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With all the Favre controversy going around lately a lot of people have probably forgot that two Packer greats are going to be inducted into the Packer Hall of Fame this Saturday. Frank Winters and Gilbert Brown will finally be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame. They are both deserving of the honor and hopefully the Favre controversy doesn’t ruin their day. I just plead that Packer fans and the media leave the issue alone for just one day so we can honor two great former Packers.

Gilbert Brown

We’ll begin with “The Grave Digger” Gilbert Brown. When everyone thinks of Gilbert Brown the only thing you can think of is his enourmous size. There was much more to Gilbert though. He played college at Kansas and entered the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings (before reasearching for this piece I never knew that). The Vikings actually drafted him in the third round but cut him. The Vikings loss is the Packers gain since Gilbert went on to having a great career with the Green Bay Packers. He played with the Packers for 10 seasons and helped the Packers win Super Bowl 31. If you look at Gilbert’s stats you definently wouldn’t think he was anything special since he had 7 career sacks and 60 career tackles (for more stats check out this page). While he might not had much as far as stats are concerned, he was still an important part of the Packers defense for many years. Gilbert constantly demanded double teams which helped players like

Gilbert Brown Gravedigging

Reggie White get sacks. Gilbert was also a brick wall in run defense and running backs didn’t even dare run in his direction.

When Gilbert did make a big play, he always did his famous Gravedigging celebration that eventually lead to his nickname of the Gravedigger. Gilbert wasn’t just a force on the field though since he was also a fan favorite. Gilbert’s popularity even lead him to get his own burger at Burger King called the Gilbertburger. While I tried to find a picture of the Gilbertburger I was unsucessful in finding one. All I can remember about the burger is that it was the largest sandwhich I had ever seen. I actually found the recipe to the Gilbertburger if anyone would like to check it out.

Frank Winters

We now move onto the other side of the ball and look at one of the Packers best offensive lineman of all time, Frank Winters. Also known as bag of donuts because of his love for donuts. While he played a position that isn’t usually recognized, Frank Winters was all-time great. Frank Winters was drafted in 1987 in the 10th round (boy did a lot of people miss the ball on that one if he lasted to the 10th round). Before joining the Packers Winters actually played for the Browns, Giants, and Chiefs. He is most known for his 10 seasons in Green bay though. Since there isn’t really any offensive line statistics I will mention that Winters started 147 games and was elected to the Pro Bowl once during his career.

One of the things Frank Winters is most known for is being part of the three amigos which included Frank Winters, Brett Favre, and Mark Chmura. While most people don’t value offensive lineman that much, Frank Winters protected Favre for 10 of Favre’s best seasons.

What I will remember about both Gilbert Brown and Frank Winters was their passion for the game. Both were in unsung positions on the team but both became fan favorites due to their passion to the game.  I would like to congratulate both Frank Winters and Gilbert Brown on their induction into the Packers Hall Of Fame. Their inductions were both well deserved.

Reading the title alone probably has gotten so many people angry with me. In Packerland it has pretty much become a pasttime to bash Ted Thompson for anything and everything he does. To most Packer fans he can’t do anything right no matter what. I just don’t know why people hate the man so much. It’s pretty sad that the best GM in the entire league last season is also probably the most hated GM as well. How can people have so much hatred for the man who essentially turned the Packers quickly from a sinking ship into the youngest and one of the best teams in the league. This hatred is so bad that companies are even benefiting off this hatred. Yesterday I was heading down to Green Bay and I ran into this sign. It’s pretty sad when a billboard sign is essentially insulting you. It’s even worse when it is actually an advertisement for Sharpies. I guess people now think billboards and advertisements know how to do Ted Thompson’s job better than him?

So what did Ted Thompson do to deserve all this hatred? For the life of me I don’t know. Ever since the day he was hired people have hated him. I just don’t get it. Obviously it isn’t because he is a bad GM since he has already shown that he is one of the best GMs in the league. So what could it be? My guess is that for some reason the media is insistent on painting him in a bad light. If you compare all the positive media he has gotten and all the negative it is pretty obvious that the media hates Ted Thompson. Tep Thompson doesn’t help himself a ton in this aspect. As everyone should be able to tell Ted Thompson is not very good in front of a camera. My opinion on this is that he is just not very comfortable in front of the camera or a lot of people. He just isn’t a good public speaker. He obviously should take some classes on public speaking though since he definently needs to work on that.

Because of how the media portrays him, most people probably think he is a crab, grouch, or extremely stuck up. While I don’t know him personally, I know that this isn’t true. For example during the mini camp practices this spring he attended both practices that fans were allowed to go to. He could have simply just watched the practice and avoided the fans that were there to see their favorite team. He didn’t though. He actually took time out and actually met with the fans and talked with them. If someone would have asked him to sign an autograph I guarentee he would have signed it. So Ted Thompson isn’t as bad of guy as most people think he is. Since the media seems to think it is their duty to destroy him though most people don’t know any better since they haven’t seen him in one of these situations.

So what prompted this discussion in the first place? Well obviously the Favre rumors. Once again the media has decided to paint Ted Thompson in a bad light. They essentially are all painting Thompson as a self obssessed egomaniac. This obviously isn’t ture. The media seems to think because of Thompson’s huge ego that he has decided to essentially run Favre out of town. While I have no prood that he didn’t I find it hard to believe. Thompson has said over and over again that he wants whatever is best for the team. He told reporters that he welcomed Favre back to the team after this year. Favre took the time and decided to retire. Some people think Thompson forced Favre to retire but this makes no sense because Favre, Thompson, and McCarthy have all repeatedly said that Favre was welcomed back to the Packers. Some people think they all lied but I don’t believe this since Favre has always been known as a player that is willing to speak his mind.

Now that Favre is possibly regretting his decision it is now Thompson’s fault. Now why is that Thompson’s fault? Favre had plenty of time to make his decision. If Favre was second guessing his decision he should have taken more time to decide. Favre decided to retire though. Despite this whole situation being as least partially Favre’s fault he is essentially getting none of the blame. What did Favre expect when he retired? Did he expect the Packers to just sit around and wait for him to return? No they moved on since that was there only option.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Favre and he is my favorite player of all time. Favre needs to take some of the blame for this situation though since he was responsible for it in the first place. If you don’t believe me I will give you an example. This whole situation would never have happened if Favre could just make a decision on whether he wanted to retire or not. If Favre didn’t waver so often, Rodgers might not even be a Packer right now. Since Favre couldn’t make a decision though, Thompson decided that he needed to have a QB ready for the future in case Favre decided to retire. This isn’t Thompson’s fault, this is Favre’s fault.

Despite being one of the best football players in the world, Favre must be one of the worst decision makers EVER. He just can’t make a decision. He couldn’t make a decision on whether to retire for about 5 seasons and then when he finally does decide to retire he second guesses his decision. Favre needs to just make a decision already.

While I personally think this whole thing will blow over in a couple days and Favre will stay retired; I think this rumor really brought out people’s hatred for Ted Thompson. He has done nothing to deserve it but he single handedly has some of the most hater in professional sports. If Thompson does have to make the hard decision on whether to keep Favre or let him go to another team it is his choice. He so far has shown that he knows what he is doing so I will trust his judgement. If nothing else comes out of this rumor we can at least realize that we all need to give Ted Thompson a break.

Since all these rumors have started about Brett Favre the Packers have been put in a bad situation. No matter what they do they will upset someone. At this point I can only see three possibilities come out of this decision. Number one is that Favre stays retired. The second choice is that Favre returns to the Packers. The final choice is that Favre returns to the NFL with another team. I will wait with my opinion until the end of this article. I will discuss the facts, the pros, and the cons of every decision. Read the rest of this entry »

Most people will say it is too early to grade a draft since none of us now how any draft picks will turn out. I tend to agree with these people but I have decided to grade the draft anyway. At this point I know there are a lot of people that are both sides of the fence on this draft. There are quite a few people that thought the draft was great. There is probably just as many that thought the draft was terrible. I tend to agree with the people that thought the draft was good. Going into the draft Packers fans should have realized the Packers had a slim chance of adding a immediate starter in this draft. The only positions I could have saw a rookie coming in right away to start would have been at the guard position and the punter position. I heard this was a weak draft for guards so that pretty much puts it down to just a punter. After this draft the Packers didn’t get any immediate starters (most likely) but I believe they got some players with a ton of potential that could be something special in the future. I believe some will make a pretty big difference this year as well.

In the second round I believe the Packers did quite well. At first I was neutral about the Jordy Nelson pick but I am really starting to like the pick. While we really didn’t need another receiver I believe Jordy Nelson could be a very good receiver. I believe he will have an impact this year. He has a good chance of only being the 4th receiver but I believe he will make quite a few big plays. One thing I hope the Packers use is his ability to throw. If you have seen some of his highlight films you will be able to see that he can really throw the football. In one highlight film I saw him throw at least three TDs. While we obviously can’t keep doing the play I hope we have Jordy throw a couple passes this year after a reception behind the QB.

Brian Brohm has been criticized by a lot of people and I can see why they are criticizing the pick. I hope the pick doesn’t hurt Rodgers’ confidence. I believe it won’t since he is a professional and he knows that he is the starter. If it doesn’t hurt Rodgers’ confidence I believe this was a great pick. We get a good young QB that is almost ready to play in the NFL to be our backup this year. If Rodger’s gets hurt I believe Brohm will do a decent job as the starter. After this season I can see a couple things for Brohm. If Rodgers struggles I can see Brohm taking the starting job. If Rodgers plays well Brohm will probably ride the bench. I believe if Rodgers isn’t a bust we could develop Brohm enough that we can get a higher draft pick for him in 2-3 years in a trade.

I also have high hopes for Patrick Lee. While there is a decent chance he could be a bust I believe he has the physical tools to be a good NFL CB. With 2-3 years behind Al Harris and Charles Woodson I believe he will learn the nuances of the NFL that he could replace one of them as a starter. From what I could find he seems to be a bigger CB who is also more physical than your average CB. This fits the Packers scheme. Actually in an interview with Patrick Lee I read that in college 95% of their plays were press coverage so he has experience in press coverage. This year I expect him to either be the 3rd or 4th CB unless both Will Blackmon and Tramon Williams take the next step and in Blackmon’s case can stay healthy for more than two or three games.

Rounds 3-7 will come on either Tuesday or Wednesday. I am currently pretty busy at college since it’s nearing finals time so I can’t guarantee an update tomorrow.

With their second 7th round selection the Packers selected Brett Swain, WR out of San Diego State. Since Brett Swain is out of a small school I couldn’t find a whole lot about him. From what I could find it looks like he is more of a speed receiver. He is 6′1″ so he is also a smaller receiver. He also returned punts in college so that might also be an option. I don’t think the Packers really needed to pick another receiver. With our receivers I really doubt that Brett Swain will make the team unless he is a huge gem like a Donald Driver or a Marques Colston. In the 7th round most players don’t even make the team that picked them. I am guessing that Brett Swain will probably be a practice squad type player.

Grade: C