The Green Bay Packers. When people hear the name, it brings to mind images of people playing football in sub zero weather. And many people living in larger cities have lost their professional sports teams. So how did Green Bay, the smallest city to play home to a sports franchise, hold on to the Packers, the oldest team in football? The story of the Green Bay Packers begins in 1919 with a factory worker who had a vision. His name was Curly Lambeau. On August 14, 1919, Curly Lambeau and his partner, George Calhoun, solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named for its sponsor. Still known as the Green Bay Packers, they lay claim to the oldest franchise name in the NFL.
On August 27th, 1921, the Packers joined the newly formed American Professional Football Association. However, the team had financial problems and the franchise went bankrupt at the end of the season. The next year, Curly found new sponsors and regained the franchise for $250. Financial problems continued to plague the team, but a group of local businessmen, known as the "Hungry Five," supported the team and formed the Green Bay Football Corporation.
The Packers are the only publicly owned company in American professional sports. Typically, a team is owned by one person or corporation; a "team owner." This is the main reason the Packers have never been moved from the city of Green Bay, a city of only 102,313 people in the 2000 census.
Not surprisingly, the typical NFL football city's population is in the millions. The Packers, however, have long had a large following throughout not only Wisconsin but the entire Midwest. For many years, the Packers played four home games each year in Milwaukee, first at the State Fair Park fairgrounds, then at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Packers did not move their entire home schedule to Green Bay until 1995.
The reason for ending the traditional games in Milwaukee, according to then team president Robert Harlan, was the larger capacity of Lambeau Field and the availability of luxury boxes, which were not available at Milwaukee County Stadium. Based on the original "Articles of Incorporation for the Green Bay Football Corporation" put into place in 1923, if the Packers franchise were ever sold, after expenses, any remaining monies would go to the American Legion in order to build "a proper soldier's memorial." This stipulation was enacted to ensure the team would remain in Green Bay, and that there could never be any financial reason for the shareholders to sell.
In 1950, the Packers sold to again raise money to support the team. In 1956, area voters approved the construction of a new stadium, owned by the city. As with its predecessor, the new field was named City Stadium, but after the death of founder Lambeau in 1965, on September 11, 1965, the stadium was renamed Lambeau Field. Another stock sale occurred early in 1998. Adding 105,989 new shareholders over $24 million, the money was used for the Lambeau Field redevelopment project. At a price of $200 per share, fans bought 120,010 shares during the sale, which ended after 17 weeks on March 16, 1998. As of June 8, 2005, 111,921 people are shareholders, and therefore partial owners of the franchise.
The Packers have won 12 league championships, more than any other American professional football team. The Packers are also the only team to win three straight NFL titles, which they did twice (1929–1931 and 1965–67).The Chicago Bears, historic rivals of the packers, come in second, with nine NFL championships.
The Packers of the 1960s were the most dominant team in NFL history. In 1959, the packers finished in last place. Then Vince lombardi took over as head coach, and the franchise dominated the league. They won five league championships over seven years, including the first two Super bowls. During the Lombardi era, the Packers were led by a group of future hall of famers. This group included quarterback Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Carroll Dale, Paul Hornung and Jerry Kramer.
After the death of Vince Lombardi in 1970, the Super Bowl trophy was renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy in recognition of his and his team's accomplishments. The road that goes by Lambeau Field, which is also one of Green Bay's major thoroughfares, was named Lombardi Avenue in honor of the coach.
After the passing of Lombardi and the golden years of the 1960’s, the Packers entered a dark age, which would not end for 32 years. They had some reasonably good teams, the best being in the 1980’s with quarterback Lynn Dickey and receivers James Lofton and John Jefferson. In the early 1990’s, they had some success with quarterback Don “The Magic Man” Majkowski and reciever Sterling Sharpe. But management problems plagued the team, including the infamous 1990 draft. The packers had the 2nd pick in 1990, and they picked soon defunct offensive lineman Tony Manderich instead of players like Deion or Barry Sanders.
This led to the hiring of new General Manager Ron Wolf, who in turn brought on Mike Holmgren as head coach. In 1992 Ron Wolfe traded with Atlanta for a little known quarterback with a reputation for partying and bad work ethic. But Wolfe had watched him in a college game, and knew he had the potential to be something special in the NFL. Soon after, Majkowski was injured, and the new quarterback got his chance. His name was Brett Favre, and the chance was not wasted as he brought the Packers back from behind for a victory. He has not missed a start in the 17 years since. Beginning in 1992, the Packers had 13 non-losing seasons in a row (their worst record being 8–8 in 1999), two Super Bowl appearances, and won Super bowl XXXI.
They continued their success through the early 2000’s, but after a couple of disappointing seasons Favre started hinting that he might retire. The Packers brought in new talent on offense, and in 1997 they had a record of 13-3. However, they came up short of their expected trip to the Super bowl in a loss to the New York Giants. This was to be Favre’s last game in a Green Bay Packers uniform. He was traded the next summer to the New York Jets. With the trading of Favre, the Packers entered a new era, and a new chapter in the annals of NFL history. With a talented receiving core, a revamped defense, and one of the youngest teams in the NFL, the possibilities seemed endless. The smallest franchise in professional sports seems to be prime destination for the best quarterbacks no one has heard of...and Aaron Rodgers now carries on the legacy of Bart Starr and Brett Favre with a championship of his own, as well as a number of NFL records, while Curly Lambeau is watching down, proud of his $500 franchise.
Wish I would of seem this post 10 month ago. I'm from Green Bay. And still am. I'm planning on doing a post on the ice bowl. So im researching steem to see what others have post.