By CNN
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As a 23-year fantasy football veteran, lifelong Green Bay Packers fan Bill Port knows his way around an NFL roster.
Which is why when the Packers’ defensive coordinator job opened up recently, Port decided he should apply for the position. After all, three regular season titles and three playoff championships in 23 seasons are returns most NFL teams wouldn’t turn their noses up at.
In addition to his fantasy football successes, Port also listed his – albeit limited – experience playing varsity football as a junior in high school.
“I put a little note at the bottom, too, that said: ‘I hope you get a good chuckle out of this,’” Port tells CNN Sport.
“And then my cover letter was really straightforward and simple. It was something like: ‘I heard your organization has a job opening and I figured I’d try this defensive coordinator thing. Please note, I’d prefer weekends off. And then I said: ‘Go Pack Go.’”
Port did not get the job.
What he did get, however, was a hilarious hand-written reply from Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy.
“Bill, Thanks so much for your cover letter and resume regarding our Defensive Coordinator position,” Murphy wrote.
“While your fantasy football experience is impressive, I regret to inform you that we have decided to go in a different direction. I hear the Bears have an opening — you look to be a perfect fit for them. Thanks again. Sincerely — Mark.”
The note went viral after his wife’s cousin posted it on X, formerly known as Twitter, gaining more than 1,000 reposts and more than 5,000 likes.
Port says he was “really surprised” when he realized what he had received.
“I was surprised that it was handwritten, it was on his cardstock and everything like that,” he adds. “I sent the resume and cover letter obviously as a joke and I was telling people if he has someone to open it, you know, his secretary opens it for him, gets a laugh and shows it to him and he gets a laugh, then that’s great.
“But I was like, it’d be really cool to get some sort of rejection letter back, like Packers letterhead or something like that. So when he sent this back, I was like: ‘Wow, that’s kind of above and beyond that. This is pretty cool.’”
And it’s not the first time that Port has applied for an opening at his beloved Packers.
Back in 2019, Port also threw his hat in the ring for the head coach job but was only narrowly (presumably) beaten to it by Matt LaFleur.
Port wrote regularly to sports teams and athletes growing up and says he still keeps a box of the notes and memorabilia he received in response.
Among his most treasured items are a signed photograph of former Packers head coach Mike Holmgren and a letter from Desmond Howard before he was named Super Bowl MVP for the 1996 season.
“I wrote him a letter and it took a while, you know, I wasn’t really getting a response – and that happens,” Port recalls.
“But then I finally got a response and it was clearly a very personal, typed note that said: ‘Bill, sorry for my delayed response. As you might be aware, I’m actually going to the Raiders now, so I’ve been moving. Sorry for the delayed response.’
“Then he sent me an autographed card, which was really cool.”
Port comes from a long line of hardcore Packers fans.
His paternal grandparents got season tickets to Lambeau Field, the Packers’ home stadium, back when it opened as City Stadium in 1957.
“Those were passed down to my dad and so we still sit in those same seats when we go to home games, which is pretty cool,” he says.
Port says he attended games with his wife, Alix, her father, Mike, and stepmother, Lori – a group they called “The Crew” – until Mike passed away a few years ago.
Now, it won’t be long before Port is introducing the next generation of Packers fans.
“Soon our two daughters will be the ‘Crew’ we go with once they get a little older,” he says.
So, given his deep-rooted allegiances to the Packers, would Port take up a job with the rival Chicago Bears, as Murphy suggested?
“I’m not sure that I could do that, given my Packers background,” he says without even a moment’s hesitation.
