The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame is one of the most unique experiences in all of professional sports.
Residing on the grounds of Lambeau Field, the Packer Hall of Fame is 25,000 square foot trip through the history of this great franchise. Memorabilia, old uniforms, a look at what medical services used to be offered, and even an exact replica of Vince Lombardi’s office, A tribute to decades past, celebrating success for both the team as well as individuals, it is a must visit for any NFL fan, especially for any Packers fan.
Every year, the Hall of Fame inducts players from the past to join their fellow Packer greats. This year, the Packer Hall of Fame will induct Chris Jacke and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, along with former team president Emil Fischer. They will join 148 other members as the most impactful individuals, either on the field or off, in the history of the Packers.
While the class of 2013 may be set, there is great potential for the class of 2014 to be the biggest induction ceremony Packer fans have ever seen.
With the retirement of Donald Driver and an apparent thawing of the ice Packers and Brett Favre, along with the retirement of Ahman Green in 2011, the possibility for all three of these Packer greats being inducted at the same time exists.
This idea was first proposed by Jerry Windisch on Twitter, and it is an idea that the Packer Hall of Fame should definitely consider.
Consider the impact these three players had on the Packers:
Brett Favre-all time team leader in yards, touchdowns, 300 yard passing games, completions, and 3,000 yard passing seasons (just to name a few of his team records)
Donald Driver-all time team leader in receptions and receiving yards.
Ahman Green-all time team leader in rushing yards, attempts, single season rushing yards, and single game rushing yards.
Now that would be an induction ceremony.
There are a few potential pitfalls to this idea becoming a reality. The first is the Brett Favre factor. After years of non communication with the organization following a messy divorce, Favre has only recently begun to attempt to warm up to Packer Nation again. One appearance with Aaron Rodgers at an awards ceremony may not be a full reconciliation with the team, but it is a step in the right direction. Perhaps after some further discussions, Favre would be open to the idea of returning to Lambeau for his own induction into the Hall of Fame, another step in the healing process.
Another factor which would have to be considered is the enormity of the event. Should the Hall of Fame allow all three of these individuals to be inducted at the same time? Or should they be part of three separate ceremonies which would allow for each to be honored on a smaller scale, not taking away from the others? If the Packer Hall of Fame wanted to make a tremendous statement, they would induct all three at the same time. It would be a great way to promote the HOF, and depending on what marketing strategy they would choose to employ, could be a great way for them to add new revenue streams for further development.
Of course, this is all speculation. There are no guarantees that Driver, Favre, or Green will be inducted into the Packer Hall of Fame in 2014. But if the PHOF was smart, they would at least entertain the idea.
The Packer Hall Of Fame motto is “Keeping History Alive”. Honor the past of these three Packer greats at the same time is one way to do exactly that.
2 responses to “2014 Could Be the Ultimate Packers Hall of Fame Class”
I feel that if it were all done individually, then it’d might get a mention on ESPN. Maybe one mention.
But if they did it all at once, the inductions would be ran several times on ESPN over the course of a few days and would be talked about a lot among the sports media. And that’s what they want — more people to be interested in the Packers hall of fame. Yes, it’d give them more publicity over a longer period with having each spread out, but it’d give them more national publicity doing it all at once.
That’s kind of what I was thinking too. Bigger ceremony equals more exposure for the HOF. And in the end, that’s what every entity wants-more attention.
I hope it happens, although I am very skeptical that it will.
Thanks for reading!