Jim, from our knowledge and research, we are wondering if you are recalling the 1959 season — Vince Lombardi’s first at the helm of the team — when they played the Philadelphia Eagles in Portland for the third exhibition game that year. They have not held training camp itself outside of Wisconsin since 1953 (when it was last held in Grand Rapids, Minn.) It was a regular practice to play preseason games in non-N.F.L. cities in the 1950’s and 60’s, and the Packers played in locations such as Minneapolis, Minn., Alexandria, Va., Latrobe, Penn., Spokane, Wash., Hershey, Penn., Raleigh, N.C., Akron, Ohio, Charleston, W.V., Bangor, Maine, and also Portand, to name a few. They played up to six exhibition games in those days, so they used these visits to other cities to build the N.F.L. brand in other markets, and perhaps to feel out areas for expansion.
So, we think that your experience with the team in Portland was when the Packers were practicing for their matchup with the Eagles on August 29, 1959. On that Saturday, they defeated Philadelphia by a score of 45-28 in front of 25,456 Oregonians.