Dear NFL rookie, it’s Go Pack Go time!

Dear Packer Rookies,

Welcome to Lambeau. You don’t know it yet, but that contract you signed? That’s a lifetime deal, no matter what the numbers say.

You’re a Packer now and that makes you a member of one of professional sports’ greatest fraternities.

Don’t believe me?

Check out the Hall of Fame. One of the first professional teams to build its own, Green Bay has been inducting heroes since 1970.

Right now, Packer fans are checking you out; they’ve had their eye on you since draft day and they’ve analyzed your pre-season. They know what you need to work on and they’ll be happy to tell you if you end up next to them in the 15-item-or-less lane at the Red Owl.

Don’t take it personally, though, rookie, because they’ve also got your back. And, 20 years from now you can go to that same grocery store and stand in that same checkout line and someone is going to look at you with respect and say, “Hey! You played for the Packers, didn’t you?”

And you’re going to smile and nod once, and then you’re going to grin wide because you know that being a part of this team is one of the coolest things you’ve ever experienced.

Once you pull that game day jersey on, you’re part of a club and your membership never expires. Some day you’re going to take your grandchildren to that Hall of Fame, maybe you’ll even be a member, and you’re going to say, “I played for this team, the same one Curly Lambeau, Tony Canadeo, Willie Davis, Henry Jordan, Ray Nitschke, Reggie White, Bart Starr, and Brett Favre played for. I am a Packer.”

You earned the right to wear that jersey on Sunday and you’ve earned an invitation to Lambeau for as long as you can make it. You’ll be invited back to reunions. You’ll high five people lunging over railings. Maybe you’ll even Lambeau Leap.

On Sunday, as you’re lacing up those cleats, think about all that.

You’re a Green Bay Packer, man.

Hear that chant swelling from every level of a stadium that’s been sold out since 1960? They’re cheering for you!

Go Pack Go!