February 7
Green Bay Press Gazette
columnist Mike Vandermause
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Based on their overall record during the past decade, the Green Bay Packers have been an overwhelming success. Based on their inability to reach the Super Bowl during that time, they have been a resounding failure. The Packers' 95-65 record spanning the last 10 seasons (2000-09) is second-best in the 16-team NFC. trailing only Philadelphia (103-56-1). It is fifth-best in the 32-team NFL behind Indianapolis (115-45), New England (112-48) and Pittsburgh (103-56-1). When it comes to regular-season prosperity since the turn of the century, the Packers rank right up there with the best of them. Only three NFL teams have appeared in the playoffs more often than the Packers over the last 10 ..."
February 5
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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You know what the secondary looks like in the Tampa cover 2 and the four most common places to bring the blitz pressure in a 3-4 defense. But you missed the class lecture on the Collective Bargaining Agreement, didn't you? It's OK. In the coming weeks, the NFL owners and players will try to haggle out a deal or an extension on the CBA. If they don't - and that's highly likely - the two sides have a year to work out their differences before the NFL owners lock the stadium doors and halt play for the 2011 season, should they choose to do so. Yes, it is that serious. So, now that the CBA is of greater concern to pro football fans, how about a cheat sheet on the basics in this battle: Who? - ..."
February 4
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The visuals will probably be burned into the brains of Green Bay's fan base for years to come. First, there was Kurt Warner throwing touchdowns to somebody named Early Doucet. Later, Larry Fitzgerald went to work on the Packer secondary. Oh, and don't forget Steve Breaston, who terrorized Green Bay's defensive backs all day. When it was over, Warner had thrown five touchdown passes and completed an unheard of 87.9% of his passes. Green Bay's secondary was in shambles and its season was over, following a 51-45 overtime loss to the Cardinals in an NFC wild-card game. Now, as the Packers prepare for free agency and the NFL draft, general manager Ted Thompson undoubtedly has to have cornerback ..."
February 4
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Mike McCarthy had seen enough. During his first three years as Green Bay Packer coach, McCarthy's teams had an average rank of 18th against the run. They allowed an average of 116.2 rushing yards per game and 4.20 yards per carry. So when McCarthy contemplated switching to a 3-4 scheme last off-season, stopping the run was priority No. 1. "I felt that was the area in my prior three years that needed to improve," McCarthy said. Mission accomplished. Green Bay just finished a season in which it played the run better than any time in team history. The Packers led the NFL in run defense for the first time ever, allowing a franchise record 83.3 yards per game. The Packers also gave up just 3.59 ..."
February 4
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
columnist Bud Lea
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When the phone rang the other night, the call was from Colorado Springs, Colo. Forrest Gregg was on the line. I go a long way back with Gregg. He joined the Green Bay Packers in 1956 as a second-round draft choice from Southern Methodist University in 1956, and I covered the team for the Milwaukee Sentinel. And I covered him 28 years later when he returned to coach the Packers. What the heck was Gregg calling me for now? I couldn't remember the last time I saw him. He rarely, if ever, showed up for any of the Packer alumni games. He was a guy who said he never lived in the past, jumping from one job to another. "So, what are you doing these days, Forrest?" I asked. Gregg explained that he ..."
February 4
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The great 3-4 defensive teams traditionally have a pair of terrific outside linebackers. Lamar Woodley and James Harrison helped Pittsburgh win Super Bowl XLIII. Willie McGinest and Mike Vrabel were a huge reason New England won three Super Bowls in four years last decade. Currently, the Green Bay Packers are halfway home. The Packers' hopes of moving from good to great on defense hinge largely on finding a tag-team partner for right outside linebacker Clay Matthews. Matthews enjoyed one of the finest rookie seasons in team history and is one of the brightest young stars in the league. Matthews set a Packer rookie record with 10 sacks and became Green Bay's first rookie defensive player to ..."
February 4
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Paul "Tiny" Engebretsen's road to the Green Bay Packers was well-traveled. When Engebretsen played for the Chicago Bears, he was an athletic guard who even kicked a field goal in the snow to help beat the Green Bay Packers, 9-0, in 1932. He won his first National Football League championship with the Bears as a rookie starter, a 9-0 triumph over the Portsmouth Spartans in which Engebretsen booted the extra point after the game's only touchdown by Red Grange. The game was held indoors at Chicago Stadium on a modified field after a blizzard hit the Windy City and made playing outdoors virtually impossible. While Chicago was winning the NFL title, Packer head coach Curly Lambeau was executing ..."
February 3
Green Bay Press Gazette
columnist Mike Vandermause
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In reviewing the biggest Green Bay Packers' stories of the past decade, would you believe Brett Favre didn't make the top of the list? We should have known it was going to be a newsworthy decade when two days into the new century, on Jan. 2, 2000, the Packers fired coach Ray Rhodes after just one season on the job. That was the beginning of an eventful 10 years for the Packers that included seven winning seasons, six playoff berths, four division titles, three general managers, three head coaches, two team presidents, one NFC title game berth and zero Super Bowl appearances. Here are the 10 biggest stories of the decade, listed in ascending order: No. 10 - Fourth-and-26 It will go down as ..."
February 3
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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This is a story about a team, the Green Bay Packers, that cannot be blamed one bit for how a player they discarded has gone on to big things with a championship team. In May 2007, Daniel Muir received a $15,000 signing bonus - extremely high for a rookie free agent - because the Packers evaluated him properly out of Kent State. Then the Packers evaluated him properly again and decided to retain Muir as strictly a developmental defensive lineman. When Muir came back for his second season, expectations were that he could crack the D-line rotation. Instead, Muir wasn't able to overcome a sluggish opening three weeks of training camp and was released on the final cut. Claimed by the ..."
February 3
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Kurt Warner, who retired last week from the National Football League after 12 seasons, said his experience in training camp in 1994 with the Green Bay Packers played a crucial role in his unusual development into a star quarterback. Warner, who was interviewed Tuesday on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" show, was asked by Mike Golic when he realized after his college career at Northern Iowa that he was good enough to compete in the NFL. "Actually, when I went to Green Bay," Warner said. "I was competing against Brett (Favre) and Mark Brunell and Ty Detmer. That was probably the most confident I was that I could play at this level. I think we all believe it when we are playing in ..."
January 31
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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More than a decade after he caught his last pass, Mark Chmura is going into the Green Bay Packers' Hall of Fame. The two-time Pro Bowl tight end and key member of the 1997 and 1998 Super Bowl teams caught 188 passes for 2,253 yards and 17 touchdowns. He was, arguably, one of the best tight ends ever to play for the Packers and joins several of his old Super Bowl teammates in the Hall. Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Inc. president Mike Gage said the panel of six to eight voters considered, in addition to his football résumé, Chmura's high-profile sexual assault trial and decided it should not keep him out of the Hall. Chmura was acquitted in February 2001 of assaulting a then 17-year-old ..."
January 30
Green Bay Press Gazette
columnist Mike Vandermause
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Leave it to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to set the media straight when it comes to Brett Favre's retirement plans. Rodgers is preparing to start for the NFC in Sunday's Pro Bowl in Miami, and naturally, it didn't take long for someone to ask for his opinion on whether Favre would return to play for the Minnesota Vikings. "I just think nothing is going to happen for a while," Rodgers said in an interview with the NFL Network this week. "There's not much else you can say. "I'd say just give it a rest for a while. You don't need to do anevery day. It's not going to happen." No one knows better than Rodgers that Favre retirement reports in January and February are meaningless. ..."
January 29
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Packers strength coordinator Dave Redding, brought in last year to revamp the conditioning program, will give way to assistant Mark Lovat this year after tutoring him last season. Coach Mike McCarthy told the Green Bay Press-Gazette on Thursday that the nationally recognized Redding would remain on the staff for at least this season but as an assistant. Lovat just completed his 11th season as a strength and conditioning assistant."
January 29
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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After having some time to digest the Green Bay Packers' 2009 season, general manager Ted Thompson said this week that the organization "expected more" of the team that went 11-5 and lost a wild-card playoff game to the Arizona Cardinals. "Well, I was proud of the team," Thompson said in a postseason review with the Journal Sentinel at the Senior Bowl. "I thought we had a good team. I thought we had the kind of team, once we got into the playoffs, that we could play a few games. And I still believe we have that kind of team. "We happened to get in a shootout and came up on the short end of it." Thompson wouldn't say whether he considered the season a success. "Well, none of us are really ..."
January 28
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Wednesday at the Pro Bowl in Miami he hoped the team would retain many of its 13 players who will become free agents. "I hope it's very bright," Rodgers said when asked about the Packers' future. "Our key is going to be (that) we've got to bring back a lot of those same guys we had last year. A lot of guys' contracts are up this year. Thankfully, I'm just paid to play. There are some tough decisions that are going to have to be made this season. As long as we can keep that core group of guys together. I believe in (coach) Mike McCarthy and the direction that he is taking this team." Rodgers may not get his wish. According to multiple sources ..."
January 28
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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With little or no progress to report in its talks with the players' union, the National Football League has canceled a Super Bowl media event that was to include Mark Murphy, president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers. Murphy told the Journal Sentinel on Tuesday that he had been asked to meet with the media to discuss the state of labor negotiations with the players' association over a collective bargaining agreement. Murphy, named last year by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to the NFL's Management Council Executive Committee, has been viewed as bringing a unique perspective to the negotiations because of his background as a former NFL player and a former union vice president. But on ..."
January 27
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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What now? The Green Bay Packers' offensive line took an enormous amount of heat - some warranted, some unjustified - during the 2009 season. The Packers ranked 29th in sack percentage, but once the line got stabilized at midseason, it helped lead the NFL's No. 3 scoring offense and No. 6 total offense. Now, with only two starters under contract for 2010, do the Packers start over? Or do they try bringing back many of the same parts? "Every coach has done evaluations on his players," head coach Mike McCarthy said. "I'll have the opportunity to go through that with the coordinators, with the coaches. We'll have personnel meetings with (general manager) Ted (Thompson)." In Thompson's five ..."
January 27
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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John Schneider may have been a trusted adviser to general manager Ted Thompson, but even Schneider had to laugh when asked how the Green Bay Packers will manage after his departure to become general manager of the Seattle Seahawks. "They'll be fine, yeah," said Schneider, almost choking on his Diet Coke in the lobby of the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel on Tuesday evening. "They'll be great." Thompson said he won't be making any changes in the personnel department through the draft in April. "We haven't worked all the way through that right now; we're just kind of standing pat," Thompson said. "I'll take on a couple of new things, and Reggie (McKenzie) will do a couple new things and ..."
January 26
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The final mystery of the Green Bay Packers' defensive coordinator search last year has been solved: Mike Nolan, the first candidate interviewed, was offered the job by coach Mike McCarthy. It had long been assumed that Nolan was offered the position, but neither Nolan nor McCarthy would talk about it on the record. "I wouldn't say I turned them down," Nolan said Monday before practices started at the Senior Bowl. "I had two great offers and, for personal reasons only, I chose the one that most appealed to me. I really wanted to stay close to California. Denver allowed me to do that." Dom Capers, the fourth candidate offered the Packers' job, accepted it. Not that the Packers or McCarthy ..."
January 24
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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In a press call last week, Deion Sanders was asked to name four defensive backs, two cornerbacks and two safeties, that he considered the best at the position in the last decade. "Oh, my God, that is tough, my man," Sanders said. "OK. (Baltimore's) Ed Reed (is) a safety for certain, and (Denver's) Brian Dawkins would be the other safety. I would have to say at the cornerback it would have to be (Denver's) Champ Bailey because of the body of work he's put in, the body of work. I know (New York Jets') Darrelle Revis and (Green Bay's) Charles Woodson, they are superb corners, but the body of work Champ Bailey has laid, he has a tremendous foundation." As for the other corner? "Yeah, that ..."
January 23
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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For the past three seasons, the Green Bay Packers held the line on increasing the price of game tickets. The streak ended Friday when the team announced it would raise prices by an average of $9 a ticket next season. The increases range from $8 to $11 per game, depending on the section of Lambeau Field. "The stakes have been raised and to remain competitive we have to continue to be aggressive in terms of our revenue," said Mark Murphy, the team's president and CEO. "We want to be fair and try to be affordable. But we need this additional revenue to remain competitive." Murphy admitted the decision to increase ticket prices was difficult, though he said three-quarters of the teams in the ..."
January 23
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
columnist Don Walker
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Whether it's Karl on a car phone, or Debbie calling in from De Pere, Green Bay Packers' fans want Brett Favre and his Minnesota Vikings to lose this weekend, denying the Vikings the chance to go to the Super Bowl. Steve (The Homer) True, sports-talk show host on WAUK-AM (540) certainly thinks so. "If he was playing for the New York Jets, this would be entirely different," True said. "I just can't conceive the Vikings winning their first Super Bowl with Brett Favre. "Just saying it sounds wrong." He's right. The rivalry between fans of the Packers and Vikings is real. And while the Vikings had the upper hand this year (they defeated the Packers twice), Packers fans can always say that the ..."
January 21
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
columnist Bud Lea
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Is it morally wrong to want to root for Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings until the Green Bay Packers get back to the Super Bowl? I know what you're thinking: "What's next? Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien hugging each other?" But as bad as it sounds, aren't these Vikings what every Packer fan would want to be in the playoffs? Right now, many of you would adopt any of the four teams remaining to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy, even if Lindy Infante coached it. But back the Vikings? Never, you say. This Minnesota team is very good. They have a decent defense, a good running attack, great receivers, a sound kicking game and, of course, an iconic quarterback. Call them the Green Bay Vikings. Not ..."
January 20
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Aaron Rodgers' 2009 ended just like it began: with the Green Bay Packer quarterback holding onto the ball far longer than he should have. In between, Rodgers played at a level few quarterbacks across the NFL are capable of. He posted eye-popping numbers, earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl and guided the Packers to the postseason for the first time in the post-Brett Favre era. And he proved the team's future at quarterback appears brighter than almost any team in football. But in Green Bay's playoff loss to Arizona, Rodgers reverted to his ugly habit of holding the ball too long. Until Rodgers can make quicker decisions and get the ball out faster, his name can't be lumped in with those ..."
January 20
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The Green Bay Packers haven't had a Pro Bowl running back since Ahman Green in 2004. And odds are there isn't a future Pro Bowl back on the roster today. But what the Packers showed in 2009 is that there's enough talent and depth in the backfield to complement their high-powered passing game. Considering Green Bay will always be a pass-first operation under coach Mike McCarthy, that might be all it needs from its ground game. "We got better through the year, no doubt about it," said Ryan Grant, the team's featured back. "The priority around here will always be on the passing game, but we always think we're more than capable of doing our part." The Packers certainly were this season. Green ..."
January 20
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Two members of the Green Bay Packers, linebacker Clay Matthews and defensive lineman B.J. Raji, have been named to the National Football League all-rookie team selected by Pro Football Weekly and the Professional Football Writers of America. The Packers had three players named all-rookie in 2006. From 1988-2005, there was only one year in which they had more than one selection. That was '93, when they had two. Matthews joined A.J. Hawk (2006), Nick Barnett (2003), Na'il Diggs (2000) and Wayne Simmons (1993) as the Packers' all-rookie linebackers in the last 20 years."
January 20
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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After gradually moving up the National Football League ladder for 17 years, starting with an internship under then-general manager Ron Wolf, Green Bay Packers director of football operations John Schneider has landed a high-level front office job. Schneider, a key member of the Packers' personnel staff, was named Tuesday as the Seattle Seahawks' new general manager, replacing Tim Ruskell, who was forced out earlier this season. Schneider beat out several other qualified personnel men, including, one report said, former Tennessee Titans general manager Floyd Reese. According to an NFL source, Schneider and the Seahawks reached an agreement Monday night and Schneider was on a plane Tuesday ..."
January 17
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Despite several national reports to the contrary, John Schneider, Green Bay Packers director of football operations, is still a candidate for the Seattle Seahawks general manager job. Schneider interviewed in Seattle last week - possibly twice - and several National Football League sources told Journal Sentinel reporters that he was one of about four finalists. There had been reports that former Tennessee general manager Floyd Reese and Pittsburgh director of business operations Omar Khan were the two finalists, but sources said that wasn't accurate. According to one source, Schneider is in the running along with New York Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross, Khan and possibly San ..."
January 17
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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If the Green Bay Packers are your primary entertainment source anywhere from 16 to 20 times a year, give or take, and now the Sunday option is the equivalent of Bernie Madoff vs. Heath Ledger's Joker, how are you going to reconcile that? You do have options, you know. The Root Canal Channel is having a Novocain-free extraction marathon. And over on the Style network, slobs who refused to clean their house for years are having it done for them while their laziness is being rewarded with new furniture and a big honkin' TV. You also could look at it this way: Either the Minnesota Vikings or the Dallas Cowboys are going away for five months. Since that also means the Vikings or the Cowboys are ..."
January 16
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Arizona Cardinals defensive end Bertrand Berry was fined $5,000 by the National Football League for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers in overtime Sunday, a play that did not draw a flag during the Packers' wild-card loss. It happened on the Packers' second play from scrimmage in OT, when guard Daryn Colledge was flagged for a hold. If Berry were penalized during the game, the second-and-10 play would have been replayed because of off-setting penalties."
January 15
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The Green Bay Packers brought in some competition for punter Jeremy Kapinos Thursday, signing former University of Kentucky punter and kickoff specialist Tim Masthay. A first-team All-SEC selection in 2008, Masthay was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent last year and was released in mid-August. He worked out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Josh Bidwell was injured, but he was not signed. He has not punted in a regular-season game."
January 15
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Before the Green Bay Packers can start riding a wave of optimism into the 2010 season, they may have to navigate some rough waters this off-season. There is uneasiness everywhere in the NFL due to an impending end to the salary cap and a significant change in the rules of free agency. In Green Bay, it is pronounced because of the large number of players whose contracts expire, and it threatens to ruffle the transition into next season. "There is uncertainty there, and that makes personnel decisions even harder," coach Mike McCarthy said in his season-ending news conference. "So we'll just continue to work through it and obviously always make the best decisions in the best interests of our ..."
January 14
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The final play of the Green Bay Packers' 51-45 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals brought coach Mike McCarthy to his knees, literally. But aside from a couple of shots that quarterback Aaron Rodgers took earlier in the game, McCarthy said it was not the officiating that dropped him to the University of Phoenix Stadium turf as the game ended. He dismissed the notion that the Packers got robbed because cornerback Michael Adams had a hand on Rodgers' facemask as he knocked the ball free, causing a fumble and allowing linebacker Karlos Dansby to return it 17 yards for the winning touchdown. "I think anytime you're sitting around waiting on calls to win football games, you're in a mode of ..."