The Green Bay Packers had some somber news to report just a few days after their 2024 season came to a close. A key member of their organization, and someone who helped create the Packers’ Hall of Fame, has passed away.
Breaking: Packers Announce Heartbreaking Passing In Organization (Report)
According to Green Bay’s official website:
Chuck Lane, former director of public relations for the Green Bay Packers under Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr, died Sunday morning Jan. 19, 2025, in Green Bay. Lane was 82.
Lane also was heavily involved in the organization of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Association. In fact, he was one of seven men in attendance at the association’s first meeting in February 1970. “Chuck Lane and I were co-chairs of the association,” said Tom Hutchison, another leading organizer.
Lane was a member of the hall’s original board and selection committee. At the time of his death, he was a director emeritus of what is now Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, Inc.
A native of Minneapolis, Lane was a 1963 graduate of Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va., where he earned seven letters as a quarterback in football and shortstop on the baseball team. Upon graduation, he was hired by Max Winter to promote the Harlem Globetrotters in a five-state area in the Midwest. Along with overseeing promotions for Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein, Winter also was one of the founding owners of the Minnesota Vikings.
In early 1966, Lane was hired by Lombardi at age 23 to be the Packers’ publicity director. Thus, Lane was in charge of public relations for the Packers when they won Super Bowls I and II, and for Lombardi’s final season in Green Bay when he served strictly as general manager.
Going to work for Lombardi was a shock-and-awe experience that Lane never forgot.
“I came (to Green Bay) in March, 1966, and had three, four months working with (Lombardi before camp started),” Lane said in a 2009 interview. “So I knew him and I would honestly say feared him. He inspired a great deal of respect but also there was that fear factor that kept you on your toes. Anybody who said they weren’t afraid of him I think was lying. We all were.”
At the same time, Lane developed a closer relationship with Lombardi than most of the other Packers administrators and employees, and even his assistant coaches.
“He was more of a fatherly figure (to me),” said Lane, who lost his own father when he was 5 years old. “I thought (Lombardi) was the most inspirational guy I ever met in my life. I grew up without a father and suddenly I had this male influence in my life who I had so much respect for. It was just a wonderful three-year relationship that I had with him.”
For More Wisconsin Sports:
Follow me on Twitter at @mcquadewarnold, follow us @WiSportsHeroics. You can also reach out to McQuade Arnold via email at mcquadewarnold@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Wisconsin sports, click here! Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers. Go Pack Go. On Wisconsin. Fear The Deer. This Is My Crew.
