Sports Illustrated’s Peter King on sidelines at Packers training camp opener

Longtime NFL writer reminisced about
Favre, who is going into NFL Hall of Fame

A big name was at the Green Bay Packers training camp opener but not one affiliated with the team.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King was on the sidelines Tuesday morning as the Packers took to Ray Nitschke Field.

The reporter who’s been covering the NFL for nearly 30 years talked with our Rick Solem about questions heading into camp.

“What does Eddie Lacy look like?” King asked. “I wonder how long it’s going to be for Jordy Nelson? 

“I’m assuming he’s going to be fine for opening day.”

King also reminisced about the times he spent with Brett Favre, who will be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame on Aug. 7 when the Packers play the Indianapolis Colts in Canton, Ohio – the first of Green Bay’s five preseason games.

King said he used to have dinner with Favre the Fridays before games for a long stretch. 

“I always find it very very interesting,” King said. “We wouldn’t always go to the country club or wherever it would be. We would just go to the normal places sometimes and nobody would bother him.

“At the end of the meal, he’d be walking out and someone might say, ‘Yeah Brett, go get ’em this Sunday’ or whatever, but nobody would come up to him during the meal. People were just really polite to him.”

King said he and Favre got on a streak where they’d eat together on those Friday nights and the Packers kept winning. Happened seven weeks in a row.

“I don’t even remember how it ended,” King said. “But I do remember we did it on the Friday night at the Super Bowl in San Diego and they lost to Denver. And I do know we didn’t do it after that.”

That was Jan. 25, 1998 when Green Bay lost to John Elway’s Broncos 31-24 at Qualcomm Stadium.

King also talked of his traditions at training camp in Green Bay.

“Going to Nicky’s Lionhead (Restaurant) in De Pere, which I try to do every night that I’m here for training camp,” King said. “And, you just fall into conversations with people and they talk about how desperate they are for the Packers to be great.”

Throngs of fans and reporters were on hand for the camp opener.

Green Bay is expected to rebound a bit after a disappointing season, last year, ended with an overtime playoff loss at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals.