Stories to tell

GREEN BAY – Lambeau Field tour guide Tom Pigeon has been providing visitors with a glimpse into the historic stadium for two decades.
And who better to provide that look into the past than someone with roots that go back to the beginning.“Tom honestly knows more about Packers history than just about anyone I know,” Hall of Fame Curator Brent Hensel said during the “History of the Green Bay Packers Certificate” offered by UW-Green Bay.
“My dad was at the first game in 1919. He was 11 years old. He lived just a short distance from Hagemeister Park, where the team first started. He told me that one Sunday afternoon, he was playing in the backyard of a neighbor next door along with his brother, Ray — my uncle Ray — and a kid comes running over and says, ‘There’s a game over at the park.’” explained Pigeon.“It was the first Packer game, and he says it was like a grade school game. There weren’t bleachers, so you could just follow the action up and down the sidelines, which Dad was doing. All of a sudden this pass comes flying through the air and hits Dad in the back. One of the players comes and picks the ball up and says, ‘Son, you better get out of here. You’re going to get hurt.’ And the guy that threw that pass was Curly Lambeau.”
“So then Dad started taking me to the games in the mid-40s. So, I’ve seen every coach we’ve had from Curly Lambeau right up to Matt LaFleur today. I’ve seen Hutson play. I remember those uniforms so well, with the blue jerseys and the gold on the shoulders; that’s what I grew up with.
And the passion, fueled by that bond with his dad, Norman, led to Pigeon collecting pieces of Packers history since he was a teenager.
His collection now spans the life of the Green Bay Packers and fills a large room in his home.
But, though a collector memorabilia, his most valuable collection is his memories — memories that he continues to share with the thousands of people that visit Lambeau Field to tour the facilities.
His favorite game
“I snuck into one game, and it’s my all time favorite game. And I’ve told this story. I mean, I have a lot of stories to tell, but I’ve told this story to a number of people,” Pigeon recalled.
“The 1955 season opener against the Detroit Lions at the old stadium, and a cousin of mine, Clayton, and myself went to the game.
“We get to the ticket window and the game is all sold out, at least for the kids section. They had a kids section back in those days. Couldn’t get in, so we left the ticket window, and we walked between the East High School and the stadium and there was a big alleyway that went to the back where the practice fields were.
“All of a sudden, there were hundreds and hundreds of kids back there, adults and some other cousins of mine were there, and they said to me, ‘Hey, Tom, stick with us. We’re going over the wall, which was about a 12-foot wall. So, all of a sudden my cousin clasps his hands together. I step in. He boosts me up to the top and I look down, there’s a cop right below me. You know what he said? He said, ‘Son, get down. Don’t get hurt. Find a place to sit.’
“So (we) sat on the grass on the east end zone almost the whole game, and if you look at old pictures, that’s where tons of kids are. They’re all on the grass. None of them bought a ticket. They all climbed over the fence. That’s how they got into the gate. That morning over breakfast, Tom had asked his dad, “Do you think we have a chance?”
“Because Detroit had beat us 11 straight times going into that game and they were really good back in the 1950s with all the great players they had. They won three championships in the 50s,” Tom explained.
“He said, ‘You always have a chance.’
“So, we go to the game, sitting in that end zone, watching the game and Detroit’s winning 17-13. About five minutes to go, we have the ball up on the west end of the stadium towards Baird Street, and we fumble. They’ve got the ball on our five-yard line, five minutes to go. I said to Clayton, ‘We’re gonna lose again. They got it. So we got up and walked onto the cinder track, which was around the field. Actually, we were right behind Detroit’s bench. You could touch the players.
“It so happens, we held them and then they tried a field goal. And back in those days, now, the hash marks were a lot wider than they are today. So, if you tried a field goal, if you ran to the right, it would be put on the hash mark. You had a big angle. It wasn’t straight on. Doak Walker was a really good kicker, but the Lions missed. It still was 17-13.
“So, Tobin Roe was the Packers quarterback; (he) drove the team down the field, two minutes to go, threw a touchdown pass to Gary Knafelc with 20 seconds to go. Beat the Lions 20-17.
“My all-time favorite game.
“Everybody came piling out of those stands on the east end, picked up Gary Knafelc and carried him off the field. Some kids stuck 50 cents in his hand, and they had an article in the paper about it. That week, they were looking for the kid. That’s his money, he should get it back. But the kid didn’t come forward.
“I talked to Gary Knafelc years and years later about that incident, and he said that they had called their last time out with 25 seconds to go. They go over the sidelines, talk to [Coach Lisle Blackbourn], and he said, ‘I was in the group, and Billy Howton was there — he was our best receiver — and then some other guys. So, they’re talking about what play to run, and he said, ‘Well, I was pretty young, so I didn’t get my mouth shut.’ And finally, Blackbourn says to him, ‘Knafelc, what do you think we should run?’ He says, ‘Well, they’re going to be looking for Howton.’ He says, ‘I’ll be wide open.’
“So, Blackburn says, ‘Okay, let’s run it.’ And Rote looked at me, and he said, ‘You better catch it.’ And he threw him a bullet. “Caught it with three lines trying to tackle him — burst into the end zone.
“That’s how we won the game.”
For more information on Lambeau Field tours, visit www.packershofandtours.com/plan-your-visit/admission-tickets.
Hear more memories from Pigeon on Spotify by searching for “Packerland” under podcasts.