Cover Boy (Again!)

Aaron Rodgers has made the cover of Sports Illustrated once again, on the heels of his dominant performance in Chicago.

Gotta love seeing all that gold on the newsstand. I do wish that the Packers would go back to Lombardi's classic road uniform; what they have now is close but not great.

In-Game Infographics

The Packers' social media team has been working overtime on their in-game infographics. All throughout the game, these updates were uploaded to Twitter, moments after the events they commemorate.

Really outstanding stuff.

They also have this fantastic old-timey-film animation for scores and turnovers:

James Jones again. #Touchdown #Packers. #GBvsCHI pic.twitter.com/BVCxH3ftFV

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 13, 2015

Fantastic job by the Packers.

A Beautiful Day for Football

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) hands off the ball to running back Eddie Lacy (27) during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015 in Chicago, Il. (Todd Rosenberg/NFL)

What a beautiful day for football in Chicago. Of course, a win is almost always prettier than a loss, but still. Bright sunshine, the Bears in navy and the Packers' gold bright in the sun.

Infographic: Packers/Bears Preview

It's time for football, and that means it's also time for another fantastic Packers.com infographic.

This week's infographic features the numbers on the all-time Packers-Bears series, plus a look at where both teams ranked in several NFL categories last season and statistical streaks several Packers stars are riding coming into Sunday's game. Check it out:

Good as Gold

This beautiful photo, originally published in the photo section of the Milwaukee Journal on October 12, 1930, now hangs in a mens' room in the Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee.

The caption gives us a little context:

The Green Bay Packers
Champions of the National Professional Football League
FOR 1929

PRO FOOTBALL IN GREEN BAY dates from the time when the Acme Packing Co. put a team in the field just after the World War. For several years the team has been supported by the Green Bay Football corporation but the name Packers has remained—a name which all Wisconsin honors, a name which means top notch football in the National Professional Football League.

Front row, left to right; Woodin, Radick, Fitzgibbon, Zuidmulder, Bloodgood, Perry and Zuver. Middle row, left to right: Lambeau, Herber, Michalske, McCrary, O'Donnell, Lewellyn, Blood, Molenda, Dunn and Lidvig. Standing, left to right: Hanny, Sleight, Nash, Hubbard, Dilweg, Engelmann, Bowdoin, Darling, Earpe and Kresge. (Journal Color Photo)

Although the caption mentions the 1929 Championship, this is a photo of the 1930 club. Elbert Bloodgood, Merle Zuver, and Frank Hanny played only one season in Green Bay.

"Lidvig" is actually running back Carl Lidberg. I don't know who "Kresge" is; nobody by that name appears on the Packers' all-time roster.

The Packers would, of course, go on to win a second consecutive World Championship in 1930 and then a third after that; a feat which has only been equaled once since, by the Packers of 1965, 1966, and 1967.

I love the little pennant graphic filling out the space below the caption.

"The GBP". Very collegiate.

This is a beautiful ph

What the Heck is This Supposed to Be?!

This just appeared on the Packers Pro Shop site.

Green Bay Packers Classic Pump Fake Top

Item Number: 5102-298-019

$84.95
New!

Description:
Heavy-weight ringspun jersey top is 100% cotton. Has rib trim at collar, self-fabric shoulder yoke, quilted elbow patches, and side vents. Vintage garment-washed with embroidered jersey appliqued logo and embroidered felt patch. Mitchell & Ness woven jock tag at lower left hem.

What the hell is that supposed to be? Forget about "Pump", because "Fake" is the perfect description for this Frankenstein's Monster of a jersey.

It's more or less the template for the Packers' 1937-49 jerseys. But they've slapped the new "GREEN BAY PACKERS" wordmark across the front where the numbers should be.

This is especially disappointing considering the source. The last time Mitchell and Ness manufactured throwback Packers jerseys, in the early 2000s, they did a marvelous job recreating the classic construction.

In particular, note how the gold yoke sits high on the front of the jersey, revealing the gold collar ring. That's the way it was back in the 1940s.

That detail is one of the things the NFL got right with the reproductions for their "Evolution" commercial back in 2012.

Unfortunately, the Packers' 1994 and 2015 throwbacks drop the ball, lowering the yoke to the very bottom of the collar.

If they got the yoke right on this new "Classic Pump Fake Top", we could at least adapt it into a serviceable throwback jersey by replacing the wordmark with numbers. As it stands, it's neither terribly attractive nor useful.

ESPN The Magazine: "Inside Bart Starr's Drive..."

Bart Starr, 81, continues to recover from multiple strokes and a heart attack he suffered last fall. Here, he is joined by his wife, Cherry, who continues to be the backbone of his recovery. The couple has been married for over 60 years. (Photograph by Gerry Melendez for ESPN)

ESPN has an incredibly emotional story about Bart Starr's declining health and his desire to be at Lambeau Field this Thanksgiving to see Brett Favre's number retired.

It's a touching story of a couple who have been together for 61 years, their challenges and their strength. I don't think I'll ever be able to hear "Unchained Melody" again without thinking of Bart.

"Champions of Them All"

Heritage Auctions

This amazing team photo comes from Heritage Auctions. They have a pair of championship banquet programs to be auctioned off next month, and this is the preview of the first.

The Packers had held a championship banquet for the Packers following every title won to this point, starting in 1929. This, the fifth World Championship, was no exception.

The Packers had been strong all season, finishing 9-2. The only team with a better record was the Eastern Division champion New York Giants at 9-1-1. On December 10, 1939, the two teams faced off at Wisconsin State Fair Park in the Championship Game. You might have expected two such dominant teams to play an even game, but when they took the field the Packers dismantled the visiting New Yorkers, 27-0.

Four days and 120 miles later, two thousand fans packed the Columbus Community Club building on South Jefferson Street in downtown Green Bay. Among the revelers was Wisconsin governor Julius P. Heil, "perhaps as real, honest to goodness sports fan as ever sat in the governor's chair".

In the words of the Milwaukee Sentinel, the room was

"jarred to the rafters with the flood of adjectives as speaker on speaker lauded the Bays for their marvelous performance all season and for the "greatest football display in the game's history" last Sunday. The Packers, themselves, took the adjectives like blushing school girls, but actually beamed with and more than one made a passing remark: "Gee, boys, this Green Bay town is the place to play your pro football."

The venue itself had a long history with the Packers; the Columbus Club building opened in 1925 as a recreational and social center, and immediately began playing an important role in Packer history.

Columbus Club Building circa 1930

There is a Packers Heritage Trail plaque on the building, listing some of that history:

In the 1920s, before radio broadcasts of Packer games, large crowds gathered on Sunday afternoons when the team was playing on the road. A play-by-play was transmitted by telegraph wire from the site of the game, and the results were posted here on a large board built in the shape of a football field.

From 1927 until the mid-1930s, the Packers used the top floor as a clubhouse. For five years, starting in 1930, their ticket office was located here, as well.

The building also was the site of championship celebrations and rousing public rallies that helped save the franchise. Banquets were held in the first-floor auditorium after the Packers won NFL titles in 1936 and 1939. On April 11, 1950, more than 1,500 fans filled the auditorium to kick off the Packers' third stock drive. And on March 31, 1956, more than 1,000 fans attended a rally in support of building what is now Lambeau Field. George Halas and Curly Lambeau were among the speakers. Three days later, the city-wide referendum passed in a landslide.

This also was where the Vince Lombardi Show was taped by WBAY-TV.

The building is now studios for WBAY, the ABC affiliate in Green Bay.

Google Maps

Columbus Club Building in 2012

Let's take a closer look at that team photo. Curly Lambeau is in the front row, far left, and on the far right of the second row we can see assistant coach Red Smith. Smith spent his offseasons as a catcher, coach, and eventually general manager for the Milwaukee Brewers, and in the early 1940s managed the Brews' farm team in Green Bay.

This is Lambeau's classic blue and gold uniform, introduced in 1937 and emblematic of the franchise through the 1949 season. Their socks still had stripes in 1939, although those would only last for a few years.

You can also see that the players are wearing at least two different number styles; undoubtedly the result of old uniforms being carried over (we would see this happen into the Lombardi era as well).

Some of the players are wearing "4"s with a "foot" on the bottom of the vertical line, and some are a fully sans-serif version.

For what it's worth, the photos I've seen of the Packers' white alternate jerseys from that season featured the sans-serif font.

The numbers on Hutson's jersey don't match any I've ever seen before on a navy jersey, and in any case by 1943 he would be wearing the "footed" 4.

What an amazing piece of Packers history this banquet program is. It's going to make some lucky collector very, very happy.

The Spirit of Curly Lambeau on the Sidelines

Along with the new throwback alternate jerseys, the Packers have started selling sideline gear and fan merchandise featuring the classic blue and gold color scheme and a new "GREEN BAY PACKERS" wordmark.

The lettering is obviously based on this 1949 sideline jacket, which I posted in 2009. With its unique three-line layout, it squares off the words and fits well across a cap, jacket or t-shirt.

What's also interesting is that they're treating this wordmark just like a logo, dropping it into the standard merchandise templates for the throwback sideline gear.

I wonder if this means the wordmark logo will make it to the Style Guide, and if the team will use it as a primary logo in connection with their annual social media rebranding. Two years ago I bemoaned the lack of a proper throwback logo they could use in place of the iconic "G" during Throwback Week; we'll see if this is their solution.

Hall of Fame Uniform Timeline - "G" Whiz

In addition to the white lettering on the "ACME PACKERS" jersey, the recently-unveiled uniform timeline at the Packers Hall of Fame contains another element of note. Unlike the 1921 uniforms, which may be the product of new research, this one's just an error.

The ingenious timeline shows the march of progress of Packers uniforms.

© Jeff Ash, used with permission

As you move from right to left, the figures appear to be throwing a pass, and you advance through the highlights of the team's uniform history from the earliest days to modern times:

© Jeff Ash, used with permission

© Jeff Ash, used with permission

But let's take a closer look at one of the elements. These pictures don't show it very well, so we'll examine this photo, released by the club:

Packers.com

Do you see it?

The figure labelled "1959" clearly shows the iconic "G" logo. Unfortunately, that logo wasn't added to the helmets until 1961.

I presume that'll be fixed soon, but until then we can take comfort in the fact that even the big guys can get the details wrong now and then.