GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens participated in the final training camp practice open to the public Thursday morning.
Many young fans lined up on the visiting side, with hopes of a Ravens player wanting to ride their bikes — which was only the second time an opposing team took part in the Packers' tradition. The other team was the Houston Texans.
Thursday morning was 9-year-old Beckett Kinziger’s first time attending a "bike to practice" event. The Green Bay native noticed all the kids riding their bikes and wanted to join. He was hoping for a ride and to get some autographs, but most of all to have fun.
“Also, some of the good stuff about it is it can make people happy, including not only yourself, but others happy,” Kinziger said. “And then you can spread the happiness to everyone, which makes our world happy.”
Beckett’s stepdad, Jeff Pergolski, lent him his bike for the event.
Pergolski said spending time with Beckett reminds him of when his dad used to take him to Packers events.
“Super cool about what the Packers do; absolutely they should find more ways to include more of the visiting team's fans and like it makes experience at Lambeau even more and more special,” Pergolski said.
Many kids attended, hoping to grab a ride from both teams. Ravens fan Sebastian Berry and his family drove four hours from Chicago for this event. He said this is his first time seeing the players this close.
“I think it's cool how the Packers have things like traditions where the fans can connect to the players,” Berry said.
As for Kinziger, he struck gold in his first experience. He lent his bike to Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton and then raced back and lent it to defensive tackle Justin Madubuike.
Beckett said this was more than he dreamed of.
“Madubuike, he likes to know a lot about people. I can tell and was very grateful and so is Kyle Hamilton,” said Kinziger. “Kyle Hamilton is a funny guy, loves communicating with the community.”
Kinziger said he doesn’t know how to ride a bike quite yet, but that’s okay with him because he doesn’t mind walking alongside his favorite players and getting to know them on a personal level.
