Green Bay Packers
Current season
Established 1919; 94 years ago [1] Play in and headquartered in Lambeau Field,Don Hutson Center, Ray Nitschke Field andClarke Hinkle Field Green Bay, Wisconsin
Logo
League/conference affiliations
Independent (1919–1920) National Football League (1921–present) Western Division (1933–1949) National Conference (1950–1952) Western Conference (1953–1966) Central Division (1967–1969) National Football Conference (1970–present) Central Division (1970–2001) North Division (2002–present)
Current uniform
Team colors	Dark Green & Gold
Fight song	Go! You Packers! Go!
Personnel
Owner(s)	Green Bay Packers, Inc. (112,158 stockholders)[2]
Chairman	Mark Murphy
CEO	Mark Murphy
President	Mark Murphy
General manager	Ted Thompson
Head coach	Mike McCarthy
Team history
Green Bay Packers (1919–present)
Team nicknames
Indian Packers (1919)[3] Blues (1922) Big Bay Blues (1920s)[4] Bays (1918–1940s)[4] The Pack (current) The Green and Gold (current)
Championships
League championships (13)† NFL Championships (pre-1970 AFL–NFL merger) (11) 1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1939, 1944, 1961,1962, 1965, 1966, 1967 AFL-NFL Super Bowl Championships (2) 1966 (I), 1967 (II) Super Bowl Championships (2) 1996 (XXXI), 2010 (XLV)
Conference championships (9) NFL Western: 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967 NFC: 1996, 1997, 2010
Division championships (15) NFL West: 1936, 1938, 1939, 1944 NFL Central: 1967 NFC Central: 1972, 1995, 1996, 1997 NFC North: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012
† - Does not include the AFL or NFL Championships won during the same seasons as the AFL-NFL Super Bowl Championships prior to the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger
Playoff appearances (28)
NFL: 1936, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1944, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1972, 1982, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Home fields
Hagemeister Park (1919–1922) Bellevue Park (1923–1924) City Stadium (Green Bay) (1925–1956) Lambeau Field (1957–present) (known as "New" City Stadium 1957–65) Split games between Milwaukee and Green Bay (1933–1994) Borchert Field (1933) Wisconsin State Fair Park (1934–1951) Marquette Stadium (1952) Milwaukee County Stadium (1953–1994)

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Green Bay is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, having been organized and playing in 1919.[5] The Packers are the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team in the United States.
The Packers are the last vestige of "small town teams" that were once common in the NFL during the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl "Curly" Lambeau (hence the name Lambeau Field on which the team plays) and George Whitney Calhoun, the Green Bay Packers can trace their lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. In 1919 and 1920 the Packers competed as a semi-professional football team against clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest. They joined the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1921, the forerunner to what is known today as the National Football League (NFL). Although Green Bay is the last NFL "small town" team, its local fan base and media extends into nearby Milwaukee; the team also played selected home games there between 1933 and 1994.
The Green Bay Packers have won 13 league championships (more than any other team in the NFL), including nine NFL championships prior to the Super Bowl era and four Super Bowl victories—in 1967 (Super Bowl I), 1968 (Super Bowl II), 1997 (Super Bowl XXXI) and 2011 (Super Bowl XLV).[6] The Packers have long-standing, bitter rivalries with their NFC North (formerly the NFC Central) opponents, the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions. The Bears-Packers rivalry is one of the oldest rivalries in NFL history, dating back to 1921.

Founding
Main article: History of the Green Bay Packers
 

Curly Lambeau

The Green Bay Packers were founded on August 11, 1919[1] by former high-school football rivals Earl "Curly" Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun.[7] Lambeau 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. The Green Bay Packers have played in their original city longer than any other team in the NFL.
On August 27, 1921, the Packers were granted a franchise in the new national pro football league that had been formed the previous year. Financial troubles plagued the team and the franchise was forfeited within the year, before Lambeau found new financial backers and regained the franchise the next year. These backers, known as the "Hungry Five", formed the Green Bay Football Corporation.

Notable seasons

Record 13 NFL world championships
League annals show 13 World Championships,[6] the most in the NFL (the next closest team is the Chicago Bears, with nine). The first three were decided by league standing, the next six by the NFL Title Game, and the final four by Super Bowl victories. The Packers are also the only team to win three consecutive NFL titles, having accomplished this twice (1929-30-31 under Lambeau and 1965-66-67 under Vince Lombardi).

1929–1931: Lambeau's team arrives
 

The Packers in 1920

After a near-miss in 1927, Lambeau's squad claimed the Packers' first NFL title in 1929 with an undefeated 12–0–1 campaign, behind a stifling defense which registered eight shutouts. Green Bay would repeat as league champions in 1930 and 1931, bettering teams from New York, Chicago and throughout the league, with all-time greats and future Hall of Famers Mike Michalske, Johnny (Blood) McNally, Cal Hubbard and Green Bay native Arnie Herber. Among the many impressive accomplishments of these years was the Packers' streak of 30 consecutive home games without defeat, an NFL record which still stands.[8]

1935–1945: The Don Hutson era
The arrival of end Don Hutson from Alabama in 1935 gave Lambeau and the Packers the most-feared and dynamic offensive weapon in the game. Credited with inventing pass patterns, Hutson would lead the league in receptions eight seasons and spur the Packers to NFL championships in 1936, 1939 and 1944. An iron man, Hutson also led the league in interceptions in 1940. Hutson claimed 18 NFL records when he retired in 1945, many of which still stand.[9] In 1951, his number 14 was the first to be retired by the Packers, and he was inducted as a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

1946–1958: Wilderness
After Hutson's retirement, Lambeau could not stop the slide of the Packers, and departed after the 1949 season. Gene Ronzani and Lisle Blackbourn could not coach the Packers back to their former magic, even as a new stadium was unveiled in 1957. The losing would crescendo to the disastrous 1958 campaign under coach Ray "Scooter" McLean, whose lone year at the helm resulted in a 1–10–1 mark, worst in Packer history.[10]

1959–1967: The Lombardi era and the glory years
On February 2, 1959, the hiring of New York Giants assistant Vince Lombardi as Packers head coach and general manager represented the beginning of a remarkable, immediate turnaround. Under Lombardi, the Packers would become the team of the 1960s, winning five world championships over a seven-year span, including victories in the first two Super Bowls. During the Lombardi era, the stars of the Packers' offense included Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Carroll Dale, Paul Hornung (as halfback and placekicker), Forrest Gregg, and Jerry Kramer. The defense included Willie Davis, Henry Jordan, Willie Wood, Ray Nitschke, Dave Robinson, and Herb Adderley.

1959
In their first game under Lombardi on September 27, 1959, the Packers beat the Chicago Bears, 9–6, in Green Bay. After winning their first three, the Packers lost the next five before finishing strong by winning the rest. The 7–5 record represented the Packers' first winning season since 1947. Rookie head coach Lombardi was named Coach of the Year.

1960
The next year, the Packers, led by Paul Hornung's 176 points, won the NFL West title and played in the NFL Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles at Philadelphia. In a see-saw game, the Packers trailed the Eagles by four points late in the game, when Chuck Bednarik tackled Jim Taylor just nine yards short of the goal line as time ran out. They claimed that they did not "lose" that game; they were simply behind in the score when time ran out on them.

1961
The Packers returned to the NFL Championship game the following season and faced the New York Giants in the first league title game to be played in Green Bay. The Packers scored 24 second-quarter points, including a championship-record 19 by Paul Hornung, on special "loan" from the Army (one touchdown, four extra-points and three field goals), powering the Packers to a 37–0 rout of the Giants, their first NFL Championship since 1944.[11] It was in 1961 that Green Bay became known as "Titletown."

1962
The Packers stormed back in the 1962 season, jumping out to a 10–0 start, on their way to a 13–1 season. This consistent level of success would lead to Lombardi's Packers becoming one of the most prominent teams of their era, and even to their being featured as the face of the NFL on the cover of Time on December 21, 1962, as part of the magazine's cover story on "The Sport of the '60s".[12] Shortly after Time's article, the Packers faced the Giants in a much more brutalchampionship game than the previous year, but the Packers prevailed on the surprising foot of Jerry Kramer and the determined running of Jim Taylor. The Packers defeated the Giants in New York, 16–7.

1965
The Packers returned to the championship game in 1965 following a two-year absence, when they defeated the Colts in a playoff for the Western Conference title. That game would be remembered for Don Chandler's controversial tying field goal in which the ball allegedly went wide right, but the officials signaled "good." The 13–10 overtime win earned the Packers a trip to the NFL Championship game, where Hornung and Taylor ran through the defending champion Cleveland Browns, helping the Packers win, 23–12, to earn their third NFL Championship under Lombardi and ninth overall. Goalpost uprights would be made taller the next year.

1966
The 1966 season saw the Packers led by an MVP season from quarterback Bart Starr. The Packers went 12–2, and in the NFL Championship, with the Packers leading 34–27, the Dallas Cowboys had the ball on the Packers' two-yard line, threatening to tie the ballgame. But on fourth down, the Packers' Tom Brown intercepted Don Meredith's pass in the end zone to preserve their victory against Dallas. The Packers went on to win Super Bowl I 35–10 over the AFL Kansas City Chiefs.

1967
The 1967 season was the last one for Vince Lombardi as the Packers' head coach. The NFL Championship game, a rematch of the 1966 contest against Dallas, is better known as the Ice Bowl, due to the brutally cold conditions at Lambeau Fieldin Green Bay. Still the coldest NFL game ever played, the Ice Bowl remains one of the most famous football games (college or professional) in the history of the sport. With 16 seconds left, Bart Starr's touchdown on a quarterback sneak brought the Packers a 21–17 victory and their third straight NFL Championship – a feat no other team has matched. The Packers then won Super Bowl II with a 33–14 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Lombardi stepped down as head coach after the game, and Phil Bengtson was named as Head Coach. He remained general manager for one season, but left Green Bay in 1969 to become head coach and minority owner of the Washington Redskins. After the death of Vince Lombardi on September 3, 1970, the Super Bowl trophy was renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy, in recognition of his, and his team's, accomplishments. Lambeau Field has had a street address of 1265 Lombardi Avenue since 1968, when Green Bay renamed Highland Avenue in honor of the coach.

1968–1991
For about a quarter century after Lombardi's departure, the Packers had relatively little on-field success. In the 24 seasons from 1968 to 1991, the Packers had only five seasons with a winning record (above .500), one being the shortened1982 strike season. They appeared in the playoffs twice during that period, with a record of 1–2. The period saw five different head coaches – Phil Bengtson, Dan Devine, Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg, and Lindy Infante – two of which were former Packer players in Lombardi's era (Starr and Gregg), and one of which was a former coach (Bengtson). Each of these men led the Packers to a poorer record than his predecessor. Poor personnel decisions typified this time period. A notorious example includes the 1974 trade in which Dan Devine acting as GM sent five 1975 and 1976 draft picks (two first-rounders, two second-rounders and a third) to the Los Angeles Rams for aging quarterback John Hadl, who would spend only 1½ seasons in Green Bay.[13] Another came in 1989, when players such as Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, and Derrick Thomas were available, but the Packers chose offensive lineman Tony Mandarich with the second overall pick in the NFL draft. Though rated highly by nearly every professional scout at the time, Mandarich's performance failed to meet expectations. ESPN has rated Mandarich as the third "biggest sports flop" in the last 25 years.[14]

1992–2007: The Brett Favre era
The Packers' performance throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s led to a shakeup in which new General Manager Ron Wolf was hired to take over full control of the team's football operations during the 1991 season. In 1992, Wolf hiredSan Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren to be the Packers' new head coach.
Soon after hiring Holmgren, Wolf acquired quarterback Brett Favre from the Atlanta Falcons for a first-round pick. Favre got the Packers their first win of the 1992 season, stepping in for injured quarterback Don Majkowski and leading the Packers to a comeback win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Favre started the following week with a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and never missed a start during his time with the Packers through the 2007 season. He would go on to break the record for consecutive starts by an NFL quarterback, starting 297 consecutive games including stints with the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings with the streak finally coming to an end late in the 2010 season.
 

Brett Favre

The Packers had a 9–7 record in 1992, and began to turn heads around the league when they signed perhaps the most prized free agent in NFL history in Reggie White on the defense in 1993. White believed that Wolf, Holmgren, and Favre had the team heading in the right direction with a "total commitment to winning." With White on board the Packers made it to the second round of the playoffs during both the1993 and 1994 seasons but lost their 2nd-round matches to their playoff rival, the Dallas Cowboys, playing in Dallas on both occasions. In 1995, the Packers won the NFC Central Division championship for the first time since 1972. After a home playoff 37–20 win against Favre's former team, the Atlanta Falcons, the Packers defeated the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers 27–17 in San Francisco on the road to advance to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost again to the Dallas Cowboys 38–27.