[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 157 (Monday, September 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6274-S6275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREEN BAY PACKERS

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the Green Bay 
Packers on the team's 100th anniversary. I am honored to pay tribute to 
this iconic Wisconsin organization.
  In August of 1919, Green Bay, WI natives Earl ``Curly'' Lambeau and 
George Whitney Calhoun set out on a mission to find money to buy 
uniforms for their newly formed football team. They eventually found a 
willing donor in the Indian Packing Company, with the condition that 
the team take on the company's name. Thus, the Green Bay Packers were 
born.
  Lambeau laid the foundation of the Green Bay Packers during the 
team's first 30 years of existence as its founder and coach. He led the 
organization through some of the most tumultuous as well as some of the 
most successful times in the franchise's history, winning multiple 
championships throughout the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Following his 
death in 1965, the Green Bay Packers changed the name of their City 
Stadium to Lambeau Field in his honor. The stadium, more commonly 
referred to by Wisconsinites as simply Lambeau, has become an historic 
monument and icon for professional sports fans throughout the world.
  In 1959, the Packers hired a new coach and general manager named 
Vince Lombardi. Lombardi's success is legendary, coaching the Packers 
to five National Football League championships and victories in the 
first two Super Bowl games in 1966 and 1967. Considered by many to be 
the greatest coach in football history, the NFL Super Bowl trophy bears 
his name. Just as important as his coaching skills were the values he 
instilled in the organization.
  Lombardi had a zero-tolerance policy towards racism, making it known 
that players and staff would be removed from the team for racist 
comments. Lombardi made it known that he recruited players for their 
talent not their race, famously stating he ``viewed his players as 
neither black nor white, but Packer green.''
  Today, head coach Mike McCarthy has guided the team through one of 
the most successful stretches in Packer history. He joins Vince 
Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as coaches who have led the Packers to Super 
Bowl victories. The team is also fortunate to have immensely talented 
Aaron Rodgers as quarterback. Rodgers, who was named NFL MVP in 2011 
and 2014, has set numerous franchise records, including single season 
passing yards and touchdowns.
  The Green Bay Packers are the last of the small-town teams that were 
common in the NFL during the league's early days of the 1920s and 
1930s. Today, Green Bay is the smallest major league professional 
sports market in North America by far, but it hasn't hampered the 
team's success one bit. The Packers have won 13 league championships--
nine pre-Super Bowl NFL titles and four Super Bowl victories--the most 
in NFL history. The Packers are also the only community-owned, 
nonprofit franchise in American professional sports. The team is owned 
not by a single individual but by more than 360,000 stockholders.
  No tribute to the Packers would be complete without a nod to the 
team's

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hardy and loyal fans. Every Packers game since 1960 has been sold out, 
and the season ticket waiting list is so long that it is estimated that 
a fan who puts his or her name on the waitlist today would first be 
able to purchase tickets in 2966. It is common for season tickets to be 
passed down to future generations as a precious inheritance. The 
willingness of Wisconsin ``cheeseheads'' to endure harsh Wisconsin 
winters to watch their beloved team is also legendary. The stands were 
still full on December 31, 1967, with 16 seconds left, when Green Bay 
future Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr dove into the end zone to 
beat the warm-weather Dallas Cowboys 21-17 to claim their third 
consecutive NFL title. The temperature on the field at the end of the 
now-famous ``Ice Bowl'' was a frigid 18 degrees below 0.
  The trials and successes of the Green Bay Packers are woven into the 
fabric of Wisconsin culture. Generations of hard-working Wisconsinites 
have grown up cheering for the ``Green and Gold.'' I am honored to 
count myself among the team's loyal fans who will celebrate their 100th 
anniversary this year and who look forward to many more hard-fought 
victories in the years to come. ``Go Pack Go!''

                          ____________________