June 16, 2013 /
Adam Czech
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Adam - ALLGBP.com, Adam Czech, Packers, Surviving Sunday
Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football
Profootballtalk.com asked fans to vote on their Packers Mt. Rushmore this week and it created some interesting debate on Twitter and talk radio.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept, the Packers Mt. Rushmore needs to consist of four people. It can be players, coaches, executives or whomever that you feel is one of the four most important people in Packers history.
This is a tough one. If there was an actual Packers Mt. Rushmore, it would need to go on the side of a very large mountain because four people is much too small.
As much as I love guys like Ron Wolf and Bob Harlan and acknowledge that the Packers might not be around without folks like them, I don’t know if I can put executives on a Mt. Rushmore. Isn’t putting executives on a Packers Mt. Rushmore kind of like putting Abe Lincoln’s chief of staff on the actual Mt. Rushmore instead of Abe Lincoln himself?
I’m also not sure coaches belong on a Mt. Rushmore. But that means leaving off Vince Lombardi and Curly Lambeau, which is just asinine.
If I knew that people wouldn’t burn down my house for leaving Lombardi and Lambeau off, I’d probably put Don Hutson, Bart Starr, Reggie White and Brett Favre on my Packers Mt. Rushmore. When the people arrived with torches and pitchforks to take care of me after leaving off Lombardi and Lambeau, I’d remove Hutson and White for the two legendary coaches.
Football will always be about the players to me. You absolutely have to have a good front office and coaching staff to make everything work, and I’ll say it again that the Packers are not the Packers without the executives and coaches I’ve already mentioned (along with many others).
But in the end, you have to wear a jersey and helmet instead of as suit and tie to make my Packers Mt. Rushmore.
Let us know who makes your Packers Mt. Rushmore in the comments section.
(And don’t yell at me too much for leaving Lombardi and Lambeau off my pre-torches and pitchforks Packers Mt. Rushmore.)
Packers News, Notes and Links
- Jason Wilde reported this week that the Packers will release LB Desmond Bishop. Of course, this irked a lot of Packers fans who remember Bishop as the team’s best defensive player in 2011, before he blew up his hamstring in the 2012 preseason. It’s not like Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy get together each day and talk about what really good player they can cut today. There’s a reason Bishop’s likely gone, and it’s because the Super Bowl-winning coaching staff and general manager think he won’t be nearly as effective as he was pre-injury. Time will tell, but cutting players approaching 30 and coming off injuries rarely backfires for the Packers.
- McCarthy is happy with the new crop of young players so far. That’s saying a lot since the Packers have had some impressive young groups of players over the years. It looks like the talent is there with this year’s group, now they need to not get struck down by the Packers’ horrible luck with injuries.
- As we did this week, Acme Packing Company took a look at the Packers ILB depth.
- Over at PocketDoppler, Kelly (one of the Out of the Pocket Podcast hosts at Packers Talk Radio Network), defines forgiveness as applicable to Brett Favre.
- Brian Carriveau at CheeseheadTV isn’t buying Desmond Bishop being released for financial reasons…
- Piggy-backing on the Packers Mt. Rushmore concept, which Packers number would you retire? I would retire William Afflis’s No. 62. Why? Because in addition to playing for the Packers, Afflis went on to become Dick the Bruiser, a famous pro wrestler.
- Packerstalk.com knocked it out of the park again this week. Here’s an interview with rookie RB Jonathan Franklin conducted by the ALLGBP.com crew and here’s John Rehor writing about the latest Brett Favre developments.
Non-Packers Links and Other Nonsense
- Jerry Seinfield’s web series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” is back and Sarah Silverman was the first guest on the new season. Excellent stuff.
- I’d like to hear what the racially insensitive uncle would say about all them damn tattoos and earrings on pro sports players these days.
- This book about people (sounds like a lot of hippies) hijacking planes in the 60s and 70s sounds awesome.
June 9, 2013 /
Adam Czech
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Adam - ALLGBP.com, Adam Czech, Packers, Surviving Sunday
Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football
Sometimes I wonder why Packers players and other professional athletes bother speaking with the media. If it wasn’t mandated by the league, would the incentive to speak to the press be enough to entice players to do it?
In years past, the answer would be yes. These days? I’m not so sure.
Interaction between the media and players is a big reason why sports have exploded in popularity. The media is supposed to be an extension of the fans. By speaking to the press, you’re essentially speaking to the fans. Sports wouldn’t rank as high on America’s cultural landscape without athletes like Joe Namath, Charles Barkley, Pete Rose and Wayne Gretzky being not only great players, but larger-than-life people and ambassadors for their respective sports through interactions with the media.
In other words, athletes used to need the media. Media exposure is a big reason why professional sports is now a multibillion dollar business and many athletes are multimillionaires.
These days, it seems like it’s the other way around. It’s media outlets that need the athletes.
For the purpose of this piece, I’m going to pick on the radio show Green and Gold Today. Before I do, I want to make clear that I listen to G&G Today daily and love it. I trust Jason Wilde on the Packers more than any other reporter and Bill Johnson is the rare combination of over-the-top, yet insightful.
But two things bothered me about the show this week and illustrate why I wouldn’t speak to the media if I were a pro athlete in this day and age:
- Greg Jennings didn’t use Aaron Rodgers’ name in an interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press this week. This may or may not be Jennings dissing Rodgers. Either way, Johnson said, “Last night when I read that I felt like a sucker. I was defending Greg Jennings. I thought he was different. I didn’t think he was just another dopey wide receiver that all they care about is the number of catches they get. All of that just went out the window. To me, he’s just another selfish guy…” Really? One quip in an interview changes your entire viewpoint on Jennings as a human being? So if Jennings just ignores the interview request from the Pioneer Press, would Johnson still think Jennings is a swell dude? I know Jennings probably doesn’t care what Johnson thinks of him, but how does Jennings benefit from doing an interview like this if people are going to make judgments about his entire character based on a comment or two? Jennings doesn’t benefit. But Johnson’s radio show sure does.
- An ESPN report came out that said Ryan Braun may be one of many baseball players facing a 100-game suspension for using steroids. Wilde and Johnson wondered out loud if Braun — who is good friends with Aaron Rodgers — being linked to steroids reflects poorly on the quarterback. A couple of soundbites were played from a year ago where Rodgers defended Braun when the Brewers outfielder wriggled out of a steroid suspension because of how his urine sample was stored. Wilde and Johnson (rightfully) concluded that Braun’s steroid issues have nothing to do with Rodgers. But the whole situation shows why there is little benefit for an athlete to speak to the press. Rodgers stands up for his friend, and a year later, the soundbite is resurrected and played in a way that some folks may connect Rodgers to steroids. Most people won’t make that connection (at least most sane people), but some will, and likely have. Rodgers speaking to the press about the issue and being honest did nothing positive for his image or how he’s perceived. It did draw some attention to the radio show, though.
The media puts a microphone in athlete’s faces and wants them to be honest, say something unique, be insightful. Then when they are, we — the reporters who gather the quotes and the fans who read/listen/watch their stories — pounce. We judge who they are as human beings. We dig up old soundbites and make vague connections to scandals. We pick and poke and prod and yell and scream and come to all sorts of conclusions, some of them rational, many of them not.
How does this benefit the athlete? It’s definitely benefiting the media companies through increased viewership, readers, listeners, page views and downloads, but how does speaking with the press benefit today’s athlete?
In the past, most press was good press. There wasn’t nearly as much media and a lot of this stuff helped build huge followings for individual athletes, teams and leagues.
I’m a part-time sports reporter. I’m in clubhouses and locker rooms all the time. There are media members buzzing around like flies after most games, and I’m in Minneapolis, hardly a large market like Boston or New York. When I’m sticking my recorder in the middle of a media scrum trying to get a few quotes, I often wonder what the athlete would do if he wasn’t mandated to speak with us.
If I were the athlete, I would speak only on rare occasions. Why should I have to help a newspaper sell more copies or a radio show gain more listeners by giving them quotes and soundbites? I can communicate with fans on my own through Twitter and other social media outlets without using some dude with a voice recorder and notebook as a middle man.
As long as I perform on the field and help my team, my image should take care of itself. The rest I can handle through social media or a PR firm. I don’t necessarily need a reporter or third-party media outlet to get my name out there or enhance my image, or the league’s image, like in the old days.
As a serious fan, it’s great having guys like Wilde around the team to provide us with context and sift through a lot of the B.S. that coaches and players say. But as a player, there’s very little value in speaking to the media. It seems to create more headaches than it’s worth.
I wonder if the major sports leagues will ever reach that same conclusion?
Packers News, Notes and Links
- John Rehor covers everything you need to know about Brett Favre accepting some of the blame for his divorce from the Packers. Things appear to be moving in the right direction. Hopefully No. 4 is retired at Lambeau Field in the near future.
- The ALLGBP.com crew interviewed former Packers fullback William Henderson and it’s a must listen. Really great stuff.
- Want an update on the Packer ILB situation? Well, the update is that there’s not much new to report.
- Here is the first of many “Jermichael Finely will be more focused this season” stories that will run before week 1.
- Could the Packers use the franchise tag on somebody in 2014? There are several good candidates.
Non-Packers Links and Other Nonsense
I was so busy this week, I didn’t have time to do much non-Packers reading. Help me out: Use the comments section to tell me what non-Packers stories I may have missed.
June 2, 2013 /
Adam Czech
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Adam - ALLGBP.com, Adam Czech, Packers, Surviving Sunday
Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football
I had an idea for a new Packers offseason gameshow while driving home from work today.
The first nine years of my adult life I had a job where I took a city bus to work. It was nice to not burn gas and spend half my salary on parking, but I always had to stay alert so I wouldn’t get stabbed. There are some, ahem, interesting people that rode the city bus on my route.
Now I have a job where I drive 30 minutes to work, in my own car. Yes, I’m burning gas (free parking, thankfully), but I don’t have to worry about getting stabbed. This frees up my brain and allows me to think of all kinds of silly things, like my idea for a Packers offseason gameshow.
I’ve already filmed the pilot episode, and am ready to share the transcript with all of you today. I brought back the ghost of Richard Dawson to host my show, mainly because I crack up whenever I see old Family Feud episodes when Dawson tries to make out with all the female contestants.
The name of the show is Will Johnny Jolly Play for the Packers Before…
Enjoy.
Richard Dawson: Welcome ladies and gentlemen to everyone’s favorite new favorite game show! The object of the game is to guess if Johnny Jolly will play a regular season snap for the Packers before another player currently on the Packers roster. It sounds confusing, but it’s not.
Even people who read Packers blogs should be able to understand it and play along at home. Let’s get started.
Female Contestant No. 1: I’m ready, Richard.
(Dawson leans in and gets a smooch)
Dawson: Will Johnny Jolly play a regular season snap for the Packers before running back James Starks?
Female Contestant No. 1: Oh, that’s a tough one. I wish Jolly participated in OTAs this week so we at least knew what kind of shape he’s in. But the injury-prone Starks could be on the chopping block with with Eddie Lacy and Jonathan Franklin on the team. I’m going to say yes, Jolly will play for the Packers before Starks because Starks won’t make the team.
Dawson: That’s a logical answer. Time will tell if you’re right. And if you are right, you win an even longer kiss from me!
(Female Contestant No. 1 vomits all over the stage)
Dawson: Alrighty then, that was awkward. Let’s go to the next contestant.
Male Contestant No. 1: You try and kiss me, we’re go to have issues, Dick.
Dawson: Whatever, tough guy. Here’s the next question: Will Johnny Jolly play for the Packers before Jerel Worthy?
Male Contestant No. 1: Oh hell yes. Worthy blew out his knee at the end of last season. I don’t care what he says, he won’t see the field in 2013. He’s no Adrian Peterson. Look, the Packers need defensive lineman. Jolly was a good one. As long as he’s in reasonable shape, he’ll make the team and play before Worthy.
Dawson: Can’t argue with that answer. If you win, you win nothing because I don’t like you. On to the next contestant.
Male Contestant No. 2: Survey says, I’m ready to play, Richard.
Dawson: Oh, we have a comedian up here. Alright, willy Johnny Jolly play for the Packers before Desmond Bishop?
Male Contestant No. 2: Reports of Bishop’s demise are premature, Richard. Bishop will start at inside linebacker and play before Jolly. If Jolly makes the team, and I don’t think he will, he’s going to need all of the preseason and at least the first couple weeks of the regular season to get in shape. Bishop will have 20 tackles, two sacks and a pick before Jolly even dresses for a game.
Dawson: Desmond Bishop’s agent agrees with that answer. On to our last contestant, a lovely female from Michigan’s U.P.
Female Contestant No. 2: Thanks for the smooch, Richard! The men don’t kiss like that where I come from!
Dawson: The men probably don’t do a lot of things where you come from. Final question, Will Johnny Jolly play for the Packers before Graham Harrell? There’s a catch to this question: Harrell must start a regular season game in order for it to count as actually playing. Mop-up duty doesn’t count as playing.
Female Contestant No. 2: If the answer to this question is Harrell, it’s going to be a long season, Richard. I’ll need more of those smooches to get through it. Packers fans have been lucky. Our all-world quarterbacks of the last 20 years have never had a serious injury and missed multiple games. I’m banking on that luck continuing, and Jolly playing for the Packers before Harrell gets a start.
Dawson: If Rodgers go down, I’ll be there for you, babe.
That concludes the first episode. Tune in next week when we ask if Johnny Jolly will play for the Packers before Don Barclay, D.J. Williams and Derek Sherrod.
Packers News, Notes and Links
- B.J. Raji is hoping for a new contract and Packers coaches are hoping he gets better and shedding blockers. Raji hasn’t developed into the elite defensive lineman many of thought he’d be, but he’s still good. His main problem is getting blown off the ball too often when he lines up inside. An elite inside player in the 3-4 defense is able to absorb double teams, stand his ground, and every so often blow everyone off the ball and make a play. Raji isn’t that player consistently…yet. I’ve always had a feeling that Raji sees himself as more of a pass-rusher than he really is. I wonder if we’d see Raji take a major step forward if he really focuses on becoming a more athletic version of Ryan Pickett.
- We knew Mason Crosby’s 2012 season was bad, but it turns out it was actually historically bad. I feel helpless writing about Crosby. With position players, we can at least watch film and pretend that we know what we’re talking about when we critique and criticize. With a kicker, all we can really do is get mad when they miss kicks and do our best to not haul our television up to the roof of our house and launch it off. We don’t really know why kickers miss kicks, we just know that they do, and we get angry.
- This is an interesting perspective on why the Packers may have moved Bryan Bulaga from right tackle to the left side. The numbers show that Aaron Rodgers fares much better when facing pressure from his right side instead of his blind side. That’s not necessarily a shocking revelation — most QBs probably do better when they can actually see the pressure coming. But I’ve heard a fair amount of grumbling about offensive linemen once again being shuffled around, and this might explain why yet another shuffle is taking place.
- The Packers are still tinkering with Mike Neal standing up and playing some outside linebacker. As long as they don’t ask him to cover tight ends or running backs on pass routes, I’m fine with a little bit of tinkering. Ultimately, I’m thinking Neal sees little, if any, time at outside linebacker, but he might stand up as the lone defensive lineman in some funky defensive alignments that Dom Capers like to bust out.
- Packers legend Gilbert “The Gravedigger” Brown was this week’s guest on Cheesehead Radio. It’s a must-listen, so fix yourself a homemade Gravedigger Burger and give it a listen. After you listen to Brown’s interview and visit the bathroom after eating that Gravedigger Burger, be sure to listen to some of the ALLGBP.com crew chatting about OTAs and catching up on Packers news.
Non-Packers Links and Other Nonsense
- Bill Simmons said a really stupid thing on his podcast this week. I mean a really stupid thing. Of course, this got people all up in arms and calling Simmons an idiot. I’m the biggest Simmons fan, but I don’t put him in the same category of stupidity as people like Skip Bayless or Stephen A. Smith. So Simmons put his foot in his mouth? Big deal. When you’re write and talk as much as he does, it’s bound to happen. No need to freak out about it.
- If you’re at your kid’s kindergarten graduation, don’t get in a fight, please. Actually, what’s the point of a kindergarten graduation? There are too many graduations these days. My Facebook feed has been littered this spring with parents posting about their kid “graduating” from pre-school, kindergarten, middle school, high school, college and grad school. I am instituting a new rule: You only get to celebrate one graduation. If you burn up that graduation celebration in pre-school, you’re done. You don’t get to have any more graduation celebrations or ceremonies the rest of your life.
- Shameless plug: As part of my new job, I run a blog that focuses on corn farming and other aspects of agriculture. I’m trying to build a readership, so if you’re into that sort of thing, give it a look and check back throughout the week.
May 19, 2013 /
Adam Czech
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Adam - ALLGBP.com, Adam Czech, Packers, Surviving Sunday
Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football.
If I was creating my own perfect media universe to feed me information on the Green Bay Packers, here’s what it would look like:
Play-by-play announcer: Wayne Larrivee. No explanation needed. I could listen to Wayne all day — even if the Packers were losing by seven touchdowns — and still get enjoyment out of the game.
Color commentator: Mike Mayock. I used to have Cris Collinsworth ahead of Mayock, but not any more. Mayock made those boring Thursday night games on NFL Network tolerable last season. I’ll take substance over style from my color commentary each and every time.
Sideline reporter: Doris Burke. Ok, I’m cheating a little bit. Those of you who watch Burke work the sideline and conduct in-game interviews with coaches during NBA games know why I choose her, however. She takes the job seriously and actually tries to tell the viewer something that doesn’t insult his/her intelligence. Her questions are always light on fluff and high on substance.
Studio host: Trey Wingo. Doesn’t need catch phrases or tired schtick to be effective.
Studio analysts: LeRoy Butler and Mark Tauscher. Both guys have ties to the Packers, are extremely engaging and provide good insight.
Main beat writer: Tom Silverstein. Hard working. In-depth. No frills. Smart. Insightful. Gets a little snarky on Twitter. Everything you want out of a beat guy.
Secondary beat writer: Rob Demovsky. Doesn’t get enough credit because the talent pool of Packers reporters is deep. He’s one of the better ones.
Columnist: Bob McGinn. Years upon years of working with sources and dropping knowledge. He also tends to get people a little riled up, which a good columnist will do every now and then.
Radio talk show hosts: Jason Wilde and Bill Johnson. No need to re-create the wheel. Just keep Green and Gold Today what is already is: A show to discuss the Packers, not rant and rave incoherently like most sports talk radio shows.
Blogger: Jersey Al. One of the originals and still the best.
5 Packers people to follow on Twitter: @PackerRanter: Deep. @jrehor: Passionate. @Aaron_Nagler: NFL. @Packerpedia: Informative. @BrianCarriveau: Dedicated.
That about sums it up. I’m sure I left some good people off, but hopefully they get over it and their feelings aren’t hurt too bad by being left off such a prestigious list.
How would you all set up your ideal Packers media universe to stay up to date and engaged with the greatest franchise in the history of sports?
Packers News, Notes and Links
- Jason Hirschhorn at Acme Packing Company has a great post about Randall Cobb and the upcoming 2013 season. I wrote about Cobb this week as well. The headline I chose for the post leaves it wide open for a Michael Scott “that’s what she said” remark.
- Alex Petakas at ESPN Milwaukee has an interesting profile on Packers rookie WR Charles Johnson. It’s hard to not cheer for a guy to make it when his resume includes a stint at Antelope Community College.
- I have yet to participate in a Google+ hangout (isn’t it basically Skype?), but Eddie Lacy did with the folks from CheeseheadTV.com. Brian Carriveau recaps the occasion here.
- The Packers Tailgate Tour kicked off this week and Alex Green is one of the players participating. With the addition of Lacy and Jonathan Franklin, Green is a bit of a forgotten man. He talks about that and other topics with Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in this story. I had high hopes for Green when he took over last season, but he wasn’t nearly as explosive as I thought he’d be. Sounds like his knee was still hurting, so we’ll see what another offseason of recovery did for him come training camp.
- Aaron Rodgers doing more great things to boost the MAAC Fund’s fight against childhood cancer.
- Seahawks CB Richard Sherman has invited Lance Easley — the clown/ref who was behind the Fail Mary debacle — to umpire his charity softball game. I have to admit, that’s pretty funny.
- Packers president Mark Murphy would like to one day see Brett Favre on the annual offseason tailgate tour. I think that’d be great for multiple reasons: 1) Favre will be welcomed back to the Packers family one day and getting out and mingling with the fans is the best way to continue rebuilding his image; 2) Favre’s image likely will never be totally rebuilt, which could make for some entertaining and awkward moments on the tour; and 3) I’d love to be in the same room as Favre when he starts telling Packers stories from the 90s. Love him or hate him, that would be some great entertainment.
- Need more Favre talk? John Rehor addresses Murphy’s comments on Packerstalk.com.
Non-Packers Links and Other Nonsense
- It’s not every day you see the mayor of a major metropolitan city involved in a crack scandal, with video evidence.
- Ever wonder what happens when a deer crashes through the window of a bus? Wonder no more.
- The Office on NBC came to a close on Thursday. It got pretty bad the last couple of seasons, but all in all, it was a great run (despite forcing Aaron Rodgers to say some terrible lines).
- “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has a podcast and it might be the greatest thing ever. The episode where he spends 30 minutes talking about flies is comedy gold.
May 12, 2013 /
Adam Czech
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Surviving Sunday
Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made his acting debut on NBC’s The Office on Thursday. It was, well, not very good.
Rodgers picked a bad show to make his TV debut. The first couple seasons of The Office were excellent (if you’re one of those people who insists on telling anyone within earshot how much better the British version of the show is than the American version, go away. Nobody cares. You’re not cooler than everybody else in the room like you think you are.). Unfortunately, the show has been steadily declining since its promising start and has fallen off a creative cliff since Steve Carell left.
Thursday’s episode couldn’t even be saved by a cameo from the former MVP.
But Rodgers’ appearance on the program got me thinking: What current or past TV show or movie would you put Rodgers in if you had such power?
I’d cast him as Stan Gable, the lead jock/villain/bully on Revenge of the Nerds. It’s not the most glamorous role, but I think it fits Rogers perfectly.
Gable was a jock, obviously a good match for Rodgers, the star quarterback. Gable also had a tinge of cockiness too him, ditto for Rodgers. I don’t see Rodgers being mean-spirited like Gable, but that’s why they call it acting. I’m sure Rodgers has the chops to play the role of a**hole in a comedy, if needed.
Revenge of the Nerds also just seems like an Aaron Rodgers type of movie. Goofy, fun, inspirational, pushes the envelope without going too far, makes low-brow humor seem more sophisticated than it really is. Most importantly, it was a great movie.
After I got done casting Rodgers, I made a few other casting decisions to enhance the acting careers or other Packers players.
Clay Matthews, Ghost
Admit it. You can totally see Matthews replacing Patrick Swayze in the pottery scene with Demi Moore.
John Kuhn, Missing in Action
If I had to pick a Packers player that most resembles Chuck Norris in both looks and cult status, I’d go with Kuhn.
The Packers Offensive Line, Ghostbusters
I can picture Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang, Bryan Bulaga and Marshall Newhouse making wisecracks at each other and zapping ghosts.
Tramon Williams, Scooby-Doo
When it comes time to get dirty and make tackle, Tramon runs away like Shaggy from a Scooby-Doo cartoon vilian.
Mike McCarthy, The Wire
I know McCarthy is white and Bunk is black, but I think the coach could play the role of aging, jaded, crusty, overweight homicide detective perfectly.
Post your casting decisions in the comments section. What other Packers might be missing their calling as acting stars?
Packers News, Notes and Links
- Packers rookie minicamp opened this week and there are all kinds of interesting stories popping up. Here’s a good one from Tyler Dunne at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on running back Eddie Lacy and some of his past health issues, including insight from some of his former coaches. The kid sounds tough, that’s for sure.
- It’s already happening, the most annoying part of every Packers offseason and training camp: People whining and complaining about the backup quarterback situation. Jason Wilde of ESPN Milwaukee wrote about the development of B.J. Coleman, last season’s third stringer. Could he give Graham Harrell a run for the backup spot this fall? Whatever it takes for the Packers to not overpay a veteran QB just for the sake of having a veteran backup, I’m all for it.
- Sounds like David Bakhtiari could be in the mix at right tackle. Nothing against Bakhtiari, but I can’t spell his name so I’m hoping someone else wins the job.
- Check out Packers rookie minicamp central at Acme Packing Company for everything else you may or may not want to know about the rookies.
- Once you’ve read up on the Packers rookie camp, be sure to listen to the ALLGBP.com post-draft podcast at Packerstalk.com. While you’re there, also check out the latest podcast from the ‘Ol Bag of Donuts crew.
- Aaron Rodgers continues doing some amazing things to help the fight against childhood cancer through the MACC Fund. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel had a good story about Rodgers’ and the MACC Fund’s work this week.
Non-Packers News, Notes and Links
- Remember the movie Kids from the mid-90s? I do because I watched it several times in my parent’s basement, careful to keep the sound down so my parents couldn’t figure out that it was a movie that I shouldn’t be watching. Anyway, here’s where several of the actors/characters from that movie are at today. It’s depressing.
- This New York City detective is known for getting convictions on cases he’s assigned to. Now the Brooklyn district attorney is ordering over 50 of those cases to be reviewed. This is a great read.
- That’s all for this week. The wife and I are babysitting our niece and nephew, and I need to make sure they don’t destroy anything while my wife is doing something else.
May 5, 2013 /
Adam Czech
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Adam - ALLGBP.com, Adam Czech, Packers, Surviving Sunday
Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football
With NFL draft now behind us, I’ve found myself asking one question about the Packers over the last week: Do the players Ted Thompson selected make the Packers a more physical team?
The answer I come up with is…maybe?
- First-round pick Datone Jones is 6-foot-4, 280 pounds. When you see him play, you think long and lean instead of tough and mean. But a player’s height and weight doesn’t tell you much about how physical they’ll play. I’m sure Jones will add some weight. If he doesn’t, sometimes smaller guys play with such an attitude that they might as well be 320 pounds of brute force.
- The first thing that comes to mind when I watch Eddie Lacy run is physical. You can automatically place Mr. Lacy in the immediately-makes-the-Packers-more-physical category. The catch with Lacy is his health. One of his big toes is fused on, he’s got screws in his hand, he can barely bench press because of an old pectoral injury and he’s had hamstring issues. It’s hard to help your team be more physical while riding an exercise bike on the sideline. Let’s hope Lacy is able to use his aggression on the field instead of in the team’s rehab facility.
- J.C. Tretter and David Bakhtiari are two offensive linemen that were not projected to be drafted because of their physicality. The Packers like drafting athletic college tackles who can play multiple positions in the NFL, and that’s what Tretter and Bakhitiari are. I suppose they could develop into maulers, but neither one makes me think they’ll immediately make the Packers more physical.
- When you think of being physical, do you think of riding a Jetski? Probably not, but that’s the nickname given to Packers fourth-round pick Jonathan Franklin because of his ability to leave defenders in his wake. Franklin does little to make the Packers more physical, but I don’t really care. You don’t draft speedy running backs to batter the other team. You draft them to run away from the other team once they are already battered.
- Fifth-round pick Micah Hyde probably won’t get an opportunity to make the Packers more physical on an every-down basis, but he should get his shot on special teams. The Packers could always use more physicality on their special teams. Josh Boyd, the Packers other fifth-round pick, is 6-foot-3, 310 pounds. He at least possesses the measurements to make the Packers more physical.
- I don’t know enough about the late-round picks to speculate either way. Nate Palmer is intriguing, though.
Regardless of how Mike McCarthy and the Packers try to spin it, they need to play more physical in 2013. Third-and-1 shouldn’t have to be a nail-biting adventure all the time. Adrian Peterson shouldn’t run for over 500 yards whenever he plays against Green Bay. Quarterbacks, regardless of how mobile they are, shouldn’t be able to move and dance around the field whenever they feel like it.
Staying healthy will go a long way in improving the Packers’ physicality (I love that word). I hope the draft class does too, but I’m not quite sold yet.
Of course, it’s silly to judge a draft class on their physicality before any of them step foot on the field, but the NFL draft wouldn’t be as fun as it is without the prognostication, speculation and analysis that comes with it.
When it comes to the physicality of this Packers’ draft class, let’s hope my “maybe?” turns into and firm “YES!”
Packers News, Notes and Links
- The folks had Cheesehead Radio had a nice chat with Packers defensive lineman Ryan Pickett this week. Make sure to give it a listen here.
- The Packers offensive line, it’s a shufflin’. Check out the changes here, then read the words I wrote about it here.
- Al Harris officially retired as a Packer this week. Jason Wilde always had interesting interviews and stories on Harris, and Wilde’s blog post this week was no exception.
- Evan Western at Acme Packing Company breaks down the Packers wide receiver post-draft.
- Could the Packers add a veteran safety? Brian Carriveau at CheeseheadTV has a nice breakdown of that situation.
- Quick shoutout to Packerpedia’s twitter account. They’re always tweeting useful news and nuggets of information on the Packers that are great for people on the go (also check out their fine blog here).
Non-Packers Links and Other Nonsense
- Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman died this week from liver failure. People always laugh at me when they learn I’ve listened to Slayer since I was 10 years old, but I don’t care. There is more emotion and feeling packed into a Slayer song like “War Ensemble” than most of what passes as acceptable or safe music that the “cool” people listen to these days. Hanneman’s death bothers me. I know, he’s just some quasi-celebrity that I’ve never met and probably have little in common with, but when you’ve connected with a band’s music for 20 years, it stings a bit to see one of its members die. It’s an odd sense of feeling old yourself, knowing you’ll never get to hear him play again, and hoping he’s up in heaven (or hell, he played in Slayer, after all) at peace and with a clear understanding of all the lives he touched through playing loud, obnoxious, fast, and just plain awesome music. I guess I would compare the feeling to how I felt after Reggie White died, even though I was much younger when White passed on.
- That’s all I got this week. RIP Jeff Hanneman \m/ \m/
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