From Team Historian Cliff Christl:
Bob Harlan was enough of a realist to sense the urgency required of him if he was going to achieve his goal of restoring Green Bay Packers football to a pedestal befitting the NFL's most storied and successful franchise.
He also was enough of a visionary to see the big picture and how business as usual would no longer allow the small-town Packers to stay the course on the path of sustainability.
Thus, Harlan's 18½-year tenure as the chief executive officer of the Packers resulted in one of the most remarkable on-field turnabouts in NFL history and secured the long-term financial future of the organization through its first stock sale in 47 years and the redevelopment of Lambeau Field.
Those crowning accomplishments will be Harlan's lasting legacy.
Harlan died Thursday, March 5, at age 89. He was still living in Green Bay at the time and had been recently hospitalized with pneumonia.
Harlan was elected CEO and the ninth president of the Packers on June 5, 1989, and served as head of the organization until Jan. 28, 2008. First hired by the Packers in 1971, Harlan worked for the organization for 37 years in all. He had been chairman emeritus since 2008.
"The Packers family was saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Harlan," Packers President and CEO Ed Policy said today. "Bob was a visionary leader whose impact on the franchise was transformational. From his inspired hiring of Ron Wolf to turn around the club's on-field fortunes to his tireless work to redevelop Lambeau Field, Bob restored the Packers to competitive excellence during his tenure and helped ensure our unique and treasured flagship NFL franchise was on sound footing for sustained generational success."
On top of his tangible successes, Harlan also will be long remembered for his endearing and homespun leadership style.
"Bob's personal touch as president was something that we all can learn from," Mike McCarthy, Packers coach in Harlan's final two seasons as president, said in a recent interview. "He just had a way. He trusted you. I loved his leadership style.
"I thought he was incredible in front of the media, in front of the fans. His people skills were a tremendous gift. Ted (Thompson) used to call him 'the silver tongue' because we'd always say, 'No one can say it like Bob.' He was great for Ted and me. Special man. I'll always be so grateful to him."
Thompson served as Packers general manager from 2005-17.
In late November 1991 with the Packers having just suffered their ninth loss in 11 games as a continuation of a free-fall that had started 24 years earlier, Harlan fired Tom Braatz as vice president of football operations. Within a week, Harlan hired Ron Wolf in a more expanded role as general manager.
At the time, in the NFL world, firing the head of player personnel in the midst of a season was rarely done. Even more unusual was hiring a replacement in-season and immediately restructuring the lines of authority in a team's football operation.
But less than two years into his presidency, reality had hit home for Harlan. The Packers' 10-6 finish in 1989, his first year as CEO, was merely an aberration. What's more, the divided lines of authority at the time between Braatz and head coach Lindy Infante were doomed to fail.
In Wolf, Harlan hired someone who was groomed to succeed unlike the string of bad hires the Packers had made since 1968.
Wolf had 29 years of NFL experience in player personnel, mostly with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders over a period when they won three Super Bowls. Over his time there, Wolf had cut his teeth in the game and become a trusted advisor to Pro Football Hall of Fame executive Al Davis.
Harlan lured Wolf to Green Bay by giving him total authority over the football operation and then paved the way for his success by keeping his promise.
Over his first 75 days on the job, Wolf convinced the most coveted young coach on the market that year, Mike Holmgren, to come to work for the then woebegone Packers; and acquired Brett Favre, who in his first season solved the Packers' quarterback woes that dated to the start of Bart Starr's arm problems in 1968.
"He was a man of his word," Wolf said of Harlan after both had retired. "He said he was going to hire me to run the football operation and he wouldn't get in the way, and he never got in the way."
On the business side, two decisions that were crucial to the Packers growing their bottom line and remaining financially competitive were leaving Milwaukee after the 1994 season to play all of their home games in Lambeau Field, and pressing other NFL owners in 1997 to approve the franchise's first stock sale since 1950 and one that raised $24 million.
But nothing showed more vision on Harlan's part than the remake of Lambeau.
Around the time Lambeau Field turned 40 in 1997, through the lens of football fans and insiders, including the likes of John Madden, it was hailed as a bucket-list must and a shrine to pro football.
But what few realized other than Harlan and his financial experts on the executive committee was that the stadium was becoming economically obsolete before it was going to become physically outdated.
With those warnings in mind, Harlan formed a vision for a retro-redo of Lambeau that would become a daily destination for both Packers and other pro football fans; and then exhaustively worked to sell the idea first to state and local politicians and then to voters who would be asked to partly pay for the $295 million project.
"Without the redeveloped Lambeau, we would have run into financial oblivion," Packers treasurer John Underwood said in a 2004 interview. "Our profitability would have gone in a tank. We wouldn't have been able to build our corporate reserve account. We wouldn't have been able to pay the bonuses to win."
Under Harlan's leadership, the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI to cap the 1996 season, another NFC championship in 1997 and enjoyed 13 winning seasons over a 16-year span from 1992 to 2007. And the winning hasn't stopped. The Packers won another Super Bowl two years after Harlan retired and have made the playoffs 25 times in the last 34 seasons.
What was viewed as an anachronistic franchise mired in the longest losing cycle of its then 72-year existence when Harlan was elected CEO – or as Wolf put it, "the place where GMs and players went to die" – is now widely viewed as a model franchise.
"The management style here, there's nothing like it," said McCarthy, who is the second winningest coach in Packers history. "Ron Wolf taught me this. I was here only one year (as an assistant) with Ron in '99. But I heard Ron say this a number of times: 'Do not kill the golden goose that laid the golden egg.'
"We have a responsibility to this organization because no one has the setup that we have. It was always about football. You never heard about the business challenges. You never even heard those things in a football space back in those days."
Compared to his predecessors, Harlan never experienced the Packers' death-bed moments the way Andrew Turnbull, Lee Joannes and Emil Fischer had. And the mess Harlan inherited maybe wasn't as bad as what Dominic Olejniczak faced during a 1-10-1 finish in the first of his 24-year tenure as the franchise's president.
But the Packers were certainly at a crossroads in their history when Harlan was elected, and his tenure was arguably as consequential as that of any other president going back to 1923 when the franchise became a community property.
"Bob's biggest influence is everyone's looking at the Packers and seeing a really long string of success," former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said when Harlan was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 2004. "People are looking at Green Bay and saying, 'What's the formula over there?'
"They've done it with class, they've done it with a focus on the game and a focus on the fans."
Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Harlan graduated from Marquette University in 1958, then spent six years as its sports publicity director. In 1965, he was hired by baseball's St. Louis Cardinals to head their community relations and speakers' bureau. Three years later, he became their public relations director.
Harlan was hired by the Packers In 1971 to be assistant general manager under Dan Devine. Over the next 18 years, he held various administrative titles with the team before being elected president and CEO.
Tributes to Bob Harlan:
Packers President and CEO Ed Policy:
"Bob had a profound impact on the organization and the people that worked here long after he became Chairman Emeritus. I am personally grateful for his generosity of time and wisdom in mentoring me over the years."
Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst:
"Bob Harlan set the standard for what the Green Bay Packers organization should be. His leadership reignited our franchise, not just in terms of success on the field, but in the culture and values that define who we are. He believed deeply in doing things the right way — treating people with respect, building trust, and always putting the Packers and the community first. Beyond his remarkable accomplishments, Bob was simply a great man — kind, humble, and genuine. He will be missed."
Former Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy:
"I will be forever grateful to Bob. He was extremely helpful to me when I started with the Packers. He made my transition to a very unique organization seamless. Bob was most responsible for Lambeau Field becoming the most iconic stadium in the NFL, and he left the Packers in great shape both on and off the field."
Former Packers Executive Vice President and General Manager Ron Wolf:
"Bob Harlan gave me an opportunity, and I am deeply indebted to him for that. His greatest trait, in my opinion, is that he was an honorable man, a man of his word, a man of character.
"He was an honor to know and a pleasure to work with."
Former Packers Head Coach Mike Holmgren:
"I was blessed and fortunate to have Bob Harlan as the team president for my first head coaching job. He set an incredible tone for the entire organization.
"He gave us the support we needed and let us do our jobs. He certainly had other things to do in the much larger spectrum of his work, but he also took the time to visit with me. One thing he'd always do was stop in and see me every week and ask, 'What can I do to help you?' That was him.
"Bob helped me become a good manager, a good coach, and to understand the responsibilities of leadership. That carried with me throughout my career. He was really good to me. I owe him a great deal. I'm honored to have worked for him."
Former Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy:
"Bob Harlan is the definition of what the Green Bay Packers embody. The foundation for continuous decades of success falls directly at his feet — and heart.
"I have so many meaningful memories and moments with Bob, but what I cherish most is the consistency of him showing up to my office every week, with a cup of coffee in hand, asking about Jessica and the kids — and never leaving without asking, 'Coach, are you getting everything you need?'
"As proud as Bob was of the Packers, that pales in comparison to the pride he had in his beautiful family. My heart pours out to Madeline, Kevin, Bryan, Michael and the Harlan family as they mourn and celebrate a tremendous husband, father, grandfather — and man."
Former Packers Quarterback Brett Favre:
"Bob Harlan's leadership of the Green Bay Packers was outstanding. Hiring Ron Wolf and supporting the trade that brought me to Green Bay changed my career. The organization believed in me and gave me the opportunity.
"He was so supportive of me during the challenges I faced in my career. Challenges my family faced, too. He was always there offering his support. He was a great and kind man.
"I appreciated the way he represented the Packers and connected so well with Packers fans. I also truly enjoyed his sense of humor and cherished the moments we shared over the years.
"I know winning the Super Bowl and bringing the Lombardi Trophy back to Green Bay was a proud moment for him, what the team accomplished. It was incredible to be a part of the resurgence of this great franchise and Bob set the tone with his leadership."
Former Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers:
"Bob Harlan is a big reason that I was selected by the Green Bay Packers. In 2005 he hired Ted Thompson as GM, and Ted drafted me in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
"I really got to know Bob on the 2007 Packers Tailgate Tour. I think I speak for everyone who went on that trip when I say that we had an absolute blast during those four days and Bob was a big part of it for me!
"Bob is one of the most naturally funny people that I met in the organization during my 18 years. Whether we were laughing on the bus for four days on the Tailgate Tour, embracing in the locker room after a game, or catching up at the holiday party every year, I lit up every day I got to see Mr. Harlan and give him a big hug.
"To me, Bob embodied the spirit of the Green Bay Packers and he truly loved leading the greatest franchise in the NFL. His kind heart, quick wit and steady hand will be remembered by Packers people forever.
"I'll always be thankful for my time with the legend, Mr. Bob Harlan."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell:
"The entire NFL family mourns the loss of longtime Green Bay Packers CEO Bob Harlan. Bob restored the Packers' tradition of excellence, winning a Super Bowl and renovating Lambeau Field into the iconic venue it is today. He also contributed substantially to our league, helping ensure that all cities, large or small, could be successful. Bob came to Green Bay in 1971 and never left, spending more than half a century in his beloved community. Our thoughts are with his family and Packer fans everywhere."
Seattle Seahawks President of Football Operations/General Manager and former Packers Director of Football Operations John Schneider:
"Bob Harlan was such an amazing man. When I started working for the Packers, Bob let me know what authentic leadership looked like: you can be you and lead in a manner that isn't fake.
"I'm so blessed to have had Bob in my life as a mentor and he's a straight-to-Heaven person because of the way he treated people."
Former Milwaukee Brewers Owner and Major League Baseball Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig:
"I have had many wonderful relationships during my long career. My relationship with Bob Harlan was one of the most treasured I have ever had. He was a remarkable human being. He was very kind, very thoughtful and very smart.
We had a great relationship starting in the 1970s when I had just gotten the Milwaukee Brewers and he had joined the Green Bay Packers from the St. Louis Cardinals. I had actually known him even earlier when he worked for Marquette University.
I cannot emphasize what a significant role he has played in my life in so many ways. I am honored to have known Bob and have enjoyed every minute of our relationship over all these years. We always have helped each other through many tough and difficult times. And, of course, I have enjoyed the fruits of our friendship through so many happy and wonderful times.
In closing, he was one of the nicest, kindest, thoughtful, and most remarkable persons that I have had the pleasure of knowing. We helped each other through so many stadium challenges. He was the best and there was and is no doubt about that."
Pro Football Writer Peter King:
"Bob Harlan will go down as one of the most underrated figures in the storied history of one of the great franchises in American sport.
"There have been two significant hires in the last 75 years of the Packers — Vince Lombardi as coach in 1959 and Ron Wolf as general manager in 1991. It was Bob Harlan who went outside the box to hand the Packers football authority to one man, Wolf, instead of a football committee in 1991. It immediately paid dividends. Harlan hired Wolf knowing the organization needed to be shaken out of its two-decade losing lethargy. And in his first 16 months on the job, with Harlan's approval, Wolf hired Mike Holmgren as coach, traded for Brett Favre, and signed Reggie White in free agency. There has not been a better, more consistent winning team in the NFL since then.
"Bob Harlan is the man who made the decision that created this through-line to the Packers being contenders for the past 35 years. He hired Wolf, who trained successor GMs Ted Thompson and Brian Gutekunst. Harlan's ethos was that the only thing that mattered was the team. Wolf, Thompson and Gutekunst have made unpopular decisions with one thing in mind: They, like Harlan, knew they were stewards of one of the great public jewels in sports history and had to look at the future.
"When fans pack Lambeau Field or venture out to dinner in Titletown or brag about their great team, they do so knowing (or at least they should) that this incredible two-generation run of great football was set in motion by Bob Harlan."
Quotes courtesy of the Green Bay Packers
