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]
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, 35 individuals who have played, coached or managed for the Packers have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [6] Of the 35 inductees, 28 made their primary contribution to football with the Packers, while seven 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] In 2024, Julius Peppers and Steve McMichael, who both had short stints with the Packers, became the most recent inductees for team. [18]
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Competing in the National Football League (NFL) as part of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division, the Packers are the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, established in 1919. They are the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Since 1957, home games have been played at Lambeau Field. They hold the record for the most wins in NFL history.
Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin, native George Whitney Calhoun, founded the Green Bay Packers in 1919. He served as team captain in the team's first year before becoming player-coach in 1920. As a player, Lambeau lined up as a halfback, which in the early years of the NFL was the premier position. He was the team's primary runner and passer, accounting for 35 touchdowns in 77 games. He won his only NFL championship as a player in 1929.
LeRoy Butler III is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 12-year career from 1990 to 2001 as a safety for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame is a team-specific hall of fame honoring players, coaches, executives and other contributors to the history and success of the Green Bay Packers, an American football team in the National Football League (NFL). It was the first hall of fame built to honor a single professional American football team. William Brault, a Green Bay restaurateur and Packers fan, founded the Packer Hall of Fame in 1966. According to them, they got the idea after visitors to Green Bay would repeatedly ask about the Packers' storied history. Sensing opportunity, they went to Packers head coach Vince Lombardi, suggesting a hall of fame should be made to attract and educate tourists about the Packers and their history. Lombardi gave them his approval as long as the hall of fame would not interfere with the existing players.
Cecil Frank Isbell was an American football quarterback and coach. He played 5 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, leading them to the NFL Championship in 1939. He retired after the 1942 season to become an assistant coach at his alma mater, Purdue University, and the following year became its head coach for three seasons.
Kenneth Brian Bowman was an American professional football player who played 10 seasons as a center for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1973. Bowman was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
John George Martinkovic was an American football defensive lineman in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants. He played college football and basketball at Xavier University and was drafted in the sixth round of the 1951 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1974. Martinkovic died on February 8, 2018, at the age of 91.
Almore Charles "Buff" Wagner was a professional football player for the Green Bay Packers in 1920 and 1921. He played college football at Carroll University.
The Packers Heritage Trail is a self-guided walking and biking heritage trail that traverses locations relating to the history of the Green Bay Packers, an American football team in the National Football League (NFL). All of the 25 sites have bronze commemorative plaques that explain the history of the site and its association to the Green Bay Packers. Each plaque, which has individual sponsors, is either affixed to the side of the relevant building or placed on a pole in front of the site. The Trail is split into three sections: the City Walk, which includes 16 sites and the Packers Heritage Plaza generally in downtown Green Bay; the Packing Plant Spur, which includes 4 sites along Baird Creek; and the Lambeau – Lombardi Spur, which includes another 4 sites along the Fox River.
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. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) and play their home games at Lambeau Field in central Wisconsin. In 1936, the Packers took part in the first NFL draft of college football players and have participated in every NFL draft since. With the seventh pick of the first round of the 1936 draft, Russ Letlow, a guard out of the University of San Francisco, became the Packers' first draft selection.