September 5, 2025 • 11 mins
In this episode of the Packers POV podcast, Packers International Fan of the Year Matthias Kraus talks about supporting the Green Bay Packers all the way from his home country of Germany, details how he proposed to his wife at Lambeau Field and reveals his favorite Packers player.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, and welcome to Packers POV, a podcast that aims
to shine a light on the human behind the helmet.
I'm your host, Taylor Rogers, and we are here inside
historic Lambeau Field. Today's guest is a world renowned fan
and he joins us here at Lambeau after a four
thousand plus mile commute from Schweinfurt, Germany. Introducing the Green
(00:27):
Bay Packers International Fan of the Year, Mattias Krauss. Welcome, Mattias.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hey, thanks having.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Me, So happy to have you. And you've described the
Green Bay draft that just happened recently with the word
goose bumps.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Can you talk about your favorite part of that experience?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, for sure. The favorite pod was coming up on
that stage and being able to announce a pick. And
I remember when I was behind that stage, I felt
like all the energy and adrenaline came into my body
and I really was pumped up when I went out
to that stage. Sure, if you're standing in front of
(01:08):
two hundred thousand people, you are also a little bit nervous.
But it worked out very well and I'm so ownered
to be the international Fan of the Year and able
to do those things. Every pack a fan I would
think would dream of this, and if you are able
to do this, it's priceless, it's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I'm so ownered without questioning. Congratulations on that nomination and
seeing you on stage, you certainly didn't look nervous, and
I was not surprised to learn after the fact that
you're a DJ in Germany.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah. Yeah, as you said, I'm a DJ also in
Germany and always on big parties. I'm wearing a pack
a shirt on the stage, so I'm used to spe
on a stage. So the biggest crowd in Germany that
I had was three or a half thousand on a party,
but this was completely different because I need to think, translate,
used to write, and sometimes I forget the easiest words
(02:03):
sometimes because I'm too excited about what i want to
say and I'm too excited about what's going on, like
the same here. Now, this is a dream come true
if you are able to be here to talk with you.
If you had said this to me a year ago,
I wouldn't believe it.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So this is thank you, well, thank you, and it's
an honor for us to get to know you better
inside this building. And you've now been to twenty four
Packers games at Lambeau Field. What keeps you coming back?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
First of all, when I came here, it was only
the Packers and the Lambo field, And now I have
to say, in the last three four years, it changed.
It changed a lot. So I'm still here to support
my team. I'm still here to cheer for them and
all this, but it changed a little bit in coming home,
(02:54):
that's the one thing. So it really feels for me
like coming home to my second home. I made so
much friendships and relationships over the years that this is
a big family, and I would say it's half half
meeting my people and being the fan to come back.
So the Packers are the reason for traveling and seeing
(03:18):
the game and all that. But the other side is
meeting my friends. And I'm really happy to know these
guys and they are the real big guys to my
life here in the States.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
When you talk about Green Bay as your second home
and you say a transition happened three to four years ago,
do you remember when that moment was where you felt like, Okay,
this is a place I'll be coming to for the
rest of my life.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I think it started maybe after the third year also,
so it was ten percent as more often as I
came to Green Bay, as more often, it felt like
coming home. And when I remember all these things where
I was dreaming on. So seeing Mark Murphy, we just
run into him and I just run Saturday also outside
(04:08):
into him and he took five minutes to talk with
me and my wife and all these little things. Meeting
these players. This is special here in Green Bay because
I know that all these players are knowing that we
are a small city. We are interacting with our players
and we want to interact with them. So I know
this is also special to be a player for the
(04:31):
Green Bay packerses. I think it's completely different as being
a player for whatever the Cowboys.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
You mentioned your wife, she's here with you this week.
She doesn't come to every Packers game, but she did
come to a special game back in twenty nineteen. Can
you set that up for us? And what happened after
that game?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, So we were here for the game in twenty
nineteen against the Raiders. So I wanted to propose to
my wife down at the field because this is both
of my loves bringing together. That was the plan, and
at the end, Aaron Popkey he helped us, and so
the game was over and we were allowed to go
(05:12):
down to the field. The Badger's march band was playing
behind us, and then I took a knee. A fun
story beside that was the Badger's band played roll out
of the Barrels. What is an old German song about
a girl called Rosamunde, and the lyrics are rosa MUNDI
give me your heart and say yes, don't ask your
(05:32):
mother first. Believe me, I'm loyal to you. At this
point your heart is still free. These are the German
lyrics for that. They stopped playing and at the same
time I stepped up from taking the knee and did
the touchdown sign. So you can't beat this. So Nadine,
she really didn't know anything about that, because I knew
(05:53):
that she wants to get married. But I was married
one time and I said I never do this again.
And after all these years, every time I said no,
I'm not gonna do this again, and so she was
really shocked. The fun thing from her side is when
I took the knee, she's thought that I feel ill
or mad, and she thought I had to throw.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Up, so she's worried about you.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
She was worried. So I love her by the way,
So she's a great, great partner for me in my life.
She let me do all these crazy things and this
time it was very special for her to come back
after five and a half years, and she loves it.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
That's a beautiful story and full circle that you guys
are here and you come right to the same point
where you were back in twenty nineteen. And you mentioned
just running into Mark Murphy recently actually on our walk
to record this episode. You've met Mark, You've met Matt Lafleur,
You've met some of the Packer players as well. Do
(06:54):
you have a favorite current Packers player?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, of course children Love. First of all, I was
totally surprised I won an election in Germany being the
NFL RTL fan of the year. So RTL the German
TV broadcast, they figured out that I got a personal
message from Jordan Love so a little video. They showed
it on TV and they've sended that to me and
(07:18):
what an owner. So your guy is giving you a
personal congratulation. You can't beat this. So after that, we
were invited by winning this to the Super Bowl in
Las Vegas, and that was a fun thing. So we
didn't know that Jordan is there. And a forty nine
Ers guy came up and wanted to have a picture
with me. So we did that photo and that guy
(07:38):
said to me, I'm sure you are excited about later,
and I said, what's later? And he said, your quarterback
is here. I grabbed my wife and said we have
to go directly. We went to that place. We were
number eight or nine in the line. So I had
the chance to thank Jordan Love for this person the message,
(08:00):
and he knew about that. He did this little video
for me. So we took another photo and I printed
it out in a poster and I brought it back
with my next visit. So I was standing out there
and so he stopped. He signed that one and I
saw him now also three four times. He's a super
nice guy. Also in the past when I met Rogers
multiple times. And we are so blessed in Green Bay
(08:23):
over the last thirty years.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
And when you're not here in Green Bay, you still
support the team. You co founded a fan club in Germany.
Can you tell us about that?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, so some guys and I founded a fan club.
It's now I think four years ago. We are now
seven hundred plus members. We do a lot of podcast
things and a lot of articles and giving informations from
the States to our fans in Germany. And we also
donated in the last three years forty seven thousand euros
(08:52):
to children programs. And I started my own charity thing
last year after I went to Canon Ohio or the
first play and after that, I was really emotional on
my flight home when I remember what I saw there,
and I raised another ten thousand and we are living
on the sunny side of life and we have to
(09:12):
give something back. So I'm actually driving every Monday and
every Wednesday for a children's organization in my hometown. I
drive food and beverage early in the morning to the
schools for kids where the parents can't afford to have
a school break beverage or food, and so that's what
we do.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Well, that's a beautiful thing. And thank you for doing
all of that. You're already making a huge commitment, and
to also be doing that, I don't know a lot
of people knew that, so thank you for sharing that.
And there have been multiple NFL games played in Munich
and in Frankfurt, and this season they'll play in Berlin
when the Packers have their first game in Germany and
(09:51):
now there's international marketing rights there. What will that day
be like for you? Assuming you'll be in the stadium.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
So the first the thing that comes up in my
head by thinking about the pack is playing in Germany
is oh, I need a ticket. So this is the
first thing I know. It's like, how do you call
this snap? It's like a snap and it will be
sold out. So for me, you said, I'm working as
a DJ. The good thing is I have a co
partner DJing with me, and he knows if that happens,
(10:22):
he will be by himself on this weekend, so there's
no chance that I'm DJing on that weekend. I would
take my camper. It's a pack has wrapped camper, so
I would take my camper and I would start, I think,
on a Friday, go to that stadium and stay till Monday,
and we will celebrate a big party around my camper.
(10:42):
And I know that I invite all the friends that
I have, so this will be also a unique thing.
I really hope that this happens the next two or
three years.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Well, I know that weekend will be a blast, and
it sounds like you'll be able to play some music
with all your friends. Yeah, maybe even roll out the bear. Yeah, Mattias,
thank you and dunka get it and don't forget go
pack on. That's a great way to end it. To
keep up with Mattias, check out his Instagram and Facebook,
(11:16):
both titled The German Packer. You can also check out
his website, The Germanpacker dot de e. Thank you for
listening to this special episode of Packers POV. Take care
and see you next time.
Hello, and welcome to Packers POV, a podcast that aims
to shine a light on the human behind the helmet.
I'm your host, Taylor Rogers, and we are here inside
historic Lambeau Field. Today's guest is a world renowned fan
and he joins us here at Lambeau after a four
thousand plus mile commute from Schweinfurt, Germany. Introducing the Green
(00:27):
Bay Packers International Fan of the Year, Mattias Krauss. Welcome, Mattias.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hey, thanks having.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Me, So happy to have you. And you've described the
Green Bay draft that just happened recently with the word
goose bumps.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Can you talk about your favorite part of that experience?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, for sure. The favorite pod was coming up on
that stage and being able to announce a pick. And
I remember when I was behind that stage, I felt
like all the energy and adrenaline came into my body
and I really was pumped up when I went out
to that stage. Sure, if you're standing in front of
(01:08):
two hundred thousand people, you are also a little bit nervous.
But it worked out very well and I'm so ownered
to be the international Fan of the Year and able
to do those things. Every pack a fan I would
think would dream of this, and if you are able
to do this, it's priceless, it's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I'm so ownered without questioning. Congratulations on that nomination and
seeing you on stage, you certainly didn't look nervous, and
I was not surprised to learn after the fact that
you're a DJ in Germany.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah. Yeah, as you said, I'm a DJ also in
Germany and always on big parties. I'm wearing a pack
a shirt on the stage, so I'm used to spe
on a stage. So the biggest crowd in Germany that
I had was three or a half thousand on a party,
but this was completely different because I need to think, translate,
used to write, and sometimes I forget the easiest words
(02:03):
sometimes because I'm too excited about what i want to
say and I'm too excited about what's going on, like
the same here. Now, this is a dream come true
if you are able to be here to talk with you.
If you had said this to me a year ago,
I wouldn't believe it.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So this is thank you, well, thank you, and it's
an honor for us to get to know you better
inside this building. And you've now been to twenty four
Packers games at Lambeau Field. What keeps you coming back?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
First of all, when I came here, it was only
the Packers and the Lambo field, And now I have
to say, in the last three four years, it changed.
It changed a lot. So I'm still here to support
my team. I'm still here to cheer for them and
all this, but it changed a little bit in coming home,
(02:54):
that's the one thing. So it really feels for me
like coming home to my second home. I made so
much friendships and relationships over the years that this is
a big family, and I would say it's half half
meeting my people and being the fan to come back.
So the Packers are the reason for traveling and seeing
(03:18):
the game and all that. But the other side is
meeting my friends. And I'm really happy to know these
guys and they are the real big guys to my
life here in the States.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
When you talk about Green Bay as your second home
and you say a transition happened three to four years ago,
do you remember when that moment was where you felt like, Okay,
this is a place I'll be coming to for the
rest of my life.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I think it started maybe after the third year also,
so it was ten percent as more often as I
came to Green Bay, as more often, it felt like
coming home. And when I remember all these things where
I was dreaming on. So seeing Mark Murphy, we just
run into him and I just run Saturday also outside
(04:08):
into him and he took five minutes to talk with
me and my wife and all these little things. Meeting
these players. This is special here in Green Bay because
I know that all these players are knowing that we
are a small city. We are interacting with our players
and we want to interact with them. So I know
this is also special to be a player for the
(04:31):
Green Bay packerses. I think it's completely different as being
a player for whatever the Cowboys.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
You mentioned your wife, she's here with you this week.
She doesn't come to every Packers game, but she did
come to a special game back in twenty nineteen. Can
you set that up for us? And what happened after
that game?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, So we were here for the game in twenty
nineteen against the Raiders. So I wanted to propose to
my wife down at the field because this is both
of my loves bringing together. That was the plan, and
at the end, Aaron Popkey he helped us, and so
the game was over and we were allowed to go
(05:12):
down to the field. The Badger's march band was playing
behind us, and then I took a knee. A fun
story beside that was the Badger's band played roll out
of the Barrels. What is an old German song about
a girl called Rosamunde, and the lyrics are rosa MUNDI
give me your heart and say yes, don't ask your
(05:32):
mother first. Believe me, I'm loyal to you. At this
point your heart is still free. These are the German
lyrics for that. They stopped playing and at the same
time I stepped up from taking the knee and did
the touchdown sign. So you can't beat this. So Nadine,
she really didn't know anything about that, because I knew
(05:53):
that she wants to get married. But I was married
one time and I said I never do this again.
And after all these years, every time I said no,
I'm not gonna do this again, and so she was
really shocked. The fun thing from her side is when
I took the knee, she's thought that I feel ill
or mad, and she thought I had to throw.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Up, so she's worried about you.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
She was worried. So I love her by the way,
So she's a great, great partner for me in my life.
She let me do all these crazy things and this
time it was very special for her to come back
after five and a half years, and she loves it.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
That's a beautiful story and full circle that you guys
are here and you come right to the same point
where you were back in twenty nineteen. And you mentioned
just running into Mark Murphy recently actually on our walk
to record this episode. You've met Mark, You've met Matt Lafleur,
You've met some of the Packer players as well. Do
(06:54):
you have a favorite current Packers player?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, of course children Love. First of all, I was
totally surprised I won an election in Germany being the
NFL RTL fan of the year. So RTL the German
TV broadcast, they figured out that I got a personal
message from Jordan Love so a little video. They showed
it on TV and they've sended that to me and
(07:18):
what an owner. So your guy is giving you a
personal congratulation. You can't beat this. So after that, we
were invited by winning this to the Super Bowl in
Las Vegas, and that was a fun thing. So we
didn't know that Jordan is there. And a forty nine
Ers guy came up and wanted to have a picture
with me. So we did that photo and that guy
(07:38):
said to me, I'm sure you are excited about later,
and I said, what's later? And he said, your quarterback
is here. I grabbed my wife and said we have
to go directly. We went to that place. We were
number eight or nine in the line. So I had
the chance to thank Jordan Love for this person the message,
(08:00):
and he knew about that. He did this little video
for me. So we took another photo and I printed
it out in a poster and I brought it back
with my next visit. So I was standing out there
and so he stopped. He signed that one and I
saw him now also three four times. He's a super
nice guy. Also in the past when I met Rogers
multiple times. And we are so blessed in Green Bay
(08:23):
over the last thirty years.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
And when you're not here in Green Bay, you still
support the team. You co founded a fan club in Germany.
Can you tell us about that?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, so some guys and I founded a fan club.
It's now I think four years ago. We are now
seven hundred plus members. We do a lot of podcast
things and a lot of articles and giving informations from
the States to our fans in Germany. And we also
donated in the last three years forty seven thousand euros
(08:52):
to children programs. And I started my own charity thing
last year after I went to Canon Ohio or the
first play and after that, I was really emotional on
my flight home when I remember what I saw there,
and I raised another ten thousand and we are living
on the sunny side of life and we have to
(09:12):
give something back. So I'm actually driving every Monday and
every Wednesday for a children's organization in my hometown. I
drive food and beverage early in the morning to the
schools for kids where the parents can't afford to have
a school break beverage or food, and so that's what
we do.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Well, that's a beautiful thing. And thank you for doing
all of that. You're already making a huge commitment, and
to also be doing that, I don't know a lot
of people knew that, so thank you for sharing that.
And there have been multiple NFL games played in Munich
and in Frankfurt, and this season they'll play in Berlin
when the Packers have their first game in Germany and
(09:51):
now there's international marketing rights there. What will that day
be like for you? Assuming you'll be in the stadium.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
So the first the thing that comes up in my
head by thinking about the pack is playing in Germany
is oh, I need a ticket. So this is the
first thing I know. It's like, how do you call
this snap? It's like a snap and it will be
sold out. So for me, you said, I'm working as
a DJ. The good thing is I have a co
partner DJing with me, and he knows if that happens,
(10:22):
he will be by himself on this weekend, so there's
no chance that I'm DJing on that weekend. I would
take my camper. It's a pack has wrapped camper, so
I would take my camper and I would start, I think,
on a Friday, go to that stadium and stay till Monday,
and we will celebrate a big party around my camper.
(10:42):
And I know that I invite all the friends that
I have, so this will be also a unique thing.
I really hope that this happens the next two or
three years.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Well, I know that weekend will be a blast, and
it sounds like you'll be able to play some music
with all your friends. Yeah, maybe even roll out the bear. Yeah, Mattias,
thank you and dunka get it and don't forget go
pack on. That's a great way to end it. To
keep up with Mattias, check out his Instagram and Facebook,
(11:16):
both titled The German Packer. You can also check out
his website, The Germanpacker dot de e. Thank you for
listening to this special episode of Packers POV. Take care
and see you next time.
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