Titletown Memories

We took a trip to Green Bay this past weekend for Packers training camp. For anyone who's soured on professional sports a trip to the NFL's smallest market may change that perception. The Packers do training camp right. One of the oldest traditions is when the kids line up outside the Lambeau Field dressing room with their bikes.  The players then ride the bikes across the parking lot and Oneida Street to the Don Hutson Center for practice. This year we transported our son's bike on the five-hour journey with the hope he would get picked by one of the players.

We drove to Green Bay on Friday and hustled over to Lambeau, getting in line outside the locker room exit. Some of the stars starting coming out of the tunnel, from Clay Matthews to BJ Raji to Josh Sitton.  They chose some deserving kids but unfortunately no one had picked our son yet.  Then it happened, rookie tight end Ryan Taylor came out and chose our son and created one of the happiest moments of his life. Number 82 happened to be wearing the same number that our son wore last year in football.  He couldn't have been more accomdating, stopping for pictures and even letting his little sister run aside. The Packers have a deep group of tight ends lead by Jermichael Finley so Ryan Taylor may not even make the team.  It doesn't matter to my son, #82 will forever be one of his favorite Packers, right up there with #12. As the weekend went on we had fun but the experience was never topped and he still hasn't stopped talking about meeting a real, live NFL Player. It's a memory he'll never forget. When Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy settle on the roster for the defending champions here's hoping there's room for a rookie tight end from North Carolina. 



The Happy Packer Fan