PACKERS WRAP UP PRESEASON WITH FAMILIAR FOE
-Green Bay welcomes the Tennessee Titans to Lambeau Field tonight for the preseason finale. It will mark the seventh consecutive season the two clubs have met in the final exhibition game.
-The Packers will be playing their fourth game in 18 days thanks to a disjointed preseason schedule. The team will get some good rest - 10 days - before it opens against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football Sept. 8.
-Green Bay comes into its final preseason game after notching its first win of the exhibition slate, a 27-24 win at Denver last Friday night. Led by an efficient performance from QB Aaron Rodgers, the first-team offense scored on four of five possessions. A late touchdown in the fourth quarter sealed the victory.
-The Titans arrive in Green Bay after recording their first preseason loss to Atlanta. The team previously had defeated St. Louis and Oakland.
-As has been custom with this game the past two seasons, the Titans are expected to play their starters a bit longer than the Packers. Head Coach Mike McCarthy traditionally has played his starters for a series or two in the final preseason game, whereas Titans coach Jeff Fisher has played his starters into the third quarter.
-Regardless of which players are on the field, don't expect the teams to show too much schematically from either side of the ball: the Packers will travel to Nashville to face the Titans in a Week 9 matchup Nov. 2.
-Thursday night will be the ninth preseason game between Green Bay and the Houston/Tennessee franchise. Since the teams began playing in the final preseason game (2002-present), Tennessee holds a 4-2 advantage.
MIDWEST SHRINE GAME
-One of the NFL's longest team traditions, tonight marks the Upper Midwest Shrine Game's 59th installment.
-Each season, the Packers donate a percentage of the gate to the Shriners' Hospitals for Children.
-The Shriners' facilities provide specialized medical services, helping children with birth defects and other injuries, at absolutely no cost.
-To date, the series has raised more than $3.1 million for the Midwest Shrine's burn centers and hospitals for crippled children.
{sportsad300}-Green Bay is 30-25-3 all-time in the series. Green Bay and Tennessee met in the 2002 game.
-The series has called three separate stadiums home: Milwaukee's State Fair Park (1950-51), Milwaukee County Stadium (1952-82, 1984-94) and Lambeau Field (1983, 1995-present).
-In his first season leading the Packers, Vince Lombardi made an agreement with George Halas to play in the Shrine game annually. Green Bay and Chicago played each preseason in County Stadium from 1959-73.
-The Packers annually designate the Shrine game as the first 'Gold package' game for season-ticket holders primarily from the Milwaukee area. The team created the three-game package after moving all of its home games to Green Bay in 1995. Also in the 'Gold package' this season are the contests against Dallas (Sept. 21) and Chicago (Nov. 16).
A LAST CHANCE TO IMPRESS
-With nearly every player back from a year ago, and a talented bunch of newcomers added to the mix, Packers training camp 2008 has been the most competitive in recent memory.
-General Manager Ted Thompson knows all about training camp battles. Signed as a non-drafted free agent linebacker by the Houston Oilers, Thompson annually held off younger competition brought in by Bum Phillips during his 10-year career.
-Tonight's game versus Tennessee will be the final factor as the final roster cut looms. Starters should only play a series of two, lending plenty of time for players fighting to make the roster. Here's a look at the roster as it stands, position by position. The first number indicates the number of players at that position currently, while the number in parentheses represents how many players from that position made the opening-day roster in 2007.
Quarterback - 3 (2)
Running back - 8 (6)
Tight end - 4 (2)
Wide receiver - 9 (5)
Offensive line - 13 (9)
Defensive line - 13 (11)
Linebacker - 9 (5)
Cornerback - 8 (6)
Safety - 5 (4)
Specialists - 3 (3)
HALFTIME ENTERTAINMENT
-The Green Bay Packers and USA Football, the sport's national governing body on youth and amateur levels, will host 88 youth football players from the Neighborhood Children's Sports League of Milwaukee to celebrate the "Play Football ... it's more than a game" campaign.
-The four teams, who regularly play at Mitchell Park in Milwaukee, will stand on the south goal line during the national anthem. Later, at halftime, the Redskins will compete against the Buccaneers in the north end zone, while the Broncos take on the Packers in the south end zone. In addition to the players, 40 cheerleaders from the league will make the trip to Lambeau Field to cheer on the players. Green Bay-area Pop Warner teams were featured at the Aug. 11 preseason contest.
WEARING THE STRIPES
Today's officiating crew includes referee Bill Carollo (63), umpire Bill Schuster (129), head linesman John Schleyer (21), line judge Gary Arthur (108), field judge Scott Edwards (3), side judge James Coleman (95) and back judge Bob Waggoner (25).
NEXT WEEK
The Packers open the regular season at Lambeau Field on Monday night, Sept. 8, against the Minnesota Vikings. The Titans open Sunday, Sept. 7, as they host the Jacksonville Jaguars in their season opener.
