so the legacy for my family will continue. Go PACK Go
DePere WI not Deseret
I was previously a Dallas Cowboys fan. After 18 years of waiting for Jerry Jones to handle the financial end and leave coaching up to the coaching staff, I decided it was time to go with the Packers, who, by the way, I was actually watching for about 5 years before making the decision. I’m happy to say, it was a great move because the Packers are really America’s team, and Aaron Rodgers is a class act.
The Packers are the best franchise. I was looking for a team to root for and it simply came down to only the Packers. The mix of their great history, the owners :), the fans, the team, the future (yes I can look into the future)… the Packers are just the greatest. I really don’t know who I’d be a fan of if they didn’t exist.
Born in Green Bay, but lived in Illinois from the age of 1 1/2.
Every Sunday during football season, for as long as I can remember, my Dad would turn the radio in the family room to such a position so that he could tune in WTMJ in Milwaukee. We would listen to the Packers even tho’ we lived in the Chicago suburbs. Grew up with his and my grandpa’s stories of going to old City Field to see the old time Packers in the 1930s. I remember the glory days of Bart Starr, and stayed faithful during many down years. Married a Bears fan in 1975 and I remember my late Father-in-law saying he loved me, even tho’ I was a Packers fan. Still live in Chicago, but will NEVER give up on the Packers. My 91 year old Dad and I talk every Sunday and it is especially fun during football season when we dissect the game! GO PACK GO!
Born in Wisconsin..it’s a genetic thing!
I grew up in Texas where everyone was a Cowboy fan. But in 1965 at age 6 that changed for me! I met Lee Roy Caffey in Taylor, TX and he cultivated me as a fan. Sent me cards, pictures and even tickets to the Cowboys vs Packers game in Dallas. Then my mom and dad ordered Packer jacket and jersey from Sears & Roebuck catalog so I was set. Went to game and Packers won and the Cowboy fans were raining down hate on a 7 year old. I think I was the only person in the stadium wearing the green and gold! Then SB I and II and no turning back!! Loved Carrroll Dale and Bart Starr and Max McGee!! Collected all the cards from those days and still have them. As I grew older and learned about the organization and the fan base my love for the teams and town grew stronger. The funny thing is along the journey my family including my parents became Packer fans! I have now raised my 4 kids as Packer fans and they are now Shareholders…all thanks to meeting Lee Roy 50 years ago. Ran into Bart Starr in the Houston airport in 2006 and went over and introduced myself and we visited for about 30 minutes. Everyone kept asking who he was and I was so shocked none of them knew! Told him the Lee Roy story and he asked me to write it up and send pics of my kids so he could re-tell the story at Lombardi Legends meeting later that year. I was so honored…he also sent me a thank you letter and an autographed picture from 1966 SB…such a great man that embodies what it means to be a Green Bay Packer! We go to training camp in the summer and we’ll all actually be tailgating and spending Thanksgiving away from home so we can all go see a game together vs Bears!! Can’t wait!! Go Pack Go
Curtis Donaldson
Wow! Awesome memories!
Born in Fish Creek and lived in Sturgeon Bay starting in 4th grade. The first game was when a friend and I hitch-hiked to Green Bay while in 8th grade and watched a game at the old stadium at East High school. Snuck in the game as we had no money. Never got caught but the parents were not happy when we got home.
I have loved Green & Gold, so I became a Packers fan. It’s lasted over 50 years.
i was born and raised outside of Eau. Claire,my mother showed me the light!
She aid “I either serve your dad and all his buddies from the kitchen or learn the game and scream obscene things at the TV too”!
I was born in ’59 and grew up just out of the city limits of Wisconsin Dells. We had a 10 acre farmette, and in back of our property my Aunt and Uncle and (7) cousins had another 10 acre spread where my Grandmother and Uncle each had house trailers. We only got the big 3 Madison channels (55 miles away) and PBS – all black and white in those days, and reception depended upon the weather. Mom (from Detroit) was not a football fan. So starting at 2 years old and continuing until I turned 16, every Sunday my Dad would take me to Grandma’s house to watch the Packers games on the big screen Zenith that the family had bought for her. She always had home made cookies for me. My Uncle would play football with us during half times and after the games. I still remember those days as the best of my childhood, and the Packers were the reason behind it all. I’m a football fan first, and a Packers and Badgers fan second. Very proud to be one of the few Packers Shareholders now living in Australia, and my step son here is also a huge fan and Shareholder.
The only games I’ve been fortunate enough to attend were preseason games at Camp Randall, but my step son saved for years and made a trip to the USA to watch 4 games in 2013, from Thanksgiving in Detroit to the final game against da Bears. Lacy and Burnett took time out of their busy schedules to meet with him for half an hour. I believe that can only happen in Green Bay, WI. 😉 Go Pack go!
I have loved the Packers since childhood, raised in the south, watching games with my family. I set my sights on them, and it was love at first sight. I can’t remember who was coaching, or playing back then, but Favre was quarterback when I got back to football. I got away from football for quite few years, but I returned, with an everlasting, and growing love for the Pack. I have been getting to know them through watching them, reading every thing I can about them, and the game, and even learning from our family, PackersNation. I am on every Facbook page there is about them, and everything I can find on Twitter, and Google. I have learned they are fighters, they are honest, they are gentlemen, they have hearts, integrity, caring, compassion, and brotherly love of each other. They are humble, funny, talented, hard workers, sweet, charitable, kind, considerate, very much so with their fans, and they are the Green Bay Packers, with class no one, no other team could ever match. I find a new reason every day to fall more in love with the Pack. I now have my own Packer Facebook group of Texas Packer fans, and we discuss, and talk about all aspects of the game, and our players. I am a die hard, green & gold bleeding, true blue Packer fan. I have yet to set foot in Lambeau Field, or to see my Packers play, but the good Lord willing, someday I sure hope to, and you can bet your boots, I will always be loud and proud from my little spot here in Southeast Texas. Yes, the one thing we ALL have in common, that makes us family, is our beloved Packers. We are PackersNation, then, now, and always. Thanks for your story, and inviting us to tell ours. And I MUST say…….Go Pack Go!!
PS. TEXAS is PACKER country!!
Dang right!!
Born and raised in Milwaukee with a family of four brothers and of course Dad. When Sunday game day came around everything was crazy. The furniture was rearranged, you were not allowed to talk and boy oh boy the yelling that went on. At the time I did not get it or understand anything about the game, but I know something magical was happening and now I regard those days as very precious. Everyone in our family and anyone who marries into our family become Packer fans, It is not required but it is better if you do, if you know what I mean. We love our Packers and anything related
I became a Packers’ fan in 1993, when I first saw Brett Favre play. OMG, it wasn’t hard to tell that he was special. I was living in New Mexico then and got nearly all the games Brett played in and I came to love him and his team. Brett put Wisconsin on the map! I hardly knew there was a team there before him, and I’ve loved football for over 50 years! I loved watching him play with all his enthusiasm and child-like spirit. It was a joy and I miss him so much! When he left, I cried, but found that I loved the new team and quuarterback as well. The Packers got under my skin I guess you could say. Although there will never be another Brett, I think Aaron Rodgers is very darn good and it’s always a joy to watch the team because they are always contenders. I live near San Diego, CA now,
but still watch all their games during football season because I have Direct TV with the NFL ticket. But it all started with Mr. Brett Favre.
Years ago (1979-ish) I was a Freshman in high school and being a girl who wasn’t into sports, I didn’t know anything about football but noticed that this football team with a funny name had the same colors as my high school, We were ‘The Bobcats’. I thought that was neat, I was intrigued, so I researched them in the library after school one day, didn’t find much if anything at first. Kept going to the library on my walk home from school, Internet didn’t exist then in my world. I eventually came across their story, and somewhere down the line eventually saw a story about the history of how they came to be. It’s an amazing story, the history of my team. (probably saw it on a reel to reel lol) Well I fell in love with them. Ever since then I am a full flegded California Green Bay Packer Girl! Never been to Wisconsin or a game in person. (It’s on the top of my bucket list)
My family didn’t have a lot of money so I couldn’t purchase any team gear, and back then they didn’t sell any GB Packer anything anywhere where I’m from in small town NorCal. Everyone was either a Raiders or 49ers fan. Since my school colors were the same, that gave me access to green and gold. (our P.E. clothes) No one in my school was a Packers fan that I knew of, I always thought it was just me. It was a very small town, still is, I remember other kids had never heard of them unless they were really into football. I also remember going to school games, our small town loves our HS football team and games, and I’d see the green and gold ‘Bobcats’ play and imagine being at a Packers game. One day I’ll get to go. There are a lot more GBP fans here now, especially since Aaron is from Chico, he’s our hometown son. GO PACK GO!