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.
Here are some highlights from the Preseason Week 1 Dope Sheet:
Green Bay and San Diego kick off the league's first full preseason weekend (the third overall 2005 NFL game), with a mid-summer clash on national television. The Packers won't play again for nine days, their longest preseason stretch without a game since 2001.
-While starters for either team aren't expected to see more than a quarter of action, the Packers look for their first Week 1 preseason win since 2000. That year, Green Bay beat the Jets at Lambeau Field, 37-24.
-First-round draft pick Aaron Rodgers, expected to see significant action, gets his first taste of NFL speed.
NATIONAL TELEVISION: ESPN, with play-by-play man Mike Patrick, color analysts Paul Maguire and Joe Theismann, sideline reporter Suzy Kolber, producer Jay Rothman and director Chip Dean, will air the game to a national cable audience.
LOCAL TELEVISION: Per the league's continuing commitment to make every game available on free, over-the-air stations, the contest will be simulcast locally in Green Bay on WFRV (Ch. 5) and in Milwaukee on WISN (Ch. 12).
LOCAL RADIO: Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 62-station Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and Larry McCarren (color). Spanning five states, the network covers 50 markets in the upper Midwest. The broadcast also is available to NFL Field Pass subscribers on packers.com.
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
The Packers' record vs. San Diego:
All-time regular season: 7-1-0
All-time, preseason: 0-0-1
All-time, Lambeau Field: 2-1-0
Last meeting: Dec. 14, 2003, Qualcomm Stadium; Packers won, 38-21
Last meeting, Green Bay: Sept. 15, 1996; Packers won, 42-10
Only meeting, preseason: 1980 NFL Hall of Fame Game, Aug. 2, 1980, Canton, Ohio; 0-0 tie
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike Sherman: 55-31-0, .640, sixth NFL season, sixth with Packers
M.Schottenheimer: 177-117-1, .602, 20th NFL season, fourth with Chargers
Head to Head: Sherman 2-0 vs. Schottenheimer
vs. Opponent: Sherman 1-0 vs. SD, Schottenheimer 4-3 vs. GB
MIKE SHERMAN...Is in his sixth year as the Packers' 13th head coach
-Has led the Packers to three straight division titles (2002-04) for only the fourth time in team history, joining Vince Lombardi's three-time winners of 1960-62 and 1965-67, along with the 1995-97 division champs of Mike Holmgren. This season will attempt to do what no Green Bay head coach ever has done: lead his team to a fourth consecutive division championship.
-First tenure with Packers came as tight ends/assistant offensive line coach over the 1997-98 seasons, following 16 years as an assistant in the college ranks; coached in Green Bay's Super Bowl XXXII loss to Denver.
-In 2004 became the second-fastest head coach in team history to reach 50 career victories, doing so in his 78th contest; only Lombardi, with 50 wins in 66 games, did so quicker.
MARTY SCHOTTENHEIMER...Entering his fourth season as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers.
-He was named the NFL Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 2004 after leading the Chargers to a 12-4 record and their first AFC West title since 1994.
-In 18 full seasons as a head coach in the NFL, Schottenheimer has led his teams to 13 winning seasons. He is eighth on the NFL's all-time list with 177 regular-season wins.
-Schottenheimer is 24-25, including playoffs, in three seasons as head coach of the Chargers.
-He spent 2001 as the Washington Redskins head coach.
-In his 10 years as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs (1989-1998), he had a record of 104-65-1 and advanced to the playoffs seven times.
-The Cleveland Browns went to the playoffs all four full seasons (1985-88) he was the head coach. In 1986, Schottenheimer was the consensus AFC coach of the year.
THE PACKERS-CHARGERS SERIES: The Packers' have won seven of their eight regular-season meetings with San Diego; that .875 winning percentage marks Green Bay's best against any NFL opponent it has played at least three times (2-0 against the Baltimore Ravens and 1-0 against the Houston Texans).
-The Packers have taken the last four meetings; their only loss was in 1984, a 34-28 decision in San Diego, when Dan Fouts passed for 376 yards (Lynn Dickey had 384 in a losing cause). Kellen Winslow posted 15 catches for 157 yards. Green Bay's James Lofton (now on San Diego's coaching staff) had 158 yards on five catches.
-The clubs first met in 1970, the merger year, when Green Bay pulled out a 22-20 win at San Diego.
-In the clubs' only preseason meeting, the 1980 Hall of Fame Game at Canton, Ohio, severe lightning ended a scoreless game with 5:29 left in the contest; ironically, 23 years later, weather also ended a Packers Hall of Fame appearance against Kansas City (in 2003).
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS: Chargers receivers coach James Lofton is a Packers Hall of Famer; the team's No. 1 draft choice in 1978, he left Green Bay (1978-86) as the franchise's all-time total offense leader, a mark Ahman Green can eclipse in 2005...San Diego center David Brandt was in Green Bay camp two years ago...Chargers safety Bhawoh Jue left Green Bay (2001-04) this spring to sign as an unrestricted free agent...San Diego cornerback Jamar Fletcher played collegiately at Wisconsin...Packers offensive line coach Larry Beightol spent one season (1989) as the Chargers' offensive coordinator/O-line coach.
LAST MEETING (AP): Dec. 14, 2003, Qualcomm Stadium, Packers won, 38-21.
-Brett Favre threw a season-high four TD passes and Green Bay beat the Chargers to remain alive in the NFC North title race. With thousands of Cheeseheads in the crowd of 64,978, Favre, Ahman Green and kicker Ryan Longwell all set franchise records.
-Favre threw three of his TD passes in the fourth quarter after the Packers fell behind the Chargers (3-11). LaDainian Tomlinson gave San Diego a 21-17 lead with a spectacular 68-yard catch-and-run. But Favre notched his 28th fourth-quarter comeback and erased that lead 52 seconds later. Najeh Davenport returned the kickoff 45 yards to the Chargers' 42 and Favre threw a 40-yard TD to Robert Ferguson two plays later. With Longwell's record-setting PAT, the Packers led 24-21. Favre added a 1-yard TD pass to Green, one play after Grady Jackson sacked Drew Brees and forced a fumble, and a 16-yarder to Ferguson with 3:58 to play for a 38-21 lead.
-Green broke the oldest team single-season rushing record in the NFL, eclipsing Hall of Famer Jim Taylor's mark of 1,474 yards set in 1962. Green rushed for 75 yards and one TD on 19 carries, plus the TD catch.
-Favre threw at least one TD pass in his 23rd straight game to set the franchise mark. He had been tied with Cecil Isbell, who threw TD passes in 22 straight games during the 1941-42 seasons.
-And Longwell had eight points to break Don Hutson's career scoring record. Longwell got his 824th career point on a PAT following Ferguson's 40-yard TD catch. Hutson had 823 points in his Hall of Fame career.
LAST MEETING, LAMBEAU FIELD: Sept. 15, 1996, Lambeau Field; Packers won, 42-10.
-The Packers, en route to a Super Bowl title, launched a season 3-0 for the first time since 1982.
-Green Bay mounted a 7-0 lead on its first possession, spotted the Chargers a field goal, then scored the next 21 points.
-Favre engineered second-quarter scoring drives of 80 and 88 yards, culminated by TD passes to Antonio Freeman (19 yards) and William Henderson (8). The quarterback was 22 of 33 for 231 yards, with three touchdowns and one INT.
-After Edgar Bennett lost a fumble, his first miscue after 726 consecutive carries, LeRoy Butler intercepted a Stan Humphries pass five plays into the ensuing series and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown, giving Green Bay a 35-10 lead.
-Then, with less than five minutes remaining, Desmond Howard scored the final points with a 65-yard punt return.
