Weekly Packers news with a bonus rant, from Al Bracco and Holly Phelps. (As heard on Cheesehead Radio. 7/29/10 )
Al: The Packers made continued progress in the area of player signings this week. With Mike Neal agreeing to a 4-year contract and Atari Bigby finally signing his tender offer, the Packers are only a Bryan Bulaga signature away from having every player ready for camp. Bulaga has indicated that he plans to be in camp on time, but then again, so did BJ Raji last year. This one feels different, however. Bulaga was not as high a pick as Raji was and Dez Bryant, the player selected right after Bulaga is under contract, so there’s little else to wait for. All the pieces are in place and I believe as soon as the Packers put this shareholders meeting day behind them, Bulaga will be signed on Friday or Saturday. That would be like going back in time – first day of training camp and nobody’s holding out.
{Holly: It’s been fun to watch the guys check in on Twitter — like roll call. “Present!”}
Holly: Speaking of attendance, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell joined 10,000 packers shareholders today for the Green Bay Packers annual shareholders meeting at Lambeau Field. Goodell took fan questions and talked about wanting a new CBA that is fair for everyone and a system where every team can compete. He also talked about players wearing more equipment, not less, and mentioned that 2012 would be the earliest the league would move to an 18 game schedule. Stopping unruly fan behavior is also a concern. There were also some odd, though perhaps not “unruly” requests. One female fan asked for a hug, which Goodell agreed to. Another asked the burning question of the day – brats or burgers? Goodell neither hemmed nor hawed. “Brats, with a few beers as well.”
{Al: Wow – Hugs, Brats and beers – everything a commissioner could want}
Al: Bill Huber of the Packer Report concluded his rankings of every Packers player in order of importance. While numbers 1-3 were easy, (Rodgers, Woodson and Matthews), Huber pulled what I would consider a major surprise by listing Al Harris as number 4, followed by Greg Jennings. Huber points out how the Packers secondary struggled mightily after Harris went down. While nobody can dispute that, it sure didn’t help that Will Blackmon and Pat Lee were also out for the season, forcing Jarret Bush, Josh Bell and rookie Brandon Underwood to play important roles. While I have a great appreciation for Mr. Harris and his dedication to the Packers, I can’t put him ahead of Nick Collins, Cullen Jenkins and possibly even Jermichael Finley.
{Holly: Maybe, but I’d love to see Al spend the season proving you wrong, Al.}
Holly: This week, Aaron Rodgers gave fans a glimpse at what’s on his mind as he prepares for the upcoming season. Rodgers was quoted as saying, “The important thing for us going into the season is going to be, let’s get five guys in place up front who we feel good about, and let’s get five guys behind them we feel good about as well. We have the opportunity to not have a lot of shuffling.” Rodgers, of course, was talking about the Packers offensive line. He wants stability, and McCarthy has indicated that it will be a point of emphasis in camp. And, among Packer fans, there was much rejoicing…
{Al; You’re so right Holly, I say keep 10 linemen, put the best two at each spot, and off we go…}
Al: Packers Running backs coach Edgar Bennett had some interesting comments about what he considers the most important responsibilities of his running backs. “Ball security and protecting the quarterback, those are priority 1 and 2, said Bennett, those two areas equate to wins and losses in the NFL.” Bennett was then asked, “That’s more important than running the ball productively?” Bennett replied, “Running the football, certainly (it’s important). But as far as our mindset, we want to make sure we keep our quarterback standing upright and when we get the football, we protect the football.” Well pretty obvious now why the Packers are so enamored with Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson.
{Holly: I was pretty enamored with Edgar Bennett when he was a player. He’s done well with Grant and Jackson.}
News from the Packers Twitterverse…
Al: Twitter followers of Packer rookie Mike Neal found out before anyone else that he had agreed to terms to the Packers. Neal hinted at the impending signing in a tweet to fellow rookie Bryan Bulaga, telling him, “You’re up soon, big guy.” Bulaga asked if the deal was done and Neal replied, “let you know in about 2 hours.” Sure enough, a bit later, Neal told the twitter world he was officially a Green Bay Packer. See that, twitter actually can be useful…
{Holly: Quicker than SportsCenter and straight from the source, I like it.}
Holly: Along with breaking news, Twitter has become the place for breaking controversy. This week’s debate has centered on Rookie Hazing after Cowboys rookie Dez Bryant refused to carry Roy Williams’ pads to practice. Several Packer players weighed in on the discussion, including Aaron Rodgers. QB1 said that rookies need to show respect to the older guys who’ve been in the league a while. He added that while no one in Green Bay would get taped to a goalpost or physically abused in any way, they could expect to help the veterans with errands or tasks. The Packers rookies were listening. Mike Neal responded with a swift “Yessir.” Bryan Bulaga? He said, “It’s all in good intentions and team bonding type things. Every rookie has to endure it. It’s harmless.”
{AL: Glad to see the Packers rookies get it, Holly.}
Al: And finally, Nick Barnett, the king of all Packers players on twitter, expressed his excitement for the upcoming season as only Mr. Barnett can. To no one in particular, in a totally random sort of way, Barnett tweeted, “I think I just got a boner thinking about the season!” Well Nick, the hosts here at Cheesehead Radio, with the noted exception of the lovely Holly Phelps, know exactly how you feel…
{Holly: His tweets are priceless.}
That folks, was the Packers Tweet of the Week….
Extra Bonus: Cheesehead Radio Rant of the Week, by Jersey Al Bracco
I’m here to talk today about a Packers player who has been getting a lot of attention lately. No, not Aaron Rodgers, I’m talking about Jermichael Finley. He’s been easy to find lately, appearing on ESPN’s First Take, and on the Green and Gold radio show with Jason Wilde. Seems he’s made top 5 on everyone’s Fantasy football rating, he has been called a breakout star, and he’s been applauded everywhere for some new-found maturity. We’ll as Meatloaf once sang, two out of three ain’t bad.
It seems that despite what Packers coaches are saying about his improved maturity around the team, JerMichael still doesn’t know what it takes to be a stand-up guy with Packer fans. He loves tweeting about his pedicures, his workouts and his great wife. He also likes to say how great Packers fans are, but when it comes to keeping promises to those fans, he falls flat on his face.
Over 3 months ago, Finley was working on increasing his twitter followers. He put out a couple of trivia questionson twitter and promised prizes for the first person with the right answer. Two lucky people answered the questions correctly. One was promised a jersey, the other game-worn gloves. To this day, neither has received his prize and their repeated attempts to collect their prizes are now getting the cold shoulder from Finley.
In the interest of fairness, Finley did initially appear to have good intentions. He followed both winners on twitter so they could direct message him their addresses. But that’s as far as it got. In at least one case, Finley claimed to have lost the address. Then he suggested contacting his agent. That went nowhere and repeated messages to Finley are now being completely ignored.
Now I know this wasn’t an official contest with official rules, but in my book, if you’re a stand-up guy and make a promise like this, you keep it.
I really want to give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe there’s a good reason why you haven’t sent the items. Maybe you don’t have them handy and are waiting for camp to start to get them. Maybe your agent is at fault. I am willing to believe whatever your excuse is, if you would at least let these guys know.
You’re still following both of them, so you have their twitter name. Instead of tweeting some nonsense today, type a few words to these guys. Let them know why you haven’t or can’t keep your promise. To just leave them hanging like that is just plain immature. It would take minimal effort for fix this. JerMichael, you need to man up and do the right thing.
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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.
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Very interesting points you have observed , regards for putting up. “Whatever one man is capable of conceiving, other men will be able to achieve.” by Jules Verne.