Hall of Famer Holmgren's Green Bay Legacy – Packers News @ PFT

| 07/19/2012
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‘] GREEN BAY – When asked to describe his years in Green Bay, former Packers’ head coach Mike Holmgren summed it up in a word.
“Fun,” he said. “That’s a good word for it.”
Holmgren’s pursuit of fun and excellence proved to be a recipe for success during his tenure here from 1992-98. In that time Holmgren collaborated with general manager Ron Wolf, quarterback Brett Favre and defensive end Reggie White to create an NFL championship team.
Under Holmgren and Co., the Packers were transformed from laughingstock to juggernaut. His teams were 75-37 in regular-season play, and 9-5 in the postseason, during his seven seasons. The Packers won at least one playoff game in five straight seasons, a record matched only by John Madden’s Oakland Raiders teams in the 1970s.
The long-suffering Packers had just two winning seasons in the 19 years before Holmgren arrived. In 1996, they were champions once again.
“It was special because it was the Packers,” Holmgren said in the book, “A Year of Champions: The 1996 Green Bay Packers.” “We had built the thing up to go. I don’t think many people thought we could do that.
“The other reason it is special, I would say, is because of all those people that worked for the Packers for so long, certainly long before we got there. The happiness and the joy of seeing their faces getting to the top again, that was special.”
On Saturday night, Michael George Holmgren will be inducted into the Packer Hall of Fame. The 64-year-old current president of the Cleveland Browns will take his rightful place alongside Lambeau and Lombardi as the greatest coaches in franchise history.
Certainly, Holmgren was the right coach at the right time in Green Bay.
He was a Christian family man whose values meshed here.
He also was a tremendous leader, teacher and tactician. His undeniable charisma was borne of unwavering confidence wrought from years spent working hard and smart. Those attributes along with a football brilliance governed by plain old common sense made him a terrific coach.
As the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s beat writer and columnist, I marveled at Holmgren’s play-calling ability. He always seemed to be one step ahead of the opposing defense. He blended run and pass. He used screens to perfection. He also knew when to let Favre cut loose. To be able to call a game as clearly as he could and simultaneously retain control over everything on the sideline was a thing of beauty.
Sean Jones, the Packers’ right defensive end opposite White, always respected Holmgren. Over time, his admiration has continued to grow.
“The longer I was away from football the more I began to appreciate who Mike Holmgren was and is,” Jones said. “Mike is a great football coach. More than that, he is a damn good leader. He doesn’t get enough credit for that. The reason I say that is he has very clear rules. You never were confused about what he wants from you. And he’s demanding. He makes you accountable.”
Indeed, when the city named a street in Holmgren’s honor, it wasn’t Easy Street. It was Holmgren Way.
Favre, occasionally the demanding coach’s target, learned to take it in stride. He knew if he listened to Holmgren he’d be a better player.
“At first I was like, ‘God, get off my butt,’ ” Favre said. “But being a coach’s son, I was used to that. But I also would fight it. He found the middle ground. He would use his coaches at times to communicate with me. He also could flip the switch on with his players and himself. We knew when it was time to take it up a notch.”
Holmgren also had a softer side. It just didn’t show up as often.
I recall writing a column about Gary Brown, an offensive lineman, who had been struggling with family issues. About that time, he also was facing suspension for an off-field incident. Brown spilled his guts and the resulting column/tear-jerker grabbed attention.
What neither Brown nor I knew was that Holmgren had been working to get Brown help and possibly to prevent him from being suspended.
After the following day’s training camp practice, Holmgren asked to see me. I thought he might compliment me on a heartfelt column. On the contrary, he proceeded to rip me for writing about such a sensitive topic at a time when he was working behind the scenes to help Brown.
I was in my early 30s, but never before had I been chewed out like that.
A few days passed before Holmgren and I crossed paths after a practice. He nodded for me to come over. I’m thinking, “Great, now what?”
Instead, the 6-foot-5 coach put a big hand on my shoulder and said, “Hey, I got a little hot the other day. You’re OK, right? We’re OK?”
“Sure,” I said, trying to hide my surprise that he cared enough to inquire.
Holmgren had a positive influence on so many people and in so many ways during his time in Green Bay. Everyone who admired or respected Holmgren did so because he was a straight shooter and he was a winner.
On Saturday night, Holmgren’s brilliance will shine once again.
Chris Havel is a Packers News expert and national best-selling author. His latest book is Lombardi: An Illustrated Life. Havel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4-6 p.m. CDT on WDUZ FM 107.5 The Fan, or on AM-1400, as well as Fan Internet Radio (www.thefan1075.com). Havel also hosts Event USA’ Player Autograph Parties the evening before home games.

Former Packer Auctions Ring, not Heart. – Packers News @ PFT

| 07/19/2012
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‘] GREEN BAY – Jay Ross has fond memories of Green Bay.
In particular, the fans made a lasting impression.
“They’re the greatest,” he said. “Everyone knows that. I got to see it.”
The Packers signed Ross, then an undrafted rookie free agent, to their practice squad on Oct. 20, 2010. The young defensive tackle was eager for another chance after being cut by New Orleans six weeks earlier.
What he got was a front-row seat to Green Bay’s spectacular Super Bowl XLV run. He also got a Super Bowl XLV ring for his efforts.
“Those were great times,” Ross said. “I got a lot of excellent coaching from (defensive line) Coach Turk (Mike Trgovic). It really gave me a chance to improve individually, which was crucial as a young player.”
“I also got to watch us develop into something special and eventually go all the way,” he added. “The atmosphere inside and outside the locker room was truly awesome. The fans were cool, too. They’re very supportive, and they’re why Lambeau Field is a tough place to play.”
That’s Jay Ross.
In two weeks, he will begin trying to crack the Buffalo Bills’ roster. However, he remains respectful and appreciative of his opportunity with the Packers. He hasn’t forgotten it. He never will.
Until last week, many Packers’ fans didn’t recall Jay Ross though. That was understandable because practice squad players tend to be forgettable, especially the defensive tackles.
What is more difficult to grasp was the way some “so called” Packers’ fans were unmercifully critical of Ross. The firestorm began when they discovered Ross was auctioning his Super Bowl XLV ring. They didn’t know why. They didn’t care. They just skewered Ross via social media, which come to think of it, isn’t necessarily all that social.
Some branded him as disloyal. Others were incredibly mean-spirited without knowing Ross or his reasons, even if that was his business, not theirs.
“It was pretty harsh,” Ross said. “I really didn’t expect that reaction. But I will say this – they’re passionate about their team, and they take everything to heart.”
Ross, who is listed fourth at defensive tackle on the Bills’ depth chart, isn’t guaranteed of making the final roster.
His salary is minimal. His heart, however, is much greater than that.
Why did he decide to auction off the ring? Some of it is to pay bills. Much of it, he says, is to inject capital in his charity. He sees the growing troubles in his old neighborhood in Wilmington, N.C., and he wants to be a force of change for good.
He has the will. He lacks the wherewithal.
Auctioning off his Super Bowl XLV ring will change that.
The ring could bring more than $50,000 at auction.
“I’m hoping to raise enough to give parents a start toward making our neighborhood a better place,” he said. “I can see that (parents) want to make things better, but they need help.”
Ross admits now that he probably underestimated the potential reaction from some Packers’ fans.
“They’re great fans and they’re protective,” he said.
Ross’ ring is going to be auctioned Aug. 2 as part of Heritage’s Platinum Night auction at Camden Yards in Baltimore. It is likely that a Packers’ fan will be the eventual highest bidder.
“Packers’ fans are the greatest,” he said. “I wasn’t there long, but my time in Green Bay is very special, and the fans are a big reason why That’s something that will never change.”
Chris Havel is a Packers News expert and national best-selling author. His latest book is Lombardi: An Illustrated Life. Havel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4-6 p.m. CDT on WDUZ FM 107.5 The Fan, or on AM-1400, as well as Fan Internet Radio (www.thefan1075.com). Havel also hosts Event USA’ Player Autograph Parties the evening before home games.

Favre the Packers' Greatest, says Ron Wolf – Packers News @ PFT

| 06/26/2012
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‘] GREEN BAY – Ron Wolf is brutally honest. Always has been; always will be. If you ask the Packers’ Super Bowl-winning GM a question, do so at your own peril, because you may not like the answer.
Who is the greatest Packers’ player of all-time?
That interesting if not impossible question was posed to Wolf by a local newspaper reporter covering a recent charity golf outing.
Wolf explained that he viewed Don Hutson as the Packers’ greatest player when he arrived in 1992. By the time Wolf walked away in 2001, he had come to regard Brett Favre as the franchise’s greatest of all-time.
“I think everybody will tell you now the greatest player ever to play for the Packers is Brett Favre,” Wolf said. “That’s his legacy.”
Actually, not everybody would agree.
Judging by readers’ responses in the online comment sections of several state newspapers, many fans believe it is Hutson, and if not him, surely it is Bart Starr. Sadly, if not surprisingly, Favre is referred to disparagingly, if at all.
Favre’s NFL record number of wins is canceled out by his longevity.
His touchdown passes are diminished by his interceptions.
His indisputable passion, work ethic and leadership are somehow erased by whatever decisions were after the Packers traded him to the New York Jets on Aug. 7, 2008.
The arguments in favor of Hutson and Starr are incredibly compelling. Hutson was a Hall of Fame receiver whose impact in the passing game changed forever the way the game was played.
That’s pretty amazing.
The calm, cool and collected Starr merely quarterbacked the Packers to five world’s championships in seven seasons. That’s also heady stuff.
Clearly, Hutson and Starr belong in any discussion of the Packers’ greatest players of all-time. There also is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. It is simply an opinion, no more, no less.
What caught my attention and drew my ire is how easily Wolf’s opinion and Favre’s legacy were cast aside. The prevailing criticism seems to be that Favre didn’t win enough Super Bowls, and that Wolf’s impartiality is corrupted because he was the GM who traded for Favre.
Hutson’s impact on the game is indisputable. So is the fact that he played a co-dependent position in an era when the passing game was in its infancy.
Starr’s standard of excellence is irreproachable. So is the fact that he played for the NFL’s greatest coach, Vince Lombardi, and was surrounded by what is arguably the greatest collection of players.
Favre showed up in Green Bay as a game but untested quarterback who loved to play and hated to lose. When he arrived the Packers were still thought of as an NFL laughingstock. When he left, they were considered one of the league’s finest football teams.
Favre’s departure was painful to many fans, but not as unforgivable as his subsequent signing with the despised Vikings.
“Bart Starr wouldn’t have played with the Bears,” many fans say.
“Favre’s a traitor,” others suggest.
I say Favre’s ego was deeply hurt by the team’s obvious desire to move on with Aaron Rodgers after the 2007 season, and that feeling grew into full-blown bitterness by the end.
Favre may have handled rejection badly, but that shouldn’t discount what he did on the field for nearly two decades.
Wolf believes Favre to be the Packers’ greatest player ever.
I agree with him.
Now, I may be accused of lacking objectivity because I co-authored two books with Favre. That’s fair. Shoot me down. But don’t dismiss Ron Wolf’s so lightly. When it comes to NFL history in general and the Packers’ history in particular, I will take Wolf’s opinion every time.
Chris Havel is a Packers News expert and national best-selling author. His latest book is Lombardi: An Illustrated Life. Havel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4-6 p.m. CDT on WDUZ FM 107.5 The Fan, or on AM-1400, as well as Fan Internet Radio (www.thefan1075.com). Havel also hosts Event USA’ Player Autograph Parties the evening before home games.

Moss: "Hawk is not an issue, didn't have off year"

| 06/22/2012
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‘] Green Bay – Criticism is to be expected. Only two other Green Bay Packers players were drafted in the top five the last 25 years.
From Day 1, A.J. Hawk has been surrounded by massive expectations.
“When you’re the fifth pick in the draft, you understand what the hell is going on,” inside linebackers coach Winston Moss said. “You have a lot of pressure on you to make some plays. He understands that, and I think he’s dealt with that going on seven years now.”
That may be true. Such an entrance demands a player to be a star, not a placeholder. Still, Hawk regressed sharply last season. According to Pro Football Focus, he was in on 960 snaps. And all season, Hawk had zero interceptions, zero forced fumbles and just 1 1/2 sacks.
This off-season, outside linebackers Brad Jones and Jamari Lattimore moved inside. The team drafted N.C. State playmaker Terrell Manning in the fifth round. D.J. Smith and Rob Francois – playing 524 less snaps than Hawk – combined for three picks.
Pressure would seem to be rising for Hawk, even by his standards. The Packers could now have Plan B, C and D ready. There are options. But repeatedly, Moss assured the Packers are confident in Hawk.
While saying Hawk didn’t make enough “impact plays,” Moss dismissed the notion that Hawk had a down season.
“His year was just quiet,” Moss said. “When he got in, there wasn’t a lot of tackle production and there weren’t interceptions so you look at his stat line and you say, ‘Well, what the hell did he do last year?’ A.J. is not a problem. A.J. is not an issue. A.J. didn’t play poorly last year. He just didn’t make those impact plays.
“I’m fine with what A.J. is doing. But on the flipside of that, you want your guys being impactful and making plays. He didn’t do it last year and I’m sure he’s not satisfied. He’s going to respond accordingly.”
Moss points to the Packers’ Super Bowl season in 2010 when Hawk didn’t play a down in the season opener. He then responded.
When Nick Barnett eventually went down for the season, Hawk handled run and pass situations admirably with 111 tackles (72 solo), three interceptions and 10 pass breakups. Beyond the numbers – and you’ve heard this before – coaches and teammates trumpet Hawk’s intangible value to the defense.
They say his ability to relay plays in and pilot the defense cannot be underestimated.
“What if Aaron (Rodgers) didn’t give everybody all the calls and all the audibles to the receivers?” fellow starter Desmond Bishop said. “The offense would be crap. It goes the same way for the defense.
“We have a lot of adjustments and calls we have to make and sometimes it’s in the heat of the moment. He’s the perfect guy to make those calls. It’s an intangible thing. You can’t hear it. We hear it.”
Moss believes the fact that Hawk was voted a team captain in the postseason speaks volumes. The defense doesn’t become “unraveled” with defensive calls flowing through him, he said. There’s a sense of calm.
“When it comes to being able to make the correct adjustments, to making the right calls at the right time and being able to get us in the calls when the situation calls for it,” Moss said, “there have been times when he has had to make a decision where he has really helped us out.
“I can say that has happened a numerous amount of times these last couple years. He’s been very important.”
Still, the raw footage wasn’t pretty last season. After signing a five-year, $33.75 million contract extension, Hawk was not the same player.
At 247 pounds, Hawk often played too small. He tackled backs 5, 10 yards downfield, moved slow laterally and never forced a turnover.
Be it four-time Pro Bowl player Adrian Peterson or third-stringer Kahlil Bell, Hawk was not always reliable. During Green Bay’s Christmas Day win over the Chicago Bears, Bell rushed for 121 yards on 23 carries with Hawk biting on cutbacks and failing to plug the hole.
The Packers allowed 4.7 yards per rush last season, the seventh-highest total in the league.
In his new haircut – goodbye, locks – Hawk said the defense as a whole is looking to improve.
“I’m sure Ted (Thompson) would tell you that competition is always good for everybody,” Hawk said. “There’s definitely no lack of talent on the defensive side of the ball. We know how great the offense is. It’s time for us as a defense to step up and play the way we should. Last year, that didn’t happen.”
And competition was certainly added at his position. On a 90-man roster full of undrafted players, there isn’t dead weight at inside linebacker. Jones and Smith could grow into realistic threats to Hawk. Speaking of the position in general, Moss said that “if you fall asleep at that position, you’re going to lose your job.”
But with Hawk specifically, he remains stoic and sure.
“He didn’t have a down year,” Moss said. “He just needs to get back to making the plays he’s capable of making. He’s a playmaker. His sacks and interceptions are right up there with anybody else in the league over the last couple years.
“We’ll see what happens this year.”
By Tyler Dunne of the Journal Sentinel
[Source]

Remember: Buy & Sell with confidence from the Packers Official Partner!

| 06/22/2012
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‘] Remember, Event USA is the one and ONLY Official Tour Company of the Green Bay Packers and offers many package choices, with ALL including Packers Game Tickets, whether for HOME or ROAD Games. Support your team the OFFICIAL way, with PACKER FAN TOURS!
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Greg Jennings favorite Green Bay Football Tradition "For me it probably is the bikes."

| 06/21/2012
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‘] During a summer vacation in Wisconsin when I was 10 or 11, I convinced Mom and Grandma to stop the van in Green Bay so that I could see the Packers sweating through a training camp practice. But what really struck me wasn’t the practice, it was what happened after the practice: Local kids lined up on their bikes and waited for the players, who would hand the kids their helmets and hop on the bikes to ride back to the locker room, while the kids hustled to keep up alongside them. I hadn’t known until that day that it’s a longstanding tradition in Green Bay that the local kids get to interact with the players like that at training camp, but when I saw it my thought was that the kids in Green Bay are the luckiest kids on earth.
Packers receiver Greg Jennings says the players feel lucky, too.
In an interview on NBC SportsTalk, Jennings was asked about his favorite tradition about football in Green Bay, and he answered, “For me it probably is the bikes.”
“Just seeing how you can light up a kid’s day,” Jennings said. “You can impact a life in so many different ways, and you have a 300-plus pound lineman running up to a kid and saying, ‘I want your bike,’ that impression will go a long way and that’s a memory that will last him a lifetime.”
There’s no professional sports team in America that has a relationship with its community like the Packers have with Green Bay.
[Source]

2012 Green Bay Packers Ticket Packages: Early Deals Going Fast!!

| 06/21/2012
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‘] Event USA is ready to go for all your Lambeau Field needs this season. We’ve got Green Bay Packers tickets, Packer ticket packages, Packers Ticket and Tailgate options, and our Green Bay Packers Player Receptions!
But we won’t rest at that. Event USA is putting their road game offerings together as we speak and we hope to have them to you soon! No matter where or how you want to get your Green Bay Packers fix this season, Event USA is here to get you to the game!

Ron Wolf considers Brett Favre the greatest Packer ever

| 06/20/2012
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‘] Brett Favre’s retirements and unretirements became such a sideshow that a once-beloved quarterback turned into a villain in the eyes of Packers fans. But the man who brought Favre to Green Bay still thinks he’s the best player ever to play for the team.
Former Packers General Manager Ron Wolf, who traded a first-round draft pick to acquire Favre from the Falcons in 1992, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that he still believes he acquired the all-time best Packers player when he made that move.
“To me, Brett Favre and I are like connected at the hips,” Wolf said. “I feel strong loyalty to Brett Favre. When I got here, Don Huston was the greatest player ever to play for the Green Bay Packers. I think everybody will tell you now, the greatest player ever to play for the Packers is Brett Favre. That’s his legacy.”
Wolf said he doesn’t follow the news out of Green Bay closely enough to know what the current relationship between Favre and the Packers is, but he acknowledged that it made things extremely difficult when Favre tried to come out of retirement after the Packers had already declared Aaron Rodgers their starter.
“I’m not familiar with any schism, because I’m not around here,” Wolf said. “He retired, and I watched all of that from Florida. And then suddenly he came back, and I always felt that was a situation that no matter what happened the Packers would never be right. There wouldn’t be any way they could be right until that thing worked itself out. Now, fortunately for Ted Thompson, Aaron Rodgers has come in and just played lights out. And you know, Brett was one timeout from taking his team in Minnesota to the Super Bowl [in 2009].”
Wolf also called Rodgers “unquestionably the top quarterback in the NFL now.” But in Wolf’s eyes, Rodgers has a ways to go before he can surpass Favre as the top quarterback in Packers history.
[Source]

Hargrove claims voice on Saints Bounty Tape not his.

| 06/20/2012
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‘] Green Bay Packers defensive end Anthony Hargrove has gone to great lengths to try to clear himself of any involvement and wrongdoing in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal.
He went several steps further today, when he denied that it was his voice in the NFL Films tape that could be heard saying “Give me the money.”
The NFL used that in its attempt to prove that Hargrove was trying to claim the bounty placed on Brett Favre in the 2009 NFC championship game between the Saints and Minnesota Vikings.
“I have felt like the target of a sophisticated mugging,” Hargrove said in a statement read outside NFL headquarters in New York..
CBSSports.com obtained the full statement that Hargrove prepared for his appeal hearing today at NFL headquarters, where is fighting his eight-game suspension.
♦ From CBS Sports: Read Anthony Hargrove’s statement
In the statement, Hargrove said the following:
♦ That the voice that can be heard uttering the infamous “give me the money” line is not his.
“The NFL has a sideline shot of our defense gathered around Joe Vitt discussing what we might should expect if the backup quarterback comes into the game,” Hargrove said in his statement. “It shows me off to the side with some of our other defensive linemen on the bench with their backs to the camera. The final snippet has an arrow pointed at me with the caption indicating that I had said, “give me my money.”
“Here’s the problem with that. It wasn’t me. That’s right. The NFL got their evidence all wrong. In their rush to convict me, they made a very serious error. Is it intentional? I don’t know. But one thing I do know with absolute certainty…it…was…not…me! Like I said, lean in closer, look closer, listen closer. It is not my voice. Anyone who knows me well knows that it is not me. But the NFL does not know me well. They simply make assumptions. With … my … life.”
♦ That his signed declaration that the NFL used to prove that Hargrove knew of and participated in the bounty program and then was told to lie to investigators about it was essentially being taken out of context.
“First of all, I watched in shock as they took my declaration a couple of months ago and made it into something it was not,” Hargrove said in his statement. “It left from me as a private explanation of certain specific events and, voila, came out as a confession of crimes. Even I had to blink my eyes real hard to see how they did that one. Do you know they never even asked me what I meant? Just assumed I wanted to confess, I guess.”
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said: “We stand by our investigation.”
[Source]

Packers have blast off field

| 06/19/2012
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‘] The Packers canceled Wednesday’s minicamp practice and media availability and instead took part in a team-building activity – clay pigeon shooting at Little Creek Lodge in Little Suamico, Wis., which is about 20 minutes outside of Green Bay.
Receiver Greg Jennings first tweeted about it: “Out clay shooting with the team. Don’t know how safe this is but it beats practicing.”
The Packers have done this sort of thing before, to help break up the monotony of longer, eight-day minicamps.
In 2000, former coach Mike Sherman loaded players on a bus and took them to a local bowling alley. In 2001, it was a golf outing. In 2002, paintball. And in 2003, it was a return trip to the local lanes for bowling. In 2005, he ended practice after an hour for a game of dodgeball.
Packers offensive lineman T.J. Lang updated everyone with the shooting event with this tweet: “Well nobody got shot today.”
And that’s the most important thing. Sherman’s outings weren’t always so lucky.
“We played paintball one year and I think (Darren) Sharper fell out of a tree,” Sherman said in 2005. “We’ve done bowling and guys have hurt their backs and balls changed lanes so (dodgeball) might have been the safest exercise.”
The Green Bay Packers‘ team reporter, Mike Spofford from Packers.com,covered the event and reported that players and coaches were divided up into groups of six and rotated through the venue’s different shooting stations, which featured clay targets fired in various directions and from different distances. Some stations included an elevated shooting platform.
“It’s definitely an event that generates a lot of testosterone,” head coach Mike McCarthy told Packers.com. “We just wanted to change it up. We have a number of guys who are avid hunters, and we have guys who have never shot a gun.
“We just wanted to do something different to get them away from Lambeau.”
Linebacker Frank Zombo, one of the avid hunters, told Packers.com he can usually hit about 85% but was a tad off that pace through his first two stations, going 6 for 8.
“I hunt quite a bit so I’d say I’m a pretty good shot,” said Zombo.
“Before college, I’d go hunting and shoot clay pigeons once in a while, but I haven’t shot a shotgun in maybe eight years,” receiver Jordy Nelson told Packers.com.
In addition to doing some shooting of his own, McCarthy was making the rounds and said he hadn’t seen safety Charlie Peprah miss yet.
Receiver Donald Driver also impressed the coach, and linebacker Vic So’oto went 4 for 4 in one round with McCarthy looking on.
While other coaches around the league have voiced concerns about the limited number of practices allowed under the new collective bargaining agreement, McCarthy felt giving up a day on the field was well worth it for the off-the-field benefits.
“Team-building and team dynamics is definitely one of the priorities of the off-season,” he said. “You don’t have an opportunity to take a step back and enjoy time away from the field, because everybody is so focused on the job.”
The final minicamp practice will be today at 10:45 a.m. at Ray Nitschke Field and will be open to the public.