The Green Bay Packers announced on Monday the schedule for their 2017 training camp, the team’s 72nd edition, which begins with an 8:15 a.m. session on Thursday, July 27. As in the past, practices are scheduled to take place at Ray Nitschke Field and Packers Family Night will be at Lambeau Field.
The Packers’ training camp tradition began in 1946 under Curly Lambeau and is one of the most intimate, unique preseason settings in the NFL. Players have been riding local kids’ bicycles to practice since the Vince Lombardi era, and they have lived in the dorm rooms at nearby St. Norbert College since 1958, the longest training camp relationship between a team and school in the NFL.
According to the Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau and a 2010 study by AECOM, training camp, along with Packers Family Night, will attract approximately 90,000 visitors from across the country and as many as 20 foreign countries. Area businesses get a boost, as well, with an estimated total economic impact of approximately $9 million during the month of preseason activities and attention.
Packers training camp, presented by Bellin Health, this year has a theme of "Back to Football." After the opening session on July 27, morning practices beginning at 8:15 a.m. are also scheduled for July 28, 29, 31 and Aug. 1.
Green Bay will hold two night practices, beginning at 6:15 p.m. on Aug. 3-4, before Packers Family Night at Lambeau Field on Saturday, Aug. 5. The following week, the team will have two open practices at Nitschke Field, 12:15 p.m. on Aug. 7 and 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 8, before the preseason opener at home against the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 10.
After the game, the Packers will hold two open practices (12:15 p.m. on Aug. 15 and 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 16), before playing on the road against the Washington Redskins on Aug. 19. Following that, Green Bay has two open practices scheduled – 12:15 p.m. on Aug. 22 and 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 23 – leading into another preseason away game against the Denver Broncos on Aug. 26.
The team’s final open practice of training camp will take place at 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 29 prior to the preseason finale, at home against the L.A. Rams on Aug. 31.
Should inclement weather or any other factor force the team indoors, practices will be closed to the public due to space limitations inside the Don Hutson Center. Please also note that all practice dates and times are subject to change.
The annual Packers Family Night is scheduled for Saturday evening, Aug. 5, at Lambeau Field. The event benefits the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids foster care adoption program. For the fourth consecutive year, the format will be a full practice, including 11-on-11 sessions that feature full contact. The doors for the event will open at 5:30 p.m., the team will be introduced on the field at 7:30 p.m. and it will conclude with the Pick 'n Save Fireworks Show.
Important dates on the preseason calendar
Friday, July 21 – Packers 1K Kids Run, Presented by Edvest, 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 22 – Packers 5K Run/Walk, Presented by Bellin Health at Lambeau Field, 8 a.m.
Saturday, July 22 – Packers Hall of Fame Induction Banquet
Monday, July 24 – Packers Annual Meeting of Shareholders
Wednesday, July 26 – Head Coach Mike McCarthy’s season-opening press conference, 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday, July 26 – Players report
Thursday, July 27 – First practice, 8:15 a.m., Ray Nitschke Field
Saturday, Aug. 5 – Family Night, Presented by Bellin Health, Lambeau Field
Thursday, Aug. 10 – Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Lambeau Field
Saturday, Aug. 19 – Packers at Washington Redskins, FedExField
Saturday, Aug. 26 – Packers at Denver Broncos, Sports Authority Field at Mile High
Tuesday, Aug. 29 – Last practice open to public, 11:45 a.m., Ray Nitschke Field
Thursday, Aug. 31 – Packers vs. L.A. Rams, Lambeau Field
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
