On Saturday the Green Bay Packers held Football 101 “for the ladies.”  Or, technically, “An NFL Workcamp for Women.” This annual ritual takes place on the first day of deer hunting season in Wisconsin.  From what I understand, the training camp has taken place for a few years with variations on the theme: introduce women to life in pro football so they gain a greater appreciation for the game.  The largest attendance ever, more than 400 women showed up to get some inside tips.  In terms of fashion, it was a sea of Packer gear. Ka-ching — royalties galore.

The afternoon started with host Jesse Garcia (WTMJ 4) warming up the crowd before linebacker Brady Poppinga conducted Q & A with wives of some of the players and coaches.  Qs included: What is the most romantic thing your husband’s ever done? Does your husband help around the house?  How did you meet your husband?  Standard girl chat, really, but interesting not only because of the public forum, but also because Poppinga’s wife was one of the respondents.  We learned that these big guys are pretty much like guys.  Mason Crosby said “I love you” in Chinese at the end of his wedding vows, which blew his wife away because she had no idea how he learned it and she majored in Chinese in college.  We also learned that there are a few things these guys won’t do around the house, like take the laundry upstairs, because they “can’t risk injury,” wink, wink.

Harry Sydney, who played with San Fran and GB and has 3 Super Bowl rings, came and gave a very sophisticated Xs and Os talk.  But he did so in response to audience questions, e.g., What’s the difference between a skinny post and a rail post?

Finally, all 400+ attendees marched off to the Don Hutson Center for indoor drills — running through obstacles, throwing, kicking, causing and recovering a fumble — much like the NFL combine, wink, wink.  Several Packers were on hand to coach the gals: Brett Swain #16,  Jeremy Kampinos #7, Jeremy Thompson #99,  Korey Hall #35, Josh Sitton #71, and LB Coach Kevin Greene.  Big thumbs up to all for their patience and their  encouraging words such as, “Pretty Good,” and “Alright.”

In between all my huffing and puffing (yeah, right),  I took a few photos of the guys but they’re a bit large so I need to work on scaling them down.  Stay tuned.  They’ll either appear here or on Sprecher’s facebook page.