Packers aren’t on TV here this week so that means I’m watching the game down the street at my local Packer bar, Tiffany’s. Rob and I decided to try the Summit Slam, which is a one pound burger, fries, and a 24 oz beer. If you can finish it you get a tshirt. Mission accomplished!
I haven’t been a big fan of the NFL draft for a number of years while some people I know froth at the mouth in anticipation of it. Why don’t I care? Because half of the players won’t make it and in this day and age of free agency the draft isn’t as important as it once was. Don’t misunderstand me, it’s necessary in order to fill the NFL with players, but it’s not as critical to a team’s success as it once was. Anyone know what Tim Couch and Ryan Leaf are up to these days? I rest my case. You know who is a huge fan of the draft, though? Ted Thompson! In fact, he relies almost solely on the draft to stock the Packers. Turns out it’s not working out so well. Rob Reischel has a good writeup on this in the Journal Sentinel, which can be found here: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/69701807.html. But hey, at least when Ted Thompson does make trades he goes all out and gets rid of one of the greatest quarterbacks ever. Maybe Teddy can do us all a favor and make one more big trade: he and Mike McCarthy for Mike Holmgren. That would be a Ted Thompson move I could live with.
I’m interested to know what you think Packer Nation. Is it time to slam on the giant red panic button? A loss against a superior Vikings team in week 7 might not have been a surprise to anyone, but against the winless Bucs starting a rookie quarterback? Aaron Rodgers threw three interceptions and was sacked and took contact almost too many times to count. (Ok, sacked six times). The O-Line might be the worst in the NFL and at this rate Rodgers might be within reach of becoming one of the most sacked quarterbacks in a season. Things won’t get any easier as we face the Cowboys who are tied for sixth in the NFL with 21 sacks. The problem is, what can be done about our offensive line? The Packers have tried swapping guys around and nothing has worked so far this season. I say bring back Holmgren!
Here are some fun facts about Holmgren’s tenure with the Packers, courteous of Wikipedia.
Holmgren was head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 1998, which became one of the most successful coaching stints in NFL history. As head coach of the Packers, Holmgren posted a 75–37–0 (67.0%) regular-season record, a 9–5 (64.3%) postseason mark, and two Super Bowl appearances, including a 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. By winning at least one game in five consecutive postseasons (1993–1997) Holmgren joined John Madden (1973–1977) as the only coaches in league history to accomplish the feat. Holmgren’s Packers posted an NFL-best 48–16 (75.0%) record, finished first in the NFC Central Division three times, second once, and set a 7–3 mark in the playoffs between 1995 and 1998. By taking the Packers to six consecutive postseasons (1993–1998), Holmgren set a franchise record with a team that had had just two winning seasons in the 19 years before he was hired.
Many of Holmgren’s 1992 assistant coaches, including Andy Reid, Steve Mariucci, Dick Jauron, Ray Rhodes and Jon Gruden, would go on to head coaching careers in the NFL. Marty Mornhinweg, an assistant hired later in Holmgren’s tenure at Green Bay, also became an NFL head coach, but is now the offensive coordinator under Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles.
I have no Packer gear to wear. I own a Favre jersey and “Brett Favre is my homeboy” and “I love Brett Favre more than my girlfriend” t-shirts. I’d love a Jennings jersey, but I think I’ve learned my lesson with current players. I need a jersey of someone who is retired (for real) and in the Hall of Fame. I started going through the list of Packers in the Hall of Fame when I realized that Curly Lambeau was perfect. His name is emblematic of the Packers; he did found them after all.
No such luck. A Curly Lambeau jersey does not exist. The Packer Pro Shop said they could custom make me one in the current style of Packers jerseys, but that’s not exactly what I’m after. I want a Curly Lambeau jersey as it existed when he played even if that means blue and gold. Oh well. The search continues….
I’m angry at Brett Favre. Why couldn’t he swallow his pride and put aside everything that happened this off season, put on his helmet, and get out there to reclaim his starting job? I think Favre’s pride won out even though I know he would much rather be a Packer this season. I’m still doubtful whether he’ll finish out the season with Jets. I think we could see him back in Mississippi sooner rather than later. His desire to play football is based on playing for the Packers for the past 16 seasons, on going 13-3 last year and nearly making it to the Super Bowl. The experience will not be the same in New York.
I’m angry at the Green Bay Packers. Why did they have to act like it was Aaron Rodgers’ birth right to be the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers? Don’t get me wrong – I have no dislike for Aaron Rodgers and I hope he turns out to be a great quarterback for the Packers, but you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If Brett Favre wants to play ball, especially with the kinds of numbers he put up last season, you let him play ball. Put the best product on the field. It’s difficult to plan for the future in the NFL. The Patriots and Colts have had a lot of success year after year, but that’s the exception not the rule. Aaron Rodgers might have taken off if Favre had been brought back this season, but in my mind there are a lot of other things that can change from year to year, too, so retaining Aaron Rodgers shouldn’t be the end all be all for the Packers. Who knows, he could be the next Ryan Leaf. He could also be the next Joe Montana. Nobody knows yet. We need him to play for a few years before we know what kind of quarterback he will be. What I know is that the Packers were knocking on the door of the Super Bowl last year and Brett Favre would have given them the best chance to win this year. Again, there are no guarantees, but you go with your best chance to win right now in my opinion. I think there are a lot of Packer fans out there who are unable to accept reality right now. It’s too painful for them to think about Favre being a Jet so they blindly back Aaron Rodgers and say forget about Favre. You have to support the team, right? In my opinion Brett Favre playing quarterback would have been the best thing for the team. The management messed up. So here I am, left angry at both sides, but at the same time happy that it’s over and excited for a new football season. GO PACK GO!
It’s quite simple: Brett Favre is the best QB on the Green Bay Packers, therefore he should be the starter this year. I’m not taking off my Favre jersey until he’s the starter and I encourage all of you out there to do the same thing.
I’m back to something of a normal life now that the football season is over. As much as I love Madison and Badger football I’m just not sure if I want to have season tickets for next year. This season was particularly rough because there were so many ups and downs and so many close games. I was really hoping for a BCS game, but finishing 9-3 with a shot at Tennessee in the Outback Bowl isn’t a bad season by any means. We’re going to skip on the bowl game this year because we’ve already been to Florida twice this year, with one of the times being for the Capital One Bowl. I just can’t justify spending the money on a third plane ticket to the same place in such a short amount of time. I think I might try to attend a few select games next year and use the extra time to get to Lambeau. Speaking of which, the Packers just destroyed Oakland to improve to 11-2 on the year. By Favre standards it was a pretty average day, but the defense and special teams really stepped up and made some huge plays. Ryan Grant keeps looking better and better and our receivers are so hard to stop and are leading the NFL in yards after the catch. I could write pages about the team, but suffice it to say it has been one hell of a year so far and I can’t wait for the playoffs. With the holidays coming up I’m hoping to find a day to devote to encoding all of my videos to DVD quality and posting all of my pictures from the fall. In other news I went skiing for the first time this season at Afton Alps. I’m really glad I went out because with the foot of snow we’ve had and the freezing cold weather they had most of the place open, which is pretty good for the beginning of December. I’ve also been playing Starcraft quite a bit lately and would just like to thank Blizzard for making such a great game, which is still enjoyable after 10 years.