By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
SHEBOYGAN FALLS – I have been a Green Bay Packers fan since as long as I can remember.
One of my first memories was going to a game during the strike-shortened season in 1987 as a 15-year old.
My cousin was driving us to a Sunday game through Oconto from Michigan before the bypass was built, and he got pulled over for rapidly speeding through town.
He barely had any cash, no checkbook or a credit card, so the police officer had no choice but to haul us back to the Oconto County Jail.
In those days, at least in Wisconsin, you had to pay for the fine on the spot – at least we had to.
Since I was only 15, I couldn’t drive the car back to the jail, so we had to leave it parked outside of town on the side of the road.
To make a long story short, my aunt eventually wired the needed money to pay for the fine, so my cousin was released from jail, and we plotted our escape.
The police officer wouldn’t give us a ride back to the car, so we had to hitchhike – we missed the first half of the game.
Luckily, the game that Oct. 18 day – a 16-10 victory over Philadelphia – went into overtime, so we witnessed three quarters.
July 15, 2019, will be remembered in my book as a much more memorable day.
I was invited to the Packers Hall of Fame Golf Classic at The Bull at Pinehurst Farms near Sheboygan Falls.
I set it up ahead of time to chat with former players Lynn Dickey, Don Majkowski and Marv Fleming.
What a thrill to have 10-15 minutes with each of them and discuss their careers.
I first began with Dickey, who was a quarterback in Green Bay from 1976-85.
He told me a lot of interesting things about his time here and also about his days in Houston prior.
As I was chatting with him, former player Paul Coffman approached and saw I was interviewing his good friend.
He jokingly yelled out “Dickey sucks” loud enough so my recorder could hear it. We all shared a good laugh.
Fleming (1963-69) was the first NFL player to play in five Super Bowl games – two with the Packers and three with the Dolphins.
It was very interesting chatting with him on his time playing for two of the greatest NFL coaches of all-time: Vince Lombardi and Don Shula.
Getting ready to leave, I saw Majkowski (1987-92) sitting at a table with five others finishing up his breakfast.
I didn’t want to bother him, but I conveniently hung around until he noticed me.
We made our way outside and sat down at a table before golfing began.
“The Majik Man” is one of the most polarizing players in the team’s history.
There’s even a connection with his son Bo, who plays baseball at Clemson University, and Green Bay Preble’s Max Wagner, who has verbally committed to play his ball there, too.
We chatted about that and many other details about his playing career.
It was an awesome day that I soon won’t forget.
I’m hoping to be invited back for years to come.
Editor’s note: Look for part one of the three-part series in the July 26 edition of The Press Times.