Coach Holmgren: “Had the [Trump] administration acted in a timely, responsible way, then we may have had people in the football stadium. We may have saved a lot of businesses and I know we would have saved a lot of lives”
Today, former Packers Hall of Fame Coach Mike Holmgren and Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich hosted a press conference criticizing President Trump’s failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the damage it continues to inflict on Green Bay’s economy. According to the Green Bay Press Gazette, each Packers home game provides $15 million in economic impacts to the city of Green Bay. Overall, the Packers contribute more than $160 million per year to Green Bay’s economy. It didn’t have to be this bad: as a result of Trump’s failure to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, the scaled-down Packers season is devastating to many Green Bay-area businesses.
Coach Mike Holmgren: “I’ve never done this before — talked to anybody prior to a campaign…This election is different. It’s really different than any other election in my lifetime. In the last three-and-a-half-years, I’ve seen and listened to all sorts of mistruths…It didn’t have to be this bad — it really didn’t. And now, we find out, he knew all along — the president knew how bad it was, and kept it from the American people…This is the most important election of my lifetime — and I dare say it’s yours. I’m also thinking about the future of my grandkids and my own children. Had the administration acted in a timely and responsible way, then we may have had people in the football stadium, we may have saved a lot of businesses, and I know we would have saved a lot of lives. Those are serious issues that we could have done better…When [Joe Biden] speaks, he speaks truth — and I believe him.”
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich: “A season without fans — or one with few fans — has serious economic consequences for our small businesses and workers here in Green Bay, which you all know, is the smallest NFL city in the country. Like so many other businesses across the state, ours in Green Bay — especially those in the hospitality industry — are struggling to keep the doors open during this pandemic. We’ve yet to feel the full economic effect of COVID and Donald Trump’s inexcusable mishandling of the nation’s policy response, but know we won’t be seeing $15 million of economic activity this weekend — or any weekend in the near future. Let’s be clear — Donald Trump’s dishonest and disinterested response to this virus has caused our economy to shut down for far longer and in a much more dramatic way than if he had listened to his own health experts and attacked the virus head-on.”
Green Bay Press Gazette: Ex-Packers coach Mike Holmgren throws support behind Biden as Green Bay faces pandemic Packers season
Mike Holmgren says he’s never been one to publicly involve himself in politics.
But the former Green Bay Packers coach said Saturday that President Donald Trump failed to adequately handle the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving Lambeau Field without fans for the team’s home opener and Green Bay businesses struggling to stay afloat.
“The people own the football team, and yet the stadium’s going to be empty,” Holmgren said in an interview with the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “It didn’t have to be this bad, I don’t think.”
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While the NFL is important to all cities with a team, Holmgren said, Green Bay is smaller and more dependent on the Packers’ contribution to the economy. One home game brings in an estimated $15 million, and the Packers have said fans won’t be permitted at Lambeau for the first two home games.
Holmgren also said the community’s loyalty to the Packers is unlike anything he’s seen in other NFL cities, making the pandemic’s impact particularly difficult to swallow.
“There is nothing like the feeling the people have about the Packers in Green Bay,” he said.
Fox11 Green Bay: Mike Holmgren stumps for Joe Biden in virtual campaign event
In a virtual event for Wisconsin voters, a former Packers head coach explained on Saturday why he will be voting for Joe Biden.
Mike Holmgren spoke in the conference call held by Biden’s Wisconsin campaign team, along with Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich.
The two talked a lot about the coronavirus pandemic and the money our area is losing without having fans in the stands for Packers games. Each normal game brings in an estimated $15 million for the local economy.
“Had the administration acted in a timely, responsible way, then we may have had people in the football stadium. We may have saved a lot of businesses and I know we would have saved a lot of lives,” said Holmgren.
Jessie Opoien, Opinion Editor at The Capital Times
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