If you were at today’s shareholders meeting you can’t possibly not be fired up for the upcoming season. With the Packers being a good team with the potential to be great, the atmosphere at Lambeau today was as electric as any shareholders meeting I’ve been to with the possible exception of the first post-Favre gathering. Packers’ fans are expecting a Super Bowl run and I believe they are going to get it.
On the way to the hallowed grounds I heard Rookie and Bill making fun of me because I took a day off work to go the meeting. Rookie said he wouldn’t waste his vacation time on something so stupid, he would rather go to the beach. The beach? In Green Bay? Alright. The fact is, if you didn’t grow up being a Packers’ fan then you can’t understand us. So there is no way the Bear fan and Bronco fan that Bill and Rookie are can understand the uniqueness of being part of the Packers family. I don’t care how long you lived in Green Bay or covered the team. So go ahead and make fun of us, we don’t need you on our side. There will always be more Packers’ fans than any other NFL team if not any other sports team.
The most memorable thing today was meeting a guy who drove 900 miles straight from Virginia to be at the meeting, even though he wasn’t even an owner. He came up to me while I was waiting for NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell to appear in the atrium for his NFL Network show and it was one of the most amazing conversations I have ever had, and it ended with a blockbuster. This guy, which for the life of me I can’t remember his name, knew more about the Packers than I do (insert cocky remark here). But really, this guy was aweseome!
We talked about almost every positon on the Packers and who was going to do what. We talked about his amazing story of being a Packers’ fan from far away and the first time he made a trip to Lambeau. As a lifelong resident of Green Bay and an owner and season ticket holder, his story made me feel so much more privileged . I am one of the luckiest men on the planet to be raised in Green Bay and be part of this franchise. To have the season tickets I have and the 12 NFL Championships to brag about, no team can hold a candle to the Packers.
Today was a great day. The crowd was huge, the atmosphere was electric, the Packers are ready to bring the Lombardi Trophy back home again. You could not walk out of that stadium today and not think big things ahead for this franchise. I know I will alway remember my conversation with my bud from Virginia. He said it over and over, unless you are one of us, you will never understand. The Cowboys can be America’s team, big whoop. The Packers are the world’s team and always will be.
I had a great day today. This was the official beginning of the Packers next Super Bowl win. It feels like 1996 all over if you ask me. Great QB, star defensive player, all the pieces are in place. The big push starts Saturday.
Finally, I said my story with the guy from Virginia would end with a bang, well, if you watched the NFL Farn Forum on NFL Network tonight my guy was on TV. How he got in those seats behind Goodell is beyond me. Look for a guy with a red sleeveless shirt and black hat with gold Packers’ logo. I almost died when I saw him down there when I watched it tonight. This guy is the most dedicated fan I have ever met, and he never even lived in Wisconsin.
The Packers are special and the NFL and all other sports leagues needs a team like Green Bay to succeed. Without the Packers’ success all other small market teams would question their existence. But if you can do what the Packers have done in a town like Green Bay, you should be able to succeed in any town. The Packers are the model of success that all sports teams are following. Little old Green Bay, land of cheese and milk and NFL superiority. Not too shabby.