Get out the calendars

Two key dates for Pack set

The NFL owners are meeting this week in Phoenix, Arizona and Green Bay Packers rookie Head Coach Matt LaFleur is attending.

He's circled Monday, April 8 on his calendar.  That's the date he'll step in front of his entire team for the first time as coach to welcome players to the start of his off-season conditioning program.

Packer fans can circle Thursday, September 5.

That's when the NFL announced LaFleur will make his coaching debut against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in the opening game of the league's 100th season.

The Thursday night game is usually reserved for the reigning Super Bowl champions but the  New England Patriots will likely play host to the first Sunday night game of the season three days later.

The league instead wants to showcase it's oldest rivals to begin the milestone anniversary season.   Why not?  It will be the 199th meeting all-time between the Packers and Bears.   Green Bay leads the series 97-95-6.   The Packers began celebrating their 100th season last year, pointing to the actual 100th birthday of August 11, 2019.

The NFL began in 1920, but the Packers weren't admitted to the league until the following year.   They first met the then Chicago Staleys on November 27, 1921, a 20-0 loss in Chicago.   George Halas changed the team's nickname to the Bears the next year and the first,  true Packers-Bears game was on October 14 of 1923, a 3-0 Chicago victory in Green Bay.

The teams have met every year since, outside of the strike shortened 1982 season when both regular season games were among the seven cancelled.

LaFleur will be the fourth Packers Head Coach to face the Bears in his debut and he'll try and become just the sixth coach among 15 to win his very first game.

Here's a trip down memory lane for the previous Head Coaches and their first game as the leader of the Pack.

1919 - Curly Lambeau.  The still independent Packers defeated the Menominee North End Athletic Club 53-0 in the first official game in franchise history.

1950 - Gene Ronzani.   A tough act to follow after 31 years of Curly.  The Packers got beat up by the Detroit Lions at City Stadium 45-7.

1954 - Lisle Blackbourn.   The Packers dropped a tough, 21-20 decision to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home.

1958 - Ray "Scooter" McLean.   He was the first to face the Bears in his debut, it didn't go well.  Chicago won 34-20 in Green Bay's two year old "new" City Stadium.

1959 - Vince Lombardi.   Without a winning season throughout the entire decade, the Lombardi era began with a 9-6 victory over the Chicago Bears at City Stadium and the players carried Vince off the field.

1968 - Phil Bengston.  With Lombardi watching from the press box as General Manager, Bengston's Packers beat the Philadelphia Eagles 30-13 at now Lambeau Field.

1971 - Dan Devine.   The Packers lost a shootout at home to the New York Giants 42-20 with Devine breaking his leg when Bob Hyland crashed into him on the sidelines.

1975 - Bart Starr.   The only Head Coach to make his debut in Milwaukee.  Starr's Packers were beaten by the Detroit Lions 30-16 at County Stadium.

1984 - Forrest Gregg.   The Packers squeaked past the St. Louis Cardinals 24-23 at Lambeau but Gregg's first team would lose their next seven in a row.

1988 - Lindy Infante.    The Los Angeles Rams dominated the Pack 34-7 in Green Bay.

1992 - Mike Holmgren.   Fuad Reveiz nailed an overtime field goal for the Minnesota Vikings who spoiled Holmgren's debut 23-20 in Green Bay.

1999 - Ray Rhodes.   Brett Favre's TD pass in the final minute lifted the Packers over the Oakland Raiders 28-24 at home in the last winning debut for a Green Bay coach.

2000 - Mike Sherman.   The New York Jets held off the Packers 20-16 at Lambeau Field.

2006 - Mike McCarthy.   The third Head Coach who faced the Bears in his very first game and it was all Chicago at Lambeau, 20-0.

2019 - Matt LaFleur.   ????