SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Since 1998, the Green Bay Packers have honored a devout fan every year by inducting them into the Packers Fan Hall of Fame.
This year, that number grew to 26 members when a Green Bay Packers fan from Sheboygan was selected earlier in the year.
When Dan Bogenschuetz received an email saying he was nominated to be in the Packers Fan Hall of Fame, he thought it was a scam. A few months and 83,000 votes later, he was named the winner.
“It means a lot. My picture and my story are in the Packers Hall of Fame for life,” saidBogenschuetz said. “I was shocked. I really had no idea I was going to win. There were nine other people up against me that were really great people. I'm friends with the majority of them now.”
Bogenschuetz has been to hundreds of Packers games in his lifetime. He has also planned trips for more than 300 people to see games together.
It’s even more shocking when you find out that he was a Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions season ticket holder.
“The biggest thing is how many people I've touched over the years that have gone with me and a lot of them aren't here anymore either,” he said. “I'm on my third generation now of people that go with me. Some of the younger ones, they'll say, ‘My grandma and grandpa used to travel with you’ so, that makes me feel a little older.”
Bogenschuetz wanted to commemorate his accomplishment of being inducted into the Fan Hall of Fame by getting it tattooed on his arm. He said even after all the years and the games he’s experienced, he still has a couple of things left on his bucket list.
“I'm hoping to get to the draft. I'm really looking forward to the draft,” Bogenschuetz said. “I have a lot of people asking me if we're going to be taking a bus. That's one of the goals, and I’m hoping someday the Packers play in Germany. I’d love to go to Germany.”
Bogenschuetz said he considers his love for the Packers as more than a hobby, it’s a way of life, saying he bleeds green and gold.
“To this day, it's my hobby. I don't hunt, I don't fish, I don't snowmobile, I don't have a cottage, I don't golf,” he said. “So, this is what I put my heart into. And I'm happy, and I'm glad I do it.”