DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) – A decades-long winning streak is coming to an end this summer as the Green Bay Packers announced they would not be staying in the residence halls at St. Norbert College for training camp this year. The move was made due to NFL guidelines surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s a relationship like no other, and the campus’s connection with the Green Bay Packers goes deeper than just providing rooms and meals for the players.
“The longest winning streak in NFL history is the 62 years that the Packers have been doing their training camp at St. Norbert College,” says St. Norbert College President Brian Bruess, “It’s been a great partnership and they’ve been here so long, and such a part of our experience, it’s like family. So we’re disappointed that they’re not going to be here this year, but we certainly understand. ”
Bruess, a 1990 graduate of St. Norbert College, recalls stories ranging all the way back to the start of the relationship. While Coach Ray “Scooter” McLean may not have left much of a legacy on the sidelines – with the worst winning percentage of any Packers coach, going just 1-10-1 during his tenure – he did facilitate the decision to move training camp from UW-Stevens Point to De Pere. McLean worked with former St. Norbert College President Dominic Olejniczak to solidify that partnership prior to the 1958 season.
“There are lots of great stories from when Lombardi was here – an office he would sit in had a certain perch so he could keep an eye on players coming and going from Sensenbrenner Memorial Hall,” Bruess tells WTAQ News, “There’s nothing like getting a group of people together and spending time on a college campus. So we’re going to miss them just as much from a relationship perspective as it is from the work and interaction we have with them…It’s more about missing them being on campus. Of course, they benefit by having this kind of environment that brings them together helps them create a sense of team and cohesion.”
Bruess also commended the college’s operations team. They always prepare the residence halls for the athletes with bigger beds and air conditioners for the duration of training camp.
But Bruess also recognizes that sometimes, situations leading to decisions like this are out of anyone’s control.
“It’s as much a decision driven by the NFL and the Packer needing to keep their players safe and prepare for a season – as it is for St. Norbert College. We’re all navigating COVID-19 together…Mark Murphy and the Packers are really a class act and they’ve been a great partner for all these years,” Bruess says, “This allows us also the opportunity to get ready for fall and bring students back. Both organizations have a lot ahead of them to do that and do it safely.”
While the 63rd consecutive year is now canceled, many have inquired whether a 63rd overall year of the partnership will return in 2021.
“People have been asking me – ‘What about next year?’ And I’ve been telling them that after we win the Super Bowl, then we can talk about next year,” Bruess says confidently.
No exact date has been set by the NFL or the Packers on when players will report to training camp.
Comments