How did the Green Bay Packers get their nickname?

Yahoo! Sports

Fri Feb 04 09:51am EST

How did the Green Bay Packers get their nickname?

The oldest continuous franchise in the NFL also has the most unique nickname. In a league whose team names lean toward an animal (Eagles, Dolphins, Panthers) or a historical event (49ers, Ravens, Patriots) or a controversial nod to the past (Chiefs, Redskins), the Green Bay Packers stand out. How did the 92-year-old franchise get the name?

As with most questions in sports, the answer has to do with money.

In 1919, Curly Lambeau decided to start a football team in the small Wisconsin town of Green Bay. Akron, Canton, Dayton, Hammond and Muncie all had teams, so it wasn't a stretch for Lambeau to start a franchise in his hometown. He just needed some funding to get off the ground.

At the time, Lambeau was earning $250 per month as a shipping clerk at a local meatpacking company. He convinced his employer to put up $500 for jerseys and equipment and also got permission to use the company's athletic field for practice. With all that support from the packing company, it was a natural that the team call itself the Packers.

The affiliation with the Indian Packing Company soon ended and before the team's first official NFL season, the company was absorbed by the Acme Packing Company. For a time, the team wore "Acme Packers" on the jersey. In each official NFL season, the team has been known as the Green Bay Packers. Both companies would soon be out of business, but the name stuck.

As for what the "G" on the Packers helmet stands for, Tiki Barber tells us in the video below.

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