Dear Brett,
As the dust is finally settling on your first season with the Minnesota Vikings and with the hurt of my Packers loss finally starting to subside, I feel like I can finally write this to you with my thoughts fully collected.
A lot of things happened after the 2007 season that we, as fans, will never know. It's easy for us to play the blame game, when in reality there was probably some fault both ways. I don't think it's any secret that you didn't like the direction of the team and it's no secret that the front office was afraid that if you played much longer, their talented future Quarterback could slip away.
So you asked to be traded when the Packers finally welcomed you back and you successfully divided the once-united front that was the Packer fan base. After a rough year, many decided that letting you go was the wrong direction for the team.
Then, after your yearly retirement song and dance, you finally settled on playing for Minnesota, the team who many younger Packer fans hate more than long time rival, Chicago. It appears that revenge was a strong motive, but obviously that can't be proven. So for the sake of this letter, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, putting my suspicions aside. There was one thing that I have no doubt of, you knew the dynamic of the fans in Green Bay and you know what the feelings towards the Vikings who beat you so many times. That leads me to say this:
Whether or not you meant to hurt the Packer fans, you knew playing for the Vikings would do that.
Fine, you shouldn't have to base your life decisions on a bunch of people you've never met, no matter how much they idolize you. However, I couldn't believe how surprised you were when you got booed walking into Lambeau Field. Granted, I realize it must have been a weird feeling, in the same place that Matt Hasselbeck said you "are like the Queen of England here," to have the fans jeering you.
I don't know if you're going to play another year or not, I do know that I won't believe the first (or second or third) thing you say about it. But as far as your future with the Packers, it's hard to say. I don't know if the organization still has plans to retire your number.
I do know that your Super Bowl ring will always have a "G" ingrained in the side of it and we'll never be able to watch Super Bowl XXXI highlights without seeing you run off the field with your helmet raised high in the air.
But I also know that, as a fan, I would not not mention your name in the same breath as Tony Canadeo, Don Hutson, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, or Reggie White. Call me bitter, but your name will always conjure up images of you as a Viking. So I hope the Packer's hall-of-fame never officially inducts you and I hope that your number isn't retired. If those ever happen, don't be surprised if you get booed.
I hope that your life after football is a happy one and I wish the best to you and your family. But you're not a Packer.
-Ben
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Packers Play-Offs
What a season it has been. At 4-4 the Packers seemed to be headed down the road that ended with a below average season and more questions being brought up this off season.
Since then, the Green and Gold have gone 7-1.. and have the best record in the NFC for the second half of the season. Momentum is on our side..
Ever since the return of Mark Tauscher, the offensive line has looked alive... they will be key in determining the success.
Mason Crosby has had a rough year.. but the play-offs are a new season, and he may very well have the chance to give the Packer faithful amnesia. Charles Woodson, who better be the Defensive MVP, will likely be matched up with Larry Fitzgerald, this will be a match-up that will go a long way in determining the outcome.
Aaron Rodgers has had a solid season, becoming only the second Packer ever to end the season with a rating over 100.
Over-all, the regular season was successful. Hopefully they can continue winning in this brand new season. A little revenge against the Vikings in the NFC Championship would be great.
Since then, the Green and Gold have gone 7-1.. and have the best record in the NFC for the second half of the season. Momentum is on our side..
Ever since the return of Mark Tauscher, the offensive line has looked alive... they will be key in determining the success.
Mason Crosby has had a rough year.. but the play-offs are a new season, and he may very well have the chance to give the Packer faithful amnesia. Charles Woodson, who better be the Defensive MVP, will likely be matched up with Larry Fitzgerald, this will be a match-up that will go a long way in determining the outcome.
Aaron Rodgers has had a solid season, becoming only the second Packer ever to end the season with a rating over 100.
Over-all, the regular season was successful. Hopefully they can continue winning in this brand new season. A little revenge against the Vikings in the NFC Championship would be great.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Packers over Bears.
I'm back after finally finishing up college, I actually will have time to keep this updated. A lot of good has happened in my brief hiatus from the blogosphere; the Packers are in the playoff hunt, controlling their own destiny, and coming into today, at worse, they were guaranteed a .500 record and an improvement from last year.
The game started out with the Packers looking like they were planning on dominating the Bears, but that didn't last for very long. After Jennings caught a huge touchdown pass that was incorrectly ruled incomplete, the Packers' offense countered the bad call by laying down for the majority of the rest of the game.
The defense played an overall solid game, but had you asked me midway through the third quarter what I thought about the defensive performance, I would've had something else to say. Bottom line though, they forced turnovers, held the Bears to only 14 points, and were the real reason the Packers won.
Chucky Dubbs continues to get the national recognition he deserves, and keeps showing that he deserves it. Nick Collins got the interception that set up the last touch down, Clay Matthews got his 8th sack of the season, and Tramon Williams got a sack that helped clinch the game.
Aaron Rodgers looked a little rough, Ryan Grant looked pretty solid to make up for that performance, Jermicheal Finley continues to impress save the fumble at the end of the first half, and Ahman Green still looks weird wearing 34.
Mason Crosby sucks, I really doubt he'll be in the NFL next year, Kapinos needs to be able to drop SOMETHING inside of the 20, but at least we didn't throw it away with special teams today.
Overall, it wasn't pretty, but we got the 9th win of the season and are in a good position.
The game started out with the Packers looking like they were planning on dominating the Bears, but that didn't last for very long. After Jennings caught a huge touchdown pass that was incorrectly ruled incomplete, the Packers' offense countered the bad call by laying down for the majority of the rest of the game.
The defense played an overall solid game, but had you asked me midway through the third quarter what I thought about the defensive performance, I would've had something else to say. Bottom line though, they forced turnovers, held the Bears to only 14 points, and were the real reason the Packers won.
Chucky Dubbs continues to get the national recognition he deserves, and keeps showing that he deserves it. Nick Collins got the interception that set up the last touch down, Clay Matthews got his 8th sack of the season, and Tramon Williams got a sack that helped clinch the game.
Aaron Rodgers looked a little rough, Ryan Grant looked pretty solid to make up for that performance, Jermicheal Finley continues to impress save the fumble at the end of the first half, and Ahman Green still looks weird wearing 34.
Mason Crosby sucks, I really doubt he'll be in the NFL next year, Kapinos needs to be able to drop SOMETHING inside of the 20, but at least we didn't throw it away with special teams today.
Overall, it wasn't pretty, but we got the 9th win of the season and are in a good position.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
This is the most embarrassing thing I've seen it in a long time going in to play against the 0-7 Buccaneers, the Packers started out looking great with a long TD pass to James Jones, in fact 74 yards, the longest of Aaron Rodgers' career.
Then the game goes progressively down hill... an interception leads to a touchdown.. some boneheaded special teams leads to another touchdown on a blocked punt and then the Packers looked like a bunch of high schoolers running around on the field completely confused as to what's going on.
The special teams can't seem to win a single possession battle. The best is when we get a TD and then allow the opponents to return it well into their own territory.
If I were Shawn Slocum I'd be getting pretty nervous right now as it's becoming pretty evident that the special teams is downright incompetent. Everytime they even do something good it's negated by a penalty.
Speaking of coaches who should be worried about their jobs, how about Dom Capers? Yeah that defense sure looked good in preseason.. but not so much since then. The most confusing part of this is how they could possibly make a rookie quarterback look like Brett Favre out there.
No wait. Rodgers looked like Favre out there... 3 interceptions. Smooth.
You'll have to excuse me if I don't really have much hope for this team anymore.. I regained some of the hope I had lost at the end of the game last week when they actually played with heart, but I lost that today. Coming in with a chance to go 5-3, an overall okay record considering the way that they've played thus far, they come in looking sluggish and stupid.
Of course Tampa Bay thinks they won the Super Bowl... congratulations Buccaneers, you should probably dump your coach in Gatorade because you exploited a mediocre (at best) team... yup that's pretty much the same as being champions.
Because when I'm annoyed I like making lists... here's one about why I don't think there's much hope for the 2009 season:
-We can't pressure a quarterback to save ourlives
-We can't protect our quarterback to save his life.
-Oh yeah, and apparently throwing the ball away is a lost art.
-Our 5th attempt at putting together a competent starting line failed.
-When we can run the ball alright, apparently we can't pass it
-Even on a fumbled snap, an offense can manage to gain 3 yards on us
-We don't know how to get and keep momentum
-We just lost to the Buccaneers
Then the game goes progressively down hill... an interception leads to a touchdown.. some boneheaded special teams leads to another touchdown on a blocked punt and then the Packers looked like a bunch of high schoolers running around on the field completely confused as to what's going on.
The special teams can't seem to win a single possession battle. The best is when we get a TD and then allow the opponents to return it well into their own territory.
If I were Shawn Slocum I'd be getting pretty nervous right now as it's becoming pretty evident that the special teams is downright incompetent. Everytime they even do something good it's negated by a penalty.
Speaking of coaches who should be worried about their jobs, how about Dom Capers? Yeah that defense sure looked good in preseason.. but not so much since then. The most confusing part of this is how they could possibly make a rookie quarterback look like Brett Favre out there.
No wait. Rodgers looked like Favre out there... 3 interceptions. Smooth.
You'll have to excuse me if I don't really have much hope for this team anymore.. I regained some of the hope I had lost at the end of the game last week when they actually played with heart, but I lost that today. Coming in with a chance to go 5-3, an overall okay record considering the way that they've played thus far, they come in looking sluggish and stupid.
Of course Tampa Bay thinks they won the Super Bowl... congratulations Buccaneers, you should probably dump your coach in Gatorade because you exploited a mediocre (at best) team... yup that's pretty much the same as being champions.
Because when I'm annoyed I like making lists... here's one about why I don't think there's much hope for the 2009 season:
-We can't pressure a quarterback to save ourlives
-We can't protect our quarterback to save his life.
-Oh yeah, and apparently throwing the ball away is a lost art.
-Our 5th attempt at putting together a competent starting line failed.
-When we can run the ball alright, apparently we can't pass it
-Even on a fumbled snap, an offense can manage to gain 3 yards on us
-We don't know how to get and keep momentum
-We just lost to the Buccaneers
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Packers Lose To Vikings
Did you really think you could come in and do everything the same as you did in the first game and win?
We need a better offensive line..
We need to put pressure on a quarterback
We need some better coaching
We need some more heart
We need to play FULL games
We need to learn how to get pumped up for a game.
Last year I think we were in the bottom half of the league. This year I think we're in the middle. At least it's something.
We need a better offensive line..
We need to put pressure on a quarterback
We need some better coaching
We need some more heart
We need to play FULL games
We need to learn how to get pumped up for a game.
Last year I think we were in the bottom half of the league. This year I think we're in the middle. At least it's something.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Packers Choke In Dome
Depending on what the Packers' record is come the end of the season, these two games against the Vikings may be the 2 most important of the season. Hopefully they'll be in contention near the end of the season, so these games are only important for morale.
What I think? The Vikings are a much better team then the Packers, or at least they looked like it tonight. Adrian Peterson was free to run wherever he wanted early in the game...late they picked that up, Favre was given as much time as he wanted to throw, and the receivers were free to roam in the secondary. They made our defense look silly. Sustained drive after sustained drive, I didn't see much from the defense that I liked, outside of a Clay Matthews forced fumble for a touchdown. By the way, you need to work on getting off the field. Your 3rd down defense was the biggest joke ever.
Don't even get me started on the offense. Okay get me started.
1. When you get the ball 2nd and goal on the 1.. you have to score.
2. Donald Lee.. catch the ball. Jermicheal Finley would've caught that.
3. Thanks a lot for deciding that turnovers are okay for this game.
4. Someone send out a search party for the offensive line. They've been missing since the preseason. I think some high school tackles could play better.
5. Rodgers, learn to throw the ball away... yes, your line sucks, but you have
6. Ryan Grant.. where are you?
7. I know that Tyrell Sutton wasn't good at picking up the blitz, but no one is.. I would've rather seen him out their than No-Gain Grant.
8. Yes I know the offensive line sucking has a direct effect on Grant sucking, but I really hate he got that big contract to average barely over 3 yards a carry
9. Can we try....just once... to not commit penalties on every single one of our big plays?
10. You deserve to lose when you can't even get the ball off the 1 yard line.
11. McCarthy, it was really funny when you challenged that play and we got a safety. Cool story brah.
12. I don't think I've ever been this disappointed in this team.
What I think? The Vikings are a much better team then the Packers, or at least they looked like it tonight. Adrian Peterson was free to run wherever he wanted early in the game...late they picked that up, Favre was given as much time as he wanted to throw, and the receivers were free to roam in the secondary. They made our defense look silly. Sustained drive after sustained drive, I didn't see much from the defense that I liked, outside of a Clay Matthews forced fumble for a touchdown. By the way, you need to work on getting off the field. Your 3rd down defense was the biggest joke ever.
Don't even get me started on the offense. Okay get me started.
1. When you get the ball 2nd and goal on the 1.. you have to score.
2. Donald Lee.. catch the ball. Jermicheal Finley would've caught that.
3. Thanks a lot for deciding that turnovers are okay for this game.
4. Someone send out a search party for the offensive line. They've been missing since the preseason. I think some high school tackles could play better.
5. Rodgers, learn to throw the ball away... yes, your line sucks, but you have
6. Ryan Grant.. where are you?
7. I know that Tyrell Sutton wasn't good at picking up the blitz, but no one is.. I would've rather seen him out their than No-Gain Grant.
8. Yes I know the offensive line sucking has a direct effect on Grant sucking, but I really hate he got that big contract to average barely over 3 yards a carry
9. Can we try....just once... to not commit penalties on every single one of our big plays?
10. You deserve to lose when you can't even get the ball off the 1 yard line.
11. McCarthy, it was really funny when you challenged that play and we got a safety. Cool story brah.
12. I don't think I've ever been this disappointed in this team.
Packers vs Vikings
Don't have much time to write a preview. But I'm really pumped.
anyway.. enjoy this:
anyway.. enjoy this:
Monday, September 28, 2009
Packers Beat Rams
Sorry for the lack of a preview post, it was a busy weekend. So busy I didn't even get to watch the whole game.
So of course they win. That's good though, if it takes me not watching for them to win, I'll make the sacrifice.
Donald Driver made possibly the best catch of the year.. and Rodgers looked pretty good despite the fact that the Offensive Line is still yet to get their act together. He had a rating of 126.9 and had almost 40 yards on the ground.
Speaking of the ground game, Grant had almost 100 yards, which is an improvement for him.
The defense had 3 take aways, but in the process, still made it pretty tough to be too confident in them, they did give up 17 points to the RAMS. Still, if they can keep forcing turnovers they'll be feared.
Overall, I think Packer Nation had a big sigh of relief today.
So of course they win. That's good though, if it takes me not watching for them to win, I'll make the sacrifice.
Donald Driver made possibly the best catch of the year.. and Rodgers looked pretty good despite the fact that the Offensive Line is still yet to get their act together. He had a rating of 126.9 and had almost 40 yards on the ground.
Speaking of the ground game, Grant had almost 100 yards, which is an improvement for him.
The defense had 3 take aways, but in the process, still made it pretty tough to be too confident in them, they did give up 17 points to the RAMS. Still, if they can keep forcing turnovers they'll be feared.
Overall, I think Packer Nation had a big sigh of relief today.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Packers Lose to Bengals
This game didn't look good from the start.
The whole team was misfiring all game. A couple moments of greatness were snuffed out by a defense that looked confused and sluggish, giving up about 5 yards per carry to a mediocre running back and giving Carson Palmer as much time as you needed to throw it. The Packers looked terrible up front, and of course you can throw in the obligatory "illegal contact" which I'm pretty sure is only called on 3rd down situations against the Packers.
The offense couldn't get anything going, they had 1 pretty decent touchdown drive, the other offensive touchdown came after an interception returned inside the 10. The turning point though was a Ryan Grant fumble when the Packers were driving in the 3rd quarter that turned into the Bengals go ahead touchdown.
They were unsuccessful in stopping anything on defense, but most importantly the offensive line was once again unimpressive, and took a big blow when Chad Clifton went down. But that really didn't matter because they gave up 5 sacks throughout the whole game. Also, it could've been a different game without dropped passes from 4 different receivers. Someone needs to step up on this team or it's going to be a long year.
The whole team was misfiring all game. A couple moments of greatness were snuffed out by a defense that looked confused and sluggish, giving up about 5 yards per carry to a mediocre running back and giving Carson Palmer as much time as you needed to throw it. The Packers looked terrible up front, and of course you can throw in the obligatory "illegal contact" which I'm pretty sure is only called on 3rd down situations against the Packers.
The offense couldn't get anything going, they had 1 pretty decent touchdown drive, the other offensive touchdown came after an interception returned inside the 10. The turning point though was a Ryan Grant fumble when the Packers were driving in the 3rd quarter that turned into the Bengals go ahead touchdown.
They were unsuccessful in stopping anything on defense, but most importantly the offensive line was once again unimpressive, and took a big blow when Chad Clifton went down. But that really didn't matter because they gave up 5 sacks throughout the whole game. Also, it could've been a different game without dropped passes from 4 different receivers. Someone needs to step up on this team or it's going to be a long year.
Packers vs Bengals Preview
I'm going to make this kind of quick, since it's so late, I doubt anyone is going to really get a chance to read it before the game starts.
The offensive line needs to play better. Give Rodgers more time to help him find a rhythm. Also, the receivers need to limit the dropped passes. I believe there were 3 last week, that's too many. The offense needs to score points because the defense isn't going to win all the games for them this season.
And capitalizing off of turnovers will be huge.
The defense needs to force the turnovers..
Also please shut down Chad Johnson (I refuse to acknowledge his "other" name.. just so you know) We don't want to see any Lambeau leaps from him.
Go Packers
The offensive line needs to play better. Give Rodgers more time to help him find a rhythm. Also, the receivers need to limit the dropped passes. I believe there were 3 last week, that's too many. The offense needs to score points because the defense isn't going to win all the games for them this season.
And capitalizing off of turnovers will be huge.
The defense needs to force the turnovers..
Also please shut down Chad Johnson (I refuse to acknowledge his "other" name.. just so you know) We don't want to see any Lambeau leaps from him.
Go Packers
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