Paul Hornung wearing his famous number 5.

What were the Green Bay Packers thinking by issuing the number 5 to wide receiver Terrell Sinkfield?

Don’t they know what happened the last time they did that?

Remember the flak that Don Majkowski – and the Packers – received when they issued the number to him back in 1987? It was significant and strong enough that Majkowski, who was not yet known as the “Majik Man,” changed it to 7. At the time here’s how he addressed the issue:

“People kept asking me how it feels to wear Paul Hornung’s number. I kept hearing that, and I realized the impact Hornung had. I wanted to wear a number people could remember me for.”

That was the last time the number, which is in everyone’s mind as being “unofficially” retired, had been issued.

So, why now? Especially to an undrafted free agent who was picked up last week off the scrap heap? Maybe Sinkfield becomes the next Majkowski. Maybe he comes out of nowhere to make the team, rise through the ranks and become a Packers Hall of Famer.

But before we get way ahead of ourselves we have to ask the question first – shouldn’t Hornung’s number be retired?

Maybe, but probably not. You can’t retire every number.

There are many jerseys worn by great Packers players whose numbers also deserve special recognition.

Why don’t people get upset when Forrest Gregg’s 75 is given out? Or when Herb Adderley’s 26 hits the field? What about Fuzzy Thurston’s 63? What about Willie Davis’s 87? Sterling Sharpe’s 84? Jimmy Taylor’s 31? Heck, what about Zeke Bratkowski’s 12?

After all, it’s just a number … why is Hornung’s 5 so sacred? Maybe it’s the single digit? Maybe it’s Hornung’s mystique?

I don’t know. But I do know that there are many Packers fans who are going to object.

To them I say let’s move on. Let the guy wear the number. It’s a nice number and if he makes the team he’ll switch it anyway to something like Donald Driver’s (or James Lofton’s) 80.

What do you think? Should more Packers numbers be retired?

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Green Bay Packers fans are a special breed. We are loyal, ferocious in our appetite for everything related to the team, and generally have a pretty high football IQ.

Being a Packers fan is not a passive endeavor, it is a year-round commitment. Packers fans are known nationally for the Cheesehead, beer and of course brats, cold weather and commitment. The question I have been grappling with lately is how does this come about, this becoming and remaining a Packers fan?

Whether we realize it or not, and most likely we do, there is an esteem that comes with being a Packers fan. After all, the Green Bay Packers are America’s Team. Sorry Dallas, but there is a difference between simply proclaiming to be America’s Team and earning the title. And the Packers did so in a landslide.

It could be the team’s history. Established in 1919 the Packers have been around for 94 years. The fact that an NFL team exists in a town of 105,000 people is a good story, as is it being a community-owned team. Furthermore, if the team were ever sold after all expenses were paid the proceeds would go to the Sullivan Post of the American Legion to build a “proper soldiers memorial.” I mean how much more “down home” can it get?

To top it all off, the Green Bay Packers are a winning organization. Thirteen championships – more than any other NFL team. This “Titletown” thing is no joke. Having amassed four Super Bowl victories and nine championships before the Super Bowl era began in 1967.

Wikipedia, Gonzo fan 2007

The Packers have guys who are legendary, players and coaches who are household names around the country. When you hear names like Don Hutson, Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Paul Horning, Jerry Kramer, Ray Nitchske, Brett Favre, Reggie White, and Leroy Butler you think of the Green and Gld. Despite the gap between the Lombardi era and the Brett Favre teams you also think of winning, and dedicated fans leading the way.

I grew up in Wisconsin in Plymouth, a small town about an hour south of Green Bay. I don’t recall the moment I pledged to become a Packers fan. It seems like that’s just the way it is, kind of like the fact that I am Irish. But I do recall traditions. Things like cheese and crackers, Sunday afternoons and games begin at noon, my parents pouring themselves a cold one, throwing the football at halftime, and since I was reared as a Packers fan in the 1980s a lot of cussing and swearing.

Erin Carroll, independent

Currently I reside in Portland, Ore., a city of 500,000 people in a metro area of 2.2 million. In an area that is by no means a metropolis, there are three bars in which every Sunday during the NFL season become Packers bars. I frequent a bar called Saraveza, a place modeled after a classic Wisconsin tavern. Games start here on the west coast at 10 a.m. By 9:30 a. m. there is a line down the street. For the three hours spent there I am transported back to Wisconsin. It is a dedicated collection of fans and the traditions do not miss a beat. It feels like home.

I am curious, Packers nation – why and how did you become a Packers fan. What are your traditions? And how did we become so rabid for the Green Bay Packers. Please, share your comments. Post to the Lombardiave.com Facebook page, tweet me @phughespdx, if it’s a long story, I’ll give you my email address when you tweet. Let me know, I want to hear your stories about your relationship to America’s Team.

With that said, Go Pack Go!

In addition to blogging about the Green Bay Packers for Lombardiave.com, Patrick Hughes blogs about gardening at wheelandbarrowlandscape.com, running and the Portland Trailblazers at Oregon Sports News, and artisans and the connection economy at phughespdx.com.

The post below was provided today by the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and details one’s retelling of a story told by the late great Vince Lombardi’s wife, Marie, way back in 1975. However, it’s one that I’ve never heard and doubt that you have either.

Take a short moment to give it a read. Packers fans everywhere are sure to understand exactly what Vince meant at the time he uttered his final remembrance of Green Bay.

Vince Lombardi’s Final Remembrance of Green Bay

This remarkable memory is courtesy of Jim DeWees. Jim is a Hall of Fame Executive Committee Member on the Board of Directors for the Packers Hall of Fame, Inc.

As a long-time member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Board of Directors and Executive Committee, I have my own personal collection of Packers stories.

One I’d like to share one with you today stands out in my mind as truly unique.

Several years ago, the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Induction Banquet was held at the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay. It was 1975, the year that Vince Lombardi and several of his players were inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame. This group included Don Chandler, Willie Davis, Paul Hornung, Henry Jordan, Jerry Kramer, Ron Kramer, Max McGee, Jim Taylor and Fuzzy Thurston. The banquet, of course, was sold out, and packed with admirers and fans.

Marie Lombardi was there to accept the award on behalf of her husband. It was an emotional time, as it was a short time after he had passed away. She told the audience about a conversation she had with Vince a couple days before he died.

She said, “I was sitting on the edge of the bed and Vini (as she always called him) was so sick and semi-conscious. He awoke and said, “Marie, honey, I want to go home.”

I said, “You are home.”

And Vini said, “No, I mean I want to go home to Green Bay.”

This was a tear-jerking moment for everyone.

There was never a question about how the city of Green Bay felt about Vince Lombardi.

Now we know how Vince Lombardi really felt about Green Bay.

Paul Hornung, the Packers Hall of Famer, will be honored as a "Hometown Hero."

Like Bart Starr a few months ago, Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Paul Hornung will soon receive yet another honor.

According to representatives from Allstate out of the Chicago office, the insurance company, in association with the Pro Football Hall of Fame will honor Hornung as a “Hometown Hall of Famer.”

Here is the full press release announcing the upcoming presentation:

Pro football legend Paul Hornung will be recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate Insurance Company in Louisville on Tuesday, March 13, as part of “Hometown Hall of Famers™,” a national program honoring the hometown roots of the sport’s greatest players with special ceremonies and plaque dedication events in local communities.

“’Hometown Hall of Famers™’ has been warmly embraced by communities and Hall of Famers alike,” said George Veras, Pro Football Hall of Fame Enterprises president and CEO.  “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Allstate to bring the Pro Football Hall of Fame to communities across the country and congratulate Paul Hornung and Trinity High School on bringing a piece of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to Louisville.”

A two-time Pro Bowl selection as halfback for the Green Bay Packers and former high school standout at the now-closed Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget High School in Louisville, Hornung will be presented with his “Hometown Hall of Famer™” plaque during a special ceremony at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 13, at Trinity High School, where the plaque will live permanently to serve as an inspiration for the entire community. The presentation will be made by Will Wolford, Hornung’s long-time friend and former NFL offensive lineman.

“To be part of a program that brings the prestige and tradition of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to cities like Louisville is an honor for Allstate, our agents and employees,” said Lisa Cochrane, Allstate’s senior vice president of marketing.

The ceremony will be attended by Hornung’s family members and close friends, as well as Louisville community members. John Asher, vice president of communications at Churchill Downs, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

In addition to the plaque, a commemorative Paul Hornung “Hometown Hall of Famer™” road sign will be on display in Louisville.

As a standout student-athlete in high school, Hornung lettered four years in football, baseball and basketball. After high school, Hornung excelled as a versatile offensive and defensive threat at the University of Notre Dame where he earned the nickname the “Golden Boy” and won the Heisman Trophy in 1956.

Hornung was the first overall selection by the Green Bay Packers in the 1957 NFL Draft. His nine-year career as a dominant halfback totaled 3,711 rushing yards and 1,480 receiving yards for 62 touchdowns. Hornung also handled kicking duties during his career, making 66 field goals and 190 extra points. Although he was unable to participate in the game due to a pinched nerve in his neck, Hornung’s Packers won the first-ever Super Bowl played on January 15, 1967, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 35-10.

Hornung was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.

“Hometown Hall of Famers™ presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate” is the Hall of Fame’s first nationwide plaque program and will lead into the celebration of its 50^th anniversary in August 2012.  For more information on the program and event videos, fans can visit www.profootballhof.com. 

About the Pro Football Hall of Fame

In its day-to-day operation, the Pro Football Hall of Fame works very closely with all facets of the pro football family – the National Football League, the 32 NFL clubs, and other entities to ensure the overall success of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In turn, the Hall strives to serve as the best possible historical showplace and repository for the sport of pro football. The Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational institution that focuses on education, promoting, preserving, and honoring the great individuals and moments that have shaped the sport’s history.

About Allstate

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer. Widely known through the “You’re In Good Hands With Allstate^®” slogan, Allstate is reinventing protection and retirement to help nearly 16 million households insure what they have today and better prepare for tomorrow. Consumers access Allstate insurance products (auto, home, life and retirement) and services through Allstate agencies, independent agencies, and Allstate exclusive financial representatives in the U.S. and Canada, as well as via www.allstate.com and 1-800 Allstate^®. As part of Allstate’s commitmentto strengthen local communities, The Allstate Foundation, Allstate employees, agency owners and the corporation provided $28 million in 2011 to thousands of nonprofit organizations and important causes across the United States.

'Lombardi' is in the middle of its run at the Milwaukee Reperatory Theater. It's run has been extended through Nov. 20.

It’s not often that I get to talk about the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Milwaukee Reperatory Theater all in one gulp, but I’m honored to do so right here.

You see, there’s a production now in its run at the theater about a famous coach and one of the employees at that theater just happens to be a Steelers fan … and not just a Steelers fan … Craig Gottschalk is also the editor and lead writer of Fansided.com’s own Nice Pick, Cowher.

As an employee at the theater, Gottschalk posted a recent blog about his experiences in preparing for “Lombardi,” the Broadway smash hit about the Packers great head coach, citing his slow evolution toward understanding what being a Packers fan is all about.

He describes having to endure his beloved Steelers losing to the Packers in last year’s Super Bowl, and then turning around and having to spend months in preparing for the “Lombardi” run at his own theater. Bittersweet though it was for him, the process melted some of the ice in Gottschalk’s heart toward the Packers as the show neared and finally opened.

If you are a Packers fan … or even a Steelers fan, you’ve got to read about this incredible homage to Lombardi … in fact, you might even want to go online here to get your tickets for the show whose run has been extended through Nov. 20.

Gottschalk’s view of the the Packers through Steelers’ eyes is refreshing and humbling for all football fans … after all, Gottschalk says, “It’s only a game.” His self-realization brings us all back to earth … and his description of rubbing elbows with the greatness of Bart Starr, Paul Horning and Packers fans in general is just plain fun.

You’ve got to read Gottschalk’s piece in full here … you will enjoy every word of it.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to Like lombardiave.com on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Clipped from: nicepickcowher.com (share this clip)