Ex-Packer Bryan Bulaga to visit Beloit with Tailgate Tour

Bryan Bulaga grew up in Crystal Lake, Ill., and became a highly-regarded offensive lineman recruit while playing for powerful Woodstock Marian High School.

He was right in the heart of Chicago Bears territory, but he wasn’t a fan.

“My dad wasn’t a big Bears fan after they fired Mike Ditka so there was no in-house push to be a fan of the local team,” Bulaga said in a telephone interview. “I was kind of a 49ers fan.”

That changed a few years later when the Green Bay Packers drafted the University of Iowa offensive lineman in the first round of the 2010 draft. He played 12 seasons in the NFL, the final two with the Los Angeles Chargers. He was waived in 2022 and re-signed with the Packers so he could symbolically retire as a Packer.

“I do have loyalty to the Green Bay Packers,” Bulaga said. “They took a chance on me. I was 21 years old when they drafted me and people in Green Bay embraced me. I grew up from a kid to an adult there. I had all the adult life experiences there, like getting married and having kids. I have a ton of memories there and lots of friends. I love the town and I love the franchise.”

Bulaga will be one of the featured celebrities when the Packers Tailgate Tour visits the Beloit Eclipse Center on April 10. (See related story on page A22.)

“When they ask me to do things like this I’m more than happy to do it,” Bulaga said. “It’s important to help these non-profit organizations raising money and also cool seeing these fans around Wisconsin and be able to talk to them about their favorite team.”

The NFL Draft is right around the corner and Bulaga remembers that week very well.

“There was a lot of excitement,” he said. “Where guys land definitely plays a huge part in their success as pros. Once you get in the league you understand there are some organizations that are better than others. For me, I had no idea where I’d land, but when I got my name called by the Green Bay Packers I knew I was going to a great franchise with a lot of history and really good stability. I knew I was going to a situation where I could learn and get accustomed to how things were done. It worked out fantastically.”

Bulaga, who would start 124 games in Green Bay, said he came to realize how lucky he really was.

“It is in your hands how hard you work and how hard you study and perform, but there are other factors that come into play,” he said. “It’s hard to stand out on a not very good team. It’s hard to perform at a high level when others around you aren’t doing it. To be able to go to a situation that had a Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers and had Pro Bowlers all over the roster, it was a great situation for me.”

2010 was a special season for both Bulaga and the Packers. He became their starting right tackle midway through his rookie season when veteran Mark Tauscher went down due to injury. Bulaga went on to earn Pro Football Writers’ Association All-Rookie honors and became the youngest player at that time to start a Super Bowl, just a month shy of his 22nd birthday.

Bulaga said veteran left tackle Chad Clifton told him that season as they sat on the bench at the tailend of a wild-card round win over the Eagles that he should soak it in for as long as possible.

“He looked at me and said, ‘Man, this doesn’t happen every day. Like, we have a really good team, we’re hot,’” Bulaga recalled.

Bulaga said the finish to the season was surreal. He was just trying to earn the respect of his peers and not get Rodgers killed as his team rolled its way through the playoffs and right past the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.

Bulaga helped the Packers reach three other NFC title games, but his first experience was his last Super Bowl. The final playoff run came in Matt LaFleur’s first year as head coach and Bulaga’s last in Green Bay in 2019.

By 2020, he had suffered two torn ACLs four years apart as well as a hip ailment.

“I wanted to stay in Green Bay, but we never even got around to contract discussions,” Bulaga said. “I’m pretty sure they wanted to go in a different direction and hey, that’s part of the business end of it.”

Bulaga signed a three-year free-agent deal with the Los Angeles Chargers, so he knows what Aaron Jones is experiencing.

“Aaron Jones was a fan favorite,” Bulaga said. “I got to play with him for a few years and he is high quality all the way around. He will be missed in that locker room. There will be an adjustment period, but someone has to step up and fill that void.”

With the end of his Packers career, free-agent signing and subsequent release after two injury-marred years in LA, Bulaga has been in Dave Bakhtiari’s cleats as well. A knee injury kept Bakhtiari off the field for all but one game in his final season as a Packer. Social media hasn’t always been kind to the big tackle, who cashed some of the biggest checks on the team.

“Most Packers fans are extremely respectful,” Bulaga said. “Obviously there are some outliers to every fan base. Dave and I are close and he is doing everything he possibly can to get back. I played with him a long time and there is no one who wants to be on the field more than Dave. I understand fans get frustrated, but if he could play, he would.”

Bulaga said he was fortunate to play on what he believes is the best offensive line in Packers history, alongside Bakhtiari at left tackle, Corey Linsely at center and T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton at guards.

Bulaga had only positive experiences with fans.

“People in Green Bay were very respectful,” he said. “You would be asked for an autograph or to take a photo, which was fine, but when they saw you out with family, they would give you your privacy. They want guys to feel like Green Bay is their home. I mean it’s the Midwest and people there are very welcoming by nature. They want you to feel like this is where you’re supposed to be.”

Bulaga’s contact with football these days is as an ESPN Milwaukee readio analyst specializing in the NFL. The current Florida resident looks a bit less menacing these days. He has shed “about 60 pounds to take some of the stress release for my joints and back.”

Bulaga said he’s looking forward to the Tailgate Tour and talking some Packer football.

“Packers fans want to ask questions about the team they love and support,” he said. “It’s easy to answer questions when they are so passionate about their team. That’s fun.”