Two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are visiting the Green Bay Packers for joint practice and a preseason. The practice was held today (Thursday) and the preseason game, the final contest for both teams before the start of the 2024 regular season, will be held on Saturday.
Reports from the joint practice indicated that both teams had bright moments while competing against each other. The most positive news, though, was that there were no fights or skirmishes.
There was one close call, though, that took place during one of Green Bay’s most beloved traditions.
Baltimore Ravens Quarterback Lamar Jackson Nearly Falls Off a Bike During Practice with the Green Bay Packers
One of the longest standing and beloved traditions during Packers training camp is the practice of players riding the bikes that children bring them from Lambeau Field to the practice facility.
While the Green Bay players do this during every practice that is open to the public, Ravens players were given the opportunity to also join in, riding the bikes of young Packers’ fans to the field.
One of the players that chose to join in was two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, whose ride did not go as smoothly as he might have hoped.
Lamar Jackson taking the bike to practice, slapping high fives, and damn if this wasn’t a close call. pic.twitter.com/IwS4mF2ndE
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) August 22, 2024
It was not long before the video, shot by Packers beat reporter Ryan Wood of USA Today, went viral.
Baltimore Ravens Quarterback Lamar Jackson Reacts to Viral Bike Riding Video
After practice, Jackson found that his near fall off of the bike at practice went viral and shared his own humorous take on it:
Aye bra my 1st bike ride n Green Bay was 🫠🥴🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/pxl8nZnuwB
— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) August 22, 2024
Fortunately, he did not fall. Had he done so, the NFL might have put an end to the longstanding tradition of players riding kids’ bikes to practice.
When Did the Green Bay Packers Start Riding Kids’ Bikes to Practice?
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
As is the case with many Packers traditions, the bike riding goes back to the days of legendary head coach Vince Lombardi.
According to a story by Christina Lorey of Up North News, one Packers fan, David Goodner, claims that he is the one who started the tradition:
“It was 1958 and the new City Stadium (later renamed Lambeau Field) had just been completed in ‘57. Scooter McClain was the Packers Head Coach and I was a 12-year-old kid with a brand-new Schwinn Jaguar Bicycle. I lived only a few blocks from the field and I was fanatical about football. I rode my bike to the stadium twice every day to watch the team practice.”
Goodner once asked his favorite player, John Symank, if he wanted to ride on the back of his bike to practice. The defensive back jovially agreed.
The next year, Lombardi took over as Green Bay’s head coach, and Goodner had a request of the soon-to-be living legend: that he could shuttle players from the locker room to practice on the back of his bike.
“During the Lombardi years, every single team player rode my bike at one time or another, except for Vince Lombardi himself.”
Eventually, more kids brought their bikes for the players to ride, and the tradition has become one of the pillars of training camp in Green Bay.
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