Jermichael Finley

Sweet man! I would love to run into a Packer on a plane. I’ve had a few celebrities sit down next to me on the plane (“The Miz” for WWE and Real World and “Cooper” from Private Practice to name two of them that come to mind) but that was when I lived in Chicago and flew ORD to LAX a lot. I haven’t run into anyone on those flights from MSP.

Great experience though, thanks for sharing. Glad he was cool and was willing to talk. Did you mention that he should stop by APC sometime?? :-)

It must have been nice being in GB for the SB!!! Wish I coulda been there! I must say I too am a collector of jerseys and have #s 12, 52, 80, and am working on ole 88 lol.

why the Packers lost the Super Bowl in ’98 — it was because Strohman moved away from Green Bay.

Great story, Stroh, and thanks for sharing it.

OJ Simpson!!! I was in the Marines in the mid 80’s and flying to LA back from leave. Juice was on the hop from Phoenix to LA. I talked to him about the Packers, woeful as they were that the time. OJ was a MNF Announcer at the time and his Hertz Commercials were n TV all the time.

I kind of have to wonder at that. You can’t hardly find a Packers jersey on Ebay anymore for double that… cool story though.

Back in the day, my dad was able to get me inside the fences during practices and stuff. I remember being on the little outdoor practice field and chatting with Ryan Longwell while practice was going on. It was a pretty cool moment being on the field watching some of our greatest players (in the 90s) getting ready and practicing.

My family and I saw Bob Uecker at the airport coming back from spring training once. My mom started turning around in circles all excited saying “That’s Bob Uecker! That’s Bob Uecker!” and my dad yelled out “Hey Ueck!” He waved. It was funny, mostly because of my parents’ reaction. They kinda’ freaked out.

Sounds like Finley’s nice about talking to fans.

You must have went to googlejerseys.com. Thats what I did for my parents christmas gifts. A Rodgers and a Matthews shipped for 60 total. Awesome.

Me and my buddies weren’t sure if it was really him, so we stalked the guy throughout the whole place (turns out he was going to the bathroom). I’m pretty sure he knew were following him and finally one of us said, “hey… Mr. Shanahan!” and sure enough it was him. Nice guy, shook our hands and chatted for a bit.

A lot shorter than I would have imagined. No one else in the mall knew who he was, haha.

Also was a “coworker” of Johnny Depps when he came to WI for Public Enemies. That was pretty cool. More star struck with him than with Shanny.

Reminds me of the time I ran into Muhammad Ali in the airport. He was clearly suffering from his Parkinson’s, but made time for each and every fan who approached him.

In 1980, I was a college student visiting my folks in Shawano, WI (30 miles west of Green Bay). I was catching a flight out of Green Bay’s Austin Straubel Airport to Grand Rapids, MI to return to school. The plane was an old 4-banger propeller-powered puddle hopper. It only held about 40 passengers and there was no first class. In fact, you had to walk across the tarmac to board the plane. The flight was sold out and was holding for a few minutes because they said one more person needed to board. That last person appeared at the door, a bit out of breath, looking like he had been running. There was no mistaking who this person was – one of the greatest Packers of them all . . . it was RAY NITSCHKE!!!! . . .

IT GETS EVEN BETTER!! The only empty seat left on the plane was right next to me. Big Ray spotted the empty seat, threw his bag in the overhear, looked at me and said “how ya’ doin’” as he sat down. There we were, shoulder to shoulder. I think I mumbled something back, but was too starstruck to remember. I was probably staring inappropriately, but he was great and put me at ease. He asked me if I wanted something to drink and called for the flight attendant. He told me that since he retired from football, that he was in demand as a motivational speaker and was flying to Grand Rapids, MI to speak at an Amway Corporation convention. He told me how cool it was to work with Burt Reynolds in ’The Longest Yard". He said his wife was flying in to meet him later that day. Amazingly, football was hardly mentioned.

I was surprised he didn’t get mobbed – the people on the plane were trying get a good look at the great linebacker, but they gave him his space. The only regret was that it was such a short flight. I would have loved to talk football with the late, great

RAY NITSCHKE.

Pro Bowl selection (1964)
3× First-team All-Pro selection (1964, 1965, 1966,
4× Second-team All-Pro selection (1962, 1963, 1967, 1969)
MVP of 1962 NFL Championship Game
NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
NFL 1960s All-Decade Team
Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame
Green Bay Packers #66 Retired
NFL Hall of Fame
           - WOW!!

GO PACKERS, SUPER BOWL CHAMPS — HOW ABOUT A REPEAT!