At conception I heard someone yell, ' What the Hell's going on out there'.
It's been so long now (almost 50 years) that I don't remember how I became a Packer fan but it was somewhere around the age of 6 or 7. It's been a fun ride with a lot of great memories.
My dad was born in 1931 in Green Bay and went to Green Bay East. They shared their football field with the Packers. My family has lived in Green Bay since 1852. By great uncle Charley Beyer and another great uncle Oscar Nelson played "semipro" football in Green Bay before the Packers existed. Some family members in the '20's and 30's thought the Packers wouldn't amount to much. It looks like they were wrong.
I was born and raised in Wisconsin. The first game that I can remember as a kid, is when the Packers beat Minnesota at the old Metropolitan Stadium back in the early 70's (I believe it was 1972) when John Brockington and MacArthur Lane were the running backs. That was a great game to watch because Minnesota was so good in the 70's. I also remember the playoff loss to the Redskins (I believe it was the same year as the Viking game).
Been a fan ever since.
I was born and in my family there wasn't another option (thankfully). Good news is that I've been in Chicago for 27 years and have managed to make sure my kids are Packer fans also!
Not sure why I became a Packer fan but I suspect it was because I have always been drawn to tradition. I am not old enough to remember the Lombardi years, and everyone knows the 70's and 80's were not the type of years that would draw bandwagon fans. Despite being born and raised in Rochester surrounded by Bills fans, I just liked the fact that Green Bay was a small-town, underdog team. First favorite player was John Brockington. Got a #42 Packer sweatshirt one Christmas and wore it proudly. I also remember collecting small player "stamps" from a gas station (I think it was Shell) and pasting them in the collectible album....filling in the entire offense and defense for every team.
Of my three kids, my daughter has become just like me in her love of the Packers. Every Christmas, I give her a special Packer gift - this year a Jordy Nelson t-shirt (her favorite player by far). Took her to her (and my) first game at Lambeau two years ago...unfortunately, the game after Rodgers broke his collarbone. She was heartbroken, and the Pack lost to the Eagles that day. Can't wait to go back again.
I was born and raised about 30 minutes from Green Bay so you can say from the moment I was born. I am too young to remember the Glory Years (born in 66) so my first real Packers memories are when Lombardi passed away and when they played the Redskins in the 72 playoffs.
My Dad was a fan of Ohio football - Ohio State and the Cleveland Browns (this was before the days of the Bengals) so on one November day in 1967 we were watching the Packers play the Browns at Milwaukee since CBS televised the Browns games. Green Bay won 55-7 after Travis Williams ran back two kickoffs for touchdowns in the FIRST QUARTER... and that started a long and beautiful friendship.
Family legend has it that my grandfather attended games at Hagemeister park when they passed a hat ...that may not be true...but certainly the Packers were passed down to me like hair color......penchant for alcoholism...limited IQ......etc...
EC Pack posted:Born and raised in Western WI, was turned off by the epic suck of the team to the west.
Just kidding, came of age during the glorious 70's and 80's Pack lost years.
My kids have not known playoff football without the Packers. They think it is a birthright.
Spoiled brats.
Being spoiled is a bad thing? Sht...I'm old and spoiled. I am pretty sure your kids are right.
Born on a small farm in Southern Wisconsin in 1961. Dad watched the Packer games every Sunday when they used to start at 1:00 pm. My dad and I used to go pheasant hunting in the morning and hurry back to the house to watch the games. I've been watching Packer games since I was old enough to remember.
My daughter's name is Brittany Starr and my son's is Austin Taylor. I had an English bulldog named Nitschke. Been to a few games in both Milwaukee and Lambeau.
A great memory for me was going to a game in Milwaukee when they were playing the Bills in '91 I believe. I sat with a bunch of guys in the family section of the Bills' players because a friend of mine was Ray Bentley's (LB for the bills) cousin and Bentley got the tickets for us.
Jim Kelly got hurt and was laying on the field. We were all yelling stupid things like "Drag his ass off the field" and "Don't get up" and other dumb schit. Thurman Thomas' family were looking at us and as well as Beebe's and others. There was a guy with this hot chick sitting right in front of me that kept turning around and looking at me when I was yelling. He looked familiar.
Finally Kelly is taken to the locker room (he returned to the game) and I tap the guy in front of me and asked him who he was. He says, "Jim Kelly's brother." I start apologizing and he just smiled and said he hears worse all of the time. Spent the rest of the game not acting like an ass and talking to the guy. Super nice guy and we had a lot of good laughs.
Tomzack threw a long TD to Sharpe but the Packers still lost. Man that team sucked.
RochNyFan posted:...I also remember collecting small player "stamps" from a gas station (I think it was Shell) and pasting them in the collectible album....filling in the entire offense and defense for every team.
Still have mine, RNyF. Don't think I ever got to the point of having it completely filled, though.
Incidentally, I got these at a DX (Sunoco) gas station. And, this just happened to be the year Miami had their undefeated season...
I thought Gale Gillingham played DT.
****ing Dan Devine.
n.b. Every time I see Gilly's name I think about Kramer and Instant Replay. Jerry and Dick Schaap's description of dealing with Gale's youth and skill and how he displaced the aging Fuzzy is so damn good.
Those stamps are cool but I don't remember them. I do remember the Coke bottle cap promotion from the 60s though. There were different players under each cap and if you collected X amount of players (from any team or just the Packers I don't recall ) you could send them in and get an official NFL football.
Anyhow, My moms best friends family owned the Plaza Motel in Milwaukee at the time. There was a bar in the motel and my moms friends mother saved all the coke bottle caps trying to put together a few sets of caps. I believe it was in 1967 that I got one of those footballs from her. My family didn't have a lot of money in those days and I about died and went to heaven when I got that football. We ( neighborhood buddies ) played many a football game and a game we called fumble slaughter ( LOL ) with that ball. We played with that ball until the one of the seams split open and the cover started coming off about 4-5 years later. LOL Good times
antiworst posted:.....Jim Kelly got hurt and was laying on the field. We were all yelling stupid things like "Drag his ass off the field" and "Don't get up" and other dumb schit. Thurman Thomas' family were looking at us and as well as Beebe's and others. There was a guy with this hot chick sitting right in front of me that kept turning around and looking at me when I was yelling. He looked familiar.
Finally Kelly is taken to the locker room (he returned to the game) and I tap the guy in front of me and asked him who he was. He says, "Jim Kelly's brother." I start apologizing and he just smiled and said he hears worse all of the time. Spent the rest of the game not acting like an ass and talking to the guy. Super nice guy and we had a lot of good laughs.
......
thanks for that. I pulled a similar maneuver at Lambeau back when Jeff Hostetler was QB for the Giants and they were in town. GBP rang Jeff's bell in the 2nd half and he took a seat on the bench and I began yelling the same kind of stuff at him in the heat of the moment... until a guy across the aisle turned to me and said "we're friends of the Hostetler family. could you lay off?" I sheepishly stfu and felt like an ass. kinda gave up ragging on injured players after that - lesson learned, everyone is somebody's kid. 
GEEMAN posted:Anyhow, My moms best friends family owned the Plaza Motel in Milwaukee at the time. There was a bar in the motel and my moms friends mother saved all the coke bottle caps trying to put together a few sets of caps. I believe it was in 1967 that I got one of those footballs from her. My family didn't have a lot of money in those days and I about died and went to heaven when I got that football. We ( neighborhood buddies ) played many a football game and a game we called fumble slaughter ( LOL ) with that ball. We played with that ball until the one of the seams split open and the cover started coming off about 4-5 years later. LOL Good times
we just called it Slaughter but yeah been there done that as a kid.
That's it CUQUI. I remember that lady sitting at that bar in her hotel going through stacks of bottle caps filling those cards. I still see some of those caps at the local flea market every now and then.
LOL TDOG. Lots of cuts, bumps, bruises and one broken collar bone playing that. The kid that got his collar bone broken was the only kid in school who was a Viking fan too. Coincidence ? LOL He's my best friend since we were in kindergarten and a die hard Packer fan now.
Good stuff guys.
Timmy! posted:
Still have mine, RNyF. Don't think I ever got to the point of having it completely filled, though.
Incidentally, I got these at a DX (Sunoco) gas station. And, this just happened to be the year Miami had their undefeated season...
Wow, that brings back memories! I think I still have mine tucked away somewhere as well. If I remember correctly, I had it filled completely. I had forgotten about those plastic sheets with the pockets to hold all the stamps. Very cool....
Timmy! posted:RochNyFan posted:...I also remember collecting small player "stamps" from a gas station (I think it was Shell) and pasting them in the collectible album....filling in the entire offense and defense for every team.
I think I had about 100 Francis Peay's....not nearly enough John Brockingtons.
cuqui posted:Bottle cap sheets rocked.
Thanks for that...there was something magical about the Coke bottle caps in the 60's . Mostly because I could only watch others collect them...my mother thought soda was devils brew.
And she was right!
I was 10, I was living in Tucson, AZ with my family. That's about the age I started getting interested in football. My dad said that I had to have a favorite team. Problem though, was that the Phoenix Cardinals were the closest team geographically and back in 1992, they were the equivalent of the current Browns franchise. Even in Arizona, Cardinals fans were few and far between. So I couldn't pick them. My dad was a Broncos fan b/c he went to high school in Colorado but for some reason I just didn't like them (I think it was a combination of the colors and John Elways face - remember, I was 10). However, my dad lived in Wisconsin for some time as a kid so he had always rooted for the Packers as well. It just clicked and for me, they've been my number #1 team throughout all sports and are really the only team I feel emotionally connected to. Dad bought me and my brothers a share back in 1997 and took me to my first (and only) game at Lambeau in 1999 (Ravens game, we won 28-10).
"and John Elways face"
more than reason enough!
Started watching as a kid because my grandpa would watch now and then. My family never watched football so whenever grandpa turned on the game, I was hooked. I remember almost crying watching the Ice Bowl thinking we were going to lose, and then the sudden euphoria after The Sneak. After that, I started commandeering the TV on Sundays to watch the games. Today my entire family is Packer fans, as are my own kids and spouse. Been to Lambeau a couple of times and can't wait to go again!
OK, the inner 14-year old in me could not let this go. I googled the 1972 Sunoco NFL Action Stamp promo and a graphic with the following entry appeared:
 | 1972 Sunoco Stamps | 10 | Dick Shiner | Atlanta Falcons | quarterback | Maryland |
Earliest memories of football and the Packers were of Lofton which I'm guessing would put me at about 6 or 7. Nobody in my family, including my older brother and father were big fans. Nor were there any memorabilia or selling of the team to me. I became a fan watching Lofton and then my dad telling me about Lombardi and the glory years after he realized I had an interest. Watching those 80's teams, I didn't realize they were that bad since I had nothing to compare them to on a weekly basis. I just enjoyed watching Dickey, Ivery, Coffman, Lofton and Jefferson. My brother used to tease me for being a Packer fan and nobody at school really had any fan gear, even though it was not nearly as pervasive and easily accessible back then. In the late 80's and going into college in the early 90's I started fading a bit as a fan until Farb came along in 92.
It's just part of life.