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Packers' call turns dream into reality for Wisconsin and Bay Port star Cole Van Lanen

GREEN BAY - Nothing drains a phone battery like the NFL draft. Cole Van Lanen’s cell kept buzzing throughout Saturday afternoon, no different than any other NFL draft hopeful. The calls poured in from across the league, area codes in different states, each a possibility.

Then his phone flashed that familiar 920. Of all the calls, Van Lanen said, this was unlikely to be the one that made an unfathomable dream come true. Van Lanen, Wisconsin’s left tackle the past two seasons, grew up in Green Bay. He attended Bay Port High School, where he once won state titles in shot put and discus.