Some think the Packers are just a football team. These people are fools. We, the initiated, know that the Green and Gold transcends mere goalposts and touchdowns. Those are trivial matters when compared to the glory, the history, the unmatched sauce that our team brings every season. If we lose, we’re not even bothered because the raw majesty of … OK, we’re extremely bothered, but the point is still legit. And this Packer power is contagious. How do we know? Well, Packers fandom wins allegiance across the world from even some of the most unexpected of celebrities.
Ahead of the Packers taking on the Vikings on Sunday, Sept. 13, we decided to highlight just a few of the famous faces that have expressed their love of Green Bay.
For this “unexpected” list, we went with non-Wisconsinite fans. Because when you’re talking about folks from Wisconsin, Packers fandom is simply to be expected (we won’t say demanded). Consequently, you won’t see Mark Ruffalo, Tony Shalhoub, or even Willem Dafoe (who was actually in attendance at the 1967 Ice Bowl) on this list – although we do still appreciate them.
Lil Wayne
Weezy F. Baby is the man behind one of the best Packers anthems out there, “Green and Yellow.” In 2011, Wayne rapped about his love for Green Bay over the beat to Wiz Khalifa’s hit “Black and Yellow,” taking shots at the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of the Pack’s Super Bowl matchup:
“If we win, I’m-a throw a Super Bowl party / And blow a cigar like Vince Lombardi / I’m in Wisconsin, smoking Amsterdam / Yeah, I’m from New Orleans but I been a Packers fan.”
As the man himself said, Wayne’s Packer fandom is unexpected since he is otherwise a loyalist to his native New Orleans. Our team’s claim to his heart originates in 1997, when the artist was 14 years old, he told Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show.” His father attended Super Bowl XXXI, in which the Packers defeated the New England Patriots at the Louisiana Superdome, and brought home loads of memorabilia: Packers towels, Packers cups, Packers bowls, etc. Lil Wayne decided that the championship-winning team whose merch filled his home would be his team, and he’s been loyal ever since. Just a few weeks ago, he even dropped a new Packers song, “Special Ops,” with more Green and Gold bars:
“Got green and yellow blood in my DNA / Yeah, I’m more than a fan, I’m a teammate / How that victory taste? Like cheesecakе.”
Nominate Somebody Now!
Justin Timberlake
We have Brett Favre to thank for Justin Timberlake becoming a Packers fan. The Tennessee native singer and actor – known largely for bringing sexy back – loved his fellow Southerner Favre, who won his first Super Bowl when Timberlake was 15 years old. That fandom snatched Timberlake away from the Titans, and kept going long after Favre’s retirement (Thank goodness, he didn’t switch to the Vikings.)
Before his Super Bowl LII halftime performance, Timberlake was asked in a press conference what team he was rooting for and proudly proclaimed “Go Pack Go,” prompting a few boos from obviously bitter malcontents in the crowd. That’s a true Packer fan right there – it doesn’t matter that we’re not actually playing in the Super Bowl that year, you always root for the Packers.
Harry Styles
Despite being born and raised across the Atlantic in England, Harry Styles has a claim to being an even bigger Packers fan than some folks from here. The guy has a Packers tattoo on his arm! The dedication is real.
Between breaking into worldwide fame with One Direction and launching into a successful solo career, the singer found himself traveling between England and Los Angeles. When he was stateside, he stayed with a friend from Appleton, who indoctrinated him in our American football ways, soon winning him over to the Packers cause.
Although honestly, Styles joking explanation of how he became a fan is a better story: “When I was about six years old, I fell off my bike, and I cut my knee and I bled green and gold, and that was it.”
Jodie Foster
The two-time Oscar-winning actress, known for The Silence of the Lambs and many more films, has no easily discernible Wisconsin connection. As a result, her Packer fandom came as something of a shock when she revealed it on “Conan.” When she was discussing her love for the sport, she mentioned getting Green Bay Gs painted on her cheeks.
“Green Bay?!” Conan said. “But you’re from Los Angeles.”
“[Los Angeles] didn’t really have a team until about five minutes ago,” Foster said – a very legitimate point.
So how did she land on Green Bay? Simple. “I like the outfits,” she said, sporting a cheesehead alongside Conan a few minutes later as proof of such. The outfits are indeed awesome, and we support any avenue by which a fan reaches out green and gold paradise. Although, she did follow that comment up by saying, “I’m kind of fickle. … If they’re doing really badly, I abandon them,” which we simply can’t endorse.
Brian Baumgartner
Brian Baumgartner is best known for playing the role of Kevin Malone from “The Office,” who made his way into both sitcom history and the vaunted halls of Memedom for his “famous chili.” The actor was born and raised in Atlanta, where he was a Falcons fan, but the Pack made an adult convert of him. Or, more accurately, Aaron Rodgers did – the two are friends, Baumgartner said in an interview with the “Huge Fan” podcast, and Baumgartner’s “allegiances shifted” alongside his Super Bowl-winning pal. (He even enlisted Rodgers for a cameo on “The Office.”)
“Am I going to root for the Falcons, where I grew up, or am I going to root for my friend? To me, it became a no-brainer,” Baumgartner said. “There’s just a lot to love about the Packers, as well. All you have to do one time in the fall or winter is go to Lambeau Field and experience that community of fans. That place, it changes you.”
Baumgartner has since participated in promos for the Packers, as well. Although … we’d like to check in with him now that Rodgers has left the fold. Please don’t say you’re turning into a Steelers fan, Brian!
