Gutowski Packers FAN Hall of Fame nominee

By Rich Palzewic

Sports Editor

GREEN BAY – Green Bay resident Carole Gutowski has been going to Packers games for as long as she can remember.

She went to the Ice Bowl in 1967 at Lambeau Field and has missed only four games since the 1957 season.

For her dedication to the Green and Gold, Gutowski is one of 10 fans from across the country to be nominated for this year’s Packers FAN Hall of Fame.

“I don’t have a guess of my chances to be selected as the winner, but I’m simply honored to be one of the 10 finalists,” said the 80-year old Gutowski, who is the only nominee from Green Bay and one of five from Wisconsin. “Everybody who was nominated is deserving of the honor. My family is thrilled for me and spreading the word.”

Online voting began Jan. 1 and will continue through midnight Jan. 31.

The 22nd Packers FAN Hall of Fame winner will be announced in February.

“I have been a Packers fan all of my life, with my earliest memories being from the 1940s,” said Gutowski, who is a season-ticket holder herself. “I’d go to the games with my dad. He’d put me on his shoulders and carry me into City Stadium. Back then, if you could be carried into a game, you would get in free.”

Gutowski said she remembers Packers fans passing around a hat to donate money to pay the players.

She can be seen at games stepping into a sleeping bag and then attaching suspenders so it won’t fall down.

Gutowski said she has had many wonderful moments inside the stadium, but she won’t forget the four she missed.

“In 1961, the first game I missed was when my first child was born,” she said. “We had a sudden death in the family in 1978, during the ‘Snow Bowl’ game against Tampa Bay in 1985 we couldn’t make it and the fourth one I missed was a few years ago when I had some issues with my leg.”

Gutowski fondly remembers attending Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans, a 35-21 Packers’ victory over New England, and Super Bowl XXXII the next year in San Diego, a 31-24 loss to Denver.

“Those are two memorable games, but the Ice Bowl was unique,” said Gutowski, who was one of the 50,000-plus fans who braved the elements that day. “Besides it being cold, I am still amazed at how we were able to keep warm. We didn’t have hand warmers and all the things you can wear now to keep warm. My only problem was keeping my glasses from fogging up. I don’t know how we kept warm. We were there the whole game.”

The game temperature Dec. 31, 1967, was listed at about minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, with a wind chill of 48 below zero.

Gutowski said her favorite players over the years have been Reggie White, Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor and Max McGee.

“I haven’t personally met any Packers players, but if I could have met one, it would be Bart Starr,” she said. “He seemed like a perfect gentleman.”

Among her family, Gutowski is known as “Grandma Football.”

“My daughter Carla has a son who will be 17 years old,” Gutowski said. “When he was little, he had two grandmas. It was hard for him to distinguish between the two grandmas, so I became Grandma Football. As a result, I am still called Grandma Football, and I’ve had that on my license plate for the last 15 or 16 years.”

Gutowski also chimed in about the recently-completed season.

“It was a fun year, but the final outcome was disappointing,” she said. “We will start over again next year.”

Fans can read the finalists’ profiles and vote online by visiting packers.com/fanhof.

The winner will be selected by three different groups of people: Packers fans, previous FAN Hall of Fame honorees and the Packers’ committee.