Club member and sponsor Tony Marrese had an experience of a lifetime for the Monday Night game against Oakland. Tony's buddy from high school called and asked him if he would like to come down to Oakland and join him on the sideline to "work" the game. This buddy of his has a brother who is one of 3 equipment managers for the Packers. Tony jumped at the chance and headed down to the Packer hotel (Claremont Hotel and Spa) in Berkeley.
They left the hotel at 10 am Monday morning for the 6 pm kickoff at the Networks Associates Coliseum. Tony's duties included unloading the two Packer trucks full of the Packer players personal bags, staff gear and crates full of player equipment and necessities, audio & video equipment for the locker room and sideline, and more "stuff" than anyone could imagine. They got it all to the designated areas of the locker room, trainers room, coaches room, and press room. Next, he was instrumental in setting up the players personal lockers - hanging their jerseys, shorts, shoulder pads, helmets, etc in perfect order for when they arrived for the game. He then wheeled and carried all of the needed equipment out on to the field to the Packer sideline.
After all the hard stuff, Tony had some fun. He got to follow punter Josh Bidwell during the pre-game and halftime warm ups. Josh would punt the ball to a return man, who relayed the ball back to Tony so he could flip it back to Josh and/or the long snapper Ruegemer. He then worked with the backs and receivers during their warm ups, making sure they always had a ball in hand to keep the warm up drills moving.
During the game, Tony got to stand on the sideline and watch the game with the rest of the personnel crew, and the players just like he was an actual part of the weekly game crew. He was able to listen in on the coaches giving instructions and making substitutions and to the players yelling at the refs on bad calls. He was even high fiving players as they were coming off the field after making their plays.
After the game it was back to the hard work, getting everything off the field and packed up so they could get it back to Packer Country. We are all green, (and gold) with envy at such an incredible experience. Tony says it was great, and one that he will never forget!!!!!