Remember

Leap of Faith (1996)

“Steve Rose wrote a wonderful book about how God blessed the 1995 Green Bay Packers football team. This was the squad that won the Super Bowl the following year. There were many instances of people of faith on that squad that go unheard of. We read a lot about how God has used Reggie White and Ken Ruettgers for His purposes. Nobody talks about the faith of Sterling Sharpe, Keith Jackson or other members of the team that are less outspoken. In Leap of Faith: God Must Be A Packer Fan, Steve Rose does that. 

“If I were to have one critique that makes it a 3-star instead of 5-star book, it's that it is not tightly edited. It was a good read and with more editing and better chronology (he skips around a bit which made it hard to keep up with), it would have been a great read.

“Still, if you are a Packers fan who wants to revisit the Holmgren-era in the 1990s, this book should be one at the top of your list.”

— Jeffrey Williams 

A look inside at the Reggie White chapter. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Leap of Faith: God Must Be a Packer Fan
By Steve Rose (1996)
Angel Press of WI
192 pages

Downfield! (1996)

Downfield! Untold Stories of the Green Bay Packers, which was published in the year that the Packers would eventually win the Super Bowl after 29 years, focuses on players from both the Lombardi years, as well as the Bengston, Starr, and Gregg years. You will read about on-field exploits as well as updates on the post-football lives of John Brockington, Chester Marcol, Jim Carter, Ezra Johnson, Mike Douglass, Greg Koch, Paul Coffman, David Whitehurst, Ken Ellis, Scott Hunter, and more from the lean years. From the Glory Days, you can read about Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Jerry Kramer, Fuzzy Thurston, Chuck Mercein, Marv Fleming, and many more. One reviewer wrote: “Die-hard Packer fans who followed the team through the ’70s and ’80s (when the Packers were so routinely awful that only the most fanatical of fans could follow them) will probably enjoy this book. Young fans, unless they're Packer history scholars, won't recognize most of the players in the book.”  

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Downfield!

Untold Stories of the Green Bay Packers

By Jerry Poling (1996)

Prairie Oak Press

240 pages

As a bonus, while scanning the covers we found this image inside, being used as a bookmark. It is from (as far as we can deduce) the December 6, 1992 game against the Detroit Lions at Milwaukee County Stadium. These were the Packerville, U.S.A. staff seats from 1991-95. Football played in an old baseball stadium on a snowy day... can it get much better than that? To top it off, the Packers throttled them 38-10 with new coach Mike Holmgren at the helm, and a youngster named Brett Favre at QB.

In The Trenches (1996)

From the book description: “In Reggie White's own fast-paced, inspiring account of his colorful, sometimes controversial career, both in the pros and in the pulpit. Packed with insights, observations, and war stories of his twelve years in the NFL — including his championship season — In the Trenches delves into the heart of an amazing athlete who balances an array of extremes: he is both beloved and feared, tough and gentle, competitive and compassionate, fierce and generous.” 

The front and rear flaps. 

Sample inside photo spread featuring images from his youth, college, professional career, and his family. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

In The Trenches — The Autobiography

By Reggie White (1996)

Thomas Nelson Inc. Publishers

262 pages

Return to Glory (1996)

Written before the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl XXXI season, Return to Glory tells the story of the resurgence of the franchise. Starting with the firing of GM Tom Braatz by Bob Harlan, we learn the process of hiring both Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren, the acquiring of QB Brett Favre, DE Reggie White, and the rest of the 1992-95 teams that returned to the playoffs and ultimately brought home a world championship to little old Green Bay. A must for Packers’ history buffs, and anyone wanting to know how the team rose from the depths of the NFL to the mountaintop.  

Sample middle photo page. A young-looking Mike Holmgren at his post-hiring press conference (bottom).

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Return to Glory

By Kevin Isaacson (1996)

Krause Publications Inc.

240 pages

Packers vs. Bears (1996)

“Glenn Swain's Packers vs. Bears is the history of one of pro football's oldest rivalries. The Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bars have clashed over 150 times (as of 1996) on the football field in a 75 year timespan leaving a trail of bruised egos, broken bones, bloody noses, star players, and legendary names like Halas, Lambeau, Starr, Lombardi, Butkus, Nitschke, Hornung, and Payton. (This) is the definitive book on Packer football and a "must read" for all Packer fans! — and those Chicago folks too. 

— Midwest Book Review 

Sample photo spread, turned vertical. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Packers vs. Bears

By Glenn Swain (1996)

Charles Publishing Company

394 pages

The Day Has Come!!

When you hear stories of the legendary Packers Season Ticket Waiting List, and of how it’s over 100,000 names, it sounds like getting tickets is an impossibility, right? I mean, do any names ever come off the list that keeps growing with each winning season? Well, in today’s mail at the Packerville, U.S.A. headquarters, we were informed that our number had  indeed come up. 

Starting with the 2013 season, we will have tickets to all ten games at Lambeau Field. How is this possible, you ask? Aren’t there two ticket packages — the “Gold” for former Milwaukee ticket holders, and the “Green” for original Green Bay ticket holders? Yes, and we have had tickets for the “Gold” package since 1991, when games were still in Milwaukee. We now will have both packages which combine to make two preseason and eight regular season games, plus playoff tickets (for an additional charge), if applicable. And after only 27 years of waiting for the “Green” package. It certainly made a difference to get on the waiting list before 1992, when suddenly everyone wanted tickets.

Once we get over the sticker shock of the one-time “seat license” fee, we can start looking forward to more football-in-person than we’ve ever been able to enjoy before!

Life is good in Packerville.

The Home Field Advantage (1995)

From the book description: “Ken Ruettgers draws from years of experience as a father, offensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers, and public figure to point you to the individual who has more influence over your child than all the superstar media personalities combined....You.”

“Recognizing that our society has a great need for role models, and few individuals successfully rise to the challenge, The Home Field Advantage assures readers that "Yes, you are a role model… whether you own up to it or not. You are being watched. You are touching lives. You are shaping young lives for good or for incalculable harm." Filled with the stories of everyday heroes who may never make the pages of Sports Illustrated — but who may very well find their way into heaven's highlight clips — this book offers powerful advice for men who want to maximize their influence for generations to come.” 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

The Home Field Advantage:
A Dad's Guide to the Power of Role Modeling
By Ken Ruettgers with Dave Branon
Multnomah Books (1995)
221 pages

The Packer Tapes (1995)

Longtime team athletic trainer Domenic Gentile wrote this enjoyable book — The Packer Tapes: My 32 Years With The Green Bay Packers — after he retired in 1992, following one last year under Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren. 

From the Wisconsin Athletic Trainers’ Association: “In 1961, he was hired by the Green Bay Packers and head coach Vince Lombardi as an assistant to head athletic trainer, Bud Jorgensen. He became the head athletic trainer in 1970 and remained in that position until his retirement following the 1992-93 football season. During his tenure with the Packers, he was an integral part of five NFL Championships, including the first two Super Bowls.”

“He will long be remembered for the compassion toward others and his dedication to the profession of athletic training. He has positively affected the lives of countless people and has served as an excellent role model of what an athletic trainer should be, both on and off the field of play.”

This book is full of behind-the-scenes stories of some of the greatest Packers players and coaches over 30 years. A must read for the amateur Green Bay football historian. 

A sample of an inside spread, with an undated photo of Gentile. 

Photo spread. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

The Packer Tapes: 

My 32 Years With The Green Bay Packers

By Domenic Gentile with Gary D’Amato

Prairie Oak Press (1995)

158 pages

The Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame (1995)

The Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame book was published in 1995, which is when we purchased our copy at the Hall’s original location. It is a history of the Hall up to that point in time, and was a product of all the excitement surrounding the revitalized team during the Ron Wolf-Mike Holmgren era. All of the Hall’s enshrinee’s are profiled in the book, as are articles on various aspects of the franchise’s long, storied history. Since it was a localized-specific publication, our first attempts at locating copies for sale were unsuccessful. If anyone finds where an interested reader may pick up a copy, please let us know. 

Sample inside page. 

Sample inside page. 

The back cover. 

And, if you’re craving some football in these spring months, you might want to pick up this latest special issue from the USA Today. NFL Forecast features QB Aaron Rodgers on the cover (at least here in the upper Midwest), and gives us an early look at the upcoming season. We picked up our copy at the local gas station. 

Lastly, while nosing around Amazon.com tonight, we found this item from the folks at Sports Illustrated that will be released on July 30,2013 — just as Training Camp is getting underway. If you’re interested in picking up a copy of Packers: Green, Gold, and Glory, you can read more about it here.

Green Bay Packers Facts & Trivia (1994)

The author of the stellar series of histories on the team that we’ve featured recently was back in 1994 with Green Bay Packers Facts & Trivia. This combination of history and quizzes format has been repeated by others, but Names’ book is more informative. Written as the Wolf-Holmgren era was getting its legs, it contains more past than present.

A sample of an inside spread.  

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Green Bay Packers Facts & Trivia

By Larry D. Names

The E. B. Houchin Company (1994)

158 pages

The Packers! (1993)

Published to commemorate the Green Bay Packers’ 75th anniversary season in 1993, The Packers! Seventy-Five Seasons of Memories and Mystique in Green Bay includes the entire history of the team at that time — through the 1992 season. There are a few images of Ron Wolf, Mike Holmgren, and Brett Favre, but Reggie White had yet to play his first regular season game for the green and gold. It contains hundreds of historical images, but suffers two major flaws in our opinion. First, many images have no captions, and many suffer from poor quality color separation and/or printing. Other than that, it was a great document of the team up until the ’93 season, but finding a copy seems to be more difficult than many of the books we’ve featured so far. 

The inside front and rear covers feature some blueprint drawings from the original City Stadium (now Lambeau Field) designs. 

Front and rear flaps. 

Introductory spread. 

A sample of an inside spread. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

The Packers! Seventy-Five Seasons of 

Memories and Mystique in Green Bay

By Steve Cameron

Taylor Publishing Company (1993)

240 pages

Packer Legends in Facts (1992)

We bought our first edition of Packer Legends in Facts in 1992, as the Ron Wolf-Mike Holmgren revival of the franchise was about to get underway. The original edition was in commemoration of the team’s 70th anniversary. There have been several updates through the years from author and Packers historical statistician Eric Goska, who — at least through last season — still writes a weekly Packers stats-related column for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. We normally like to show what the inside of each book looks like, but our copy is starting to break apart at the spine already. Basically, for each season, there is a summary of that year’s team, an action photo, team and individual stats, team roster, that year’s draft choices, and the official team photo.

The back cover.

Find later editions of the book here, here, here, and here.

Packer Legends in Facts:

The Green Bay Packers 1921-1991

By Eric Goska

Tech/Data Publications (1992)

398 pages

Motivation — Lombardi Style (1992)

Have you ever noticed books like this in airport gift shops? The “motivational” business books which serve to inspire you to great heights of success in life? Motivation — Lombardi Style is based on the life and teachings of Vince Lombardi, focusing almost entirely on his career in Green Bay. It is filled with inspirational quotes from the legendary coach, as well as photos from this classic era — some that you haven’t seen before. 

The front and rear flaps. 

Quotes are placed along with historic photos. 

It’s always nice to see shots of the locker room that you may not have come across before.

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Motivation — Lombardi Style

By Michael McKee

Celebrating Excellence, Inc. (1992)

89 pages