The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers have competed in the National Football League (NFL) since 1921, two years after their original founding by Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun.[1] They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) and play their home games at Lambeau Field in central Wisconsin.[2][3] In 1923, a publicly-owned, non-profit organization called the Green Bay Football Corporation (later reorganized to the Green Bay Packers, Inc.) was formed to take control of the Packers organization. The corporation was led by a board of directors that included an executive committee and a president.[4] In addition to co-founding the team, Lambeau was also the first head coach of the Packers.[5] In those early years as head coach, Lambeau managed the football operations of the Packers, which included acquiring players, negotiating contracts and serving as a spokesperson.[6] However, it was not until 1946 that he was formally given the title of general manager.[7] The general manager typically leads a team's football operations, which can include hiring coaches, leading the scouting department and overseeing player transactions (like signing, releasing, trading or drafting players).[8] Each team's reporting structure can differ, although the general manager usually reports to the team's owner or president (in some teams, the general manager role is merged into other positions, like the owner or the head coach).[8][9][10]
Lambeau held the general manager title until he left the Packers in 1949, after which it formally remained vacant for five years, although head coach Gene Ronzani had the power to sign players and served as the team's spokesperson.[7][11] In 1954, Verne Lewellen, a former player for the Packers, was hired as the team's first standalone general manager.[12] In the years following Lewellwn's tenure, the general manager title was joined with the head coach. This included the tenures of Vince Lombardi, Phil Bengtson, Dan Devine and Bart Starr from 1959 to 1980.[7] Lombardi's tenure saw the Packers win five NFL Championships, including the first two Super Bowls (I and II) while the Packers winning percentage during his time (.717) was the highest of any Packers general manager.[13][14] However, Lombardi's successors at the general manager position fell short of expectations, culminating with the Packers relieving Starr of his general manager duties in 1980; the title remained vacant for 12 years thereafter, with the responsibilities vested in other executive titles or head coaches, including future team president Bob Harlan, Tom Miller, Dick Corrick, Forrest Gregg and Tom Braatz.[15][16][17] However, in 1991, Harlan, as president, reorganized the Packers football operations and hired Ron Wolf to take on the position of general manager.[16] After Wolf retired, the general manager position and duties were briefly merged back with the head coach position with the hiring of Mike Sherman. After a poor season in 2004, Sherman was stripped of the general manager duties but stayed on for one more season as head coach. Ted Thompson was hired in 2005, returning the Packers to the model of having a standalone general manager.[10] Thompson served as general manager until 2017; Thompson's tenure of 13 seasons and 125 victories are both the most of any Packers' general manager.[7][14] Brian Gutekunst, who was hired in 2018, is the tenth and current general manager of the Packers.[18]
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