Unknowns play the important positions. Inexperienced players make mistakes and fumble the ball. Backup quarterbacks take over in the second half, throwing the ball to one guy when there is another, almost in the end zone, and wide open.
Fans wear their favorite team's gear and hold up signs. The commentary follows the action and the odds: who will get to stay and play and who is headed home? Quarterbacks are spared: no preseason game is worth getting an injured starting quarterback.
Tonight, I watched a game at Lambeau Field. It's the first stadium built expressly for an NFL team, and the longest continuously-occupied field in the NFL. It's named after the founder, player and head coach of the team, Curly Lambeau. He convinced a local businessman to pay for the team's uniforms, which were emblazoned with the name of the business: “Acme Packing.”
Lambeau Field is located at 1265 Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Home of the “Lambeau Leap” and the “Frozen Tundra,” Lambeau is a beautiful setting for football games. And some of the greatest football games of all time have been played there, when Vince Lombardi arrived as their coach in 1961.
The wearers of the green and gold, and their diehard, Cheesehead fans, have a lot of heart. During the week preceding a preseason game at Lambeau, there is a tradition: Green Bay Packers riding bicycles.
And not just any bicycles, either. Lambeau Field is across the street from both the practice fields and their locker rooms. Somehow, in the 1960's, kids hoping to catch a glimpse of their football heroes, would line the road, on their bicycles.
As the players come out of Lambeau, headed for the locker room, they pick a young person, waiting there on their bike. Riding the kid's bike, with the kid standing on the bike behind them, or running alongside, they make their way to the locker rooms.
The kids wait. The players come back out. And they ride the bikes back to the stadium.
The fans are fiercely loyal, to a point. Once Brett “retired” and took his watch, they were still talking about him as their greatest quarterback. Now, as a Minnesota Viking, Brett is the oldest player in the NFL, and a grandpa, to boot.
But now, this team with heart, has Aaron Rodgers at the helm. Stepping into the quarterback position, after hardly playing at all, and following a legend like Brett, must have been hard. But he has heart. And an arm. He has thrown some incredible passes, and his receivers have made equally incredible catches. Matt Flynn is in the #2 spot, behind Aaron, but he's a contender, too.
Whether they win or lose tonight doesn't matter. After watching a Packer player climb on a pink bicycle, with white wall tires, and ride from the field to the locker rooms, the Packers have a new fan. Watching the eleven-year-old owner of the pink bike, riding behind him, holding on to his shoulders, made me realize the importance of having heart. Even in football.
Sorry, Niners, I have to root for my new guys. The guys with heart. From the Frozen Tundra at Lambeau Field, way back in Green Bay, Wisconsin....
Go Packers!!
From their training site:
Packers Training Camp
How 'bout a little touchdown music??
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