| The Green Bay Packers are a professional American | | | | 176 points, won the NFL West Title and played in the |
| football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They | | | | NFL Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles at |
| are currently members of the North Division of the | | | | Philadelphia. In a see-saw game the Packers trailed |
| National Football Conference (NFC) in the National | | | | the Eagles by four points late in the game when |
| Football League (NFL). | | | | Chuck Bednarik tackled Jim Taylor just nine yards |
| The Packers are the last remaining example of the | | | | short of the goal line as time ran out. In the locker |
| "small town teams" that comprised a majority of the | | | | room after the game, Lombardi told his men that this |
| NFL during the 1920s. Green Bay is by far the | | | | would be the last time the Packers would lose the |
| smallest media market to be the home of a North | | | | championship game with him at the helm.[citation |
| American major professional sports league team | | | | needed] That prediction became fact, as the Packers |
| (though their fanbase includes Milwaukee and most of | | | | would never again lose the NFL Championship game |
| Wisconsin). | | | | under Lombardi. |
| Founded in 1919 by Curly Lambeau and George | | | | The Packers returned to the NFL Championship game |
| Whitney Calhoun as a new version of the semi-pro | | | | the following season and faced the New York Giants. |
| town teams that had been playing in Green Bay since | | | | The Packers scored 24 2nd quarter points as Paul |
| 1896, the Packers turned professional and joined the | | | | Hornung, having recently returned from the Army, |
| League in 1921. | | | | scored an NFL Championship record 19 points as the |
| Today, the team holds the record for most NFL | | | | Packers beat the Giants to win their first NFL |
| league championships with 12: nine NFL Championships | | | | Championship since 1944. |
| prior to the Super Bowl era; three additional titles in | | | | The Packers stormed back in the 1962 season, |
| 1966,1967,1996, after which they defeated the | | | | jumping out to a 10-0 start, on their way to a 13-1 |
| American Football League/American Football | | | | season. |
| Conference champion in Super Bowl I, Super Bowl II; | | | | This level of consistent success would lead to |
| and Super Bowl XXXI.[2] The team also holds the | | | | Lombardi's Packers becoming one of the most |
| distinction of winning the first two AFL-NFL | | | | prominent teams of their era, even being featured as |
| Championship Games that were held before the | | | | the face of the NFL on the cover of Time on |
| AFL-NFL Merger, later referred to as Super Bowl I | | | | December 21, 1962 as part of the magazine's cover |
| and II. | | | | story on "The Sport of the '60s". Shortly after Time's |
| The Packers are currently the only non-profit, | | | | article, the Packers faced the Giants in a much more |
| community owned major league professional sports | | | | brutal championship game than the previous year, but |
| team in the United States. Currently, a total of | | | | the Packers prevailed on the surprising foot of Jerry |
| 4,750,925 shares are owned by 111,967 stockholders | | | | Kramer and the determined running of Jim Taylor. |
| — none of whom receive any dividend.[3] | | | | The Packers defeated the Giants, 16-7. |
| Founding | | | | The Packers returned to the championship game in |
| The Green Bay Packers were founded on August 11, | | | | 1965 following a two-year absence when they |
| 1919 by Curly Lambeau and Green Bay Press-Gazette | | | | defeated the Colts in a playoff for the Western |
| sports editor George Whitney Calhoun. Lambeau | | | | Conference title. That game would be remembered |
| solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the | | | | for Don Chandler's controversial field goal in which the |
| Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for | | | | ball allegedly went wide right, but the official raised his |
| uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the | | | | arms to grant the three points. That disputed win |
| team be named for its sponsor. Today "Green Bay | | | | earned the Packers a trip to the NFL Championship |
| Packers" is the oldest team name still in use in the | | | | game, where Hornung and Taylor ran through the |
| NFL. | | | | Cleveland Browns, helping the Packers defeat the |
| The Packers became a professional franchise in 1921. | | | | Browns to earn their 3rd NFL Championship under |
| Financial troubles plagued the team and the franchise | | | | Lombardi. |
| was lost the same year. The Packers found new | | | | The 1966 season saw the Packers be led by NFL |
| backers the next year and regained the franchise. | | | | MVP Bart Starr. The Packers went 12-2 and in the |
| The financial backers, known as the "Hungry Five," | | | | NFL Championship, with the Packers leading 34-27, |
| formed the Green Bay Football Corporation. | | | | the Dallas Cowboys had the ball on the Packers' |
| Championships | | | | 2-yard line, threatening to tie the ball game. But on |
| The Packers have won 12 league championships, | | | | 4th down, the Packers' Tom Brown intercepted a |
| more than any other American professional football | | | | Don Meredith pass in the end zone to preserve the |
| team. They have also won 3 Super Bowls. (One of | | | | victory. The Packers went on to win Super Bowl I |
| these games decided the NFL champion, and the first | | | | 35-10 over the Kansas City Chiefs. |
| two date to the era when the AFL and NFL were still | | | | The 1967 season was the last season for Vince |
| two separate leagues.) The Packers are also the only | | | | Lombardi as the Packers' head coach. That year's |
| team to win three straight NFL titles, which they did | | | | NFL Championship game, known universally as the Ice |
| twice (1929-1931 and 1965-67). | | | | Bowl, is one of the most famous football games |
| Lombardi era | | | | (college or professional) in the history of the sport. |
| The Packers of the 1960s were one of the most | | | | With 16 seconds left, Bart Starr's touchdown on a |
| dominant NFL teams of all time. Coach Vince | | | | quarterback sneak brought the Packers their third |
| Lombardi took over a last-place team and built it into | | | | straight NFL Championship - a feat no other team |
| a juggernaut, winning five league championships over | | | | has matched since. Super Bowl II was no contest as |
| a seven-year span culminating with victories in the | | | | the Packers delivered a parting gift to Lombardi with |
| first two Super Bowls. During the Lombardi era, The | | | | a 33-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Lombardi |
| Packers had a group of legendary stars: the offense | | | | became the General Manager of the Packers in 1968 |
| was led by quarterback Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Carroll | | | | and Phil Bengston was named as Head Coach. |
| Dale, Paul Hornung and Jerry Kramer; the defense | | | | Lombardi left Green Bay in 1969 and was named the |
| was led by the likes of Willie Wood, Ray Nitschke, | | | | Head Coach of the Washington Redskins. |
| Dave Robinson, and Herb Adderley. | | | | After the death of Vince Lombardi in 1970, the Super |
| In their first game under Lombardi on September 27, | | | | Bowl trophy was renamed the Vince Lombardi |
| 1959, the Packers shut out the Chicago Bears at | | | | Trophy in recognition of his and his team's |
| Lambeau Field. The Packers got off to a 3-0 start | | | | accomplishments. The road that goes by Lambeau |
| but lost the next five and won the last four games | | | | Field, which is also one of Green Bay's major |
| to achieve their first winning season since 1947. | | | | thoroughfares, was named Lombardi Avenue in honor |
| The next year, the Packers, led by Paul Hornung's | | | | of the coach. |