More than 100 fans waited outside the team locker room

Zach Gershman

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin -- Longbefore the Cardinals arrived at Lambeau Field on Wednesday for their joint practice with the Packers, there was a line of fans waiting for the team.

Who was rooting for which team was secondary. The primary objective was to take part in a Green Bay tradition which dates back to the 1950s. Before training camp practices, fans wait outside the locker room, hoping a player would select them and ride their bike to practice.

It's a gathering that offensive linemanJon Gaines IIhad only seen from afar. When he walked along the line, he found Noah and rode his bike on the way to practice.

"Golly, how do we do this?" Gaines said with a laugh. "It's a rite of passage to do this. I'm actually from Wisconsin too, so I used to watch this all the time on the news."

Once coach Mike LaFleur let the team know about it, it was a tradition many were eager to be a part of, even those not from the state.

WhenDadrion Taylor-Demersonpopped out of the locker room, he asked the crowd of kids who would offer up their bike. It was at that moment that the safety saw the power of the moment.

"I've been excited about this one," Taylor-Demerson said, while selecting a bike owned by Reed. "It's crazy because I had some criteria before I was coming. I wanted a Tony Hawk bike, not the real seven-speed, but I want to go back to the old days when I had my first bike with some pegs on it."

Then there was a fan who grew up in Washington, standing in front of his two-wheeler with a sign that read "Buddas Bike." There was a hand-drawn University of Washington logo on the poster, which unsurprisingly caught Baker's attention. As the family walked by Baker's side, the father drew a smile from Baker while explaining the genesis of the ask.

"This little man loves you because you can see, he's short in stature," the dad said. "You showed that doesn't matter."

There were other adorable moments. CornerbackMax Meltonfound a young girl waiting at the end of the line with aTrey McBridejersey and a barbie bike with training wheels.

"I didn't know if I was going to be able to ride it, but I couldn't tell her no," Melton said.

The coolest moment came from McBride and his new buddy, Auggie,who sat on the pegs of the tight ends bike and zoomed down to practice.

"You're crushing it bro, you're crushing it, just hold on tight," McBride said, with a child-like laugh that highlighted just how much the tradition meant, not only to the kids, but to the players.

"Dude, this is awesome, isn't this?"