Packers football returns, but lacking the buzz of fans

In a normal year, the NFL matchups get rolling in early August with a handful of preseason games, the kickoff to a season that culminates with the Super Bowl in February.

NFL fans however, especially those who call the Green Bay Packers their favorite franchise, are tuned in well before August — starting as early as April when teams go through their offseason programs. From that point, excitement builds as teams partake in voluntary minicamps, organized team activities and mandatory minicamps before jumping in to training camp practices and preseason games.

This year’s NFL schedule was heavily altered by the COVID-19 pandemic though, and it’s slowed the excitement process for fans.

The Packers and the rest of the NFL spent April through July doing virtual meetings and quarantined workouts, meaning there were no practice photos, videos or stories for fans to digest. Extensive COVID-19 testing then preceded the start of training camp, which opened Aug. 15 for the green and gold.

Even though football has returned to Green Bay, it’s still a far different feel than in years past.

The Packers announced that their training camp practices would be off limits to fans, meaning the only individuals at daily practices are team members and a select few members of the media. After attending a few training camp practices over the past couple years, I got to take in my first COVID practice Saturday.

While the activities on the field were very similar to past practices, it was also missing something that’s extremely important in Green Bay — the energy of fans.

Players could be heard celebrating after big plays or impressive individual feats, but the buzz from the usually packed bleachers at Ray Nitschke Field was absent.

Perfectly thrown deep balls from quarterback Aaron Rodgers drew oohs and aahs from other offensive players, something that’s normally drowned out by the roar of the crowd. An interception got the defensive side of the ball fired up, but something still felt off without the fans there to react.

It’s a sign of things to come this NFL season, as many stadiums will be without fans.

The Packers announced in early August that Lambeau Field wouldn’t host any fans during the team’s first two home games — Sept. 20 vs. the Detroit Lions and Oct. 5 vs. the Atlanta Falcons. The way the team’s schedule lays out, the organization will have plenty of time to decide if fans will be allowed after that, as the team’s third home game isn’t until Nov. 1 against the Minnesota Vikings.

Green Bay has its final six home games over the last 10 regular-season weeks. COVID concerns eliminated all four preseason games this season, meaning every game a team plays will be meaningful. Green Bay opens the season on the road against the Vikings on Sept. 13.

The lack of crowds at the games will affect some teams more than others, and the Packers could be among the teams that are most impacted, especially during home games.

Lambeau Field has hosted 350 consecutive sellouts and has proven to be one of the hardest places for road teams to win. According to teamranking.com, the Packers have the fourth-best winning percentage at home (70.7) over the past five years and second-best percentage (77.4) if you look at the past 10 years.

When head coach Matt LaFleur was hired by the Packers in 2019, the coach prodded the organization and fans to make Lambeau even louder and more difficult for road teams to play at than in years past, and it came to fruition.

With various video packages and an announcer hyping up the crowd, the Packers rolled to a 7-1 regular-season record at Lambeau last year, tied for the best mark in the NFL. The raucous crowd also helped the team earn a playoff win against the Seattle Seahawks.

While green and gold fans cheer on their favorite team from a place outside the stadium this year, the team will have to learn how to create its own energy for at least two home games. The NFL is discussing whether to allow home teams to pipe in crowd noise, similar to what the MLB and NBA is doing for crowdless games, so at least there might be some noise that goes along with the play on the field.

Regardless of how many fans are in attendance or what kind of noise is produced, the 2020 season is going to have a much different feel to it. Still, Packers football is still Packers football, and you and I should be thankful that we’ll get the chance to watch their games and then be able to talk about them for the next several days before they take the field again.

Morgan Rode is the sports editor for NEW Media. Readers can contact him at sports@newmedia-wi.com.