NFL Films - Day 2
We thought yesterday was hectic. At least yesterday, for the most part anyway, we were on our own.
Today was like a circus, in every respect of the word. A circus in that we had a whole lot of fun. A circus in that we were often shoulder to shoulder with 100 people wanting to know what was going on.
We met up with Greg, Dean and Jay (photographed in that order) from NFL Films just after 9am. They were wearing similar styled “NFL Films” attire to the garb they had on yesterday. Whilst I knew tailgating with cameras meant we’d stick out like the proverbial sore thumb, I knew even more so that those two words “NFL Films” would attract more attention than ever. We were at Lambeau Field for goodness sake.....2 hours before kick-off!
Our mission today? Tailgate with all of the people we have met so far, get some pictures with the Gazette for a story on Thanksgiving Day and watch the game. All of this whilst wired for sound. Yes, just like Keith Richard.
By now most of you will know that Kelly isn’t the biggest football fan. She is quite the social butterfly though and can carry a conversation with almost anyone. There’s no surprise that at a party, Kelly mixes better than the very drinks being served. Not interested in seeing the game she came with me to tailgate. Our friends Rob and Tari joined us too.
Our first port of call was Anduzzi’s on Holmgren. We didn’t actually intend on hitting any of the bars ‘cause there’s so much to do and see in the car park. On the way to dropping Ben and Luc at our friend Kathy’s however (thanks again Kathy, Tyler and Katie) we heard on the radio that Rick and Len from WAPL were hosting a party there.
Rick and Len are awesome guys. They’re hilarious and we listen to their show as often as we can. Having met them just once since being here I wanted to see them again seeing as they were just around the corner. It was good to get together and hang out for 20 minutes, Kelly and I both really enjoyed it.
From there we headed out to the “Green Bay Press Gazette” truck hoping to meet Mike, a friend we have made there. He wasn’t around but the best steak sandwiches in town were. Whilst there we happened to meet a gentleman sporting a 1961 World Champions ring won in the Lombardi era. He was a relative of former President Dominic Olejniczak, the man responsible for hiring Lombardi from the Giants. Whilst I wouldn’t normally go around trying on other men’s rings, this was most certainly an exception.
As we left there and headed toward the car park, cries of “Hey NFL Films”, “Hey Camera Guy” started. This was just the beginning. We walked through the Oneida Street car park and stopped along the way to show our friends the different sites to see. Not so long after arriving however it seemed it wasn’t us doing the stopping. We were the ones being stopped.
At times, we felt like we were in the middle of a scrum. There was literally nowhere to go but where we were. It was an awesome hour or so meeting 100’s of people, talking Packers and learning a little more about the “Brats for Brian” cause. (Pictured here with Brian’s Aunt Sue). It’s amazing the type of power a camera wields. At one point Kelly managed to escape and I recall looking up to find her. I couldn’t see any further than the first 4 rows of people clambering to see what was happening.
It took me a little. They were trying to see in, I was trying to see out. There’s almost something artistic about that.
It got to just after 1130 and Greg, Jay and Dean had to get inside and set up a camera to film my ugly mug the entire game. With that they were off.....and so to were all of the “friends” we had just made. It was amazing, not even 5 minutes after they’d gone Kelly, Tari, Rob and I were cruising around the car park like we had only just arrived.
It’s for that very reason, as busy as we are, that Kel and I are able to sit back and have a bit of a laugh whenever something like this happens. Attention like this is good in spurts, great fun in fact, but when the cameras are gone and the crowd quite literally disappears, you learn not to take the whole thing too seriously.
At that it was onto the game for Tari and I, even if she was wearing a “Carolina blue” coat.
