This just-released book about the Green Bay Packers gets off to a great start before you even open it. Gracing the front cover is what I consider the most iconic photograph of the Packers ever taken – Jerry Kramer and Forest Gregg carrying Vince Lombardi off the field after defeating the Raiders in Super Bowl II. What makes the picture even more poignant is that the players knew this would be their last game with Lombardi as coach. What they didn’t know, was that in less than three years, Lombardi would be out of their lives forever.
This book is a celebration of the perhaps the most storied franchise in football history, and fittingly makes liberal use of some classic Sports Illustrated (SI) stories to tell the tale of “The People’s Champions,” the Green Bay Packers.
The book begins with a historical look back at the team and it’s fans, as seen through they eyes of those fans, some of whom are third or fourth generation Packers fans. We then get a photographic look at some particularly rabid Packer fans, many decked out in their unique and outrageous Green and Gold get-ups. Each tell a brief story about their love of the Packers.
Having covered the folks in the stands, the book shifts it’s focus to the playing field and the players they are cheering for. There are profiles and stunning photographs of 33 players who can best be described as, “Packers Royalty.” From Curly Lambeau to Aaron Rodgers, the best of the best are described with interesting anecdotes from their careers.
Next comes the meat of the book: a 70-page look at the Packers 13 championship game wins, from their 21-6 defeat of the Boston Redskins in 1936 to the Super Bowl XLV win over the Steelers. There are plenty of interesting facts and stories you probably haven’t heard before and candid photographs that bring you back to that moment in time.
The book concludes with a focus on SI’s coverage of the Packers over the years. Five classic stories, including two from the sixties glory days, are presented to you as the Editor’s “favorites.”
The book is edited by Bill Syken, former editor of Sports Illustrated. With 176 pages and over 200 photographs, it’s a must-have in any Packer fan’s collection.
I’ve included a copy of the official press release for the book below.
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For Immediate Release:
On Sale Date: July 30, 2013
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
GREEN BAY PACKERS: Green, Gold and Glory
Edited by Bill Syken
In Green Bay, Wisconsin, football is more than a game to sit back and watch—it’s an experience that fans live with the players, celebrating alongside their friends and neighbors. Although Green Bay is the NFL’s smallest market team, the Packers enjoy one of the largest fanbases in the league. It is an international group, devoted to the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team in the United States. Now in a stunning, photo-filled book, GREEN BAY PACKERS: Green, Gold and Glory (Time Home Entertainment Inc.; July 30, 2013; $34.95), Sports Illustrated, drawing on its six decades of covering the Packers, celebrates the most winning team in the NFL and its dedicated fanbase.
Edited by Bill Syken, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED GREEN BAY PACKERS weaves together never-before-seen and classic stories with more than 200 striking photographs to bring to life the unparalleled passion that runs through generations of Packers fans. The greatest moments and players in Green Bay’s history are here, from the early years of the franchise with co-founder Curly Lambeau to the current-day Packers champions Clay Matthews Jr. and Aaron Rodgers. The book also features exclusive shots of the team’s loyal “cheeseheads” in a photo gallery, spotlighting more than two dozen fans from all over the world, donning their green and gold.
“In other cities longtime fans talk about wanting to see their team win a championship in their lifetime,” writes Syken in his introduction. “In Green Bay, dating back to the team’s inception, it has been the rare fan who hasn’t learned by voting age why the city is called Titletown.”
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED GREEN BAY PACKERS commemorates this winning tradition—13 championships, 22 Hall of Fame players—and the team’s unique relationship with its hometown with a tribute that any cheesehead will cherish.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Bill Syken, a former editor and reporter at Sports Illustrated, has served as the editor on several SI Books, most recently Football’s Greatest and Pittsburgh Steelers: Pride in Black and Gold. He lives in Philadelphia.
Sports Illustrated (SI), the most respected voice in sports journalism, is a multimedia sports brand that takes the consumer into the heart and soul of sports. It reaches a weekly audience of nearly 21 million adults, and SI.com, the magazine’s 24/7 sports news website delivers more than 150 original stories each week. For more information on Green Bay Packers, please visit si.com/packersbook.
Time Home Entertainment Inc. (THEI), the book publishing division of Time Inc, creates and leverages editorial content across multiple platforms, including books, bookazines, e-books and calendars, in partnership with such Time Inc brands as Time, People, and Sports Illustrated.
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED GREEN BAY PACKERS
Green, Gold and Glory
Edited by Bill Syken
On Sale Date: July 30, 2013; Trim: 10-3/4” x 11-29/32”, Price: $34.95; 176 Pages
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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.
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Sounds like a winner.
Sounds like a good read.
Thanks, Al.
Who did Jerry Kramer piss off that’s kept him out of the hall of fame?
I’m with Savage57, Jerry Kramer is a 3-time Pro-Bowler, 5-time FIRST team All-Pro, member of 5 NFL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS and includes the first two SB winners–NFL can’t talk about RG’s in the 60’s without bringing up Kramer’s name. It’s time for the NFL HOF to live up to it’s name and recognize outstanding players for THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS, not because there are “too many” from Lombardi’s teams already in the HOF–it’s supposed to recognize individual players for their play and contributions, Jerry Kramer deserves to be in the HOF NOW!
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