Green Bay, WI – The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is offering a unique online class ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft that has students logging in from around the world.
NFL Draft history
Local perspective:
As Green Bay prepares to help welcome the future stars of the NFL, inside Lambeau Field, the team’s curator is most comfortable talking about the legends of the past.
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“We always say Packers history is the greatest story in sports,” said Brent Hinsel.
At the team’s museum, the Green Bay Packers’ history is on display. But to hear some of the best tales, FOX6 News followed Hinsel to an upstairs office where a group patiently waits.
“It’s fun to talk with students who are passionate about football and passionate about the Packers,” he said.
Hinsel is leading the online class: “The Packers & the Draft.” Students will learn about the NFL Draft’s history. The event’s early renditions only lasted hours.
“It’s completely different. You had smoke-filled ballrooms,” explained Hinsel.
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The class runs through names that include a Heisman Trophy-winner who passed on a pro football career due to lack of pay.
There are no tests in the class, and no college credits are awarded. The class is also open to anyone, so there is no requirement to enroll at UW-Green Bay. The group is there to feed their passion.
“It’s just so unique when you talk about Packers lore,” said Hinsel.
Fans from around the world
Big picture view:
One look around at who is taking the class, and you’ll notice it’s not your typical assortment of students. It has been decades since most of them stepped foot in a college classroom – and they are from all over the world.
Stephen O’Brien logged on from Wicklow, Ireland. He’s among the group of about 75 fans that represent countries as far away as Australia and at least 13 U.S. states. His journey to becoming a Cheesehead began with a friend’s recommendation in college.
“He always said to me, ‘Steve, you have to pick a team,’ you know, like, that’s how you’re going to get invested in this thing,” he explained. “I went to whatever website and looked down the names, and I saw the Carolina Panthers and the Panthers, a cat, and you know, that’s fine. Chicago Bears suck. I understood that. You know the Lions, is an animal.
“When I looked at the Packers, it obviously isn’t clear exactly what a Packer is. I’ve never heard of that animal before. We don’t have Green Bay packer animals in Ireland.”
Once O’Brien learned the franchise’s story, he was hooked.
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“Just the depth of history that it has is unbelievable. Also, there was a load of Irishmen that were involved in the first Packers team,” said O’Brien. “Even before that in the late 1800s, when they tried to get people interested in American football, all of them were Paddies on the railway, and some guy went down and said, ‘Lads, do you want to fight and drink and have a good time?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, well, we’ll get arrested again.’ They said, ‘No, no, it’s called gridiron. It’s American football.”
Dig deeper:
Now the head of the team’s U.K. fan group, O’Brien will be spending the next three Wednesdays learning from Hinsel.
“It’s officially coming from the team. I think it’s a brilliant initiative by the college. It’s pretty ingenious,” said O’Brien. “To put it on for a price that doesn’t exclude people is brilliant as well, and the fact that they let a Paddy, an Irishman, come in with his Irish credit card and come in at midnight and start annoying people is pretty great.”
As much as O’Brien wants to be in Green Bay for the draft, he said he dared not ask his wife.
“No, in fairness, I didn’t even approach the subject with her, because I was kind of thinking at some stage, you know. You can sort of write the divorce papers yourself, so I’ll watch from afar,” he said.
Few who will be watching will have a better knowledge of how the NFL got here.
How to register
What you can do:
UW-Green Bay’s Division of Continuing Education puts on the class. Classes are recorded, so anyone can take the class at the time of their choosing for a $49 fee. The three classes run about 90 minutes each. Details on how to register can be found online.
The Source: FOX6 News gathered information for this report through interviews with assistance from the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
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