Chuck Lane, a former public relations director for the Green Bay Packers during the eras of Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr, passed away on Sunday morning, January 19, 2025, in Green Bay at the age of 82. Lane was instrumental in the formation of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Association, being one of the seven founding members present at the inaugural meeting in February 1970.

“Chuck Lane and I were co-chairs of the association,” said Tom Hutchison, another principal organizer. Lane served on the original board and selection committee of the hall and was a director emeritus of today’s Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, Inc. at the time of his death.

Lane hailed from Minneapolis and graduated from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, in 1963, where he excelled as a quarterback and shortstop, earning seven letters. After graduation, Max Winter hired him to manage promotions for the Harlem Globetrotters across five Midwestern states.

Winter was also one of the founding owners of the Minnesota Vikings, alongside Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein. In early 1966, Lombardi recruited the then-23-year-old Lane to be the Packers’ publicity director, placing him in charge of public relations as the Packers secured victories in Super Bowls I and II and during Lombardi’s last season as general manager in Green Bay.

Working for Lombardi was an overwhelming experience Lane never forgot. “I arrived (in Green Bay) in March of 1966 and had several months working with (Lombardi before camp started),” Lane recounted in a 2009 interview. “So I knew him, and honestly, I feared him. He inspired immense respect, but there was also the fear factor keeping you alert.

Anyone claiming they weren’t afraid of him was probably lying. We all were.” Despite this, Lane developed a closer bond with Lombardi than many other Packers staff and even some assistant coaches. “He was more of a father figure (to me),” Lane shared, having lost his father at a young age. “I found (Lombardi) to be the most inspiring person I’d ever met. Growing up fatherless, having this male role model whom I deeply respected was a remarkable three-year relationship.”

Lane’s responsibilities included hosting guests at Lombardi’s renowned 5 o’clock club at St. Norbert College during training camp and at the team hotel on the eve of away games. “Everyone had a drink or two at the 5 o’clock club. Beer, wine. Coach always had a Scotch or two,” Lane reminisced in the same 2009 interview. “The 5 o’clock club only lasted an hour (during camp), and it was a rush to leave the practice field and get there. So it rarely started at 5, but you were out by 6. It was Lombardi time, and he’d ensure nobody overstayed their time at Buck’s (a nearby bar in De Pere, frequented by players after practice).”

One of Lane’s favorite aspects of his job was catering to Lombardi’s many friends in the press, particularly those from New York, titans of 1960s sports journalism. “Tex Maule (of Sports Illustrated) was outstanding,” Lane said. “I considered him one of the classiest people I ever met. We would dine together occasionally. W.C. ‘Bill’ Heinz (author of Lombardi’s book, “Run to Daylight”) would drop by periodically. Jimmy Breslin was another visitor.

He was quintessentially New York, Irish, a tremendous character, with a unique speaking style. “The 5 o’clock club was when these reporters had access to (Lombardi). I don’t think he ever refused when I asked if he could spare time for an interview there. (Lombardi) gave them, frankly, preferred treatment, access. Those were his roots, the people he felt comfortable with.”

Perhaps Lane’s fondest memory of Lombardi was one of the last. Lane watched the game with Lombardi on November 24, 1968, when the Packers faced Washington, just over two months before Lombardi accepted the coaching position there. “I sat with him in the press box and we watched the game,” Lane said. “It was one of the most memorable days for me. He was so at ease with me. He spoke to me as a peer or equal, and I had never considered myself as such. It was simply wonderful. We discussed the game. Apparently, he felt it was time to unwind and let his hair down a bit.”

Lane continued his role with the Packers until March 1974 when he resigned before Dan Devine’s final season as coach to assist Bart Starr in promoting his candidacy as the next Packers coach. Starr immediately rehired Lane as public relations director after his appointment in December 1974, only to dismiss him in early January 1980. Lane remained a Green Bay resident and actively engaged in the community until his health declined in recent years.