The team's charter flight for Dallas took off from Austin-Straubel Airport in Green Bay around 1 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Prior to departure, the team was sent off by several hundred fans who braved the snowy weather to cheer their favorite players as they boarded the team buses at Lambeau Field.
Fans broke out into chants of, "Go Pack Go!" and held up several signs of encouragement, including one that read, "The George Halas Trophy is nice, but Vince wants his back." The reference, of course, being to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which goes to the Super Bowl champion.
The Packers will try to bring that trophy back to Green Bay when they play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It's the Packers' first appearance in a Super Bowl in 13 years and their fifth overall.
To spice up the trip to "Cowboy" country, the team's defensive linemen were all dressed in cowboy boots, cowboy hats and accompanying jackets as they boarded the buses and then the plane. The D-line had hinted following the NFC Championship victory in Chicago that they might have some special outfits to commemorate the occasion.
The attire follows up that of the offensive linemen and quarterback Aaron Rodgers at the team's Welcome Back luncheon during training camp, when they wore cowboy hats and bolo ties to signify the team's desired destination at season's end -- Texas for the Super Bowl.
The team is scheduled to land in Dallas around 3:30 p.m. Monday and arrive at the team hotel a short while later. Players and coaches will have some media obligations both Monday evening and Tuesday morning. The players will return to the practice field on Wednesday, the first of three days of practice leading up to the big game.
