Thursday, September 16, 2010
NFC North Nick-Names...
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...from Scott Allen over at Mental Floss blog
on the origins for all 32 NFL Teams: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/65044 Green Bay Packers Team founder Earl "Curly" Lambeau's employer, the Indian Packing Company, sponsored Green Bay's football team and provided equipment and access to the field. The Indian Packing Company became the Acme Packing Company and later folded, but the nickname stuck. Detroit Lions Radio executive George A. Richards purchased and moved the Portsmouth Spartans to Detroit in 1934 and renamed the team the Lions. The nickname was likely derived from Detroit's established baseball team, the Tigers, who won 101 games and the AL pennant that year. As the team explained it, "The lion is the monarch of the jungle, and we hope to be the monarch of the league." (Spot on!?) Chicago Bears In 1921, the Decatur Staleys, a charter member of the American Professional Football Association, moved to Chicago and kept their nickname, a nod to the team's sponsor, the Staley Starch Company. When star player George Halas purchased the team the following year, he decided to change the nickname. Chicago played its home games at Wrigley Field, home of baseball's Cubs, and Halas opted to stick with the ursine theme. (PS, is assinine misspelled?) Minnesota Vikings According to the Vikings' website, Bert Rose, Minnesota's general manager when it joined the NFL in 1961, recommended the nickname to the team's Board of Directors because "it represented both an aggressive person with the will to win and the Nordic tradition in the northern Midwest." The expansion franchise also became the first pro sports team to feature its home state, rather than a city, in the team name. (The Minnesota Twins actually started play before the Vikings in 1961, but the Vikings announced their name first.) (Nothing about the annoying horn) *** Thanks to Lemondrop for tracking this story down and for providing all the italicized comments. |
