MVN - Most Valuable Network

I have an idea. Trade Rodgers, keep Favre!

I’m crazy. I’ll admit it. After thinking about the possibility of Brett Favre coming back and playing for a team loaded with talent I’ve decided I know what’s best for the Packers. General Manager Ted Thompson needs to trade Aaron Rodgers and bring back Favre for another Super Bowl run……or two!

You may think I’m an idiot but consider this. The Packers were an overtime from the Super Bowl last year. This off season they’ve tried to acquire Miami Dolphin super defensive end Jason Taylor, but have been rebuffed because Taylor has said a Favreless Packers is unappealing. The Packers also had concern that Taylor would only play one more season. Favre has two years left on his contract. Do you see where I’m going with this?

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Report: Favre Contacts McCarthy About Possible Return

The love of your life continued to suggest the over decade-long relationship was coming to an end for three years now. This spring, that suggestion became reality.

Now, when you are just starting to date someone new, you receive a call: “I might want to reunite.” What do you do? Read the rest of this entry »

Aaron Rodgers quote: “I don’t feel I need to sell myself to fans,” he says “They need to get on board now or keep their mouths shut.”

Wow. The first time you hear or read the words printed in the new Sports Illustrated (July 7, 2008) it feels like a slap in the face. Luckily, much like a real slap, the sting is short lived and, in the end, acts as just a reminder. Aaron Rodgers is the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers in 2008 and fair weather fans need not apply.

The first time I heard the quote was from a friend who called me last night. At first I was fairly outraged. We as fans have a right to question any player or team decision because we invest so much of our time and emotion into them. A player with virtually no game time experience coming off as such an arrogant prick was not someone I would be able to get behind. I’m used to being a fan of good ol’ boy Brett Favre. Why on earth Rodgers would make such a strong statement like that was beyond fathomable to me. (add frown, and vigorous head shaking)

Luckily, I know better than to let my emotions run wild and I decided to wait for my edition of Sports Illustrated to land in my mailbox today before I spouted off anything inflammatory. It also helped that the morning radio show in Green Bay that I listen to, 107.5 the Fan, was a buzz with conversation on the Rodgers quote. It helped me to settle down and realize this might not have been such a bad thing to say. It especially helped that I realized he wasn’t talking to me.
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Greatest Packers Games, Installment 7: Packers v. Giants, Jan. 20, 2008

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That would be before and after the game, respectively.

This was definitely one of their most exciting games of all time, but most of us Cheeseheads would not consider it one of the greatest since the outcome was not what we wanted. But for those of you who remember my last (and first) installment in this series, I have a slightly different vision for it.Clint Eastwood is big out here in the Bay Area of California, where I now reside, and I have always loved his films (and his restaurant, jazz store…).

My favourite Clint film is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. My first installment was The Good, in which I proposed to my wife on the scoreboard at Candlestick in a thrilling victory over her 49ers.

Thus, it is time for the bad.

In my case the bad started over four hours before game time. Read the rest of this entry »

Why Brett Favre is Unequivocally a Top Five QB

For those of you who responded negatively to my assertion that the departure of Brett Favre may be a good thing, this article’s for you. For those of you who do not think he is one of the top five quarterbacks of all-time, be prepared to be educated.

(As for those who answered our poll “I’ll take a 50-year old Favre over these guys at any point in their careers,” there is no point in reasoning with you. I will just say you were/are not good at multiple choice–did no one ever tell you one of the answers is always ridiculous to help you narrow down the choices? Do you really think a 50-year old Favre would even have the mobility, reflexes, and arm strength to compete?) Read the rest of this entry »

Greatest Packers Games: Installment 6, Packers v. Saints, Sept. 17, 1989

When most Cheeseheads think of the “Cardiac Pack’s” 1989 glory season, they recall first and foremost the week nine last second 14-13 triumph over the Bears – commonly referred to as “The Instant Replay Game.”

However, the aforementioned heart-stopper – the second of four Packers’ one-point victories that season – was preceded by an equally exhilarating and astonishing Lambeau Field squeaker: a week two battle for the ages that I’ll call “The Forgotten Instant Replay Game.” One of the principal heroes that day was a little known rookie receiver out of itty bitty division III Millikin University. I was only nine years old watching the game in my parents’ living room, but I remember this instant classic well.

While Brett Favre was just starting his junior season for Southern Mississippi, the Packers were being led by quarterback Don Majkowski, a mobile and crafty 10th round Packers’ draft pick entering his third year in the league. Even though Majkowski fought for starts his first two years, by the end of the ’89 season he would earn the nickname “Majik” on his way to achieving one of four Packers’ Pro Bowl selections – and the first Packer quarterback to have that honor since Bart Starr.

After coming off a disappointing 4-12 season under first year coach Lindy Infante in 1988, the Packers were desperate to bounce back. They had drafted Tony “The Incredible Bust” Mandrich with their second overall pick Read the rest of this entry »

Packers consider dual motor defense

Just imagine: Tarvaris Jackson drops back to throw on 3rd and long, his wideouts locked down by elder statesmen Al Harris and Charles Woodson, he checks down to his tight end only to find an eyeful of the beast, AJ Hawk. Running out of options, and time, Jackson turns in an attempt to dump off to Adrian Peterson rolling out of the backfield, but before he can make the pass he is sandwiched between two rabid animals tearing the ends off of the Queens flat-footed offensive line. Aaron Kampman wraps Jackson up with a crushing blow to his mid section just as 2006 Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor cracks him in the middle of his back folding the young quarter back like a soft shell tortilla at a bar on taco night. The ball squirts lose and is scooped up by a roving Nick Barnett who is off to the races Craig Newsome style.

This is just one of the exciting possibilities of having current Miami Dolphin defensive end Jason Taylor in a Packer uniform. Another would be the use of KGB as he was intended: as a spot player in pass rushing situations. Yet another would be Cullen Jenkins moving back inside, the position where he has always been most productive. Building off Jenkins as a full time interior lineman next to Ryan Pickett, you can begin to see our other young tackles (Johnny Jolly and Justin Harrell come to mind) starting to develop, fully realizing Ted Thompson’s master plan of a stocked pantry of fresh, hungry defensive lineman wearing down opposing O-lineman, engulfing running backs, and collapsing passing pockets like Dixie cups.

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The Ryan Grant contract conundrum: What’s he worth?

One of the biggest unanswered questions of the offseason for the Green Bay Packers has been the contract situation of breakout running back Ryan Grant. What kind of contract does he deserve? What kind of contract will be fair to both Grant and the Packers?

Despite refusing to sign a $370,000 tender in hopes of negotiating for a bigger, long-term contract, Grant has nonetheless showed up for the Packers’ OTAs and minicamp watching from the sidelines.

It’s unclear what Grant’s side is seeking as far as a deal, and it’s equally unclear what the Packers are willing to offer. What do you think Grant’s contract should be?

Working for the Packers’ side of the negotiations is the fact that Grant has not proven himself for a full NFL season. Although he played admirably, does a partial season warrant a top tier contract? Also, Grant won’t become a restricted free agent for a couple of seasons, which would put him in his late 20s – and not many running backs are great after hitting the 30-year-old mark. Read the rest of this entry »

Why the Packers are the Best Team in Any Sport

1. The Packers pre-date the NFL. Only the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals can also say that, and the Cards have moved twice since that date.
2. Were it not for the Packers, there would be no Chicago Bears. That’s right: we bailed out our chief rivals financially during the depression. Read the rest of this entry »

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   By MJ Kasprzak | Hype it | Bark it | 7 Comments »

Greatest Packers Games: Installment 5, Packers v. Broncos Dec. 28th 2003; a.k.a. Cardinals v. Vikings

This game holds a very special place in my Packers scrap book as the day it felt I was at two games at once. I had received a ticket because my cousin Gina couldn’t make it to the event. A stroke of luck for me even though I felt horrible for her that she missed such an invigorating experience. I attended it with her boyfriend whom I had only met on a few occasions. Once again, Green Bay Packers bringing people together for a common cause.

The Packers were playing a Broncos team that was sitting most of its starters because they had locked up their playoff position and just wanted to coast in healthy. We were expected to win, but our playoff hopes were not in our hands. They laid squarely with the Arizona Cardinals: a team that came into the last game of the year on the skid marks of a seven game losing streak.

The Cardinals had only three wins heading the week 17 season finale. One win had been against the Pack and had stuck in my craw like an eyelash in my cornea. It did not look like our season would end on a high note that year. It was going to take a miracle of grand proportions to have the Vikings lose. Their playoff hopes hinged on beating a bird whose wings were clipped with more of their own red blood covering their uniforms than Cardinal dye.

Like many Packers games I’ve attended where the game at hand wasn’t close, it all melded together. The Packers scored first on a Brett Favre pass to Bubba Franks. From there it was a steady butt whooping by Packers first stringers versus Denver scrubs. Peppered within the public humiliation being laid out, the Packers racked up 262 rushing yards on an amazing performance by Packer great Ahman Green, who contributed 218. He capped his tromping with a 98 yard score.

The true drama of the game came down to the two minute warning.

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