“I’ve been a Packers fan since I was a kid — that part never changed,” Tonje said with a grin. “I just never had the football bug as a player. Basketball chose me, not the other way around. But Sundays? That’s always felt like Green Bay to me.”

Within minutes, Packers Nation did what it does best: embrace one of its own. Comments poured in — cheesehead emojis, Lambeau Leap GIFs, and a chorus of “Go Pack Go” that turned Tonje’s timeline into a miniature Titletown parade. It was a reminder that in this state, the jersey you wore in Madison is a passport to Green Bay, and the door to Lambeau is always open.

Tonje’s basketball path has spanned multiple stops — Colorado State to Missouri, then to Wisconsin for the 2024–25 season — but it was his time in Madison that tightened the knot with the state’s fans. Even if the Kohl Center hardwood was his stage, Tonje’s reveal taps into an old Wisconsin truth: the border between Badger red and Packers green is more bridge than wall. Around here, fandom is a full ecosystem.

For Packers fans, Tonje’s admission checks every box:

• Belonging: The narrative of “arriving late” to public fandom but being welcomed instantly.

Fan Voices 

• “Once a Badger, always welcome in Green & Gold. #GoPackGo”

Green Bay opens its season at home against the Detroit Lions, a rivalry tilt tailor-made for a first Sunday under the Lambeau lights. Don’t be surprised if a camera finds Tonje in the stands, soaking in the hymn of a Wisconsin fall — breath turning to steam, brass bands echoing, and an entire state chanting in unison.

He may never take a snap, he may never run a route, but fandom isn’t measured in yards gained. For John Tonje, it’s measured in a feeling — the one that starts in Madison, ends in Green Bay, and sounds a lot like a stadium singing: Go Pack Go.