Most of us Packer fans have kept an eye on Brett over these opening games of this NFL season. We hated that he left the way he did. We felt bad about it and were not very happy with what appeared to be his presumptuousness.
How would a prime athlete hold up with little or no active conditioning program during the off-season?
How would a declining talent be rejuvenated?
How would the drag of all the in-season preparations feel once the newness of being with a new team wears off?
How would the cold weather affect those older joints in his hands and knees?
By the end of October, the answer to those questions should begin to be defined.
With Aaron, the questions are also still not fully answered.
While he has proved he can play with great pain, has he proved he can hold up for a whole season?
As some of the better teams prepare for the Packers, will they now have enough of a body of Rodger's work to be better prepared for him and thus be able to make him look like the first year QB he is?
Will his smaller hands make it harder for him to function in the colder weather he will encounter after the bye?
Let's hope both do well during the rest of the season. It will be interesting to watch.
Showing posts with label Brett Favre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brett Favre. Show all posts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Good Luck, Brett
Brett Favre is going to need all the luck he can get.
There is a real possibility that he will not be welcome in Tampa Bay or any place else right now.
I heard part of an interview on the NFL Channel with Steve Mariucci. "Mooch" is a personal friend of Brett's and called him this morning. After that forty minute talk between the two, "Mooch" called in to the TV channel. He described the group including Frank Winters, Deana, and Bus Cook sitting on the couch in Brett's Green Bay home. After Brett reported how he felt unwanted and unwilling to play for Green Bay any more because of the hurt, "Mooch" said to him, "You need to get off your butt and get to training."
He said Brett laughed and said, "You want me to start running down the street here with the neighbor kids running along like Rocky Balboa?"
I confess to not remembering how "Mooch" responded. I was so struck by that response that my brain went numb. "Yes!" I wanted to yell at Brett. "That's exactly what a champion is willing to do if he really cares about getting in shape. You have to start somewhere!"
I do wish I had listened to find out what "Mooch" did. How do you tell a good friend who has spoken to you whenever you needed something for the NFL network that he needed to grow up and get his butt in gear if he wanted to be a professional athlete?
Brett now has to live with the attitude he has taken. Maybe Jon Gruden can to get through to him.
I suspect Brett is looking for a coach who will let him have his way as he did under Mike Sherman. I do not think that is "Chuckie," who has a stinger nearly every player who has been coached by him has felt at one time or another. That may be why Ted Thompson was unable to do the press conference this morning. Gruden may have talked to Brett and discovered what so many of us have seen, a lack of commitment to do the work it now takes to be an NFL quarterback.
He either will have to be lucky to get to play with another team or he will have to get real.
If he gets real, he will return to the Packers, put aside his hurt against Ted Thompson and anyone else who told him he was no longer prepared to work professionally, go to work to get into playing shape, start at the bottom, and be ready to play when the chance comes along.
I do not know what lucky thing will happen to bring about that result. Whatever that would be, I wish it for Brett.
There is a real possibility that he will not be welcome in Tampa Bay or any place else right now.
I heard part of an interview on the NFL Channel with Steve Mariucci. "Mooch" is a personal friend of Brett's and called him this morning. After that forty minute talk between the two, "Mooch" called in to the TV channel. He described the group including Frank Winters, Deana, and Bus Cook sitting on the couch in Brett's Green Bay home. After Brett reported how he felt unwanted and unwilling to play for Green Bay any more because of the hurt, "Mooch" said to him, "You need to get off your butt and get to training."
He said Brett laughed and said, "You want me to start running down the street here with the neighbor kids running along like Rocky Balboa?"
I confess to not remembering how "Mooch" responded. I was so struck by that response that my brain went numb. "Yes!" I wanted to yell at Brett. "That's exactly what a champion is willing to do if he really cares about getting in shape. You have to start somewhere!"
I do wish I had listened to find out what "Mooch" did. How do you tell a good friend who has spoken to you whenever you needed something for the NFL network that he needed to grow up and get his butt in gear if he wanted to be a professional athlete?
Brett now has to live with the attitude he has taken. Maybe Jon Gruden can to get through to him.
I suspect Brett is looking for a coach who will let him have his way as he did under Mike Sherman. I do not think that is "Chuckie," who has a stinger nearly every player who has been coached by him has felt at one time or another. That may be why Ted Thompson was unable to do the press conference this morning. Gruden may have talked to Brett and discovered what so many of us have seen, a lack of commitment to do the work it now takes to be an NFL quarterback.
He either will have to be lucky to get to play with another team or he will have to get real.
If he gets real, he will return to the Packers, put aside his hurt against Ted Thompson and anyone else who told him he was no longer prepared to work professionally, go to work to get into playing shape, start at the bottom, and be ready to play when the chance comes along.
I do not know what lucky thing will happen to bring about that result. Whatever that would be, I wish it for Brett.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Dear Brett
Dear Brett,
Remember that we love you dearly. We hope this kafuffle passes quickly.
As you said when you retired in March, you were having difficulty psyching up for the preparations to play. You were clear that Sundays would be something you could get excited about. And you said you expected to get the urge to return as the season approached. You and Deana talked at length. In March, you knew that to be the player you have been, it would take more than you could give.
You brought the rest of the country along with the pain of having to admit you were no longer able to do the whole job. You knew that on Sundays, you would miss the excitement, the camaraderie, the challenge. We saw the old fire horse raring to go when the bell rang, but whose will might not be counted upon the rest of the time. We wanted the best for you and retirement seemed like it was the best for you and for your family. We cried when you gave us your final word. We hoped you’d find something satisfying to be your new vocation.
Now you are telling us you really wanted to play all along and that you were pressured to retire,
If you were serious about coming back, you as a pro would have been working out very hard for the last two months, not just going over to the high school once in awhile. Think about what the other players have been doing. To do less would be to let them down.
If you were serious about coming back, you and your agent would have done the paperwork to retire to end your contractual ties to the Packers or to seek reinstatement through the commissioner’s office.
I wish it didn’t look this way but blaming the Packer organization for pressuring you, grousing about decisions the Packers made that went against your opinions, and asking for release sound more like sour grapes than a reality-based decision.
Here’s what I wished you’d have done:
1. Come back to Wisconsin for the charity softball game and golf outing.
2. Hung around during the voluntary training activities, working out with the guys.
3. Sat in on meetings with the new quarterbacks.
4. Accepted the role as elder statesman and accepted Aaron Rodgers in the number one role.
5. Asked for reinstatement if you felt at home doing the above.
6. Been willing to accept the possibility that the team might not need you unless there was a catastrophic injury to Aaron and accept returning to whatever status the team could pull you off of quickly in case of emergency.
7. Faced the fact that your iron-man record is ended and that you no longer bear the load of central player.
8. Faced the fact that Randy Moss gamed you into thinking he’d come to Green Bay but was really planning to get as much out of the Patriots as he could.
Here’s what would have happened:
All fans would be glad to have you around again along with the few who can’t get it through their heads that you have gotten older.
You’d have the fellowship of being a part of the team.
Because the life of a quarterback is so tenuous in light of the sophisticated defenses and athletic players, you would be on the field for those times Aaron goes down.
You would still have some moments when you make plays (I’m 73 and I can still shoot baskets and defend players bigger than me . . . though full court play is not possible yet as I recuperate from my latest physical setback!).
But there will be days when you wished you had stayed retired. The cold gets colder as we age (we moved to the south to get away from it!).
And you might find a new role to play as Rob Davis did. You might make the transition from player to coach or administrator over time.
We know you can thrive under coaching as you showed since Mike McCarthy came, even if you found it harder work than you had during the period between Mike Holmgren and McCarthy. Maybe another coach and another team will not push you the way the two Mikes did but you would never play as well, either.
Finally, you’ve told us that your dad insisted that you be a team player. If you want to be around the team and if you are willing to be a role player, good things will happen. But if you forget that, the chances are you will not regain your full potential ever again, no matter how pumped you are right now, no matter where you’d get to play.
We hope you find your way through this that is a credit to you and your family.
Respectfully,
Jerry
Remember that we love you dearly. We hope this kafuffle passes quickly.
As you said when you retired in March, you were having difficulty psyching up for the preparations to play. You were clear that Sundays would be something you could get excited about. And you said you expected to get the urge to return as the season approached. You and Deana talked at length. In March, you knew that to be the player you have been, it would take more than you could give.
You brought the rest of the country along with the pain of having to admit you were no longer able to do the whole job. You knew that on Sundays, you would miss the excitement, the camaraderie, the challenge. We saw the old fire horse raring to go when the bell rang, but whose will might not be counted upon the rest of the time. We wanted the best for you and retirement seemed like it was the best for you and for your family. We cried when you gave us your final word. We hoped you’d find something satisfying to be your new vocation.
Now you are telling us you really wanted to play all along and that you were pressured to retire,
If you were serious about coming back, you as a pro would have been working out very hard for the last two months, not just going over to the high school once in awhile. Think about what the other players have been doing. To do less would be to let them down.
If you were serious about coming back, you and your agent would have done the paperwork to retire to end your contractual ties to the Packers or to seek reinstatement through the commissioner’s office.
I wish it didn’t look this way but blaming the Packer organization for pressuring you, grousing about decisions the Packers made that went against your opinions, and asking for release sound more like sour grapes than a reality-based decision.
Here’s what I wished you’d have done:
1. Come back to Wisconsin for the charity softball game and golf outing.
2. Hung around during the voluntary training activities, working out with the guys.
3. Sat in on meetings with the new quarterbacks.
4. Accepted the role as elder statesman and accepted Aaron Rodgers in the number one role.
5. Asked for reinstatement if you felt at home doing the above.
6. Been willing to accept the possibility that the team might not need you unless there was a catastrophic injury to Aaron and accept returning to whatever status the team could pull you off of quickly in case of emergency.
7. Faced the fact that your iron-man record is ended and that you no longer bear the load of central player.
8. Faced the fact that Randy Moss gamed you into thinking he’d come to Green Bay but was really planning to get as much out of the Patriots as he could.
Here’s what would have happened:
All fans would be glad to have you around again along with the few who can’t get it through their heads that you have gotten older.
You’d have the fellowship of being a part of the team.
Because the life of a quarterback is so tenuous in light of the sophisticated defenses and athletic players, you would be on the field for those times Aaron goes down.
You would still have some moments when you make plays (I’m 73 and I can still shoot baskets and defend players bigger than me . . . though full court play is not possible yet as I recuperate from my latest physical setback!).
But there will be days when you wished you had stayed retired. The cold gets colder as we age (we moved to the south to get away from it!).
And you might find a new role to play as Rob Davis did. You might make the transition from player to coach or administrator over time.
We know you can thrive under coaching as you showed since Mike McCarthy came, even if you found it harder work than you had during the period between Mike Holmgren and McCarthy. Maybe another coach and another team will not push you the way the two Mikes did but you would never play as well, either.
Finally, you’ve told us that your dad insisted that you be a team player. If you want to be around the team and if you are willing to be a role player, good things will happen. But if you forget that, the chances are you will not regain your full potential ever again, no matter how pumped you are right now, no matter where you’d get to play.
We hope you find your way through this that is a credit to you and your family.
Respectfully,
Jerry
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Favre and Moss
Word is out that Brett Favre has retired. His agent thinks Brett could have and wanted to play one more season. The timing of the announcement of his retirement was within hours of Randy Moss re-signing with the Patriots after letting out word that he was serious about playing with Brett and the Packers.
Randy Moss strikes again.
I think the man is poison. He was "flirting" with the Packers last year just enough to get Brett to take him seriously before Moss signed with the Patriots knowing he would have many more years with Tom Brady than he would with Brett Favre. The minute he got Favre to go public about his disappointment that Moss wasn't picked up by the Packers, Moss set in motion a ploy that got played out this year. By again flirting with the Packers and Favre, he got the better deal with the Patriots that he wanted. He didn't want to come to Green Bay. He knew there was maybe a year left in Brett's tank. But Moss is good for several more years.
The sad part is that Brett seemed to believe Moss. And that is such a shame.
Randy Moss strikes again.
I think the man is poison. He was "flirting" with the Packers last year just enough to get Brett to take him seriously before Moss signed with the Patriots knowing he would have many more years with Tom Brady than he would with Brett Favre. The minute he got Favre to go public about his disappointment that Moss wasn't picked up by the Packers, Moss set in motion a ploy that got played out this year. By again flirting with the Packers and Favre, he got the better deal with the Patriots that he wanted. He didn't want to come to Green Bay. He knew there was maybe a year left in Brett's tank. But Moss is good for several more years.
The sad part is that Brett seemed to believe Moss. And that is such a shame.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Green Bay Packers' Game Plan
The sports writers and announcers do not seem to have grasped what the game plan was for the great game between the Packers and the Cowboys. It was obvious to me that the Packers thought they could jump all over the Cowboy corners with long passes.
There were two goals: one, wear out the corners for more success against them later in the game, and two, get a lead so that Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo would have to play from behind, something he may not be able to do yet.
It almost worked. But the Cowboy corners held up well enough to stay with the wide receivers of the Packers and Favre was just a little off in his throws. Also, the offensive line was not as capable of holding off the Cowboys defensive line as they had hoped.
Even if Favre had not been hurt, the Packers' plan was most likely to go back to the short pass/five receiver scheme with which they had been successful and proved to be early on during the opening series of plays.
Now the Packers know how far they have come as a team, having played mostly teams with losing records. They know they need all their troops and that they cannot look on any of their up-coming games as "easy." They are capable of winning them all, but sometimes, having one or another key player out will make them vulnerable.
But they also know they can run with Dallas and are not afraid to return to Dallas for a play-off game. Favre still has to win at Texas Stadium. And he will.
There were two goals: one, wear out the corners for more success against them later in the game, and two, get a lead so that Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo would have to play from behind, something he may not be able to do yet.
It almost worked. But the Cowboy corners held up well enough to stay with the wide receivers of the Packers and Favre was just a little off in his throws. Also, the offensive line was not as capable of holding off the Cowboys defensive line as they had hoped.
Even if Favre had not been hurt, the Packers' plan was most likely to go back to the short pass/five receiver scheme with which they had been successful and proved to be early on during the opening series of plays.
Now the Packers know how far they have come as a team, having played mostly teams with losing records. They know they need all their troops and that they cannot look on any of their up-coming games as "easy." They are capable of winning them all, but sometimes, having one or another key player out will make them vulnerable.
But they also know they can run with Dallas and are not afraid to return to Dallas for a play-off game. Favre still has to win at Texas Stadium. And he will.
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