My Official Green Bay Packer Blog

In a move that stunned many (except this crack reporter), coach Mike McCarthy announced that Aaron Rodgers will be returning some punts and kickoffs.

“That’s our brand of football” said McCarthy, when asked about the announcement.  “Take Tramon Williams, for example.  He’s become an unbelievably important part of our defense, as evidenced by the enormous payday he just got.   What says ‘We think you’re important’ more than putting him in harm’s way on kicks?  Nothing, really.”

McCarthy cited the same logic when asked why, after looking for a year to find a running game, and finally finding it in James Starks, he put Starks on the field to return kicks.  “Look.  I want our most valuable players at risk every opportunity I can put them there.  What’s hard to understand about that?”

Uh, not hard to understand at all, coach.  Careless, but not hard to understand.*

Technorati Tags: Special Teams Calls For Special Needs Coaches, James Starks, Aaron Rodgers, Tramon Williams

*I’m not sure, but I think Mike McCarthy said none of what I quoted in this post.

You probably heard all about it, right? Aaron Rodgers snubbing a cancer-fighting autograph seeker?

If you watch the video, you know? It kinda looks like it. (see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1bWg6Iaa9A&NR=1)

But hold on now. If you’re a Rodgers apologist? Please press pause. If you’re furious that he didn’t sign something for this cancer patient? You, too. Pipe down for a minute.

If you watch the video, it appears that Clay Matthews knew all about Jan Cavanaugh when he got off the plane, almost like a PR person had prepped him for it. In my head I find myself asking “If Clay Matthews knew all about her, why didn’t Rodgers?” I also find myself thinking Rodgers nearly bumped shoulders with this woman. No way he didn’t see her. And her #12 jersey. And hat. And Sharpie.

But you know? He’s signed things for her before. The week before, even. And then before that. When I was a kid playing organized sports, as a joke some adult asked me for an autograph, and that’s the only experience I’ve ever had with autograph seekers. If I saw the same person, again and again asking for an autograph, would I begin to question if my signature was being used for their personal gain? Yep. Would I feel at least mild irritation? Sure thing. Would I snub that person? If I was having anything but an awesome, sun-shiny day? Yup.

Enter Mike Florio, the high school AV guy of NFL Football. He blasts Rodgers for snubbing Jan.

Hey Mike? The going off half-cocked thing, where you’re pretty much clueless about a given situation but you see a video snippet or hear a sound bite and your mouth hits the keyboard before your brain has a chance to think about wtf it is you’re saying? That’s my job. You’re paid by NBC now, and expected to, you know, do research and stuff. Not go Maury Povich Show when you see something you don’t like. I mean, if looking nerdy while wearing your dad’s suits and opining on things you know nothing about can bring in the big cheese? Sign me up. I don’t do a lick of research. I just talk shit all damn day.

And Mike? If you’d spent a minute inside a Wal*Mart, Shopko or Target in our market, you’d know that pink doesn’t just mean breast cancer. It also means chicks dig football. For every Packer jersey you can buy, you can get it in pink. You can get hats in pink. Pink is just how we bring the fairer of the gender into the football fold around here.

And then I got word that Florio apologized. Which is ok, but jeebus, dude. If you’re gonna rant, hitch up your drawers and ride it out like a man. To do that, make sure you know what you’re talking about before you open your mouth, but then cut to the bone, without apologies. I think you realized Rodgers is gonna be around for awhile and you’d like to get some quotes from him, which is pretty unlikely if you’re a douche. I mean, you can hold a douche like it’s a microphone, but who wants to do that?

Oh. This guy.

So look.  I watch the video, and yeah, it doesn’t look great.  But as Mike Florio said, it’s a tiny slice of life - like the much larger slice Florio took in carving Rodgers.  If I’m Aaron Rodgers, I tell my PR people to go Burt Reynolds (Paul Crewe) on Ray Nitschke (Bogdanski) in The Longest Yard: “Let him through.”

Technorati Tags: Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk, Douche Microphone, Aaron Rodgers, Cancer Patient Gets Snubbed, Clay Matthews Is Nice, I Am Aware Of Breast Cancer

“We know what kind of team we are and we know the brand of football we play, and it’ll be evident out on the field.”* - Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers head coach

Sure Mike.

Like that 3-back set we’ve been seeing so much from McCarthy-coached teams. What’s that? The Philly game was the first time in a decade that we saw the three-back set?**

Or is the Packer brand of football the Jennings Go Long brand? Nah, tried that.  Worked for a little while, but straight go routes get easy to defend, you know?  Jennings had to learn to suck up to bossman less and get open on shorter routes more.

Or maybe the Packer brand is five wideouts, screw the run, let’s see if you have 5 DB’s good enough to cover? Sometimes.

Or could it be that our brand is just a white label version of the Ravens Superbowl identity: don’t let the other team score and play just enough offense to not muck up what the defense is trying to do?

Here’s what I like - now that we have a running game that at least has to be paid more than lip service, these can all be Packer brands of football.  The Packers can knock your dick in the dirt with heavy-handed fullbacks, finesse the gaps with a now-capable running back, play dink-and-dunk with screens, sideliners and between the hashes routes straight down the field, or play the long ball. ***  The only question is whether McCarthy can guess which brand is going to work against each team.  So far he’s guessed right.

Which reminds me - I wonder which guess Lovie’s crew is going to make about which brand of Packer football they’ll be facing?

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, NFC Championship, Devil Without Applause

*Or something like that.  You know he’s said something like that, right?

**By the way, shame on you Post-Crescent and Press-Gazette for not getting a picture of this unicorn of offensive formations - how’s a guy supposed to steal use and attribute photos to you unless you post those pics on your site?

***Chicks dig the long balls.  Seriously.  Melt in your…wait, wrong blog.