Here are 77 reasons you want to be a Packer fan

As we gear up for the Packer home opener and alumni weekend for the greatest NFL team in the country, we offer the following 77 reasons you want to be a Packer fan:

1. We are womb to tombers. Parents put their babies on the season ticket waiting list the day they are born and the stadium fields multiple requests each year from people who want to scatter loved one’s ashes on that hallowed ground. (Mercifully, denied. We don’t want to think about sneezing out little bits of Uncle Elmer every game day.)
2. You get to hear the great Reggie White sing “Amazing Grace” during Packer home games.
3. Hall of Famer Tony Canadeo, the Grey Ghost of Gonzaga and one of the nicest guys we ever met.
4. Say what you will about him, Brett Favre made an impact on the game
5. We own the team.
6. LeRoy Butler’s first Lambeau Leap and every single leap after that.
7. Packer fans honor our players for life (and we say “our” players and “our” team because we’re bonded like that).
8. We have our own Hall of Fame and…
9. … it’s full of trophies.
10. Lambeau Field will never be named for some corporate sponsor.
11. Our games have been played at the same location since 1957.
12.  Aaron Rodgers’ championship belt/discount double check move
13. Our address has been 1265 Lombardi Avenue since 1968
14. Vince Lombardi is our coach, baby
15. Bart Starr = class. Then, now and always.
16.  Held a stock sale just for funsies in 1997-98, raised more than $20 million
17. The Bishop’s Charity game, a brainchild of Vince Lombardi and Father Bill Spalding,  has raised more than $3.7 million for the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay since 1961.
18. Donald Driver‘s smile
19. Gilbert Brown, the jolly lineman with the lethal moves. They don’t call him the gravedigger for nothing.
20. Super Bowl I
21. We don’t raise brats, we grill them.
22. Beer dip. You know you want some.
23. Kabeer Gbaja Biamila’s eloquent statement and his recent induction into the Packer Hall of Fame.
24. Our teams runs onto Lambeau through a tunnel of fans
25. No wardrobe malfunction potential with our wholesome cheerleaders
26. The Ice Bowl. We played in it. We stayed at it. We won it.
27. Jordy!
28. Super Bowl II
29. The bridge of Chuck Cecil’s nose
30. Teague’s League
31. Al Harris’ sweet thank you note that still makes us well up a little.
32. This website, that helps you find the best Packer bars in any zip code
33. Our players ride kid’s bikes from the locker room to the practice field during training camp.
34. There is no tailgate party like a Lambeau tailgate party.
35. Super Bowl XXXI
36. Friendly parking on Lambeau neighborhood lawns, where the backyard real estate is even more valuable than the homes
37. The Luxemberg-Casco middle school football team, which had a couple of T-shirt wearing, Super Bowl winning fans in the stands this week — Aaron Rodgers and Mason Crosby.
38. Bars — seven layer, chocolate chip, lemon, pumpkin, apple. You’ll find all manner of bars at Packer tailgates.
39. Bars — the Bar, Stadium View, Curly’s Pub and every other Packer bar you’ve ever stepped in, bellied up to, and high-fived your way through.
40. Cheeseheads, Cheese bras, Cheese cheeks etc. We’re not saying we’d wear them, but we appreciate their festive charm.
41. The Packer Bikini girls who earned their moments in the sun with impressive stamina during their moments in the icy cold and who, thankfully, never appeared in less than their bikinis.
42.  Grandmothers who nonchalantly dissect the 3-4 defense during Sunday dinner conversation.
43. Go Pack Go. It’s a simple cheer but what a joy to hear it booming from other NFL stadiums!
44. Super Bowl XLV
45. Favre4hope
46. Our renovated scoreboard
47. We sit old school, on bleachers
48. Clergy members who send their flock off on Sunday mornings with a quick Packer prayer
49. It’s fun to watch opposing players freeze
50. We know how to gear up for cold weather games and, even if you’re wearing purple and yellow, we’ll help you gear up too
51. Sometimes, unannounced, our players eat hot lunch in Green Bay schools.
52.  Clay Matthews — the eye of the tiger and the mane of the lion.
53. The Packer fence painter
54. Green Bay remains the smallest NFL city with the biggest fan base
55. B.J. Raji’s touchdown dance
56. They don’t call it Titletown for nothing!
57. 13-time world champions!
58. Ryan Longwell, the prodigal player who retired a Packer
59. Dave Robinson, Green Bay’s newest Hall of Famer, a talented athlete with a deep belly laugh.
60. Max McGee and his timeless wit
61. Lombardi: the man, the street, the trophy, the BROADWAY SHOW
62. Whether you travel through Ireland, Harlem or Arizona, you’ll run into fellow Packer fans and they’ll always say hello.
63. It’s still America’s team
64. Dick Schaap, Jerry Kramer and their iconic series Distant Replay, Packer Replay and one of the best sports book ever written, Instant Replay.
65. More than 63,000 fans attend our scrimmage
66. Nitschke, legendary linebacker and namesake of a thousand family bulldogs
67. Military Flyovers
68. The Beer Barrel Polka
69. Our home has no dome, just a lot of good, clean air.
70. 22 players inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, second most in the NFL
71. A jazz band roams the pre-game parking lot, playing tunes for treats and tips.
72. St. Vincent, who only lets Lombardi era Packers sign his miter and has collected 22 autographs from those glorious teams.
73. On special occasions, like a Super Bowl win, school districts shorten their school day to accommodate the celebration.
74.  Henry Jordan, the quick-witted, quick-footed Hall of Famer
75. Invest in our quarterback jerseys — they’ll last you 15 years or more
76. Green for go and gold for win. It’s a natural color combination — in Wisconsin.
77. No other professional sports organization treats its alumni and fans with such respect. Every year the Packers invite their alumni home for a whole weekend of celebrations. Save some cheers for the halftime program and a special celebration of the ’65,’66 and ’67 teams. Join me in cheering a little harder for good ole number 77, my dad Ron Kostelnik.