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 Green
Bay Packers, professional football team and one of five teams in
the Central Division of the National Football Conference (NFC)
of the National Football League (NFL). Under the league’s
realignment plan, which will take affect in 2002, the Packers
will move into the North Division of the NFC. The Packers play
at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and wear uniforms of
dark green, gold, and white. The team, the NFL’s only publicly
owned franchise, takes its name from a local packing plant that
provided the club with uniforms in 1919. From 1929 to 1944 the
Packers earned six NFL crowns under head coach and team
cofounder Earl “Curly” Lambeau. A skilled halfback during his
playing career, Lambeau became one of only five NFL coaches with
more than 200 career victories. After Lambeau left the team in
1949, the franchise declined. During the 1960s, however, head
coach Vince Lombardi transformed the team into one of the most
powerful dynasties in professional football history.
Star-studded lineups featuring quarterback Bart Starr,
halfback-kicker Paul Hornung, offensive lineman Forrest Gregg,
linebacker Ray Nitschke, and running back Jim Taylor captured
five league championships in seven seasons—a record unmatched in
NFL history.
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In
1996 the Packers put together a 13-3
win-loss record behind quarterback Brett
Favre and defensive tackle Reggie White en
route to a Super Bowl victory over the New
England Patriots. A season later the Packers
again reached the Super Bowl but lost to the
Denver Broncos. The Packers predate the NFL.
The team was founded in Green Bay on August
11, 1919, by two young players, George
Calhoun and Curly Lambeau. The Indian
Packing Plant, Lambeau’s employer, donated
uniforms and the use of an athletic field.
During the team’s first season in 1920,
players earned their salaries by passing
hats among spectators. In 1921 Lambeau’s
Packers joined the new American Professional
Football Association, which soon became the
NFL. Lambeau played until 1927, becoming an
early master of the forward pass. Green Bay
won three consecutive league titles from
1929 through 1931, and three more crowns in
1936, 1939, and 1944. Many of the club’s
players would later be elected to the Pro
Football Hall of Fame, including quarterback
Arnie Herber, fullback Clarke Hinkle, tackle
Cal Hubbard, end Don Hutson, guard Mike
Michalske, and halfbacks Tony Canadeo and
Johnny “Blood” McNally. Hutson, credited
with inventing detailed pass patterns, led
the league in receptions eight times and in
yardage seven times. In 1942 he became the
NFL’s first receiver to amass more than 1000
yards in a single season. With Hutson as his
primary target, Herber became the league’s
first great long passer; the two helped
build one of professional football’s first
sophisticated offensive attacks. Lambeau
left the Packers in 1949 having posted 26
winning records in 29 seasons, including 14
straight during one stretch. |
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The team’s stadium, built in 1957, is
named for him. Green Bay experienced
relative instability from 1950 to 1958,
changing coaches three times and failing
to produce a winning record in any
season. In 1959 former New York Giants
assistant coach Vince Lombardi took over
the Packers club, which had just
suffered its worst season in franchise
history. In his first season Lombardi
delivered the team’s first winning
record since 1947 and was named the NFL
coach of the year. In Lombardi’s second
season the Packers won the Western
Division, and a year later the Packers
won the 1961 NFL crown. Lombardi built
strong lineups on both sides of the line
of scrimmage, and under his guidance the
Packers won five league crowns from 1961
to 1967. |
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They
also won the first two Super Bowls, humbling
two American Football League (AFL) champion
teams: Following the 1966 season the Packers
defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in the
1967 Super Bowl, and a year later they beat
the Oakland Raiders 33-14. On the field,
Bart Starr led the team. He collected three
passing titles and two Super Bowl most
valuable player (MVP) awards. Starr was
among ten future Hall of Fame members who
played for Lombardi—five each from offense
and defense. Others included Paul Hornung
and Jim Taylor. Hornung ranks among the
greatest all-around talents ever to play the
game. His 176 points scored during the 1960
season remain an NFL record for the most
points scored in a single season |
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Taylor rushed for 1000 yards five times
in his career. During his nine seasons
in Green Bay, Lombardi’s teams won more
than 75 percent of their games,
including nine of ten playoff contests.
Lombardi’s .740 career winning
percentage is the highest among coaches
with at least 100 victories. From 1968
to 1992 the Packers appeared in the
playoffs only twice, in 1972 and 1982.
Former players Starr and Gregg each
served stints as head coach. Notable
individual achievements during this
period included running back John
Brockington’s three 1000-yard seasons
from 1971 to 1973, quarterback Lynn
Dickey’s NFC yardage title in 1983, and
wide receiver James Lofton’s five
1000-yard efforts during the early
1980s. In January 1992 the Packers hired
Mike Holmgren, a former offensive
coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers,
as the team’s head coach. Sparked by
wide receiver Sterling Sharpe’s
1000-yard seasons in 1993 and 1994,
Green Bay earned wild-card berths to the
playoffs. In 1995 the club won the
division crown and advanced to the NFC
Championship Game, losing to the
eventual Super Bowl—champion Dallas
Cowboys. |
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Wide
receiver Robert Brooks broke the club record
for yardage that season; quarterback Brett
Favre led the league in passing yards (4413)
and touchdown passes (38), and was named
player of the year. Green Bay’s success
continued as Favre threw 39 touchdown passes
to lead Green Bay to 13 victories and its
second consecutive division title in 1996.
In the playoffs the Packers captured the NFC
championship and defeated the New England
Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI. The
following season the Packers continued to
dominate the NFC, with another 13 wins and
the Central Division title. After defeating
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the San
Francisco 49ers in the playoffs, however,
Green Bay faltered in the Super Bowl and
lost to the Denver Broncos.
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