Former migrant worker says he’s the biggest ‘Cheesehead’ in Texas

SAN BENITO — Alfredo Contreras says he is the biggest Cheesehead in Texas.

The 40-year-old, who was born in Nuevo León, Mexico, shows his love for the Green Bay Packers in everything from his home — “It’s yellow like the cheese” — to a shrine to quarterback Brett Favre with a “very valuable” collectible action figure from Favre’s college football days, to his 1988 Ford pickup that might as well look like a mobile Green Bay jersey.

“I get a lot of attention,” he said.

The forest green truck with yellow trim has a Green Bay “G” emblem with the words “FAVRE 4 EVER” on the bed’s tailgate.

In the 1980s, Contreras was an 11-year-old migrant farmworker traveling to Milwaukee, Wis., with his family when they stopped in Hope, Ark. There he bought two books that changed his life, he said.

“I was barely learning to read English when I picked up books on the history of the NFL and the Superbowl,” Contreras said, wearing a yellow Green Bay Packers hat, green sweatpants and a green sweatshirt that read, “GO FOR IT.”

“I noticed Green Bay Packers were always there.”

When Contreras and his family finally moved to Wisconsin, he learned his family was only 40 miles south of Lambeau Field, the team’s stadium.

“It was really exciting being so close,” he said.

As a child, Contreras arranged his back-to-school shopping with the team’s practices.

Since then, Contreras has attended four games, each of which he said he remembers every detail.

Contreras moved to the Rio Grande Valley in 1991 but continued to display his devotion to his favorite team. In 2001, he took that affection to a whole new level when he customized his truck to include a Green Bay Packers theme.

“I made the designs and took them to a painter in Mexico,” he said, adding that the paint job cost him about $1,000.

Living in Texas, where the Dallas Cowboys reign, Contreras said he doesn’t encounter much hostility.

“It’s kind of weird, I get a lot of high fives on the expressway,” he said.

Contreras said Winter Texans and locals have stopped him to get a photo of his truck.