The Interview Archives - Gary Ponser

A lot of Packer fans probably have no idea who Gary Ponser is nowadays. In truth I can't say I blame them. Gary hasn't been directly involved with the organization for 14 years. 14 long years of exile will finally come to a close this season as Gary has agreed to become an analyst for CheeseandPackers.com. We couldn't be more proud. But, we thought to ourselves, will people respect this man if they don't know his rich history? Will they appreciate his years of wisdom or just dismiss his opinions? We decided to address the issues head on. Gary's life is not one without heartache and mistakes. There's a reason Gary hasn't been there for the Pack for all those years. In order to find closure we now re-run an interview from the now defunct Little Chute Gazette-Tribune-Intelligencer.

Sept. 19th, 1992

Did Samson have a Stylist too?
by Jason Johnson

Here at the corner of Oneida and Shawano sits a small, humble building. The exterior is nothing special. No beautiful architecture, no artfully chosen facades. Just a simple barber's pole and a sign that usually says "open". Gary's Choice Cuts seems to be your standard every day barber shop. A few chairs, some old magazines in the lobby and the soft tunes coming from the radio in the corner are staples of most hair salons these days. But Gary Ponser, owner and operator, has something those other places just can't touch.

For 5 years now Gary has been the stylist for Green Bay's most famous head of hair. Don Majkowski first walked into Gary's establishment in the late summer of 1987. He looked, according to Gary, "disheveled, distraught."

Gary sat him down and went to work. Don had made the mistake of falling asleep in a training camp film session and his new teammates had taken "a bit off the top". Gary, utilyzing all of his master barber skills, managed to reshape the mishappen hair into the beautiful piece of work we now know and love. For what it's worth Gary thinks Chuck Cecil and Terrell Buckley were the perpetrators. "I always wondered about Terrell after that, why would you want to hurt such a lovely head of hair? And Chuck? He was never the same."

Today Don is in the barber's seat once again. We wanted to be here for this charming moment as well. This is, after all, the place where all the "majik" happens.

"He's really the only person I can trust y'know? I don't know what I'd do without Gary. I just, I feed off my emotions and my emotions feed off of how I look and my look, well my look is based on my hair y'know? It's the hair that drives the Majikman's engine. I have to look good. Real good. And Gary's the man to make it happen. He's the mvp of the '89 season if you ask me" says Don, sitting regally under a green sheet lined with gold to keep his gorgeous locks off his Guess jeans.

As the hair cut goes on from shampoo (no sign of dandruff from our qb, of course) to the shaping faze it's clear that Gary and Don have a bond that may not be easily defined. "I sure don't know what to call it" Don says. "Brotherly? Maybe?" Gary offers. "No, not brotherly. It's awesome is what it is" replies Don. And so on. In fact they went on for 10 minutes trying to define their relationship. This report has one word for it, awkward.

Sadly, today's session would end with a very quiet "oh no" from Gary. Don would become flustered and demand to see a mirror. After much angry discourse Gary would finally provide one. Don, reviewing the left side of his mane (behind his ear) would learn the reason for Gary's concern. An obvious mis-cut. Just a half inch in lenth. It looked terrible and both Don and Gary knew it.

Don walked out of the store quietly and without a word. Gary is concerned about his favorite quarterback. Very much so. "It's only hair right? I mean, we joke about the Samson thing and all that but it doesn't mean that much right? Right?" Gary asked this reporter. We'll find out tomorrow as the Packers face off against the Cincinnati Bengals.