Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame

The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame was the first hall of fame built to honor a single professional American football team. John P. Holloway, a Brown County administrator and arena director, and William L. Brault, a Green Bay restaurateur and Packers fan, co-founded the Packer Hall of Fame museum in 1966. According to them, they got the idea after visitors to Green Bay would repeatedly ask about the Packers' storied history. Sensing opportunity, they went to Packers head coach Vince Lombardi, suggesting a Hall of Fame should be made to attract and educate tourists about the Packers and their history. Lombardi gave them his approval, and according to Brault, as he left his office, Lombardi called out to him, "Don't screw it up!"

Holloway also founded the Green Bay Area Visitor and Convention Bureau in 1964 from which the original hall of fame began. The hall opened as a series of exhibits displayed in the lower concourse of the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena, although it was not a permanent residence, as the exhibits had to be removed each autumn to make room for the Green Bay Bobcats hockey team, which played its home games at the Arena. In 1967, the Packer Hall of Fame Association, a separate corporate entity from the team, was founded and annual induction banquets were subsequently launched in 1970. The Hall did not become a permanent site until 1976 when its new home, an addition to the Brown County Veterans Arena, was formally dedicated on April 3, 1976, by President Gerald R. Ford. Outside of the Hall of Fame was a 'Receiver Statue' that was dedicated to the invention of the Forward Pass.

Over the next 26 years, the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame encountered many expansions and renovations. In 2003, renovations to Lambeau Field provided a new home within the new Lambeau Field Atrium for the Hall. Packers legends Bart Starr and Ron Wolf rededicated the Hall on September 4, 2003. The Hall contains a vast array of Packers memorabilia, a re-creation of Vince Lombardi's office, plaques representing each of the inductees and the Lombardi trophies from Green Bay's four Super Bowl wins. As of 2023, the Packers Hall of Fame has inducted 168 people, 29 of whom have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Hall of Fame Inductees

Fan Hall of Fame
The Green Bay Packers Fan Hall of Fame (capitalized by the organization as the Green Bay Packers FAN Hall of Fame) was the first hall of fame built to honor fans of a professional football team. It was established by the Green Bay Packers and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1998.  Fans may nominate themselves or others for inductions by submitting an essay of 500 words or less, accompanied by a photo or a two-minute video, explaining why they or another person are the ultimate Packers fan and deserve recognition.  Ten finalists are chosen by a selection committee composed of members of the Packer Hall of Fame board and members of the Green Bay Packers' front office, and are profiled in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as well as on the Packers' website.  Fans are then given an opportunity to vote on the 10 finalists whose stories were profiled. The nominee who receives the most votes each year is named as the honorary fan and is inducted into the FAN Hall of Fame.  The fan receives four club seats to a Packers home game (with their name announced on the Lambeau Field replay board), a $500 Packers Pro Shop gift certificate and a road trip for two to a Green Bay away game.  The honoree is also introduced during the annual Packer Hall of Fame induction dinner, held each July, and has his or her name displayed on a plaque in the Packer Hall of Fame, in the atrium of Lambeau Field.

See also
Wisconsin Athletic Walk of Fame

References

American football museums and halls of fame
Halls of fame in Wisconsin
Hall of Fame