Cheese League Explained

The Cheese League
Pixels:175px
Sport:American football
Teams:6

The Cheese League was the informal name given to the National Football League teams that held their training camps and scrimmages in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Cheese League reached its apex in 1995 with six NFL teams. Drawn by the milder summers, an escape from the distractions of home, and great facilities, these teams retreated to college towns in Wisconsin to prepare for the NFL season.[1] The league had its strongest participation throughout the 1990s with five teams, peaking in 1995 with six teams thanks to the participation of the Jacksonville Jaguars for a single year. This proximity allowed the teams to practice with and scrimmage against one another - allowing for a nice change of pace and more realistic preparation for the regular season.[2] Despite this perk, as well as the cooler summer weather, the non-local teams eventually decided that it was politically and logistically wiser to host training camp in their home states.[3] [4] With the Minnesota Vikings announcing that the 2017 training camp would be their last in Mankato, all six former members of the Cheese League will now hold camp in the same metro area that they are located.[5]

Teams

TeamLocationCampus
Chicago Bears[6] University of Wisconsin–Platteville
Green Bay Packers[7] St. Norbert College
Jacksonville Jaguars[8] University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
Kansas City Chiefs[9] University of Wisconsin–River Falls
Minnesota Vikings[10] Minnesota State University, Mankato
New Orleans Saints[11] University of Wisconsin–La Crosse

Participation timeline

DateFormat = yyyyImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25Period = from:1958 till:2019TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:140 left:20 bottom:20 top:0

Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white

PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:orange from:1958 till:2017 text:Green Bay Packers (1958–present)

bar:2 color:orange from:1966 till:2017 text:Minnesota Vikings (1966–2017)

bar:3 color:orange from:1984 till:2001 text:Chicago Bears (1984–2001)

bar:4 color:orange from:1988 till:1999 text:New Orleans Saints (1988–1999)

bar:5 color:orange from:1991 till:2009 text:Kansas City Chiefs (1991-2009)

bar:6 color:orange from:1995 till:1996 text:Jacksonville Jaguars (1995)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:4 start:1958

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cheese League will remain just a fond memory - FOX Sports. 12 June 2012.
  2. News: Young . David . 1991-08-04 . Summer ‘Cheese League’ boosts tourism in Wisconsin, Minnesota . 2024-06-02 . Baltimore Sun . en-US.
  3. Web site: USATODAY.com - Cheese League dwindling in size. usatoday30.usatoday.com.
  4. Web site: The Cheese League is long gone. The Mankato Free. Press. 5 August 2013 .
  5. Web site: Minnesota Vikings, Mankato part ways after one final training camp beginning next week. .
  6. Web site: Chicago Bears Training Camp Locations - Pro-Football-Reference.com. Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  7. Web site: Green Bay Packers Training Camp Locations - Pro-Football-Reference.com. Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  8. Web site: Jacksonville Jaguars Training Camp Locations - Pro-Football-Reference.com. Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  9. Web site: Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp Locations - Pro-Football-Reference.com. Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  10. Web site: Minnesota Vikings Training Camp Locations - Pro-Football-Reference.com. Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  11. Web site: New Orleans Saints Training Camp Locations - Pro-Football-Reference.com. Pro-Football-Reference.com.