The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers have competed in the National Football League (NFL) since 1921, two years after their original founding by Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. [1] They are members of the Northern Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) and play their home games at Lambeau Field in central Wisconsin. [2] [3] Since entering the NFL, the Packers have won 13 championships (the most in NFL history), including nine NFL Championships prior to 1966 and four Super Bowls, which is inclusive of two additional NFL Championships won during the AFL–NFL merger, since then. They have captured 21 divisional titles, 9 conference championships, and been to the playoffs 38 times. [4]
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In 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame was created to honor the history of professional American football and the individuals who have greatly influenced it. [5] Since the charter induction class of 1963, 33 individuals who have played, coached or managed for the Packers have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [6] Of the 33 inductees, 28 made their primary contribution to football with the Packers, while five only contributed a minor portion of their career to the Packers. [7] The 28 inductees who have spent a significant portion of their career with the Packers have their names presented on the façade around the inside of Lambeau Field along with the years they spent in Green Bay. [8] Additionally, all 28 of these players plus Jan Stenerud have been inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, while Don Hutson, Tony Canadeo, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Reggie White and Brett Favre have had their uniform numbers retired. [9] [10]
Of the original 17 individuals inducted in 1963, four spent the major part of their career with the Green Bay Packers. This includes the founder, player and head coach Curly Lambeau, All-Pro offensive tackle Cal Hubbard, the 1941 and 1942 Most Valuable Player Don Hutson, and four-time NFL champion Johnny (Blood) McNally. [11] [12] [13] [14] The first two decades of the Hall of Fame's existence saw 17 Packers enshrined, including one inductee who was not a player for the Packers: Vince Lombardi. [15] Coaching the Packers from 1959 to 1967, Lombardi led the team to five NFL Championships, plus winning the first two Super Bowls after the AFL–NFL merger, and an overall winning percentage of .754. [16] The only other non-player for the Packers to be inducted was Ron Wolf, who served as the general manager for the Packers during the 1990s, which included their victory in Super Bowl XXXI. [17] From 2013 to 2022, the Packers have had one person inducted into the Hall of Fame seven out of the ten years, including three straight from 2020 to 2022. [6] The most recent Packer to be inducted was LeRoy Butler in 2022. [18] Julius Peppers and Steve McMichael, who both had short stints with the Packers, were announced as part of the 2024 induction class planned for August 2024. [19]
