*Two years after he co-founded the Packers with Curly Lambeau, George Calhoun began writing a piece called The Dope Sheet, which served as the official press release and game program from 1921-24.
Honoring Calhoun, the first publicity director, the Packers are running this weekly feature as their release, which is being made available to fans exclusively on Packers.com.
A complete edition of the Dope Sheet will be available each week during the season in PDF format, located in the Packers.com Game Centers.*
THIS WEEK'S NOTABLE STORYLINES:
-Green Bay wraps up the preseason against the Titans for a fifth consecutive year. Beginning with a Dec. 16, 2001, regular-season clash in Nashville, this marks the seventh time the teams have met in less than five years.
-Following the contest, the Packers need to make their final preseason roster reduction, to 53 players (by 3 p.m. CDT Saturday, Sept. 2). All exemptions expired on the first date, unlike previous years.
-Friday marks the 46th edition of the Bishop's Charities game, a series with roots in the Lombardi Era. The Packers look to break a three-year losing streak in the series, bidding for their first win since 2002. Green Bay is 24-20-1 all-time in Bishop's Charities contests.
-Green Bay engages in a unique weekday matinee contest. The Packers rescheduled the game for a 3 p.m. kickoff to avoid going head-to-head with previously scheduled high school games.
TELEVISION: The Green Bay Packers Broadcast Partners will air the game to an eight-station network throughout the state of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, with CBS network production, personnel and the latest network-quality technology. A top-notch broadcast team that includes CBS's Kevin Harlan calling the play-by-play alongside fellow CBS broadcaster Rich Gannon providing the analysis. WTMJ's Jessie Garcia serves as the sideline reporter, WFRV's Larry McCarren joins the crew for pregame segments, and Ross Schneiderman (producer) and Suzanne Smith (director) are in the truck. In addition to WFRV-TV (Green Bay) and WTMJ-TV (Milwaukee), the game will be televised over WKOW/ABC, Madison, Wis.; WAOW/ABC, Wausau/Rhinelander, Wis.; WXOW/ABC, La Crosse, Wis.; WQOW/ABC, Eau Claire; WYOW/ABC, Eagle River, Wis.; and WJMN/CBS, Marquette, Mich.
For fans unable to watch the daytime game, some of those state stations - including WFRV in Green Bay and WTMJ in Milwaukee - will re-air the contest at 7 p.m. CDT, Friday.
-Out-of-state fans can catch the game live on satellite, using coordinates IA6, transponder 14 (audio 6268).
-The contest also will air as a simulcast, LIVE on NFL Network, using the television feed of the respective local broadcasts.
PACKERS RADIO: Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 57-station Packers Radio Network, with versatile Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color). Spanning five states, the network covers 47 markets in six states throughout the upper Midwest. The broadcast also is available to NFL Field Pass subscribers on packers.com.
BISHOP'S CHARITIES GAME: This week marks the annual Bishop's Charities Game, a Lambeau Field tradition now in its 46th year.
-In 1961, the Diocese of Green Bay approached Vince Lombardi about playing a second charitable contest in Green Bay (the Shrine game was already a fixture in Milwaukee).
-Lombardi, a devout Catholic, agreed to the contest. The original contract gave the Packers, their opponent and the church each one-third of the gate receipts.
-During the 1970s, the Packers and the church changed the contract so the Diocese would receive a flat donation, rather than a percentage.
-For more than 30 years, the church handled much of the game's business-related tasks, including game program and advertising sales, using a network of volunteers covering 14 Northeastern Wisconsin counties. The Packers assumed many of those tasks beginning in 1994.
-To date, the series has raised nearly $3.25 million.
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:Packers vs. Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers:
All-time regular season: 4-5-0
All-time, preseason: 3-3-0
All-time, Lambeau Field: 1-4-0
All-time, in Tennessee: 0-1-0
Streaks: The Titans have won the last two meetings (2001, '04)
Last meeting, regular season: Oct. 11, 2004, Lambeau Field, Titans won 48-27
Last meeting, regular season, in Tennessee: Dec. 16, 2001, Titans won 26-20
Last meeting, preseason: Sept. 1, 2005, in Tennessee, Packers won 21-17
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike McCarthy: 0-0-0, first NFL season
Jeff Fisher: 102-89-0, .534, 12th NFL season, 12th with Titans/Oilers
Head to Head: (never met)
vs. Opponent: McCarthy 0-0 vs. Titans; Fisher 2-1 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY...Is in his first year as the Packers' 14th head coach.
-Was named Packers head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, his first head coaching job after 13 years as an NFL assistant.
-One of those previous 13 years was with the Packers, as quarterbacks coach in 1999.
-Spent the past six seasons as an offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints (2000-04) and San Francisco 49ers (2005).
-Has never been a head coach at any level, having begun his coaching career as a college assistant at Fort Hays State (1987-88) and the University of Pittsburgh (1989-92) before breaking into the NFL as a quality control assistant with the Chiefs in 1993.
JEFF FISHER...Is in his 12th year as the 15th head coach of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans.
-Holds the franchise record for wins by a head coach with 102, becoming in 2005 the 34th NFL coach to reach 100 wins and 17th to do so with one team.
-Presided over the most successful five-year period (1999-2003) in his club's 46-year franchise history, posting 56 regular-season and five postseason wins, four playoff appearances, two division titles, two AFC Championship games and one Super Bowl berth (XXXIV).
-Was a defensive coach with three organizations (Philadelphia, L.A. Rams, San Francisco) before joining the Houston Oilers as defensive coordinator in 1994. Became interim head coach 10 games into the '94 season.
-Lined up in the secondary at USC with Dennis Smith, Joey Browner and Ronnie Lott, then played five NFL seasons for the Chicago Bears.
THE PACKERS-TITANS SERIES: Green Bay played its first ever dome game, a 23-10 win on Nov. 20, 1972, when the franchises first met 22 years ago at the Houston Astrodome.
-Since, the clubs have met only eight other times.
-The teams have split the last four meetings, all during the Brett Favre era, with the Packers getting victories at home in 1998 and at Houston in 1992.
-The Packers are just 1-2 vs. the Titans since the franchise moved from Houston to Tennessee in 1997.
-The teams' first meeting after the move, at Lambeau Field on Dec. 20, 1998, was a memorable contest. A 30-22 Packers win in snowy, 29-degree conditions, the game marked Reggie White's final Lambeau Field performance in a Packers uniform. Brett Favre threw for three touchdowns, all to Antonio Freeman, who posted seven catches for 186 yards.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS: Packers General Manager Ted Thompson played 10 years (1975-84) as a linebacker for the Houston Oilers...Titans assistant Chuck Cecil entered the NFL as a fourth-round choice of the Packers in the 1988 draft; Cecil played in Green Bay's secondary from 1998-92...Titans wide receivers coach Ray Sherman held the same position with the Packers from 2000-04...P Craig Hentrich played for the Packers from 1994-97...Titans WR Jonathan Orr played collegiately at the University of Wisconsin...LBs Rob Reynolds and A.J. Hawk started alongside one another at Ohio State in 2003, when Reynolds was a senior and Hawk a sophomore...FB Troy Fleming and C Scott Wells played together at Tennessee and were both drafted in 2004, Fleming in the sixth round and Wells in the seventh...Packers T Chad Clifton and TE David Martin, as well as director of pro personnel Reggie McKenzie, also are University of Tennessee products...DTs Colin Cole and Jared Clauss played on the defensive line together at Iowa...Rookie fifth-round draft choice Ingle Martin was considered one of the nation's top prep quarterbacks in 2000, coming out of Nashville's Montgomery Bell Academy; a native of Memphis, Martin makes his home in Brentwood, Tenn. ...Green Bay wide receivers coach Jimmy Robinson launched his coaching career as an assistant with the USFL's Memphis Showboats in 1984, when the franchise's roster included DE Reggie White...Green Bay's equipment manager, Red Batty, worked in a similar capacity for the Oilers for 13 years (1981-93) before joining the Packers...Packers internet coordinator Jeff Harding is a former Titans intern...Tennessee's PR department includes a pair of former Packers interns, Dwight Spradlin and Gary Glenn.
INDIVIDUALLY VS. TENNESSEE: Packers DT Corey Williams had a career-high seven tackles against the Titans on Oct. 11, 2004.
LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON: Oct. 11, 2004, at Lambeau Field, Titans won, 48-27.
-On Monday Night Football, the Titans came into Green Bay and scored more points than any visitor ever at Lambeau Field, handing the Packers at the time their first four-game losing streak since 1991 and first 0-3 start at home since 1988.
-Chris Brown rushed for 148 yards and two touchdowns, from 37 and 29 yards out on the Titans' first two series.
-Tennessee scored on five of its first six possessions, and Steve McNair threw two second-half TD passes to put the game out of reach.
-Brett Favre, playing after the death of his 24-year-old brother-in-law, was 24 of 44 for 338 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Donald Driver (5 catches, 150 yards) and Javon Walker (8-159) each topped 150 receiving yards.
LAST MEETING, PRESEASON: Sept. 1, 2005, in Tennessee, Packers won, 21-17.
-The Packers rallied with 14 unanswered points in the second half, as Aaron Rodgers threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to TE Ben Steele and Craig Nall threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to RB Walt Williams.
-Chris Brown's early TD run helped stake the Titans to a 10-0 lead.
-Brett Favre connected with Javon Walker on a 4-yard TD pass, but Billy Volek's 20-yard TD strike to Drew Bennett put Tennessee up 17-7 at the half.
-Rodgers finished 9 of 13 for 92 yards, and Favre was 4 of 8 for 49 yards in a game many thought he would not play after Hurricane Katrina devastated his hometown and put his family in danger.
-Volek finished 11 of 18 for 119 yards.
