A Tony Bennett triple: In 1991, legendary singer met the Packers linebacker and the UW-Green Bay basketball star who share his name

Kendra Meinert, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·3 min read
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Tony Bennett, the master of the American songbook, died Friday at age 96.
Tony Bennett, the master of the American songbook, died Friday at age 96.

In his long and celebrated career, only in Green Bay did Tony Bennett meet Tony Bennett and Tony Bennett.

It won’t get mentioned in the many tributes to the legendary 96-year-old crooner, who died Friday, but in Green Bay pop culture and sports history, it was a pretty great pinch-me moment.

The “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” singer, a Green Bay Packers’ first-round draft pick and a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay star basketball player — all with the same name — met one another.

It was the triple crown of Tony Bennetts, if you will. The Tonys without the awards part.

It happened, and not by accident, on Nov. 16, 1991, at Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport. Tony Bennett was passing through on his way to perform at the Capitol Civic Centre in Manitowoc, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette arranged for all three Tony Bennetts to meet up.

In November 1991, singer Tony Bennett met Green Bay Packers linebacker Tony Bennett and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay basketball player Tony Bennett in Green Bay.
In November 1991, singer Tony Bennett met Green Bay Packers linebacker Tony Bennett and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay basketball player Tony Bennett in Green Bay.

Tony Bennett the singer joked that only one other time in what was then a 40-year career had he ever met someone with the same name as his, and even then spelling got in the way.

“She was a stripper. She spelled it T-O-N-I,” Bennett said.

Packers linebacker Tony Bennett said he wasn’t named for the singer, but his teammates liked to kid him about it.

“They say I got drafted (No. 1) because I could sing. They give me a lot of slack about it.”

Tony Bennett the UWGB guard, who went on to become UWGB's all-time leading scorer is and is now a national champion coach with the University of Virginia men’s basketball team, called himself “the small fry” of the three.

Their meeting was captured with a photo, but Tony, Tony and Tony declined to sing together that day at the airport.

He called Weidner 'one of the great concert halls in the whole world'

It was just one of Green Bay’s memorable encounters with the singer, who performed twice at The Weidner, where the venue's renowned acoustics and his voice proved the perfect match.

He called it “one of the great concert halls in the whole world” during his concert there in March 1994, just 14 months after the performing arts center opened. To prove his point, he had the microphones turned off and let his voice soar on “Fly Me to the Moon.”

He returned to the same stage 10 years later in September 2004, again commenting on its impeccable acoustics.

“I can’t tell you how good it is to be back in this beautiful place,” the 78-year-old Bennett told a crowd of 1,700. “The sound is magnificent.”

In the 1980s, he performed at the Carlton Celebrity Room, where he did two shows a night. Tickets for his 1983 appearance started at just $18.

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Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert. 

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: In 1991, Tony Bennett, Tony Bennett and Tony Bennett met in Green Bay