Brett Favre to Play Last Game in Wisconsin
According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky Brett Favre will be playing one last game in Wisconsin.
The day after the former Packers great is inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame this summer, he will take part in an all-star flag football game.
The event is run by Gameday Entertainment and will be held in Camp Randall Stadium in Madison,WI home to the University of Wisconsin Badgers football team.
The event will be held on July 19 and will pit himself and several of his former Packers teammates vs. an all-star team comprised of former NFL opponents.
Favre will have his number officially retired at Lambeau Field the previous day. He will be honored with his name and #4 unveiled on the stadium’s south end zone along with other Packers greats who have been so honored at a ceremony during the Packers – Bears game on Thanksgiving Night November 26.
If that doesn’t sound like fun I don’t know what does.
Final Thoughts on Packers Draft
This draft while lacking star-power was exactly what the Green Bay Packers needed.
Teams near the bottom of the league with little or no chance to reach the playoffs, much less the Super Bowl, draft for need and reach for players who might give them instant gratification, but little in the way of long-term solutions. A prime example is the New York Jets who schedule an annual pilgrimage to Quarterback-land. They choose players to make headlines and then when they throw that young, inexperienced player to the proverbial wolves, and he fails, they go back and repeat the same mistakes the following year. And the year after that.
Ditto for the Chicago Bears. It seems that their whole roster was up for trade during the past draft. Again for instant gratification.
A Simple Formula for Success
Not so for the Green Bay Packers. General Manager Ted Thompson is secure in his job and knows he has a potential Super Bowl 50 winner. He doesn’t need to reach. He doesn’t need to plug holes in desperation mode. He doesn’t need big-name college players to sooth the masses. With the possible exception of a cornerback and inside linebacker, his starting roster is set as are a majority of the primary backups.
What Thompson needs now are complementary players who will add to special-teams success, back-up starters when injury bugs hit and students to learn their positions. Their job is to be ready to contribute wherever needed and push the starters. Perhaps a few will surprise and become starters.
As role players expect a full measure of contributions from this year’s draft class. Damarious Randall and Quintin Rollins will play meaningful downs on defensive sub-packages. Ty Montgomery will finally give the kick and punt return game some juice from day-one. Jake Ryan will probably start at inside linebacker. Five of the six athletes will be primary special-teams players.
This draft class will be looked at to be starters in year two, three or even four. A prime example is FB Aaron Ripkowski who next year can take over as a starter for John Kuhn and Brett Hundley who will ultimately become the primary backup to Aaron Rodgers. But not this year.
In the meantime they add depth and become affordable pieces to a Packers team which seems primed to contend as Super Bowl 50 Champions.
Rating the Packers Draft
Those of you who have been awaiting ALLGBP.com’s rating of the Packers draft I finally am able to satisfy your curiosity.
After thorough and painstaking analysis my 2015 Packers draft rating is……….(drum roll)………….’I’ for incomplete. Check back in two years and I will have better information and in three years for the final grade.
NOTE ADDED: Should I be pressed to grade this draft today as many of you have rightfully challenged me to do, it would be a solid B+.
The role players (this year) they drafted will add depth and upgrade the sorry special teams. One or two may actually crack the starting line-up which isn’t bad.
The only reason it isn’t an “A” is that there isn’t a definitive starter at the mike-lineback spot and we have to hope for Ryan to emerge quickly.
Rookie Orientation and Tryout Camp Scheduled
All drafted rookies along with undrafted signees and camp tryout players will have a weekend orientation beginning today Friday, May 8 and ending on Saturday, May 9.
This is a special event for the tryout players as this might be their best and only chance to extend their dreams of playing professional football. A few, probably very few, will be signed and invited back for mini-camp. The remainder will be told that they are no longer needed. For those that remain however, there is a real chance for them to stick. Each year players defy the odds and end up making the Packers roster or are later added to the Practice Squad.
Training Camp Schedule Announced
Per the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Green Bay Packers announced Monday which organized team activity (OTA) and mini-camp practices would be open to the media and public.
Here is the schedule as announced.
Rookie orientation and tryouts: As previously mentioned the rookie orientation camp will be held this upcoming Friday and Saturday.
OTA’s: Thursday May 28, Tuesday June 2, Wednesday June 10 (all at 11:30 a.m., Clarke Hinkle Field)
Mandatory Minicamp: Tuesday June 16 through Thursday June 18 (at Clarke Hinkle Field, specific times to be announced later)
Training Camp: players will report to training camp on July 29 with the first practice set for July 30.
——————Jeff Albrecht grew up just north of Green Bay and was lucky enough to attend some of the Lombardi Era classic games, like the 1962 championship and the Ice Bowl. Jeff went on to play HS football in the Green Bay area and College ball at UW - Stevens Point. Jeff is retired but still does some writing for his local paper. Jeff is a writer with AllGreenBayPackers.com and you can follow him on twitter at @pointerjeff .
——————
Even though I have graded drafts in the past, I’ve always been a believer that it’s not fair to grade them before the third season.
And, since the word “draft” appeared in this article, I’m sure there will be many comments and opinions, and I do enjoy reading good debates, so keep up with the interesting comments. But, let’s keep the debates civil and on point. I swear, God could appear to Ted Thompson and give him a list of players to select to complete the perfect draft, and people will still complain.
That’s because TT would keep the contents of God’s draft big board a secret, so we would not know if he followed it devoutly. Come to think of it, TT probably should keep it secret, since the Jets and other teams probably will give up on someone too soon, and we can nab that guy later. TT might have some difficulty proving the provenance. What I learned in my 8 years of parochial school seems to suggest God’s actions usually are in the realm of articles of faith. Come to think of it, TT probably wouldn’t tell us he received it from God in the first place. Might not be perceived as being PC.
Yup, sounds like it would be business as usual. Kiper would probably give God’s draft a C-.
lol. awesome
YOU SAID DRAFT GRADING??? grumble grumble, faux-anger, name-calling 😉
Yes, the headline did promise , “Plus Packers Final Draft Grade.” A writer’s trick, a tease, done to hook readers into reading the complete article. Remember the old adage, “Fool me once, shame on you . . . etc.”? I won’t read this guy again.
BTW, an “incomplete” is not a “final” grade.
Who cares. It was a good article.
I think that he has a higher standard for what “good” is and a lower tolerance for trickery. Personally, I found this to be just another empty “fluff” piece. In other words, a typical article for AllGBP.com.
What about grading the 2012 or 2013 drafts? I think we have enough data by now to evaluate those ones.
I only did the 2011 class because it was 3 years removed at the time.
https://allgbp.com/2014/11/05/revisiting-and-regrading-the-packers-2011-draft/
Thanks!
Ummm, so after the fact you are going to tell us how they turned out? Don’t bother. I think we will all have it figured out by then. I suppose you are going to use your sharp football acumen and tell us who the best team in the NFL is this year – the day after the Superbowl.
I hope you’ve never read a retro-draft-grade article in your life, then. I’d hate for you to support such silly post-analysis.
I will save Jay the trouble:
Sherrod was a bust due to injury
Cobb was a great pick
Alex Green was not a good pick
Davon House was good
DJ Williams was marginal
Missed on Elmore, guy, ryan taylor and Caleb
DJ smith looked promising till injured
Is any of that stuff even a casual fan doesn’t realize?
Personally I want to read information and hear educated opinions on the Packers. Not, after it is obvious, I will tell you what you should already have observed.
And if you tell me that you can never tell how a player will turn out, I would believe it is all random success if NFL teams did not hire scouts. Or better yet, there was no draft and players were just assigned to teams. hey, why not? If there is no way to predict the success of a player.
Al – can we make a “don’t be a jerk!” rule? PLEASE?
What would your criteria be that constitutes ‘ being a jerk’ ?
Simple disagreement with content or lack of as to topic.
Voicing an opinion not pre-approved.
Going against the ‘clique’.
Standing one’s ground on a view even ‘if’ neither side can be proved right or wrong.
If anyone simply types ‘you’re a jerk’ thus that person is a jerk.
What’s the punishment for being a jerk.
What if one person calls another person a jerk…are the rest of the participants in the conversation forced to endure a ‘jerk-off’ or does the jerk-off judge only get to render a verdict of jerk-off-ery.
Surely this has qualified as jerk-ockery so…
Allow me to volunteer to be the first named jerk to establish the new ‘jerk-off’ rule…I await the pounding of the gavel. 🙂
“But I know it when I see it….” Potter Stewart on obscenity law.
One set of eyes doesn’t make a rating for all nor should it….; beauty…trash…success.
What I or anybody see always has a self imposed distortion to help my or anybody’s vision more true…..Taryn Miller on individual vision. 🙂
Ah, I just thought Potter’s quote was mildly humorous. Maybe I’ll post some suggestions on civility.
No. You are being sarcastic and you don’t back down when someone disagrees with you. But only once have I ever seen you cross the line from talking about an issue to talking about a person.
I don’t take issue with your opinions. Or Archie’s. Or Big Ts. Or Dobbers. etc.. I take issue when things are said along the lines of Dan’s mocking (and personal) tone referring to Jeff’s article. While IMO Jeff has written more informative things before, this wasn’t (again IMO) schlock either. And even if it was, there’s no need to say it publicly. What’s going to be accomplished from that? In general, if you want to express yourself something, going right to the nuclear button shouldn’t be the first step. Why would Jeff ever listen to Dan again after that needless slam? I know I wouldn’t it I were the one writing.
Thus, the definition of “being a jerk” on a football blog is “Derogatory or condescending personal insults which are irrelevant and not helpful dialogue in the topic at hand.”
There: I just gave you a thorough example of how (and how not to “Be A Jerk.” 🙂
If the author baits its readers to his article with false premise than the author should know and accept,likely does,that readers may post comments showing their disapproval one way or another,and likewise,the author can retort or ignore those comments,likely a premeditated avenue and allow others to argue/defend and imply the label ‘jerk’ at will…;as you did.
I cannot grasp why those who comment find it a necessary to defend he or she who opened the can of worms or the proverbial door to ridicule when they knew it would create the stir.
You have offered much and I’m sure you will continue with a high level of knowledge but you’re incessant need to tell others how much or when they should be outraged,regardless of the level you place on it as a warranted action is ridiculous…..
“going to use your sharp football acumen and tell us who the best team in the NFL is this year – the day after the Superbowl.”…this is the personal outrageous attack that’s needing defending for the author….please say it isn’t so!
I’m sure Jersey Al would put down the hammer on anything getting to certain levels.
Speak your mind,without vulgarity and allow others to feel cheated as to content if they feel such.
We will have to once again agree to disagree Taryn. You can draw your line in the sand where you like, and I will continue to do as I see fit.
The general thought is that If you paid for this content, then feel free to let the authors know about your displeasure at the quality of the content. They can fix the content, or lose business. Their choice.
But if you are getting the content for free (as we all are), then the best way to improve the content is to start writing yourself, or to make a kind and private suggestion to the author about the wholesale changes you’d like to see to better the site. I repeat again – hitting the nuclear button publicly is rude and counterproductive.
If these authors have hope to become paid writers for their content I wish them luck and a speedy path but they should also take the opportunity being given to them via these free sites to hone their skills and take serious note of what may make or break the pending possible career.It’s on them to handle what comes from their readers as the writer…free or not. Moving on. 🙂
We also get to read these articles, which a person puts a lot of time and effort into, for free. You could read and silently disagree, or leave a brief comment. Prolonged diatribes that aim towards negativity, often produce negativity. If you don’t like the reactions you get from others, change your approach.
As a wise man once told me:
“You can say anything you want. It’s just a matter of HOW you say it.”
“You can interpret anything you want.It’s just a matter of HOW you interpret it.”
Now what?
Not sure what you were trying to change with that statement… Interpretation is great for things like data, poetry, music, art, and dance.
But interpretation has no place in reasoned discourse. If you are making an argument for some position, then you’d better be as clear as possible in your statements. Leaving room for multiple interpretations is not a successful way to make a case. In fact, the least room you can give for interpretation outside your intended meaning, the better.
This is even more emphasized when discussions take place through writing, where vocal inflections can’t help to convey meaning. If you’re writing something that can come off as inflammatory or degrading, and you’re not intending to be, then you should work to correct that.
Besides, it’s pretty clear when someone is just being a douchebag.
“I suppose you are going to use your sharp football acumen and tell us who the best team in the NFL is this year – the day after the Superbowl.”
This is a pretty good example of a “jerk” statement.
Clear sarcasm with the “sharp football acument” line, and a noticeably degrading finish with the statement: “the day after the Superbowl.” (Although, I would have at least spelled Super Bowl properly if I was trying to put down someone else.)
Here’s an alternative way to get across the post, minus the jerk attitude:
—
Jeff, I think you should give us a grade now based on what you project for these players. After all, it’s more fun to speculate and your analysis will be more intriguing, because in three years, we’ll all have a pretty good idea of how the players turned out anyway.
boom goes the dynamite
Just as a note aimed at no one in particular, within the last few weeks Jersey Al wrote an article with a headline that did not match the content. I remember Jersey Al acknowledging same in the comments. IIRC, the headline suggested that Jersey Al’s point was X and in the content his point turned out to be the opposite. Since I read all the articles, it doesn’t matter to me how the headline reads.
Kinda hoped someone would reply to my separate post and add to my list of things that annoy me or that are essentially not civil. Oh well.
I agreed with you reynoldo – and didn’t have anything intelligent to add. You made your point well.
Wow, Did I generate some posts!
Perhaps I should have been more tactful. If Jeff is indeed looking to make a career out of this, he needs encouragement. He actually needs advice – which I provided – although clouded with sarcasm. But I provided him with more than most of you who merely are blowing smoke.
I think the silliest comment in all of sports writing is this notion that you can’t judge a draft for 3 years. This comment is made, mind you, by many ‘analysts’ and authors who generate 100s of articles analyzing the potential draft picks’ pros and cons. Suddenly the draft is over and they have no idea if the players picked are any good.
Will every pick hit? No. Of course. There is risk vrs reward for every pick. It understanding that and looking at the value of each pick that is what GMs do and what analysts should consider.
Anyway, don’t worry, doubt I will be here again. If I am, I will try to be a bit more tactful. Hate to offend anyone.
PS: Taryn – you are an excellent writer, I enjoyed your responses. Professional writer?
lol 😉
Just go out on a limb and grade it… you can always say you were wrong. Everything I have seen on grading gives the Packers a “C” on the draft. I believe it could go anywhere from a “C-” to a “B-“. The fact that TT trained his chimp to throw darts is impressive all by itself.
Regarding BF’s flag football game at Camp Randall: The event should be held in Lambeau. That’s where Favre played. Not in Madison. I think Favre was 90% at fault for the summer of 2008, and I will forever despise his actions in 2009/2010 in particular. Great Packer in his day. But it was time. TT was right in his action to move on to ARod.
But the word is the Packers management is “worried about the turf” FROM A FLAG FOOTBALL GAME??? WTH? This is petty and stupid. The turf isn’t going to be “damaged” by a bunch of former players running around in sneakers for 2 hours one day in July.
Dumb move Murphy. You should fix this.
Pretty sure Brett is worried about being booed by the Green Bay fans. Madison is more liberal and forgiving. Also, what if Brett throws 6 plus int’s in his final game at Lambeau? I think it’s highly possible it could happen and I am sure Brett doesn’t want that last game to be a bad one.Ted
Nah. BF isn’t a top 32 QB in the world either, but I’d take him on my recreational flag football team any day. 🙂
And anyone who boos a guy in a flag football game…. just needs to check themselves. haha.
A note on civility. First, the commenters (and the authors) are pretty good about being civil on this cite. If others post more below on what bugs them, I will read them and try to abide by those suggestions. Here’s a couple of things/phrases that bug me:
You’re delusional. [Adds nothing. Nicer at least than saying you’re stupid.]
Did you even watch the game? [Means; opinion based on total lack of info or worse, a total lack of understanding.]
Anything that suggests another person’s opinion is of no intrinsic value. [Intrinsic is the key word here. Clearly you can disagree with another, but it is best to keep the reasons for your disagreement relevant to the specific issue.]
Argument for the sake of argument, even after you’ve lost. [Don’t be so defensive about your own comments. SchenyShen yesterday absolutely demolished one of my comments by citing facts and counter-examples. I wrote back mea culpa – though I couldn’t help myself but tried to explain why I wrote what I wrote! But my post began and ended with mea culpa.]
Some people like to repeatedly bring up the fact that we at ALLGBP aren’t paid journalists. That’s true, we’re not. We’re fans who like the Packers and like talking about the Packers. This is a fan site, and we’re proud of it. We like interacting with our readers.
But, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you want to read paid journalists, go read Demovsky and Hodkiewicz. They are among the best covering the Packers on the beat. However, you’ll just get facts and news bits, because that’s what they do–report facts and breaking stories. If they go too off tangent with strong opinions, they’re not sticking to their jobs as beat reporters. Also, they don’t spend too much time having a civilized debate with readers over the content of articles.
At ALLGBP, we can voice our opinions as fans. We’re not on the beat, so we can say what we really feel. We can report facts and still apply our interpretation to them. As readers, you’re free to agree or disagree with that, and that’s what makes this site great. But keep in mind that we’re fans first and writers second, and some of us have no intention of ever becoming a paid journalist.
Bingo.
Fans first and authors second. allgpb is IMO the best OpEd GBP site on the web.
Jeff – I’ll add to your point: have you ever looked at the comments below stories on jsonline? You might as well be sifting through a sewer for gold nuggets. Complete waste of time – either because there are so many uninformed fans out there (very rarely an issue here), or because they lack common sense and have facebook balls. I personally try (admittedly not always successfully) never to say anything online or to a friend that I wouldn’t say to that person’s face. IMO good rule to live by.
I’m glad you like our work here. Keep coming back and also leaving your thoughtful comments and insights.
If the writing is good, I couldn’t care less whether the author is honing his craft in the hope of becoming a paid writer or not. Furthermore, I think it is an advantage that some or perhaps most of the authors on this site aren’t trying to be paid sportswriters. This makes it easier for allgbp authors to say what they mean, and mean what they say. I was just on another site where the author mentioned that a player who is no longer a packer had a terrible attitude about practice, and missed a lot of his assignments, etc. Despite reading his tweets from practice last year, I had no inkling of these problems. (I didn’t read every single tweet, so maybe I missed the one or ones that mentioned such problems, but I suspect that that author wanted to maintain access to the players and coaches, so one tends to get less pointed criticism of players and coaches from the paid media.) I agree with Jay on the bear reporters, but some of the columnists pull their punches too, at least in my opinion. Actually, I don’t think folks bring up that allgbp authors are not paid – once in a while, I suppose.
Now that Brett is coming back to GB, will he take his locker home with him this time.
I’m just about as excited with the UDFA’s as I am with the draft picks. I give them a C- grade.