Dolphins fans descend on Green Bay
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Tom Kirk, a native from Twin Lakes, Wisc., has been a Miami Dolphins fan for more than 45 years.
So as soon as his daughters, Sam and Stephanie, saw the Dolphins were scheduled to play the Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday, they knew they would be tagging along with Dad to see his favorite team.
“When I was 5 years old, my dad got Bob Griese’s jersey, and I’ve been a fan since way back in the day. I still have the jersey,” said Tom Kirk, who got autographs of former Dolphins standouts like Junior Seau, Zach Thomas and Mark Duper when Dan Marino was inducted in the Hall of Fame.
“I love them. I bleed aqua and orange.”
Dolphins fans from different parts of the country descended on Wisconsin this weekend for the rare matchup against the Packers.
Miami has not played at Lambeau Field in eight years, a 23-20 Dolphins win in overtime in October of 2010.
Kelsey Gerivon, who is from Fort Lauderdale but has family living in Chippewa Falls, Wis., has been planning to attend this game since the Packers beat the Dolphins, 27-24, at Hard Rock Stadium in October 2014.
“They came down to that game and said four years from now, you’ll come up to this game,” Gerivon said of her family, while decked out in Dolphins apparel with her husband, Andy.
“All my family are Packers fans.”
Gary Marquez, sporting a throwback, teal Dan Marino jersey, flew from Los Angeles with his friend Chad, a Packers fan sporting an Aaron Rodgers jersey.
He was among many fans of both teams who tailgated before the game at Kroll’s West, a popular restaurant on Ridge Road across the street from Lambeau Field.
“I’m loving it, the housing and the whole environment,” Marquez said of the stadium, which sits in a cozy neighborhood where Packers fans can tailgate outside their homes.
“The damn stadium is in someone’s backyard nearly.”
John Fey, who made the trip from Stuart, was smoking a cigarette while in line for a bratwurst, wearing an old No. 67 jersey of left tackle Laremy Tunsil.
Tunsil wrote “Free Pass,” and signed the jersey with his new number, No. 78, when Fey went to minicamp in August.
“I played a little hooky all for the Dolphins,” Fey said. “Bucket list city. If I’m going to go cheer for someone, I’m going to Titletown USA.”
Jason Erickson, who has lived in Green Bay for the last six years with his wife Emma, became a Dolphins fan while attending practices in Davie when his mother used to live in South Florida.
“I grew up in the Dan Marino era, and that’s what got me, watching him play,” Erickson said wearing a white, throwback jersey of his favorite player under his jacket. “Now, it’s terrible.”
The Dolphins fans, clad in fluorescent team colors, might have seemed out of place among Packers fans in green and yellow.
But they did not feel that way before Sunday’s game started.
“The fans have been really nice to us,” Kelsey Gerivon said of the Packers fans. “They’ve been welcoming. We’re not a rival so they’ve been kind.”