Lambeau Field!

I'll be there Sunday(after Holy Mass of course).  I put together some fun facts about the connection between the Green Bay Packers and the Catholic Faith: 


Vince Lombardi, probably the greatest all-time NFL coach, was a devout Catholic.  Not only did he attend daily Mass, but he brought many of his players along with him.  This might surprise some because of his very choleric temperament.  David Maraniss wrote a great book on him titled "When Pride Still Mattered." 

Vince Lombardi, the late coach who was known to frequently finger black rosary beads in his pocket, attended daily Mass and often stopped by St. Norbert College to chat with the priests. 

The Packers current coach, Mike McCarthy, also attends daily Mass.

The Packers have their own priest as a chaplain, I think still Father James Baraniak.  Not a bad assignment!  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did a piece on him last year. 

Also I found the Packers 1997 Super Bowl team had several Catholics on the roster along with coaches.

Beginning with star quarterback Brett Favre and a host of others including tight end Mark Chmura[Thank God for Confession]. Others are Jeff Dellenbach, Santana Dotson, Mike Prior, Marco Rivera, Jeff Thomason, and Frank Winters to name a few. According to team chaplain Steve Newman, no one lives their faith more sincerely than Notre Dame grad and outstanding punter Craig Hentrich. Some of the Catholic coaches who serve as inspiration to the Catholic Packer players include defensive whiz Fritz Shermer, as well as the quartet of Gill Haskel, Tom Lovat, Mike Sherman, and Bob Valesente. Longtime Catholic team chaplain Father John Blaha will be there with the team in San Diego.

 Also once a year the Packers play the "Bishops Charities Game" where a portion of the proceeds go to the Church.

In 1961, the Diocese of Green Bay approached Vince Lombardi about playing a second charitable contest in Green Bay (the Shrine game was already a fixture in Milwaukee).

Lombardi, a devout Catholic, agreed to the contest. The original contract gave the Packers, their opponent and the church each one-third of the gate receipts.

During the 1970s, the Packers and the church changed the contract so the Diocese would receive a flat donation, rather than a percentage.

For more than 30 years, the church handled much of the game's business-related tasks, including game program and advertising sales, using a network of volunteers covering 14 Northeastern Wisconsin counties. The Packers assumed many of those tasks beginning in 1994.

To date, the series has raised over $3.4 million. 

In 2000, the American Religion Data Archive reported Green Bay to be predominantly Catholic (71.5%), with Lutherans composing an additional 16.4%. The remaining 12% are almost entirely Protestant denominations.

Albeit that much of this is more cultural connection to the faith more than anything, but still interesting, no?