Dear Packer Fans,
There is no doubt in my mind that I have the utmost respect for you. And it isn’t just because I have been born and raised as a Packers fan. It’s because that through all the trials and tribulation you’ve faced as fans of the Green and Gold, you never once left the stadium early. You never booed your team intentionally, as is customary with a team that shall remain nameless... Ahh who am I kidding, with the Philadelphia Eagles fan base. That’s just part of the reason why you guys are the greatest.
But there’s more to this respect. Take the season ticket waiting list for example, which is the longest in the entire NFL at 30 years. In fact, many of you guys put your kids down on the list as soon as you get a birth certificate. It’s as if the entire state is crazy about football. But it’s not as if the stadium is some glorious, hi-tech, futuristic creature, such as the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Rather, it’s an old stadium rich with history and metal benches that if you’re not careful with in the winter, you’ll find yourself stuck to. On the surface it’s an archaic stadium, destined to be torn down just like the old Yankee Stadium. And as soon as the Packers see people leaving the stadium to never return, and empty crowds, they will tear it down.
But you keep coming back, enduring the icy winters, in a 60-year-old stadium: a stadium that once saw the infamous Ice Bowl, the coldest game in NFL history, a stadium that saw the beginning of the “Lambeau Leap,” made by Leroy Butler, a stadium that has witnessed America’s greatest team over the past six decades. But it’s not just America’s greatest team. It’s America’s greatest fan base, and you get to be a part of that, something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s a privilege to be a Packers fan.
And throughout the years, 31 teams have all tried to claim the title of your team. The title of America’s Team. the greatest team to play football, and the fan base that accompanies them everywhere. I’ve always said that you could have a Packers game in the most remote place of the planet, and yet you would still find that the stadium would be packed, full of people who bleed green and gold.
Packers football is something that should never be taken for granted. Whenever I watch a game and I see the camera pan to the crowd, no matter the score I feel happy. Because I see the same thing every time. A group of the greatest fans on earth and their undying love for their team. A bond that does not exist in 31 cities in America. And I feel like the only way to represent this would be in a motto, that of F.C Barcelona: “Mes Que Un Club,” Spanish for more than a club. That’s what Packers football is. It’s more than just a team. It’s a culture, something that I respect you, the greatest fans in America, for.
