Packers to Honor Reggie White

[LoKyBuckeye]

Updated: 05:35 PM EST
Packers to Wear Decal Honoring Reggie White
NFL Legend Is Only Second Green Bay Player to Receive Honor

GREEN BAY, Wis. (Dec. 31) -- The Green Bay Packers announced Friday that they will wear a helmet decal honoring legendary defensive end Reggie White, who died December 26.

One day after the team sent a contingent of nearly 50 current and former members of the organization to White's funeral, the Packers announced that they will wear the decal -- which features the No. 92 -- for all their remaining games.

White spent six seasons with Green Bay and is only the second player honored with a helmet decal. The team wore a No. 3 decal after Hall of Famer Tony Canadeo passed away in 2003.

The Packers also announced that they plan to further honor White at their wild card playoff game at Lambeau Field in January.

Green Bay also plans to retire White's jersey in a ceremony next season, an honor previously given to only four players in the franchise's 86-year history.


12-31-04 16:19 ET

 

[coastalbuck]

Wow, that's a great tribute from the Pack. Helmet decals and retiring jerseys are rare in Green Bay. It's well deserved though. Brett Favre had some great comments about Reggie and what he meant to him personally and Green Bay in general. It was in the paper down here and I can't find it to quote him. By the way, there is a neat wallpaper of Reggie in Packer green at Packers.com if anyone is interested.

I found the quote. It's at Packers.com in the Dope Sheet..

"I was shocked to hear of the death of Reggie. He was a great friend of mine and a great friend of my family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sara and his family. It's hard to think that he is gone. It was just last week that I spoke to him about a project he was trying to put together with me and a couple other players.

"I had the utmost respect for Reggie White as a player. He may have been best player I've ever seen and certainly was the best I've ever played with or against.

"He was an integral part of the Packers' success, no question. Had it not been for Reggie, we don't make it to the Super Bowl. That's how important he was to the team. When he signed as a free agent, he changed the way people in and out of football looked at Green Bay as an NFL city. He helped the franchise get back to where it had been...at the top.

"He made the defense what it was during our run...the best in the league. He could turn the course of the game in a single play...and did it many times for us. It was fun to watch him play.

"Off the field, he did so much for so many people. He really reached a lot of people and was still involved in fundraising. He had just helped out at a charity dinner of mine in Mississippi a couple years ago and I helped him out with something last year. He was a great friend on and off the field. We'll all miss him."
- Quarterback Brett Favre, teammate 1993-98