Ready for the 2017 Season

The football season may seem a long way off, but if you’re a Green Bay Packers season ticket holder, you need to be on your toes and get your ticket invoice(s) paid by tomorrow, Friday, March 31, 2017. We paid ours online this morning, so now we wait. Those mini-camps aren’t too far off...

Football in 1939

This isn’t the Packers, but its an interesting and quality-filmed display of the game of professional football in 1939. It is the highlights of a game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Detroit Lions, in which both teams are wearing their color uniforms — an early “color rush” game for the NFL. The game back then has a different look than today in some of the ways it was played, but the goal was the same... get that ball into the end zone!

1939 NFL Championship

Since free agency has cooled off, we’ll share some videos that we’ve come across on the ol’ YouTube. The first one is a summary of the 1939 NFL Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants. It’s a long way from watching an HD broadcast, but educational nonetheless.

More Signings

The Green Bay Packers have signed CB Davon House and re-signed LB Jordan Tripp. Ted Thompson, Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations, announced the transactions Wednesday.

House returns to Green Bay after playing the last two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2015, he set career highs with 60 tackles, four interceptions and 23 passes defensed. House was originally selected in the fourth round (131st overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Packers out of New Mexico State. He has played in 72 career games with 33 starts, registering 150 tackles (122 solo), six interceptions, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 60 passes defensed.

Tripp was originally selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round (171st overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft out of the University of Montana. After appearing in 13 games as rookie for the Dolphins, he was released on Sept. 5, 2015. Tripp was signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad on Sept. 22, 2015, and then was signed to the active roster on Oct. 10, 2015, where he started one of 12 games played and totaled seven tackles (five solo) and a team-high seven special teams tackles. In 2016, he was released by the Jaguars after training camp and spent time on the Seattle Seahawks’ practice squad and active roster, appearing in seven games with one start before being placed on injured reserve on Dec. 3 and then reaching an injury settlement on Dec. 9. Tripp signed with Green Bay on Dec. 14, appearing in two regular-season games and all three postseason contests.

Free Agency — Day 3

The Green Bay Packers have signed TE Lance Kendricks. Ted Thompson, Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations, announced the signing Saturday. Kendricks was originally selected by the St. Louis Rams in the second round (47th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft out of the University of Wisconsin. He played in 93 games with 79 starts for the Rams in six seasons, including starting all 16 games in 2016. Last season Kendricks set a career high with 50 receptions for 499 yards (10.0 avg.) and two touchdowns. The Milwaukee native has totaled 204 receptions for 2,132 yards (10.5 avg.) and 17 touchdowns in his career.

A New Packer!

The Green Bay Packers have signed TE Martellus Bennett. Ted Thompson, Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations, announced the signing Friday. Bennett has played in 135 games with 100 starts during his nine NFL seasons and has posted 403 receptions for 4,287 yards (10.6 avg.) and 30 TDs. He played for the New England Patriots in 2016 after three seasons with the Chicago Bears (2013-15). Bennett entered the NFL with Dallas as a second-round pick out of Texas A&M (No. 61 overall) in 2008, playing his first four seasons with the Cowboys (2008-11). He also spent one season with the N.Y. Giants (2012).

Bennett played all 16 games with 12 starts for the New England Patriots in 2016 and caught 55 passes for 701 yards (12.7 avg.) and seven TDs. He was tied for No. 3 in the league among tight ends in TD catches and ranked No. 6 among TEs in yards per catch.

Bennett registered a career-high 90 catches for 916 yards (10.2 avg.) and six TDs in 2014 with the Bears on his way to earning Pro Bowl recognition. His reception total set a single-season franchise record for tight ends, with his yardage total ranking No. 2 among TEs in team history.

Bennett has posted 50-plus receptions in each of the last five seasons, one of only three tight ends in the league (Greg Olsen, Jason Witten) to do so over that span. Among tight ends, he ranks No. 4 in the league in catches (318), No. 6 in receiving yards (3,441) and tied for No. 6 in TD catches (26) since 2012.

Fly, Adderley, Fly!

Here’s an interesting shot from the 1960s... Green Bay Packers’ CB Herb Adderley covering a Los Angeles Rams player — who has no face mask on his helmet! This looks to be one of those late-season games early in the decade where the Packers always finished their season on the west coast. But we cannot find a #29 on the early Sixties Rams' rosters. It’s not a preseason game, because the Packers did not play any exhibition matches with the Rams. Any thoughts, readers? [NOTE: A few readers peg the year at 1965 or '66]

1959 CBS TV Coverage Map

Here is a great vintage graphic of CBS Television’s coverage of the National Football League in 1959. This was, of course, Vince Lombardi’s first year as head coach and general manager in Green Bay. One thing that we learned from this map is that the Chicago Cardinals played two games in Minneapolis that year, which must have been part of the process of awarding that city an NFL franchise of their own in 1960, with the Vikings playing their first season in 1961.

Nitschke: Gentle... Remorseless

We were going through some of our backlog of archive materials the other day, and found this newspaper clipping from a Milwaukee County Stadium 1963 game program. We’ll be sharing occasionally here in the offseason, so remember to stop back now and then.