Our second half of the visit to 1993 Green Bay Packers Training Camp begins with a shot of Head Coach Mike Holmgren inspecting his troops near the end of practice. He was 44 when he took over the reigns of the team the previous season.
The coach addresses the team at the conclusion of practice on the Oneida Street field, now known as Clark Hinkle Field. Ray Nitschke Field, located behind the Don Hutson Center along Armed Forces Drive is now the daily home of Training Camp. The field shown above is used during the season for outdoor practices. Both fields now have the same turf as Lambeau Field.
This was only one season after the arrival of QB Brett Favre, and while there was success on the field, it was not to point yet where he was mobbed constantly. In these days, he would ride a bike to practice like any other player. And, on this day that we were there, he stood outside the practice field gate in a light mist and talked to us fans and signed anything for anybody (he signed the hat your Packerville editor was wearing). In only another season or so, he could no longer go through the masses to practice because he never would arrive on time. Like today’s “stars,” he would ride in a car over to practice and come in the back way through the Hutson Center.
Soon-to-be-forgotten former Stanford RB J.J. Lasley gives a lift to the owner of the bike he’s riding.
S Mike Prior (#45) and RB Edgar Bennett (#36) head back to the locker room after practice.
Former nine-year Kansas City Chief NT Bill Maas, who would play out his final year in the NFL in Green Bay, rides solo.
LB Brian Noble stops to sign autographs for some youngsters.
As does future Hall-of-Famer DE Reggie White. Players were more accessible in the days before success was a given in Green Bay, and before Training Camp attendance got to be somewhat overwhelming.
We’re pretty confident that no one else got this exclusive photo of QB Brett Favre on this day. He was riding back to the locker room through the parking lot with no one around him or chasing him.
After talking to the local kids and signing some autographs, QB Brett Favre heads indoors.
GM Ron Wolf also walks back after practice like the rest of us, and would sign an autograph for anyone who asked. Some of the assistant coaches still mix with the crowd before and after practice, but we’ve not seen Ted Thompson. It’s a different world nowadays.
