Green Bay Packers

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Lore & Background

The Packers are the last of the 'small-town teams' that were common in the NFL during the league's early days of the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl 'Curly' Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, the franchise traces its lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. Between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest, before joining the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1921. In 1933, the Packers began playing part of their home slate in Milwaukee until changes at Lambeau Field in 1995 made it more lucrative to stay in Green Bay full-time; Milwaukee is still considered a home media market for the team. Although Green Bay is the smallest major league professional sports market in North America, Forbes ranked the Packers as the world's 23rd-most-valuable sports franchise in 2025, with a value of $6.65 billion.

In Their Own Story

The narrative of Green Bay's involvement in the 2016 Kansas City season centers entirely on Knile Davis. The transaction occurred during the regular season when the Chiefs traded Davis to the Packers. The arrangement was short-lived; Davis was released from the Packers roster merely two weeks after the trade took place. He did not stay away long, as he signed back to the Chiefs shortly thereafter. This brief interlude in Green Bay's history contrasts with the team's broader 2016 achievements, such as clinching a first-round bye and starting a nine-game division title streak that would extend to 2024.

Reader's Guide

The Packers have won 13 league championships, with nine pre-Super Bowl NFL titles and four Super Bowl victories. The Packers, under coach Vince Lombardi, won the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967; they were the only NFL team to defeat the American Football League (AFL) before the AFL–NFL merger. After Lombardi died, the Super Bowl trophy was named for him, but the team struggled through the 1970s and 1980s. The team's performance shifted after acquiring Brett Favre in 1992 and his eventual successor Aaron Rodgers in 2005, beginning a new ongoing era which has been characterized by consistent regular-season success, with 25 playoff appearances and two Super Bowl wins in 1996 and 2010, under head coaches Mike Holmgren and Mike McCarthy, respectively. In addition to the most wins, the Packers hold the second-highest win–loss record (.571) in NFL history, including both regular season and playoff games.

Did You Know?

• The Packers are the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States.
• The Packers have played more than 100 games against the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions and have a winning overall record against all of them, a distinction only shared with the Kansas City Chiefs, Da
• The Bears–Packers rivalry is one of the oldest rivalries in American professional sports history, dating to 1921.
• The Packers' streak of 29 consecutive home games without defeat from 1929–1931 is an NFL record which still stands.