I was born in Janesville, WI in 1966 toward the tail-end of the Lombardi dynasty. I grew up surrounded by relatives who had the pleasure of living through that time in Packers history, and would tell stories of what it was like.
My earliest memory of anything Packers was 1975, which was during a very tough stretch in team history. It was Bart Starr's first year as a head coach, and the team had just survived the Dan Devine era, which started with promise and ended in misery. http://www.packershistory.net/1975PACKERS.html
The first game that I recall is being at my Uncle Bill's house near Fort Atkinson, WI at a family gathering. October 19, 1975 the now down-trodden Packers defeated the undefeated Dallas Cowboys in Texas Stadium 19-17. That was a happy day at Uncle Bill's house for sure, and I was a fan for life, but more dark times lay ahead for us Packer fans, with glimmers of hope in two different parts of the 1980's.
While I have toured Lambeau Field and the Packers HOF twice, the only time I attended a game was a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the dismal 2005 season.
I now live near Raleigh, NC and my 10 year son started following the Packers in 2010 when they won the Super Bowl. I told him about how different our experiences were starting out as Packer fans, and how fortunate he was to start following the team at such a great time in franchise history.
I'd love to hear from all the Packerrats as to how they got started as Packer fans, perhaps your first game memory, etc.
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