Commemorate Greg’s career in Green Bay with authentic memorabilia. including this rare, game worn throwback jersey
Jennings Throwback Jersey

GREEN BAY – The first strike was Greg Jennings listing his Green Bay-area home a few months ago. The second strike was the Green Bay Packers’ apparent lack of interest in negotiating a long-term contract extension.
Strike three came Monday at 3 p.m. That’s when the Packers allowed the NFL’s franchise tag deadline to lapse without designating Jennings.
The decision triggers a domino-like effect.
Here are some reasonable assumptions as Jennings, who is reportedly seeking a deal worth $12 million a year, hits the free agent market:
** Jermichael Finley’s chances of receiving a $3 million bonus due March 27 increased significantly. I can’t imagine the Packers would allow Jennings and Finley to leave in the same offseason.
That would be too much firepower walking out the door.
Remember, Finley is under contract for this season. It seems Packers head coach Mike McCarthy was impressed by Finley’s strong second-half surge last season. Finley’s drops diminished and his production increased. Furthermore, he made steps to improve his relationship with Aaron Rodgers and it seemed to help.
If Finley starts strong in September, look for the Packers to discuss an extension.
** This is a vote of confidence for third-year receiver Randall Cobb.
The third-year receiver’s growth between his first and second seasons was impressive. Cobb showed he could be a quality slot receiver (Jennings’ position) and McCarthy reciprocated by making an effort to utilize his play-making ability.
Cobb lined up in the slot. He worked out of the backfield. He also returned kicks and punts, although that seems like a part of his past. He joins James Jones and a healthy Jordy Nelson to give Rodgers a strong top three receivers.
Now, the Packers have to find at least one receiver to develop behind the trio. Look for the Packers to draft a receiver in the middle rounds.
** The decision not to tag Jennings raises a question: Why not tag and trade?
GM Ted Thompson did exactly that with defensive tackle Corey Williams a few years back, and acquired compensation in the process.
Perhaps the Packers feared Jennings wouldn’t receive an offer to his liking and they would end up paying him $10.36 million on a one-year deal. Worse, it might be a one-year deal that would leave Jennings an unhappy Packer.
The Packers’ receiving corps prides itself on being unselfish. The potential for possible chemistry problems is worth considering, although I think Jennings would have been a consummate pro. Now we may never know.
I say “may never know” because it’s possible nobody will make Jennings an offer to his liking, ala James Jones last year. Perhaps Jennings dips his toe in free agency and finds the icy water (less than $12 million annually) not to his liking.
Surely the Packers would listen if he expressed an interest in returning, although that would mean signing him to a multi-year deal. Again, that doesn’t seem like it is going to be in the cards.

Green Bay Packers News – The pride and joy in their voices was unmistakable.
That aching, gaping hole on the left side of Packers head coach Vince Lombardi’s Hall of Fame defense finally had been filled. Bring on the Chicago Bears with Ditka and Sayers, and wish them luck because Willie Davis and Herb Adderley had their tough, talented and savvy sidekick back where he belonged.
Last week, Dave Robinson was chosen to join Davis and Adderley in the living, breathing museum also known as the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Adderley was inducted into pro football’s shrine in 1980. Davis went in the following year.
Meantime, Robinson was forced to be patient. After almost four decades of waiting, watching and wondering, Robinson’s selection was announced during the Super Bowl XLII weekend festivities.
Robinson was thrilled, of course.
“I thought that if it didn’t happen this year, it wasn’t going to happen,” Robinson said. “When you wait so long for something it makes it all the sweeter.”
In addition to Robinson and fellow seniors inductee Curley Culp, the 2013 Hall of Fame class includes receiver Cris Carter, defensive tackle Warren Sapp, offensive linemen Larry Allen and Jonathan Ogden, and head coach Bill Parcells.
Robinson said he figured four or five men would be inducted. So when Parcells’ name was uttered as the fifth inductee for 2013, Robinson’s heart sank.
Then, he heard his name called, and he knew he would be immortalized.
The sleepless nights were a thing of the past. No need to worry. It was time to savor the long-anticipated moment.
“Now, my grandkids and my grandkids’ kids can go to Canton and see what their grandpa accomplished,” Robinson said. “It’s the final touch on my legacy. I started playing football when I was 14 years old. I can’t go any higher than this.”
Davis and Adderley were ecstatic. Their reaction was what you would expect from the best of teammates, and without a doubt, Robinson was precisely that.
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound wrecking ball from Penn State dominated at left outside linebacker, just like Davis (at left defensive end) and Adderley (at left cornerback) had throughout the 1960s. The talented trio made it difficult if not impossible for opposing offenses (all of whom were right-hand oriented) to move the football.
Davis, Adderley and Robinson came to be known as “Lombardi’s Left Side,” and Adderley and Robinson even penned a book (Ascend Books) by that title last year.
Robinson, the Packers’ first-round pick in 1963, roamed the defense’s left side for a decade in Green Bay. He used his God-given talent – which included massive, powerful hands – to go helmet-to-helmet with the John Mackeys and Jerry Smiths of the NFL. But even the best of NFL tight ends could figure on a bad day if the Packers’ #89 was lining up across from them.
Davis and Adderley both made it a point to share their feelings through the Packers’ website.
“He is very deserving and should have been in a long time ago,” Davis said. “It is a great moment for me to have Dave chosen. It is a fulfillment of something almost as important as if it was for me personally. I think Dave was so overdue.”
Adderley echoed Davis’ sentiments.
“I have never really felt the full satisfaction for me being in the Hall of Fame without Dave being in there, and I would have felt the same way if Willie Davis wasn’t in there,” Adderley said. “With Dave making it, it solidifies my feelings about the three of us and how we played together, shutting down the run and the pass. Whenever I talk to Willie or Dave, it always comes up, how we shut down the left side of the field.”
Robinson, 71, was among the great linebackers of his era. He played 12 seasons, including a decade in Green Bay, as well as the 1973-74 seasons in Washington. He was selected All-NFL three straight seasons (1967-69) and intercepted 27 passes (21 in Green Bay) during his Hall of Fame career.
Robinson is the 22nd member of the Packers to enter the Hall. He also is the 12th Lombardi-era Packer (including Lombardi) to be inducted.
It is interesting that Robinson’s long-awaited entrance into the Pro Football Hall of Fame coincides with the Hall’s 50th anniversary.
Players like Robinson only come along every half-century.
Chris Havel is a national best-selling author and 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’ MVP Parties the evening before home games.

Baltimore’s goal-line stand secures Lewis’ legacy, Flacco’s MVP

NEW ORLEANS – It had brother v brother. It had fierce hitting during and frequently after each play. It had a record kickoff return (still think the NFL is going to outlaw that play?) It even had a last-second, goal-line stand to cap it.
Indeed, Super Bowl XLVII offered something for everyone.
For the Ravens, it offered proof that Baltimore’s 34-31 victory was rooted in the game’s basic fundamentals – defense, quarterback play and special teams. It also echoed the obvious: John Harbaugh is one heck of a NFL head coach.
The Ray Lewis-led Ravens defense rose to the occasion to stifle San Francisco’s attempt at an epic comeback. That was after MVP Joe Flacco’s three first half touchdown passes opened a 21-6 lead, and Jacoby Jones’ 108-yard kick return for a touchdown made it to a seemingly insurmountable 28-6 early in the second half.
For the 49ers, it showed resiliency even in defeat, and it reminded everyone why San Francisco should open this season as the NFC’s odds-on favorite to repeat.
For the NFL, if its health is truly reflected in its marquee moment, then Super Bowl XLVII succeeded in reminding both fans and skeptics alike that football, when played at its highest level, is … well … super.
The NFL has a good thing going. While seemingly on the attack or under siege 24/7, the league still makes all the right moves on its grandest stage. Certainly, everything from the long-term effects of head trauma to escalating costs threatens the NFL’s prosperity, but for a day, at least, all seemed right with the NFL world.
OK, so the 34-minute blackout was a problem. Of course, it could’ve been worse. Considering the possibilities, I would say a bit of inconvenience, followed by a 49ers’ onslaught that made it quite interesting, was worth the drama.
For the Packers, Super Bowl XLVII has to be at once a comfort and a wakeup call.
It is a comfort knowing Green Bay isn’t that far behind the game’s top dogs.
Aaron Rodgers is one of the league’s top five quarterbacks. As long as the Packers have Rodgers, they have a chance to do magical things. What they don’t have – and here’s the wakeup call – is an offensive line that is either able to or allowed to dominate. Flacco threw 33 pass attempts. He was sacked just twice. Once, it occurred when he ran out-of-bounds 1 yard shy of the first-down marker.
Rodgers hasn’t enjoyed that clean a game in years.
It has got to change. Whether it means running the football more often, or protecting better when throwing it, or both, it needs to happen.
Fortunately, the Packers’ fans can take comfort in knowing Mike McCarthy is one of the few active head coaches to have won a Super Bowl. The man knows what it takes to get there, and to win it. Also, GM Ted Thompson is both capable and vigilant in the personnel department’s efforts to improve the roster.
The Packers – same as the 49ers in the NFC – are no fly-by-night outfit.
They are close and showing no signs of letting up.
For me, Super Bowl XLVII offered a rare opportunity to gloat.
As predicted, Alicia Keys’ rendition of the National Anthem was both stellar and lengthy (over 135 seconds), Beyonce’s hair was curly at the start of the halftime show, and the Harbaughs’ post-game handshake was less than 7 ½ seconds.
I also took the Ravens 28-23 (the five-point spread was dead on until the safety), and predicted that Joe Flacco would be the game’s MVP.
Next week: A visit with the Packers’ newest Pro Football Hall of Fame player, Dave Robinson.
Chris Havel is a national best-selling author and 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’ MVP Parties the evening before home games.