By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

The Green Bay Packers have enjoyed a four game winning streak, culminating in the New Year’s Day 41-17 blowout against the Vikings. Immediately after his second-half rushing touchdown in the Vikings game, running back AJ Dillon (#28), conducted an “orchestra” in the end zone. The video of the performance may be viewed here.

Dr. Glenn C. Hayes, director of bands at UW-Whitewater, obviously appreciated the performance, as he sent Dillon the following letter, together with a cherished baton that he used in “the most famous music performance site in the world,” Carnegie Hall. Hayes, whom the students affectionately call “Doc,” expressed the hope that the baton will lead Dillon “to the most famous football game in the world,” obviously the Super Bowl. On January 4, Jordan Dajan on cbssports.com wrote, ” I hypothesized last week that Green Bay could be pulling an “anti-Packers” this season, where it disappoints in the regular season and then explodes in the playoffs. Win this week against the Lions, and the Packers are in the dance.” Super Bowl LVII will be played in Glendale, Arizona on February 12. The Packers’ final regular season game is at Lambeau Field, Sunday, January 8 at 7:20 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NBC, with coverage also on WRNW, Milwaukee, 97.3 FM.

The letter is reproduced below.

Dillon expressed his appreciation to Hayes just two days later with the following tweet, which has had over 1.4 million views.

The exchange has also generated considerable media attention, including the following report on Channel 3000 that features a brief interview with Hayes.

Editor’s note: The photo on the homepage is from AJ Dillon’s Twitter page.