Packers Training Camp opens carrying on a tradition

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - A Lombardi tradition continued with the return of the DreamDrive for Packers Training Camp.

Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy said: “It’s become an iconic part of training camp.”

The first day of the Packers training camp started with the DreamDrive Training Camp Bike Experience. During a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was moved inside of the Johnsonville Tailgate Village, due to rain, American Family Insurance representatives introduced a couple of new bikes this year.

“It’s a bummer when it rains here usually because you don’t know if it’s going to be canceled or not,” said Liam McCabe from Green Bay.

Dozens of fans brought their own bikes - some big and some small for the littlest of fans. Others, added their own flair, in hopes of catching a player’s eye.

“So we bought like a Packer bike that has laces of Packers on it already and then we put glitter paper with a G on it inside the wheel,” noted Matthew Pochowski from Muskego.

“It automatically really stands out because it’s a fat tire bike so it’s one of those heavy-duty bikes but when I got my player last year, he asked me as a joke to get a bigger seat and a bell,” added Liam McCabe.

Matthew and Liam met roughly four years ago at training camp, becoming close friends. Now they meet up at every training camp.

“We welcome anybody with open arms, so that’s how everybody became friends. It is because there’s new people coming every year,” said Liam.

And with training camp just starting, Liam and Matthew were excited to meet even more new friends to take in the tradition.

One by one, Packers players picked out the bike to ride to and from practice -- another tradition -- on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Training camp gets started at 10:30 a.m.

There is also a contest for Packers fans to take part in. It’s called the American Family Insurance DreamDrive Sweepstakes. The deadline to sign up is Friday, July 28th, 2023, to sign up, click HERE.

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