The Green Bay Packers' preseason schedule is highlighted by a nationally televised contest against defending AFC champion Indianapolis at Lambeau Field. The preliminary schedule was communicated by the National Football League on Wednesday.
Aug. 12-16
CLEVELAND BROWNS (Gold pkg.)
Midwest Shrine Game
TV: WFRV/state
Aug. 19-23
TV: WFRV/state
Aug. 26 - 7 p.m.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Bishop's Charities Game
TV: ESPN
Sept. 2-3
TV: WFRV/state
Specific dates and times to be announced
The Packers open the preseason against the Cleveland Browns at Lambeau Field for the second consecutive year. A 17-0 Green Bay victory last preseason left the all-time preseason record nearly even between the two clubs, with Cleveland holding a slight 11-10 advantage. The game is designated as the 61st annual Upper Midwest Shrine Game, a tradition which began in 1950 and has raised more than $3.1 million for the Midwest Shrine's burn centers and hospitals for crippled children. Green Bay has won five of the last six and nine of the last 11 in the Shrine series.
In Week 2 of the preseason, Green Bay will head to Seattle to take on the Seahawks, led by new head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider, who spent 12 seasons in the Packers front office. This marks the fourth all-time preseason meeting between the teams. Green Bay's only other preseason meeting in Seattle came in 1983.
ESPN will televise the Colts contest in Week 3 to a national TV audience. This marks the eighth preseason contest between Indianapolis and Green Bay and the first since 1996. Also, the Colts game marks the 50th annual Bishop's Charities Game, a charitable contest initiated in 1961 by Vince Lombardi and the Diocese of Green Bay that has raised more than $3.4 million to date.
The preseason concludes with a road contest at Kansas City, which will mark the 12th preseason meeting between the Packers and Chiefs. The Packers last played a preseason contest in Kansas City in 1990. Green Bay and Tennessee had met in the preseason finale each of the last eight years.
Except for the Indianapolis game, the exact dates and times for the remaining three Packers' preseason games are to be determined. Those will be produced by CBS Sports and aired on Green Bay's WFRV-TV (Ch. 5), in conjunction with Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV, over a 10-station network throughout the state of Wisconsin, Northern Iowa, Upper Michigan and Northeastern Minnesota. In addition to WFRV-TV and WTMJ-TV, the games are televised over WKOW/ABC, Madison, Wis.; WAOW/ABC, Wausau/Rhinelander, Wis.; WXOW/ABC, La Crosse, Wis.; WQOW/ABC, Eau Claire, Wis.; WYOW/ABC, Eagle River, Wis.; KGCW/CW, Davenport, Iowa; WJMN/CBS, Marquette, Mich.; and KQDS-TV/FOX, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis.
The top-notch preseason broadcast team includes CBS' Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Rich Gannon (analyst), Ross Schneiderman (producer) and Suzanne Smith (director).
The league is expected to release the regular-season schedule sometime in April.
