One of the most storied franchises in the history of professional sports is undoubtedly the Green Bay Packers. With one of the most rabid fanbases in the National Football League and a long history of great quarterbacks like Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, it’s no surprise that the Packers have been as consistently popular as they are. Today, the Green Bay Packers play out of the NFC North Division of the National Football League with their longtime rivals in the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.
Here are six fascinating facts about one of the oldest teams in all of professional sports — the Green Bay Packers.
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- Season tickets have been sold out since 1960. (source) Having been established way back in 1919, the Green Bay Packers are the third oldest team in the National Football League. They’re so popular in Green Bay that the season tickets have been sold out for more than fifty years now. Not only that, but the Packers are the only team in professional sports in the United States that are owned by the community.
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- The longest pass completion in Packers history was a 99-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Robert Brooks. (source) On September 11, 1995, Week 2 of the NFL season saw the Green Bay Packers travel to Chicago to face the Bears. In that game, Brett Favre hit Robert Brooks for a 99-yard touchdown strike, which remains the longest touchdown pass in the illustrious history of the Green Bay Packers. The Packers went on to win that game in Chicago that day by a score of 27-24.
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- The Green Bay Packers have the 2nd most playoff wins all-time. (source) With 36 playoff wins over their storied history, the Green Bay Packers have the 2nd most in the history of the league, only behind the New England Patriots (37).
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- In 1996, Packers quarterback Brett Favre broke his own record for the most touchdown passes in a single season in the NFC. (source) With 39 touchdown passes in 1996, Brett Favre broke his own record from the previous season, when he threw 38 touchdown strikes during the 1995 NFL season. Fast-forward nearly three decades, and going into the 2021 NFL season, the record was 55 touchdown passes, which was a record set by Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning in 2013.
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- Russ Letlow was the very first draft selection in Green Bay Packers history. (source) With the seventh overall pick of the 1936 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers selected offensive guard Russ Letlow out of the University of San Francisco. Letlow went on to have a very stellar career in the National Football League, playing for the team from 1936 though 1942, and then again in 1946. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1972, was a member of the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team, and was a 2-time NFL Champion.
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- The Super Bowl trophy is named after a former Green Bay Packers head coach. (source) From 1961 to 1967, Vince Lombardi was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, and was able to lead the franchise to a stunning five NFL Championships during that short amount of time. Not only that, but Lombardi led the Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowl games. Since 1970, the prize for winning the Super Bowl has been named the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
If you’re a fan of the Green Bay Packers and have some more interesting facts to share about your favorite team, let us know in the comments below!
Featured image photo credit: Keith Allison, 2017. Originally found on Wikimedia.org. Image was resized and cropped. Creative Commons 2.0.
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