Eau Claire, Wisconsin
August 26, 2024
Lambeau Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The home field of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League(NFL), it opened in 1957 as City Stadium, replacing the original City Stadium at Green Bay East High Schoolas the Packers' home field. Informally known as New City Stadium for its first eight seasons, it was renamed in August 1965 in memory of Packers founder, player, and long-time head coach, Earl “Curly” Lambeau,[1][2][10] who had died two months earlier.
With a seating capacity of 81,441, Lambeau Field is the second-largest stadium in the NFL.[13] It is now the largest venue in the State of Wisconsin, edging out Camp Randall Stadium (75,822) at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The playing field at the stadium has a conventional north–south alignment, at an elevation of 640 feet (195 m) above sea level.[14]
Lambeau Field is the oldest continually operating NFL stadium.[15] In 2007, the Packers completed their 51st season at Lambeau, breaking the all-time NFL record set by the Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field (1921–70). While Soldier Field in Chicago is older, the Bears did not play their home games there until 1971 and the team did not play there during stadium renovations in 2002. Only the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field have longer active home-field tenures in American professional sports.
The stadium's street address has been 1265 Lombardi Avenue since August 1968, when Highland Avenue was renamed in honor of former head coach Vince Lombardi, namesake of the Super Bowl championship trophy.[16][17] Lambeau sits on a block east of Titletown District, a mixed-use development with a Destination Kohler luxury hotel, restaurants, a brewery, apartments, offices, and other entertainment.
History
At the 2015 Packers shareholders meeting President Mark Murphy said "We will not sell the naming rights to the stadium. ... We will never do that. It will always be Lambeau Field".
"The Frozen Tundra"
The stadium's nickname was spawned by the Ice Bowl game between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, played on December 31, 1967. The game was played in temperatures of −15 °F (−26 °C) with sharp winds. Journalist Tex Maule associated Lambeau Field with the term tundra in his article summarizing the game in Sports Illustrated.[58]
The nickname "the frozen tundra" is believed to originate from The Greatest Challenge, the Packers' authorized version of the highlight film written by Steve Sabol.[59] In the Cowboys' authorized version of the highlight film, A Chilling Championship, also written by Sabol, Bill Woodson used the term "the frozen tundra" when narrating the film to describe Lambeau Field.[59][60] Prior to the 1967 season, an underground electric heating system had been installed, but it was not able to counter the effects of the cold front that hit Green Bay at the onset of the Ice Bowl game. The field had been covered overnight with the heater on, but when the cover was removed in the sub-zero cold, the moisture atop the grass flash-froze.
The underground heating and drainage system was redone in 1997, with a system of pipes filled with a solution including antifreeze replacing the electric coils. After the 2006 season, the surface, heating, and drainage system was replaced. From 2007 until 2018, the playing surface used the Desso GrassMaster system, which has synthetic fibers woven into the traditional Kentucky bluegrass sod. In 2018, the Grassmaster surface was replaced with polyethylene-based SIS Grass.[65] Even the new video boards, installed in 2004, have been influenced by the field's nickname, being called "Tundra Vision". These video displays measure more than 25 feet (7.6 m) high by 46 feet (14 m) wide. An artificial lighting system, based on technology used in Dutch rose-growing greenhouses, was tested in 2010 and purchased for use in the 2011 season. It operates 24 hours a day from October to early December to extend the growing season for the field's grass. The system is also used in some soccer stadiums where shade from stands and partial roofs are a problem for the turf, not the cold and short growing season found in Green Bay.
Titletown, USA
More famously a nickname for the city than its football field, "Titletown, USA" became popularized in 1961, even before Vince Lombardi won any of his championships. At the 1961 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants, which the Packers won 37–0, fans hung up signs around the stadium that read Welcome to Titletown, USA. Then-Giants quarterback Y. A. Tittle joked that the honor was for him, just that his name was misspelled. By the mid-60s, Titletown, USA was registered as a trademark of the Green Bay Packers, Inc. Lambeau Field has been home to seven NFL world championship seasons, five under Lombardi, one under Mike Holmgren and one under Mike McCarthy, surpassing the six world championship seasons witnessed by its predecessor, City Stadium, under Curly Lambeau.
Traditions
Many Packer players will jump into the end zone stands after scoring a touchdown, in a celebration affectionately known as the Lambeau Leap. The Lambeau Leap was spontaneously created in 1993 by safety LeRoy Butler, who scored after a Reggie White fumble recovery and lateral against the L.A. Raiders on December 26. It was later popularized by wide receiver Robert Brooks.
It's not known precisely when the celebration was first coined the "Lambeau Leap", but one of the first possible mentions was by broadcaster Al Michaels during a Monday night broadcast in September 1996, "It's a new tradition in Green Bay, Robert Brooks leaping into the stands."
When the NFL banned excessive celebrations in 2000, the Lambeau Leap was grandfathered into the new rules, permitting it to continue.
Occasionally, a visiting player will attempt a Lambeau Leap, only to be denied by Packers fans. This happened to then-Minnesota Vikings cornerback Fred Smoot when he intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown; Packers fans proceeded to throw their beverages on Smoot. During the 2007 NFC Championship game, New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs faked a Lambeau Leap after scoring a touchdown, angering many Green Bay faithful in the stands.[71] Before a game against the Packers on September 20, 2009, Cincinnati Bengals wideout Chad Johnson, then known as Chad Ochocinco, announced he would do a Lambeau Leap if he scored a touchdown, and then followed through by leaping into the arms of pre-arranged fans wearing Bengals jerseys.
In 2014, a statue was made outside of Lambeau Field commemorating the Leap. Featuring a shortened replica of the end zone wall and 4 random Packers fans, the statue allows visitors to pose for pictures doing their own Lambeau Leap.
The NFL Network countdown program, NFL Top 10, named the Lambeau Leap the 3rd greatest touchdown celebration of all time.
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