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‘Green and Gold’ Celebrates Farmers & Cheeseheads Alike

‘Green and Gold’ Celebrates Farmers & Cheeseheads Alike

Last updated on: February 7, 2025 at 10:49 am by Kate O'Hare

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‘Green and Gold’ Celebrates Farmers & Cheeseheads Alike 2025-02-07T10:49:18-08:00 Kate O'Hare

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Green and Gold, currently in theaters, stars Craig T. Nelson as a Wisconsin farmer who’s willing to literally bet the farm on whether the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl.

So, Did the Packers Ever Win the Super Bowl?

Answer: four times (wins also took place in the pre-Super Bowl era, for a total of 13 national championships, more than any other team in NFL history).

Green and Gold takes place in 1993. Unless you’re a rabid Packers fan and already know how that season turned out, I don’t recommend looking it up and spoiling the ending for yourself.

Nelson plays Buck, a cantankerous dairy farmer who takes good care of his animals and the land his family has tended for four generations — but he’s up against a financial wall.

He lost his daughter (in more ways than one), but still has his wife (Annabel Armour) and his granddaughter, Jenny (Madison Lawlor), who, like her mother, is a talented singer, along with being a songwriter.

Jenny dreams of musical stardom. And when a famous musician (Brandon Sklenar) happens to show up at a nearby farm, seeking inspiration from nature, she just might get her chance.

Things get dicey when Buck, behind on his mortgage, risks everything on a bet with the local banker that the Packers — clothed in green and gold — are going to take home the Lombardi Trophy (named after the team’s celebrated former coach, devout Catholic Vince Lombardi).

(As a Seattle Seahawks fan, I must point out that the Packers’ coach at this time was Mike Holmgren, who went on to coach the Seahawks. He led the Hawks to their first Super Bowl after a 13-3 2005 season, but, alas, they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But, the 12s still love Holmgren, the second head coach named to the team’s Ring of Honor.)

Don’t get me wrong, Green and Gold is a film about family and farming, not football (it was even shot on real Wisconsin dairy farms), although the Packers’ championship run lies in the background of the whole drama.

In case you think that a dairy farmer would be insane to risk his livelihood on a football team, you don’t understand Wisconsin and the Packers.

A Little History

The Packers are the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, established in 1919 (one year before the NFL’s official launch). They’re also the only non-profit, community-owned major-league pro sports team in the United States.

And, the Packers have played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin — named for Green Bay native and team co-founder Curly Lambeau — since 1957.

The team got its name from Lambeau’s employer, and the team’s first sponsor, the Indian Packing Company, a meat-packing firm. The Packers have also stayed in their original city longer than any other NFL franchise, and green and gold have been the official colors since 1959, Lombardi’s first season.

The team is so important to the city of Green Bay, and vice versa, that when the NFL schedules teams to play “home” games internationally to boost overseas exposure, it never moves a Packers home game away from Lambeau.

In 2024, the Packers opened their season in Brazil against the Philadelphia Eagles, but that was a Philly “home” game. In 2025, the Pittsburgh Steelers play a “home” game in Ireland, and reports suggest the Packers could be the opponent.

No other NFL team gets this kind of consideration. And starting April 24, the 2025 NFL Draft — which has become a media event of the highest order — comes to Green Bay, population (as of 2023) 105,744, somewhat fewer than the 700,000 fans who showed up in Detroit for the 2024 draft.

The Packers and the Cheeseheads

The Packers are a remnant of an earlier era, in which smaller cities and towns had pro-football teams. The love between the Packers and their dedicated fans, called “Cheeseheads,” runs as deep as any connection in pro sports.

Shutterstock

And as you might surmise from the fans’ nickname, no one is closer to the Packers than Wisconsin’s dairy farmers. So, Buck’s abiding loyalty to the team makes perfect sense.

It was also deeply personal to filmmakers Anders and Davin Lindwall, who grew up on their grandfather’s dairy farm in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Buck isn’t the only football fan in the family — his daughter is right there with him. As a female NFL fan, who’s friends with several others like me, it was nice to see.

This isn’t the first film in which a country girl (or guy) dreams of the bright lights of showbiz. But this one takes an interesting path on the way to a resolution of that, one that made me like the Jenny character quite a lot.

She even has a nice flirtation with a farmhand, and is a pretty good shot with a rifle (don’t worry, she doesn’t hit anyone).

Do the Packers — And the Film — Deliver?

So, is there a happily-ever-after ending? That would be telling, but if you enjoyed It’s a Wonderful Life or Field of Dreams, you won’t come away disappointed.

And I must confess, I may have shed a tear or two.

Green and Gold is a solid family film with a faith element. It’s gentle in tone but not afraid to tackle big emotions and serious subjects — including the absolute despair felt by many of America’s family farmers. It’s suitable for mature middle-schoolers and up.

Nelson gives a solid performance, keeping Buck just this side of unlovable, with help from his obvious affection for his cows and his family.

Also appearing is a longtime character actor, the late M. Emmet Walsh.

Image: (top) Craig T. Nelson. Copyright Green & Gold LLC 2024; (embedded) Shutterstock

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Religious Music and Entertainment

About Kate O'Hare

Based in Los Angeles, Kate O'Hare is a veteran entertainment journalist, Social Media Manager for Family Theater Productions and a rookie screenwriter. You can read more about the author here.

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