| Frozen tundra. The Ice Bowl. Bleacher seating. Heated playing surface of natural grass. Wind chills of 30 below zero. Two-foot snowfalls. Sounds like the worst playing and viewing conditions that can be imagined yet everyone, players and spectators alike, wants to be here. Lambeau Field that is. The shrine and home to what is, arguably, the real America's team the Green Bay Packers. |
| Every gameday a capacity crowd of 60,790 die-hard Packer fans occupy the seats of Lambeau to watch their team do battle in the coliseum filled with green and gold warriors. And, based on the legacy that the Packers have established over the years, tens of thousands of diehard loyalists throughout the world will either watch or listen to a play-by-play broadcast of the game. It's their duty. An obligation of sorts. They have to don the dark green and bright gold and pay homage to their team. |
| In the early seventies, while still a player, a tough as nails linebacker by the name of Ray Nitschke recognized the fervor by which Packer fans worshipped their idolized players. The team he played on had won the first two Super Bowls. They created the dynasty. Nitschke sensed the loyal following and took action. |
| Ray Nitschke's PACKER REPORT was born out of necessity. That is, the need for Packer fans around the world to keep informed and rally around their team. Ray Nitschke took the first step in satisfying that need. He cloned, of all things, a Dallas Cowboy publication with former tackle great |
| Bob Lilly's name on the cover. And, although not an instant success, the PACKER REPORT and Ray Nitschke took on a life of their own through many a football season good, bad and ugly. |
| Today the PACKER REPORT reaches approximately 150,000 Packer faithful, many of them 'displaced' from their Wisconsin homeland. There are subscribers in every state plus a number of foreign countries. And it's the need for Packer information, that most of the readers can't get where they live, that keeps them buying this publication year after year, season after season. |
| This book is a testament to Ray Nitschke's vision. He started the PACKER REPORT because he loved his team and he loved their fans. And he knew, by the way fans greeted him at the many functions he attended, that he had satisfied the hunger of Green Bay Packer facts and figures so many of them craved. |
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