With NFL training camps in full swing and the football season closing in, you wouldn’t expect to find a diehard Chicago Bears fan in Green Bay at the Packers training camp. Yet that is exactly where I was last week, and I had a blast.

Chicago is the third-most-populated U.S. city, with over 2.7 million people, while Green Bay ranks around 270th, with a population of about 110,000 (the smallest in major pro sports). You have to let those numbers sink in to really understand the significance of the Packers to Green Bay and vice versa.

The Packers are the only community-owned major pro sports team in the United States. The relationship between the Packers and the residents is very close without being obnoxious. It can best be described as quaint.

One such example takes place before and after each practice. Kids on bikes wait outside the Packers’ locker room. As the players emerge in uniform, they hop on a bike and are escorted by the bike’s young owner to the practice field. This ritual is reversed at the end of practice. It is a unique and heartwarming sight to see hulking men on undersized bikes accompanied by wide-eyed youngsters.

It is because of this relationship that Lambeau Field will seat 80,750 fans per game (with the addition of 7,000 seats since last season). That is an incredibly high number, especially considering the population. Given all of the facts though, it isn’t as unbelievable.

Green Bay is almost like a college town. Some combination of the Packers’ “G” logo and green and gold colors are displayed in many store fronts, houses, clothes and more. The practices are jammed with hundreds more standing outside looking through the fence for a peek at the action.

The town loves the Packers. The town is the Packers. That’s not to say Green Bay has nothing else going for it but the Packers. In fact, in the near future, I will be writing about the many other things to do in Green Bay.

— John Wroblewski, online contributor