How did you become a Packer fan?

[Chevelle2]

This is a cool article, which made me think how everyone here became a Packer fan.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/178741-my-love-affair-with-the-green-bay-packers

I am 20 years old, and I recall the first game I watched was the 1995 NFC Title game. I was in Kindergarden. I remember running to the basement because the game had already started and seeing the score was 3-0. I yelled "They're gonna win! They're gonna win" My mother, cautiously reminded me it was still early in the game.

Thats the first game I remember watching, but I don't know how I decided to turn it on, what sparked the interest. My parents never had much interest in pro sports until I did.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Good article--although I couldn't give you one memory from Burnell Dent. Eddie Lee Ivery and Jeff Query? Yes. Burnell Dent? No.

[SkinBasket]

October 9th 1988 I watched the Packers whip up on the NE Patriots with my dad and thought it was interesting. I've watched pretty much every game since. Sometimes I don't know why.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

I moved to Miltown from houston..so i was an oiler fan originally.

I wasn't really a packer fan until my republican neighbors waterboarded me.

[RashanGary]

I've been a Packer fan since I was 5 years old. My older sister would want to watch carebears and I would want to watch the Packers.

[Joemailman]

I grew up in Illinois, but we were always Packer fans, in part because my dad thought so much of Lombardi. My dad grew up a Chicago Cardinals fan, so he never liked the Bears to begin with. My nephews are Packer fans, so the tradition should continue.

[cpk1994]

The 1983 MNF classic against the Redskins. First time my parents allowed me to stay up to watch the whole game.

[MJZiggy]

I was born in football season and eventually they let me come home from the hospital...

[Joemailman]

I was born in football season and eventually they let me come home from the hospital...

Not during the game, I presume?

[MJZiggy]

No, they'd have made Mom cross her legs until at least halftime...

[PlantPage55]

I born and wrapped in swaddling Green and Gold clothing.

[BallHawk]

Chewy is my father.

[Freak Out]

Scholastic Book Club. I ordered some books in 1967 about football....of course dominated by Packer talk. Hooked ever since...I'll never forget the story about the College All stars beating the 62 or 63 Packers.

[Joemailman]

Freak, did you have the Bart Starr book by John Devaney? Came out in 1967. I think I had that book memorized at one point. Found it a couple of years ago on Ebay.
http://i15.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/ae/9b/ef87_1.JPG

[Freak Out]

Freak, did you have the Bart Starr book by John Devaney? Came out in 1967. I think I had that book memorized at one point. Found it a couple of years ago on Ebay.
http://i15.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/ae/9b/ef87_1.JPG

No...never had it. I still have "Vince Lombardi on Football" though.

[DonHutson]

I was born one. My mother still has pictures of the Packers I drew when I was two years old. They look like like helmets with feet.

Geographical coincidence of my birthplace aside, I likely would have been a Packer fan regardless. I tend to like the old school teams with a tradition and a rabid fan base. I love the story that this small town team survived against all odds.

[DonHutson]

The 1983 MNF classic against the Redskins. First time my parents allowed me to stay up to watch the whole game.

You're lucky. I wasn't allowed to stay up and watch it even though I had a wager with my parents. If the Packers won I got to pick out a new Star Wars action figure. If the Redskins won I had to wash dishes for several nights.

My mom comes in the next morning and says, "Well, the Redskins scored 47 points... but the Packers scored 48."

From despair to elation, just that fast.

[TravisWilliams23]

First Packers game I saw was the 1965 Championship vs Cleveland.
Hornung & Taylor & Starr & Lombardi. The teams uniforms covered with
mud. Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderly, Willie Wood, Willie Davis on D. Plus a
whole lot more great great players.
I was hooked.

2 years later along comes Travis Williams. Better than Devin Hester better
than Desmond Howard. Averaged, AVERAGED 41.06 yard per kickoff!
2 kickoffs returned for td's in the same quarter!

Joe Mailman, I remember reading the Bart Starr book as a kid. Didn't
quite memorize it but finished it in one reading. Also, Kramer's "Instant Replay" was a favorite too.

[gbgary]

grew up in colorado. i guess i was about 10 (i'm 55 now). didn't know anything about football. bought some football cards, cuz the other kids had them, and big number 5 was the first card. loved the colors, and the G on the helmet. having the same initials GB was the clincher. started paying attention, asking questions, watching on tv, and what the hell...they won the championship that year. they were on tv almost every week in colorado when i was a kid. been a die-hard ever since. finally made it to Green Bay in '94, i think...nope, it was '93, and have made many trips back since. i love the city of Green Bay as it's a carbon copy of the town i grew up in...pueblo. same ethnic make-up, architecture, industrial/blue collar, etc.

[mraynrand]

1974 - Packers beat the tar outta the Lions in a rainy, muddy game. Somehow, we got the game on the tube in Iowa and my sweet, gentle mother was absolutely screaming at the TV and jumping up and down. Next day I delivered papers with my brother and the headline in the Sports Section was "Lions Sink in Mud." I was set for life.

[Spaulding]

Born into as I'm from Wisconsin. Don't remember my first game but remember my first football cards I collected with John Brockington being my favorite. Still remember the day Larry McCarren signed a photo for me.

Still kicking myself for not getting on the waiting list back then - sigh.

[HowardRoark]

Growing up outside of Milwaukee, I remember my Dad sneaking out of church early to get to Green Bay for the games. He talks about being at the Ice Bowl…so that made an impression on my very young mind.

It was probably the John Brockington, MacArthur Lane and other Packer football cards that I would organize into my shoe box that got me hooked as a kid though. Growing up in the mid 70s and early 80s, I was a more avid Brewers and Bucks fan. Now that I live in Minnesota, I allow and encourage my sons to cheer for the local teams (Twins and Wolves)…..but NEVER the Vikings. They will grow up as Packer fans too.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Growing up outside of Milwaukee, I remember my Dad sneaking out of church early to get to Green Bay for the games. He talks about being at the Ice Bowl…so that made an impression on my very young mind.

It was probably the John Brockington, MacArthur Lane and other Packer football cards that I would organize into my shoe box that got me hooked as a kid though. Growing up in the mid 70s and early 80s, I was a more avid Brewers and Bucks fan. Now that I live in Minnesota, I allow and encourage my sons to cheer for the local teams (Twins and Wolves)…..but NEVER the Vikings. They will grow up as Packer fans too.

Seems to go against your free market ideals. :wink:

[mission]

I was born and the first clothes I ever had on were Packers. My grandfather mowed Don Hutson's yard as a kid (you may remember Don's introduction here lol), played cards with #66 and all that (we have a room full of autographed stuff back home) ... I really had no choice. He used to say to me as a little kid "tony, i cut my self shaving this morning ... " to which i acted a bit disappointed and then he would say "and my blood was green and gold, so is yours". ever since then, every time i ever cut myself shaving, ive thought of that.

Go Pack!

[oregonpackfan]

Growing up in northern Wisconsin, I was actively recruited to watch the Packers by my Dad in the fall of the '59 season. It was Lombardi's first season as coach of the Packers and I was just 9 years old.

The previous season the Packers had gone a pathetic 1-10-with Scooter McLean as coach.

It was about the third game of the '59 season when my Dad said something to the effect, "You need to watch carefully how this coach Lombardi has turned this team around. I think he his going to be a great coach."

I was hooked as a Packer fan and have been following them ever since.

Yes, I got to be a kid cheering on the Packers during the Lombardi era. As the song says, "It was the best years of my life..."



8-)

[Partial]

Chewy is my father.

I knew it.

[th87]

We moved to Milwaukee in 1988 from Chicago, so we still had the residue of the 85 Bears. Luckily, we weren't that into football then, so it wasn't like it was an undying allegiance. I was 8 at the time.

My dad started really getting into the Packers in 1989, but I wasn't all that interested. But then we watched the instant replay game against the Bears, and I was hooked. I remember my dad jumping onto the coffee table after Majik's TD pass. That was a fun season, and I remember that the Bengals had to beat the Vikings for the Packers to get into the playoffs. They'd cut to Majkowski's house from time to time to gauge their reactions. A disappointing night.

Since then, I've caught almost every game, and I got Sunday Ticket since I no longer live in the viewing area.

[SnakeLH2006]

Direct reply to topic:

2 words: (1989) Majik Man

[RashanGary]

We moved to Milwaukee in 1988 from Chicago, so we still had the residue of the 85 Bears. Luckily, we weren't that into football then, so it wasn't like it was an undying allegiance. I was 8 at the time.

My dad started really getting into the Packers in 1989, but I wasn't all that interested. But then we watched the instant replay game against the Bears, and I was hooked. I remember my dad jumping onto the coffee table after Majik's TD pass. That was a fun season, and I remember that the Bengals had to beat the Vikings for the Packers to get into the playoffs. They'd cut to Majkowski's house from time to time to gauge their reactions. A disappointing night.

Since then, I've caught almost every game, and I got Sunday Ticket since I no longer live in the viewing area.

I'm 28. Sounds like you're 29 or 30. Those are some of my first actual memories of the Packers also. Players like: Tim Harris, Majik, Sharpe, Dilwig, Randy Wright, Querry, the toolbox, Infante the coach. . . .

As a kid, my favorite player BY FAR was Sterling Sharpe. I wanted to be a receiver because of him. On defense, I loved Tim Harris and his gun routine.

[Bossman641]

Grew up and live in IL but my parents are both from the Dells. My dad's parents were big into the Packers and they had tickets to the Milwaukee games, so naturally I became a fan as well.

Can't remember the first game I watched, but I do remember the Majik Man. Living in IL we didn't get many games on TV so while my dad would be listening to the games on the radio doing yardwork my brother and I would throw the football around pretending to be Majkowski and Sharpe. I can remember Infante as coach so the first season I have a memory of would be 1990 I think, when I was 6.

[ND72]

I was always a fan. I remember I would always be wearing packer clothes on sundays, and even though I wasn't watching the game when I was real young, I can remember my parents watching.

The game that did it for me though involved "the play"....November 5th, 1989. Bears at Packers. Don Majkowski makes a last second pass to Sterling Sharpe...instant replay confirms what we all knew was a Touchdown to beat the bears.

[denverYooper]

Good thread.

I was dyed in the wool during the lean years. My conscious memories of watching them start when Forrest Gregg was coaching. I remember haggling with my cousin over a Lynn Dickey football card. I thought Sterling Sharpe was the fucking man. The year of Majik and the Miracles was like a breath of fresh air.

In the UP, there were also several Lions fans. I remember having some pretty heated arguments with them in elementary school.

[K-town]

October 9th 1988 I watched the Packers whip up on the NE Patriots with my dad and thought it was interesting. I've watched pretty much every game since. Sometimes I don't know why.

I was at that game. We sat in the end zone about 20 rows up. Saw Brent Fumblewood score three touchdowns at that end. It was the highlight of his career. I now have that game on DVD.

My earliest Packer recollection was in 1970. I remember Bart Starr rallying the team for a late touchdown to beat the Bears 20-19. It was awesome.
Not so awesome: they also lost on Thanksgiving that year to Dallas, 16-3. And lost both games to Detroit by a combined score of 60-0 (I only saw the second game, 20-0).

[AtlPackFan]

Grew up just outside of Green Bay in the 60s. Nuff said... 8-)

[RashanGary]

I was always a fan. I remember I would always be wearing packer clothes on sundays, and even though I wasn't watching the game when I was real young, I can remember my parents watching.

The game that did it for me though involved "the play"....November 5th, 1989. Bears at Packers. Don Majkowski makes a last second pass to Sterling Sharpe...instant replay confirms what we all knew was a Touchdown to beat the bears.

I thought you were younger than me. What year were you born?

[cpk1994]

This thread is really strarting to make me feel old.

[pbmax]

Transplanted Easterner, originally from Ohio. Was a Browns fan at a young age. Modell announced during the 95 season that they would pull up the stakes and I refused to cheer for them as the Ravens, even though everybody I knew was on that team (and Ozzie was in the front office).

Declared myself a free agent and went looking for a team to root for. I had told all the Packer fans I knew that Favre reminded me of Bradshaw, even if the mere mention of Terry's name caused vomiting :lol:

Favre and Reggie made the decision easy.

[th87]

We moved to Milwaukee in 1988 from Chicago, so we still had the residue of the 85 Bears. Luckily, we weren't that into football then, so it wasn't like it was an undying allegiance. I was 8 at the time.

My dad started really getting into the Packers in 1989, but I wasn't all that interested. But then we watched the instant replay game against the Bears, and I was hooked. I remember my dad jumping onto the coffee table after Majik's TD pass. That was a fun season, and I remember that the Bengals had to beat the Vikings for the Packers to get into the playoffs. They'd cut to Majkowski's house from time to time to gauge their reactions. A disappointing night.

Since then, I've caught almost every game, and I got Sunday Ticket since I no longer live in the viewing area.

I'm 28. Sounds like you're 29 or 30. Those are some of my first actual memories of the Packers also. Players like: Tim Harris, Majik, Sharpe, Dilwig, Randy Wright, Querry, the toolbox, Infante the coach. . . .

As a kid, my favorite player BY FAR was Sterling Sharpe. I wanted to be a receiver because of him. On defense, I loved Tim Harris and his gun routine.

Yeah, I'm 28 too. It sucked when Majkowski got injured and we had to rely on Dilweg and Kiel. And I remember following the news every day about Terrell Buckley's holdout.

Sharpe was sick. There are youtube clips out there, and it's a reminder of just how dominant he was. Favre too for that matter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyBvp1y_EBo

[RashanGary]

Hahahaha. I remember that (not in the endzone play). When I was a kid, that was a big deal. We probably talked about that for a month. Shit, I've remembered it for 16 years :)

[RashanGary]

Those are some good memories. It's surprising how many Packer fans were created during the Majik/Sharpe/Harris/Infante years. I was Majik for Halloween and my best friend was Montana. I remember everyone saying how much they liked my costume :) :)

[RashanGary]

I had a book on the Majik/Sharpe and Montana/Rice passer/receiver duos. That was my favorite book.

Since there are a few from my era here. . ..

How many loved Gary Paulson (author not football player) :) :)

[ND72]

I was always a fan. I remember I would always be wearing packer clothes on sundays, and even though I wasn't watching the game when I was real young, I can remember my parents watching.

The game that did it for me though involved "the play"....November 5th, 1989. Bears at Packers. Don Majkowski makes a last second pass to Sterling Sharpe...instant replay confirms what we all knew was a Touchdown to beat the bears.

I thought you were younger than me. What year were you born?

1981

[ND72]

Those are some good memories. It's surprising how many Packer fans were created during the Majik/Sharpe/Harris/Infante years. I was Majik for Halloween and my best friend was Montana. I remember everyone saying how much they liked my costume :) :)


Majik was the man! I was him for halloween one time as well. I was so "cool" I actually cut you hand slits cause he always wore those hand warmers, and since I didn't have that, the shirt became the hand warmer, so I cut the hand slits so I could "warm-up" my hands. My mom actually found that jersey like a month ago...I kind of want it! :lol:

[RashanGary]

:lol: great thread!!

Football has really changed for me. Obviously I still love it, but back then it had a "larger than life" feel for me. Those guys were heros. Now I respect the guys who work hard, but no more than I respect the people I work with that do great work.

Honestly, the people I've worked with that I consider to be the best, I respect as much as any football player I've ever known. My grandpa, a hard working farmer who passed 15 years ago, I respect him more than any Packer to ever play.

Back then though, those guys were larger than life, supermen. Good memories.

[Southoftheborder]

Actually, I grew up disliking the Packers. It was the 70's, so Packer games were what was on while we took naps on a Sunday afternoon. THey sucked then. I took a little more interest in the 80's, but it wasn't until college that I became a Packer fan. What did it was meeting Bear's fans. Going to college with them during the '85 superbowl season made me realize how obnoxious they are.

Luckily, towards the end of the 80's they started getting better.

[Gunakor]

Majik's miracle 1989 season is what initially won my daily interest in the team, but I've been a casual fan my entire life. Packer fans paint my family tree since the 1940's, so I was kind of born into it. I couldn't have chose not to be if I wanted to, as often as my parents and grandparents would watch them and talk about them. It's just became a part of my life at a very early age, and has been ever since. But I suppose it was that 1989 season that made it an every day passion, rather than just a Sunday and Monday passion.

[jpompo]

My father was born in Green Bay, grew up outside Pulaski. I was born in Green Bay, grew up in Ashwaubenon. We have season tickets and I didn't miss a home game from the cinci comeback in 1992 until I went to college in 2003. Since then I've moved away but still make it back for a few games a year.

I was always a huge football fan but there was a point when I was really young where I was a front runner (like most 6 year olds), my dad sat me down and told me I was free to root for any team I wanted to but he would never take a non-Packers fan to a game with him. The rest is great history.

[HarveyWallbangers]

My Grandfather (on my Dad's side) was a Packer fan. His boys were Packer fans. I had no chance. The first game I vaguely remember is a game that the Vikings beat us in OT in the last 70s. The first memorable season for me was the 1982 season. Lofton's reverse against the Giants on MNF just before the strike. Good team. Beat Arizona and then lost at Dallas in the playoffs. We were in the game. Down by 4 in the 4th quarter, but then Dickey threw an interception that was returned for a TD. My Mom's family are mostly obnoxious Viking fans (we converted my Mom long ago), so I've grown up with a healthy dislike for them.

[mngolf19]

Just to give another take. I started as a Vikes fan in late 70's. Loved Ahmad Rashad. Didn't have any opinion on the Packers until Majik because they weren't relevant seemingly until then.

[denverYooper]

Yeah, I'm 28 too. It sucked when Majkowski got injured and we had to rely on Dilweg and Kiel. And I remember following the news every day about Terrell Buckley's holdout.


Remember "T-BUCK, YOU SUCK!"?

Lol

[FavreChild]

Don't forget when someone sent Buckley burnt toast in the mail.

I thought that was the funniest thing in the world when I was a kid.

[woodbuck27]

In 1957 and 1958 the Milwaukee Braves played the NY Yankees in the World Series. I was a Brave fan and Hank Aaron was a boyhood hero.

I learned of a team in the NFL named the Green Bay Packers. I made a connection between this football team and a local softball team called Canada Packers and the Milwaukee Braves and started following the GB Packers. I became a Packer fan at the time that Vince Lombardi came aboard and it was easy to get hooked as the 60's Green Bay Packers were such a dominant team in the NFL. The 70's and 80's were very tough decades as far as team success but we saw some fine talent come and go.

All the same it was a long long wait for the Holmgren - Favre Era. :D

[wist43]

I was born, that's how I became a Packer fan 8-)

[oregonpackfan]

In 1957 and 1958 the Milwaukee Braves played the NY Yankees in the World Series. I was a Brave fan and Hank Aaron was a boyhood hero.

I learned of a team in the NFL named the Green Bay Packers. I made a connection between this football team and a local softball team called Canada Packers and the Milwaukee Braves and started following the GB Packers. I became a Packer fan at the time that Vince Lombardi came aboard and it was easy to get hooked as the 60's Green Bay Packers were such a dominant team in the NFL. The 70's and 80's were very tough decades as far as team success but we saw some fine talent come and go.

All the same it was a long long wait for the Holmgren - Favre Era. :D

OK, Woodbuck, let's verify your claim you were a Milwaukee Braves fan. Who was the Braves' pitcher who won 3 games in the '57 World Series?

Answer that without Google or the other search engines! :)

[taylor 31]

I couldn't resist.(Lou Burdette) went to 45 games that year.

[The Shadow]

When I came to sports consciousness back in 1960, I flipped on the tv and there they were!
Like a newborn mammal, I identified with the first thing I saw, and BEHOLD : It woreth Green & Gold!
The Glory Years were right there for me, and I remember them like they were only yesterday.
I never, I believe, will again see a coach like Vince, a field general and winner like Starr, and the toughness and attitudes displayed by Taylor and Nitschke. I would love to, but nothing in later years, with the exception of Reggie White, compares.
Those fellows, rightly or wrongly, will remain THE Packers for me forever.
Living down here near Chicago, I've fought the good fight for a long, long time - and wouldn't change a thing.

[Scott Campbell]

I was born on the 20 yard line at Lambeau. And that is why they ended up calling it the red zone.

[Scott Campbell]

In 1957 and 1958 the Milwaukee Braves played the NY Yankees in the World Series. I was a Brave fan and Hank Aaron was a boyhood hero.

I learned of a team in the NFL named the Green Bay Packers. I made a connection between this football team and a local softball team called Canada Packers and the Milwaukee Braves and started following the GB Packers. I became a Packer fan at the time that Vince Lombardi came aboard and it was easy to get hooked as the 60's Green Bay Packers were such a dominant team in the NFL. The 70's and 80's were very tough decades as far as team success but we saw some fine talent come and go.

All the same it was a long long wait for the Holmgren - Favre Era. :D

OK, Woodbuck, let's verify your claim you were a Milwaukee Braves fan. Who was the Braves' pitcher who won 3 games in the '57 World Series?

Answer that without Google or the other search engines! :)


Crap - that's way before my time. Was it Spartacus?

[oregonpackfan]

I couldn't resist.(Lou Burdette) went to 45 games that year.

Hey! No fair cheating, Taylor!

Ok, here's another Milwaukee Braves trivia question: At the time, first baseman Joe Adcock had a baseball glove so big what did opposing players call it?