George Whitney Calhoun was the colorful promoter of the Packers from their inception in 1919 through their first 28 seasons. A Green Bay Press-Gazette sports editor in the late teens, Calhoun became secretary of the Packer organization and promoted the team around the world. Calhoun managed Green Bay in its infancy, named the team “Packers” and passed a hat to collect money at early Packer games.
In addition to his untiring efforts to publicize the Packers in the Press-Gazette, Calhoun wrote The Dope Sheet, the forerunner of modern game-day programs from 1921 to 1924. Honoring Calhoun, the Packers have revived The Dope Sheet as a downloadable game preview sheet on Packers.com.
Calhoun served as the team’s PR director until Lambeau fired him in 1949. In 1963, he died at the age of 73. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1978.
