Thursday, April 10, 2025:

Day 3 began with an impressive breakfast spread at the Edgewater Hotel on the shores of Lake Mendota as the Packers' corporate partnership sales and activations team hosted a gathering for Packers sponsors. Sports radio host Mike Heller, who appears on Packers Radio Network flagship station 97.3 The Game, moderated Q&A sessions with the tour group. From the guys sharing their draft day stories to Bill Schroeder joking about his current gameday duties as an NFL uniform inspector, the event was a great way to kick off what Murphy referred to as "hump day" halfway through the tour.

After a 40-minute bus ride, the team arrived at "the promised land" – Culver's corporate headquarters. Employees at the Prairie du Sac building had their calendars blocked for a custard social (with the calendar invite coming from Scoopie, of course) and were told they did not want to miss this one. They were all surprised to see the Tailgate Tour bus pulling into the parking lot.

The Wisconsin fast casual staple is a valued Packers partner and boasts 151 locations in Wisconsin alone. They've grown to have over 1,000 locations throughout the country, spreading appreciation for frozen custard and cheese curds nationwide.

After saying hello to founder Craig Culver, greeting employees and sharing some custard, the guys got a chance visit the Culvers test kitchen and make their own Butterburgers, complete with smashed patties, toasted buns and all the fixings. "I'm a professional," Lukas Van Ness said, feeling satisfied as he flipped his burger on the grill.

Culver's, along with the Packers, was also involved with the acclaimed film "Green and Gold," which was just released earlier this year and follows the heartfelt story of a Wisconsin dairy farmer and a bet he makes on the 1993 Packers team. The film is available to rent and stream everywhere starting April 15.

The tour participants spent their next couple of stops recounting their favorite NFL moments, starting at Mauston High School, where they met with 500 students.

Van Ness recounted beating the Dallas Cowboys as the first-ever No. 7 seed to win a playoff game during the 2023 season. Tucker Kraft told the story of his 66-yard touchdown reception last season against the Rams in Los Angeles, stiff arm and all.

Conversation eventually turned to the draft, of course, with students eager to ask Murphy whom the team would be selecting. Murphy took the opportunity to encourage everyone to attend the draft in Green Bay and remind the students that the Packers tend to select the best available player – can't go spoiling any draft day secrets!

The reminiscing continued at the next stop, Volk Field Air National Guard Base. Ahman Green recalled one play among his favorites when he ran 98 yards for a touchdown against Denver in 2003 to help clinch a playoff spot, complete with a Lambeau Leap.

The guys had the opportunity to thank the servicemen and women for what they do and learn more about their daily routines at Volk Field, which is a military airport located near the Village of Camp Douglas in Juneau County.

Another stop at a school followed, with a visit to the Timberwolves of Tomah High School. Nearly 900 students heard from the group about respect and reliability, with Murphy presenting a check to the school for $2,500. The players also took part in a friendly game of lightning with some of the members of the boys and girls basketball teams, with one of their Special Olympics basketball players making it from half court.

The night ended with a fundraiser at Stoney Creek Hotel in Onalaska to benefit the Hunger Task Force of La Crosse. The food bank coordinates donations from approximately 520 donors and food drives, collecting and distributing food to over 120 meal sites, food pantries, youth programs and outreach sites in La Crosse, Vernon, Trempealeau, Crawford and Monroe Counties in Wisconsin, Houston and Winona Counties in Minnesota, and Allamakee County in Iowa.

The sold-out event was an enormous success, with the Packers donating $25,000 to the cause to end the night.

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Day 2 of the 2025 Tailgate Tour began at the Milwaukee VA Fisher House, a short drive from the hotel where the group stayed downtown. According to manager Torrie Hutchison, there are 99 Fisher Houses across the country, all affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals. The Milwaukee location offers 16 suites of varying layouts to accommodate single travelers or larger families, at no cost to them.

It's intended to provide a nearby home away from home for families of veterans receiving care at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, only a few blocks away.

"All of our families live more than 50 miles away and they need to be close to that loved one," Hutchison said. "It is proven that a veteran will get discharged from the hospital faster because they have that support with them. It's a place where (the families) can come and have a little respite themselves after they've spent 12 hours at the hospital."

She said guests can be there anywhere from one day to several months, with the longest stay at the facility totaling 191 days so the guest could support their loved one throughout their time at the hospital.

The tour group got a chance to visit with family members and thank several veterans who were able to take a short time away from the hospital to mingle with the Packers.

The next stop was Friends with Food, a food pantry in Waukesha. The pantry started back in 2020 during the pandemic, when founder Rochelle Gamauf started sharing spaghetti dinners and other items with friends and people she knew who were in need.

Friends with Food board vice president Chris Schaefer felt compelled to contribute to the pantry's community building efforts.

"My family grew up a little poor, had government assistance and WIC," he said. "Being from Waukesha, it was near and dear to my heart. This is my community that I live in. And now, it's on a grander scale. Two days a week, we have an open pantry. The cool thing about Friends with Food is that you don't have to prove that you're under a certain income level. If you're in need, there's no shame, there's no stigma. You just come in and get food."

The pantry serves about 400 families a week and gave over a million pounds of food away last year.

Mark Murphy, the players and alumni spent time passing out food and loading up the carts with the families coming through, taking photos and sharing laughs.

Packers sponsor Meijer also joined in the fun, with several of their employees stopping by to present a $5,000 check to the pantry to go toward serving their clients in need.

After a quick stop for lunch in Pewaukee, next up was Waukesha County Technical College, where the tour group joined students, faculty and community members in a Q&A session. The players and alumni reflected on their own experiences with learning and education, sharing how they've been fortunate to learn important lessons both inside and outside the classroom.

The highlight was a student from the cosmetology program raising their hand and offering free haircuts for the tour participants. Marco Rivera was the first one to volunteer – it certainly wouldn't have taken long to give him a trim.

The bus continued on to Madison next, where the group stopped at Abundant Life Christian School. Late last year, the school community faced a tragedy when a shooting took place at ALCS, so the tour group sought to help spread positivity and provide an opportunity for the students to have some fun together. The over 400 students in attendance at the gym provided an incredible, high-energy welcome for the players and alumni.

Some of the students stood up to ask questions, including one student that asked how to move forward after difficult times. John Michels shared his own story of his football dreams ending because of injuries, and his circumstances leading to his new purpose in life as a physician. "We are not defined by the bad things that happen to us in life," he said. "We are defined by the decisions we make as we face adversity."

Tucker Kraft offered two autographs to question-askers: one to a very prepared student, who had Kraft's rookie card in hand, and one very unprepared student, who simply asked Kraft to sign his pants.

The day ended with a special VIP event at Blind Shot Social Club, followed by a fundraiser event at Garver Feed Mill to benefit Dairyland Sports. Founded in 2017, Dairyland Sports aims to engage and empower individuals with physical disabilities to improve their health. The nonprofit promotes and advocates for adaptive sports, fitness and recreation in Wisconsin and across the Midwest, with track and field, swimming, power lifting and wheelchair basketball opportunities for athletes.

A festive atmosphere and a full house greeted the Tailgate Tour group when they entered, with plenty of Ian's Pizza and other Madison treats in the building.

Executive director of Dairyland Sports, Jacob Graboski, shared the mission of the day. "Dairyland was started just to give folks the opportunity to compete at a higher level, and that's why we're here today," he said. "We just want to showcase all of their talents and show the Packers, show Wisconsin what these kids are capable of...we're trying to redefine what an athlete looks like, and that's really our goal: to put them on the stage to make sure they're represented as well."

Dairyland Sports partnered with another local nonprofit, Paul's Party, for a cheese raffle at the event, with coolers of cheese from the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, which was held in Green Bay just weeks ago. Paul's Party also helps provide the equipment for Dairyland Sports athletes to compete, in honor of the founder's son Paul.

This strong sense of community was also reflected in the response to the auction items. One item, a signed Packers helmet, ended up on Tucker Kraft's head as he walked throughout the event space to encourage bidding. A bidding war ensued, and after a second helmet was added to the back-and-forth, both bidders went home happy with $3,600 raised for Dairyland Sports.

By the time Mark Murphy presented the event organizers with a $25,000 check, well over $100,000 had been donated to Dairyland Sports – a fitting end to a day spent traversing America's Dairyland.

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

It was a crisp, sunny, spring morning as the 19th Packers Tailgate Tour embarked on its statewide journey. This year, the Packers boarded the bus in the shadow of the setup for the 2025 NFL Draft, which takes place in Green Bay in just 16 days. The subject of the draft served as an exciting theme for the players and alumni to discuss throughout Day 1, in between chatting about their excitement for the coming season.

Joining the trip this year were two current Packers, TE Tucker Kraft and DL Lukas Van Ness, along with five esteemed alumni, Marco Rivera, Ahman Green, John Michels, Bill Schroeder and Tony Fisher. Fisher, the former running back who served as the Packers' player/alumni coordinator following his playing career, was all too familiar with the Tailgate Tour, since he used to be responsible for planning and facilitating the event each year. Two years ago, he moved back to his native Ohio to become the athletic director at his high school alma mater, so the group was excited to have him back in the mix.

The tour began with visits to two proud Wisconsin manufacturers, fitting for a state where manufacturing contributes nearly 19% of its total economic output. The bus journeyed first to De Pere, surprising employees working inside the Robinson Inc. production plant. Robinson, which manufactures premium custom metal fabrication and enclosures, has a state-of-the-art facility that employs over 600 workers between De Pere and Manitowoc.

Continuing down I-41 to Fond du Lac, the bus stopped next at Mercury Marine. Several hundred employees provided a warm welcome in the sun outside the facility as Bill Schroeder remarked jovially from the bus, "There's somebody dressed like an outboard motor!" Indeed, a Mercury Marine staff member was dressed as a Mercury Pro XS, providing an excellent preview of the types of propulsion systems the players and alumni would have the chance to see inside the facility.

Mercury Marine designs, manufactures and distributes engines, services and parts for recreational, commercial and government marine applications. The business employs more than 3,500 people full-time at their global headquarters in Fond du Lac. Schroeder, who was proud to share that he owns a boat with a Mercury 200, was eager to see how it was made. Meanwhile, Tucker Kraft, another boat owner, was fielding requests for additions to the playbook, with a staff member passing along his idea for a blockbuster play. "I'll make sure I give this to Coach," Kraft replied, folding the piece of paper into his pocket.

"We're proud to be a Wisconsin company and we're proud to be Packers fans," said John Buelow, president of Mercury Marine. "Really excited to have them come here and show them part of our facility. And thrilled that they can interact with and speak with so many members of our team here at Mercury Marine."

After some more photos with staff members to wrap up the visit, the bus brought the crew to Backyard Bar and Grill, which received rave reviews from everyone, particularly the fried pickles. The next stop was an hour further south at Children's Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, one of the nation's leading pediatric hospitals, which was particularly rewarding for many members of the group.

While many of the children couldn't accept visitors in their rooms, the lobby provided the perfect place for some football-themed fun, with miniature cornhole, football toss and pictionary providing the entertainment. The Tailgate Tour celebrities manned the stations while kids at the hospital and their families got the chance to enjoy the games and mingle with the guys.

Nobody could keep the smiles off their faces. "You are tougher than any of the guys up here," John Michels said to one of the kids visiting.

One patient was celebrating a bittersweet milestone, as he was graduating out of his treatment at Children's to be treated elsewhere as an adult. A Type 1 diabetic since the age of 10, this particular patient said he had been coming to Children's for over a decade. He and his mother, who accompanied him at today's visit, said it was very emotional to say goodbye to his doctors today, but having the Packers there was a special way to help usher him into the next stage.

"I have been a Packers fan since I was 6," he said. "My first-ever Packers memory was beating the Bears in the NFC Championship to go to the Super Bowl." His mom added, "The doctors here have kept him healthy and strong and we're just so appreciative of everything they've done for us. Today was the perfect way to end our time at Children's."

Following the visit at the hospital, the group took a quick detour to visit the Packers' Milwaukee corporate office for a special announcement: Verizon is now the official 5G mobile partner of the Green Bay Packers. Mark Murphy was joined by Andy Brady, the Verizon Great Lakes Market President, to make the announcement. The two organizations both share a commitment to giving back to the community, along with enhancing service and connectivity at Lambeau Field on gameday and every day, and this partnership will work to advance each mission.

Verizon will also have a presence at the NFL Draft in Green Bay, a topic that came up again and again with fans and organizations being visited throughout the day. The next and final stop of the day was no different, with the Baird Center buzzing with talk of Green Bay hosting the NFL's biggest offseason event.

The evening fundraiser at the Baird Center was a festive, indoor tailgate party environment to benefit the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation. Made up of a coalition of partner organizations, industry professionals and members of the public across the state, the foundation works to help keep burn survivors, fire fighters and communities healthy, safe and strong.

A brigade of bike kids, apparently trying to keep their wheels greased during the offseason, escorted the players and alumni to the stage, where a spirited Q&A took place – with plenty of draft-related questions, of course – along with a live auction led by Fisher. Murphy ended the night by presenting a $25,000 check to the foundation to benefit burn survivor support, fire safety and prevention and firefighter support.

Day 1 was in the books and the group was energized and ready to take on the rest of the Tour.