Two of the oldest NFL franchises reached out to the Menasha High School football team in the aftermath of the EF-3 tornado that hit the city July 27. Bluejays head coach Jeramie Korth received a phone call from Chicago Bears chairman and owner George McCaskey on Aug. 6 to inquire about the city and the Menasha football team's status following the storm. The Green Bay Packers' Ryan Fencl, the team's football outreach manager, also connected with Korth and the team and invited the Bluejays to attend practice as well as have lunch and a tour of Lambeau Field on Aug. 16. Call from McCaskey 'an unbelievable experience' Korth, a Chicago Bears fan, got the heads-up of the impending McCaskey call from Menasha alum Dom Hillesheim, who works in the Bears front office as a senior partnership strategist. Hillesheim, a former player for Korth at Menasha, had mentioned the devastating storm and its aftermath in the Bears facility and, according to Korth, the news reached McCaskey, who then reached out to Hillesheim.
"Dom let me know that what's happened in Menasha has gotten all the way up to the highest level and that George wanted to meet with him [on Aug. 5]," Korth said. "The next day, Dom told me to get ready because there's a good chance I might get a call. And I did at around 2 p.m. George wanted to know what the situation was back at home and it sounds like he's unbelievable with his employees. And he found out one of his employee's hometown had gotten decimated and destroyed basically by a tornado. "[McCaskey] was genuinely concerned how Menasha was doing. He was concerned for the players and wanted to know if anyone had lost their lives and wanted to make sure they were OK, along with the coaches and the community. He also wanted to know about [Calder Stadium] because he heard about the damage there and that you can't always get stadiums repaired." Korth said McCaskey offered to assist the Menasha community. "George asked, 'Is there anything we could do to help at this moment?' " Korth said. "And I said, 'At this moment, to be honest with you, we're receiving a lot of support.' And I just told him that you calling and showing your support is kind of important enough to me and the people around me. We're not asking people for anything at this moment. And that's kind of how that went." .oembed-frame {width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;border:0;}
Bluejays get 'crazy' Packers experience at training camp The Packers also reached out to the Menasha program and invited the team to their practice Aug. 16. The Bluejays got to watch the morning practice, have lunch and get a tour of Lambeau Field. They were also allowed in the post-practice huddle with Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. Fencl and football outreach coordinator Jake Krueger helped with the process of getting the Bluejays on the Packers' radar. "Just 15 minutes before practice ended they escorted us to the south end zone parking lot where the families kind of hang out," Korth said. "Then, shockingly, we were sitting by the families and they called us out onto the field and they were doing a breakdown and they opened up the huddle like a 'U' and allowed our kids to run out on the field and run into the huddle. "All the [Packers] players were calling them over and yelling at them and telling them to get over. Our whole team got onto the field and coach LaFleur addressed the team and just told them to basically control the controllables in their life and that one thing they can control is their attitude and their effort." Menasha senior quarterback Paul Schmolinske said the team was under the initial impression they would just be watching practice and having lunch. "It was really crazy, to be honest," Schmolinske said. "We were just supposed to watch practice and then they were going to feed us, and then they took us out of practice early and brought us down by this gate and they said that you were going to be able to see some of the Packers players walk out and stuff. So I didn't even know I was going to go on the field. "When we went on the field, it just made it feel real. My friends were by me and just seeing Jordan Love that close up and Micah Parsons ... was just insane." Menasha senior defensive back Shamir Senyange had the unique experience of interacting with Packers safety Xavier McKinney. "I grew up a Packers fan my whole life, so this was really like a jaw-dropping moment. I was hyperventilating because I got to see all my favorite players I grew up watching," Senyange said. "It was a really big moment for me. "I had a conversation with Xavier McKinney and he was just talking to me and giving me tips about DBs and stuff like that, all the stuff that it takes to get to the league and all the hard work. He was explaining to me what it takes to get there." Korth added that the Packers are donating cleats and football equipment to the Bluejays as well. "They're going to bring up two pallets of equipment," Korth said. "And I got to be honest, I look around some of the kids on my team and they're not wearing the best equipment. So it's going to go to good use."
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Packers, Bears reach out to Menasha football team following tornado