Blogs

Elderly fans receive a visit

On the way to the evening tailgate party at the Kenosha Boys & Girls Club, the crew enjoyed a brief visit with residents at Meadowmere assisted living home.

More than 50 residents, along with many of their family members and staff, had fun mingling and posing for photos with the players and Mark Murphy.

Click here to see photos from the visit to Meadowmere.

No fire drill, it’s the Packers

The students at West Allis’ Nathan Hale High School thought they were executing a fire drill when they exited the building and filled the football stadium’s bleachers.

Then the Packers Tailgate Tour bus pulled up at the gate.

The crew was treated to an enthusiastic welcome from the more than 1,600 students as they moved down the track, some players running and dishing out high fives along the way.

Jordy Nelson continues to receive the loudest applause, and today he even had a request to remove his shirt. Mark Murphy declined on his behalf.

The message to the student body this afternoon was to make good decisions and Charlie Peprah shared some recollections from his youth when he was often alone in making his decisions with his mother working more than one job.

“Sometimes the right decision is not the popular one,” he said. “You need to make the right decision.”

After some questions and answers, the students challenged Nelson to a race. It was the third such challenge of the trip, but this one was actually held on a track. After a close start, Nelson pulled away and looked back at his challenger in a mock taunt.

When asked about the race, Nelson said, “Who’s next!” Then he quickly added, “Just kidding!”

And in a first for the tour, Mason Crosby was asked to kick a field goal. With the student requester as holder and Larry McCarren as the long snapper, Crosby executed a perfect kick from about 30 yards out.

“Good hold, wind was at my back, it was solid,” Crosby said.

McCarren’s famous pinkie was the subject of attention again when a student asked to see it.

“It doesn’t hurt, but it is hard to find a glove that fits,” McCarren said.

McCarren also got in on the racing aspect, too, when he took on the challenge by a high school student in a wheel chair. He lost by a close margin to the delight of the crowd.

Off to Kenosha.

Click here for photos from the visit to Nathan Hale High School.

Lunch in Oconomowoc

It seems as though much of Oconomowoc greeted the Tour as the group stopped for lunch at The Roots.

“I’m guessing this wasn’t a surprise,” quipped Mason Crosby as the guys posed for pictures and stopped traffic on the way in.

After a delicious lunch and more pictures, the Tour continued on its way to Kenosha with another surprise destination in store.

Jermichael Finley chat transcript

Packers tight end Jermichael Finley chatted live with fans on packers.com on Thursday, May 17. Read the chat transcript to see what Finley said.

Smiles abound at hospital

The Tailgate Tour’s third day started off with a visit to the American Family Insurance Children’s Hospital at UW-Madison.

The players split up as Jordy Nelson, Mason Crosby and William Henderson visited children receiving treatment for cancer, and Charlie Peprah, Marco Rivera and Larry McCarren visited children receiving treatment for other ailments.

Peprah, Rivera and McCarren first spent some time in a playroom and added their hand prints to a piece of art that will be featured as an auction item at this summer’s Mike and Jessica McCarthy golf outing to support the children’s hospital. McCarren and Rivera built some towers with blocks as well, with McCarren showing his competitive spirit by sitting down on the floor to try and out-build a young patient.

Room-to-room visits followed as the crew posed for pictures and signed autographs. Children and parents smiled broadly and enjoyed a brief break from the serious nature of their stays.

Twelve-year-old Kiley Lynch-Youngman relished the chance to get some photos taken with the players, particularly with her favorite player, Nelson.

“This is really cool,” she said with a smile after No. 87 signed her paper.

Overall, the group had the opportunity to spend time with nearly 50 pediatric patients.

“I really enjoyed the visit,” Nelson said on the bus afterward. “Unfortunately I’m now two-for-two with kids who have been in dirt bike accidents on the Tailgate Tour. He was beat up pretty badly, but he’s going to make a full recovery, so that’s good.”

Click here to see photos from the visit.