Christmas is just three weeks away. That means there are less than 21 shopping days left until presents will be opened and enjoyed. If you’re anything like us, the previous two sentences are terrifying because you’re super behind on your holiday shopping. For those of you who are at a loss about what to buy for a large portion of friends and loved ones on your list, remember these two helpful tips: 1. It’s pretty much mandatory for people in Wisconsin to love the Green Bay Packers, 2. Books are always a good gift option.
By buying someone a book, you’re giving them a classy present that tells them you believe they’re at least somewhat intellectual, and in the process, you’re also letting them know you’d like them to make the time in their life to escape whatever worries they’re dealing with in order to temporarily escape into the pages of someone else’s story. When you add the Packers into all that, you’re golden. Plus, the publishing industry is suffering at the moment, so book purchases are helping to at least somewhat ease the woes of authors.
If you’ve made it this far into this unnecessarily lengthy intro, you probably like to read and/or you think we might be onto something with this whole “buy someone a football book” thing. If you’d like some assistance finding the right literature, here’s a handy and versatile guide to some quality Green Bay Packers books for the reader in your life. This isn’t meant to be a definitive list by any means, just some we’ve either enjoyed or that have earned high ratings or favorable reviews. And when possible, we suggest you spread the love by buying these titles at your local book retailer.
Think we missed anything? Please add some of your favorites in the comments.
Historical
As one of the oldest and most storied franchises in all of professional sports, you can bet your ass there are lots of books about the rich and incomparable history of the Packers. Some works cover the best players over the course of the team’s 100-year history. Others chronicle the Lambeau years or the Lombardi-era dynasty in intimate detail. A few even focus on specific games or forgotten seasons. For the history buff who’s also a football fan, we recommended the following:
100 Years in Titletown: Celebrating a Century of Green Bay Packers Football by Vernon Biever
Ron Wolf and the Green Bay Packers: Mike Holmgren, Brett Favre, Reggie White, and the Pack’s Return to Glory in the 1990s by Michael Bauman
100 Things Packers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (100 Things…Fans Should Know) by Rob Reischel
If These Walls Could Talk: Green Bay Packers: Stories from the Green Bay Packers Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box by Wayne Larrivee and Rob Reischel
That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory by John Eisenberg
When Pride Still Mattered: A Life Of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss
The 50 Greatest Players in Green Bay Packers History by Robert W. Cohen
The Year the Packers Came Back: Green Bay’s 1972 Resurgence by Joe Zagorski
Ice Bowl ’67: The Packers, the Cowboys, and the Game That Changed the NFL by Chuck Carlson and Dan Reeves
Lombardi’s Men – A Biography Of Every Green Bay Packer From 1959 To 1967 & Their Lives After Football by Stanton Green
(Editor’s note: This post originally included The Lambeau Years: Part One by Larry D. Names, but it was brought to our attention that the historical accuracy of book was in question. As a result, we’ve removed it from the list and by the recommendation of a reader, we’ve put When Pride Still Mattered : A Life Of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss on the list in its place.)
Biographies And Autobiographies
With a rabid fan base and some of the game’s most celebrated players among its former employees, the Packers are also fortunate to have an impressive collection of biographical books. Some find outside authors writing about greats like Favre, Starr, Rodgers. Other times, past players take the take of writing (mostly) into their own hands, including awesome and revealing autobiographies by the likes of Jerry Kramer, Ray Nitschke, Willie Davis, and Donald Driver. We’d also recommend picking up the biography by ’70s-era placekicker Chester Marcol in which “The Polish Prince” talks about being high on cocaine during the game he kicked a game-winning touchdown to himself. Here are some especially interesting picks:
Alive and Kicking: My Journey Through Football, Addiction and Life by Chester Marcol with Gary D’Amato
Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre by Jeff Pearlman
Instant Replay: The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer by Gerald L. Kramer, Dick Schaap
The LeRoy Butler Story by LeRoy Butler
Driven: From Homeless to Hero, My Journeys On and Off Lambeau Field by Donald Driver
Mean on Sunday: The Autobiography of Ray Nitschke by Ray Nitschke and Robert W. Wells
Closing the Gap: Lombardi, the Packers Dynasty, and the Pursuit of Excellence by Willie Davis
The Fire Within by Jim Taylor
Fun And Games
For those of you who are seeking something a bit lighter and looser to read on the john or to keep spirits high during a road trip, the Packers literary canon also has a handful of fun fact books and activity-based texts you or someone in your life might enjoy. Some of those include:
Green Bay Packers Trivia Quiz Book: 500 Questions on the Legends of Lambeau by Chris Bradshaw
The Cheesehead Devotional – Kickoff Edition (Devotions for Packer Fans Book 1) by Judy DuCharme
Green Bay Packers IQ: The Ultimate Test of True Fandom by Joel Katte
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers: Then and Now: The Ultimate Football Coloring, Activity and Stats Book for Adults and Kids by Anthony Curcio
Children’s Books
With a Packers children’s book, you can bring the joy or reading and exposure to Green Bay football to a youngster’s life. Admittedly, this super-specific literary genre is kind of sparse, but there are still some solid options, including Donald Drivers’ series of Quickie books. Check these out:
Good Night, Packers by Brad M. Epstein
The Story of the Green Bay Packers and That Little, Small Town by Daniel Hellman
Quickie Makes The Team! by Donald Driver and Joe Groshek