You may have heard last week that Cheesehead TV and I are on the cusp of releasing a book about Green Bay Packers, a topic near and dear to our readers and patrons. 

That book, The Green Bay Packers: An Illustrated Timeline, is available now for preorder on Amazon, and will take readers on a journey of more than 100 years of Packers history.

While the printed books themselves won’t be ready until probably early September, here are three sample chapters for all you Packers fans to check out while you wait.

The beginnings …

The Green Bay Packers are Born

The Green Bay Packers were officially formed during  a meeting in a second-floor office at the Green Bay Press Gazette, which was then located on Cherry Street in  downtown Green Bay. It was 1919, and former Green Bay East High  School star Earl Louis “Curly” Lambeau was itching to start a city football team. 

Many believe a chance encounter on the street between Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun led to a more organized meeting, which two dozen or so interested players, many of whom were likely freshly back from World War I, attended. In a Press-Gazette story two days later, the team was referred to as the “Indians,” and a list of the  team’s prospects was headlined with “Husky Squad Available.” 

It also should be noted that there were semipro teams in Green Bay prior to Lambeau and Calhoun’s efforts—but historians haven’t tied those teams  directly to what would eventually become the professional franchise  that exists today. Lambeau was employed by the Indian Packing  Company at the time, and he convinced the company’s owner to donate  a reported $500 to purchase uniforms and other equipment (thus, the  name “Packers”). Practices started soon thereafter, with Lambeau at  the helm. 

No one involved could have known at the time that arguably  the greatest sports franchise in US history had been born. 

The Lombardi years …

Ray Nitschke: A Portrait of Toughness

ONE OF the more colorful characters of the Lombardi era Packers, Ray Nitschke also was one of the toughest linebackers in the league. When he wasn’t smiling that jagged grin of his, he looked absolutely ferocious. In pads and a helmet, it was downright scary—and he knew it. 

In 1998, Bud Lea of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel quoted Nitschke as saying, “You want them to have respect for you when they run a play at you. You want them to be a little shy and a little shier the next time. You want them to remember you’re in there.’’ Mission accomplished. An example of his toughness came during a practice session when rain and a windstorm suddenly hit. The heavy winds blew over an iron tower on the practice field, which fell and knocked a Packer to the turf. 

Per Lea, Lombardi yelled, ‘‘Who’d it hit?’’ ‘‘Nitschke,’’ Bart Starr said.  

“Lombardi reacted as if nothing had happened,” Lea wrote. “When Nitschke got up there was a hole in his helmet where one of the tower bolts had gone right through it. If he had not had a helmet on it would have gone right into his skull. But Nitschke just got up with a big grin on his face and continued to practice with his teammates.”  

He was a career Packer for 15 seasons, remaining effective even as the winning ceased in the late 1960s. Nitschke was named to the NFL 50th Anniversary Team in 1969 and the NFL 75th Anniversary Team in 1994, among countless other honors. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978, the first defensive player of the Lombardi years to be enshrined.  

The modern era …

The Irv Favre Game

Every American of a certain age remembers where they were when they heard John F. Kennedy was shot. Every American also remembers where they were when they heard about the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. And every Packers fan remembers where they were when they watched Brett Favre’s emotional performance against the Raiders the day after his father, Irv, suddenly died. 

Often referred to as “The Favre’s Dad Game,” the quarterback played the game in honor of his late father, former high school football coach, and No. 1 fan, throwing for 399 yards and four touchdowns in an inspiring 41–7 victory over the Raiders. Favre’s performance that night was almost flawless—in the first half alone, he threw for 311 yards, with eight completions of 20 or more yards and four scores. That gave him a literally perfect 158.3 passer rating. And his teammates were there in full support of their leader. 

“I talked to the receivers before the game and told them, ‘Anything he throws, we catch,” Packers wideout Donald Driver told the media after the game. “I don’t care what it is—behind us, over our head, if we have to get on a ladder or jump on a guy’s shoulder, we’re going to catch the ball.” 

Did the quarterback ever consider ending his streak of consecutive starts to grieve his immense loss? Maybe. But not for long. 

“For about five minutes there was some indecision on whether or not I was going to play,” Favre said at the time. “It didn’t take long for me to say, ‘You’ve got to play in this game.’ . . . I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play. I love him so much, and I love this game.” 

In short, it is one of the most memorable Green Bay Packers games of the modern era.