The Green Bay Packers Thursday honored Lee Remmel, one of the longest-serving members in the legendary organization, by naming him Team Historian, President and CEO Bob Harlan announced.
"No one has greater knowledge about the storied history of this franchise than Lee Remmel," Harlan said. "This job is perfectly suited for him, and he'll add a very important element to our total operation."
The newly created position carries several responsibilities, including:
- Regular public appearances, both at Lambeau Field and in the community. Remmel will speak in the Lambeau Field Atrium between training camp practices and year-round at corporate functions on the club level. He also will interact with fans in the Packers Hall of Fame as well as at events to benefit the local community. At some appearances, Remmel will present a historically based presentation program.
- Two regular columns to appear on the team's official website, Packers.com, and in the Lambeau Field GameDay program. One column will feature Remmel's historical slants related to timely Packers events, such as an upcoming Bears contest, or the annual NFL Draft. The other will answer fans' questions on the team's past. The columns are expected to run on the website weekly during the season and monthly during the offseason.
- At least one book, anecdotal in nature.
"First of all, I would like to thank Bob Harlan and John Jones for this intriguing opportunity," said Remmel, who also will continue to coordinate the Packers' annual highlights film premieres, and edit the Packers Yearbook. "I am looking forward to this."
For Remmel, the position is the latest chapter in a career that includes volumes of connections to some of the greatest coaches, players and games in professional football annals.
"Lee has been such an integral part of our organization for so many years," Harlan said, "both as an employee and reporter for the Press-Gazette."
That reporting career launched a professional association with the team that has lasted more than 55 years. He wrote his second Packers story for the Green Bay Press-Gazette in 1945, paying his own travel expenses to cover Don Hutson's record-setting performance in a 57-21 win over the Lions in Milwaukee. After covering Vince Lombardi's five NFL championships, including the 1967 Ice Bowl, as well as the trials of coaches who followed in Lombardi's path, Remmel joined the Packers as public relations director in 1974.
The team promoted him to executive director in 1989, inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1996 and named the Lambeau Field press box in his honor prior to the 2003 season.
Among a substantial range of accomplishments during his association with the Packers, Remmel has:
- Worked 618 consecutive games during the last 30 seasons as a member of the public relations department. Including his career as a reporter, since 1967 he has missed only one Packers game; Remmel missed a 1973 contest in order to arrange and attend his father's funeral.
- Held a working relationship with all 13 Packers head coaches.
- Attended 116 Packers-Bears contests, becoming an authority on the league's richest rivalry.
- Become one of just 12 individuals to have worked all 38 Super Bowls. He worked eight representing the Press-Gazette, 28 on the NFL's auxiliary media relations staff, and two with the Packers (1996-97).
"I have had a lifelong fascination with the unique story and history of the Packers," said Remmel, who will continue to attend the Super Bowl as an honorary representative, "and this new position will allow me to fully tell my version of that story, after having been around the team for more than 50 years, and worked with every head coach the team has had."
"In recent years, I might add, I frequently have been asked about doing a book on the Packers and, judging by the job description, a personal history on the Green and Gold is likely to be one of the projects involved. In any case, I am pleased about having continued daily involvement in the organization and the ability to attend all the team's games, home and away, as the Packers continue to make history."
No stranger to events benefiting the community, he has raised more than $97,000 in scholarships through the annual Lee Remmel Sports Awards Banquet. The April 1 event, which he will host for a seventh straight year, honors outstanding professional, collegiate, amateur and prep athletes, coaches and administrators from Wisconsin.
Recognizing the fifth anniversary of that event in 2002, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue reflected on Remmel's place in league history.
"His tremendous depth of Packers knowledge is immensely valuable both to the club and league," Tagliabue said. "The Packers are a vital part of the NFL tradition and no one is more synonymous with the Packers than Lee Remmel."
Remmel and his wife of 55 years, Noreen, make their home in Green Bay.
"Our public relations department will be headed up by Jeff Blumb, who will continue in his role as director of public relations," Harlan said.
