When the Super Bowl rolls around, it’s hard not to think of the Green Bay Packers. After all, the trophy every team is chasing is named after Vince Lombardi - the legendary coach who turned Green Bay into Titletown. But this year’s matchup in Super Bowl 60 between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks doesn’t feature the usual cast of former Packers players taking the field.
In fact, there’s only one: Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed. Reed spent just one season in Green Bay, back in 2022, where he posted 52 total tackles and 2.5 sacks.
It was a solid campaign, and it earned him a three-year deal to return to Seattle - the team that originally drafted him - ahead of the 2023 season. So while Packers fans won’t see many familiar jerseys on the field Sunday, their team’s fingerprints are still all over this Super Bowl.
Just not in the way you might expect.
The deeper connection lies in the front office. Both teams in this year’s championship game are led by general managers with deep Green Bay roots - Eliot Wolf for the Patriots and John Schneider for the Seahawks. And their ties to the Packers run deep.
Let’s start with Wolf. The name alone carries weight in Green Bay.
He’s the son of Ron Wolf, the Hall of Fame executive who served as Packers GM from 1991 to 2000 and famously traded for Brett Favre - a move that helped resurrect the franchise. Eliot followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the Packers in 2004 as a pro personnel assistant and working his way up the ladder over the next decade-plus.
By 2012, Wolf was the team’s director of pro personnel. In 2015, he took over as director of player personnel, and by 2016, he was running football operations.
He was considered a strong candidate to replace Ted Thompson as GM when Thompson transitioned into an advisory role in 2018. But the job ultimately went to Brian Gutekunst, prompting Wolf to move on.
He took an assistant GM role with the Browns for two seasons before landing in New England in 2020.
Since joining the Patriots, Wolf has steadily climbed the ranks. He became director of scouting in 2022, and when Bill Belichick stepped away in 2024, Wolf took over personnel decisions as executive vice president of player personnel - the same de facto GM title Belichick held for years.
His first major move? Drafting quarterback Drake Maye in 2024.
He also brought back Mike Vrabel to coach the team this season - a bold pairing that’s clearly paid off.
On the other sideline, John Schneider’s Green Bay story starts with a letter. As a college student and Wisconsin native, Schneider wrote to Ron Wolf in 1993 asking for a scouting job. Wolf gave him a shot, and that decision helped shape the future of two franchises.
Schneider spent four years scouting for the Packers, then bounced around with the Chiefs, Seahawks, and Washington before returning to Green Bay in 2002. He served as the top personnel aide to the GM for six years and later became the director of football operations. Then, in 2010, he got his big break: the Seahawks hired him as GM shortly after bringing in Pete Carroll as head coach.
Together, Schneider and Carroll built a powerhouse. They drafted the core of the team that won Super Bowl 48 and came within a yard of repeating the next year. And now, more than a decade later, Schneider has built another contender - one that’s back in the Super Bowl and looking for redemption against the same team that beat them in that infamous Super Bowl 49 finish.
Schneider’s name even came up again in Packers circles recently. He reportedly interviewed for the team’s president and CEO role last summer, a position that ultimately went to Ed Policy. But his legacy in Green Bay - and his connection to the franchise - remains strong.
So while Packers fans won’t see Rodgers, Adams, or any other recent Green Bay stars on the field this Sunday, their team’s influence is still alive and well. Wolf and Schneider spent years shaping the Packers’ front office and philosophy. Now, they’re on opposite sides of the biggest game in football, each trying to bring home the Lombardi Trophy - a prize that carries a little extra meaning for anyone with Green Bay in their blood.
Friendship and shared history aside, come kickoff, it’s all business. And for Packers fans watching from afar, there’s still a reason to be invested - because no matter who wins, a piece of Titletown will be lifting that trophy.