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Have Packer fans seen the last of Driver's trademark smile?

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver learned a brutal lesson last week on the power of social media.

Driver, whose place on the Packers’ 2012 roster is most certainly up in the air, sent out the following message on Twitter this past Thursday:

“Hello everyone: I’m a packer for life. It will never change. Go Pack Go!!!!”

With that comment, Packer Nation immediately awoke from its post-draft slumber. Had the Packers decided to hang onto one of the most beloved players in franchise history or was this a way for Driver to cryptically inform Cheeseheads all over the world that his time in green and gold was indeed up?

Even after clarifications issued by Driver and his agent, Jordon Woy, it’s currently the hot topic around the water cooler for Packer fans everywhere. Some see things through the eyes of GM Ted Thompson and say that while they will always love Driver, the Packers are so deep at the wide receiver position that Driver has to be a casualty to keep players like Tori Gurley on the roster.  Read more... (1009 words + 1 image, estimated 4:02 mins reading time)

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Kris with Tom Crabtree

Tom Crabtree stood on stage and told all of us he hoped never to see us again.

No, the Green Bay Packers tight end didn’t go all “Jay Cutler emo” on us.  What he meant was that he didn’t want to see us at the 2013 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Walk to Cure Diabetes because he wanted a cure to be found by then and therefore nullifying the need for a walk.   People in attendance, including yours truly, applauded.

That’s why we were there. We weren’t there to talk football (although I sheepishly admit I asked a few football questions), we were there to spend time together and hear stories of people’s heroic battles against Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) of which there obviously is no known cure.

This cause means a great deal to Crabtree personally.  His wife Chelsea was diagnosed with T1D when she was four years old. He lives the disease every single day of his life, and so do many others.  More than 80 people are diagnosed with T1 each day and more than 3 million Americans currently have the disease.  Read more... (1012 words + 1 image, estimated 4:03 mins reading time)

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Was Nick Perry a hit or miss with the draftniks?

The first round of the 2012 NFL Draft is history.  As you probably know by now, the Green Bay Packers selected USC DE/OLB Nick Perry with the 28^th overall pick.

If you’ve been surfing the web this morning, you’ve probably read some opinions on the Packers’ selection from members of the Green Bay front office as well as draft “experts” from many media outlets.

If you haven’t read them yet, or you just want to come to one place to see many of them, here they are below.

Packers GM Ted Thompson:

“He played with his hand on the ground, but we’re convinced he’s athletic enough to play standing up and do some of the things we do. He’s a very physical guy.”

“Tremendous physical specimen. He runs a 4.5 or something like that. At the end of the day, thought he’d make a nice addition to our outside linebacking group. Believe he’s athletic enough to stand up. He can rush the passer.”  Read more... (1124 words + 1 image, estimated 4:30 mins reading time)

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2012 Packers First Round Pick DE/OLB Nick Perry and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

Can lightning strike twice?

Packers general manager Ted Thompson hopes so after selecting USC defensive end/outside linebacker Nick Perry with the 28^th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.  For the second time in four years, the Packers used a first round pick on linebacker from Southern California.

The other pick? A certain Clay Matthews III, drafted in 2009.  Three years later, Thompson recognized his defense desperately needed another elite pass rusher to complement the Claymaker and once again took a player from USC.

Matthews has panned out very well for the Packers so far, so what does the future hold for Perry, who spent one season on the same team as Matthews at USC?

Well, to place Matthews-like expectations on Perry would be incredibly unfair.  No one expected the results Matthews produced in 2009 and since he and Perry played for the same college, some fans may be expecting Perry to duplicate Matthews’ rookie season.  Read more... (955 words + 1 image, estimated 3:49 mins reading time)

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Chad Clifton spent 12 seasons in green and gold.

According to a report from Adam Schefter and ESPN.com, the Green Bay Packers are releasing veteran offensive tackle Chad Clifton.

Clifton was drafted by the team in 2000 in the second round out of Tennessee. Clifton was a remarkable player for most of the past 12 seasons, but found his body beginning to betray itself after missing ten games this past season. According to the ESPN report, Clifton was the oldest starting left tackle in the National Football League.

He started 160 of his 165 career games as Packer and was selected to two Pro Bowls. Clifton and Mark Tauscher provided much needed stability to an offensive line that was greatly in flux during the beginning of Mike McCarthy’s time as Packers head coach.

It’s truly an end of an era in Green Bay. Clifton was the last piece standing from the great offensive line the Packers had in the early 2000s. he helped Ahman Green become one of the the best running backs in Packers history and helped transition the team between Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre

Clifton was owed $5.7 million in salary and bonuses this year.  Read more... (318 words + 1 image, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

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"Last Day At Lambeau" premiered on April 18 at the 2012 Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison, WI

It’s been nearly four years, but the memories came rushing back like they were yesterday.

That sums up what was going through my head while viewing “Last Day At Lambeau” at the Wisconsin Film Festival on April 18 at Monona Terrace in Madison. It’s a film I honestly have been looking forward to seeing since the first teaser hit the internet months ago.

To give a brief synopsis of the film, it documents the fall of Brett Favre through the eyes of a Packer fan. Director Michael Neelsen grew up in Wisconsin and was raised a Packer fan and idolized Favre like so many Wisconsin youth at the time. It’s this same personal attachment to Favre that the director had that makes the film so powerful.

The film truly had it all. At the beginning, brief highlights of Favre’s time as a Packer are shown and then the film delves right into Favre’s final game at Lambeau as a member of the Packers—the 2008 NFC Championship Game against the New York Giants.  Read more... (2200 words + 1 image, estimated 8:48 mins reading time)

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Last Day at Lambeau Premieres April 18, 2012, Wisconsin Film Festival

The man’s been retired for over a full year now and yet we can’t stop talking about him.

I speak, of course, of one Brett Lorenzo Favre.  With him finally (hopefully) settled into his post-football life, most would think eventually he’d fade from the spotlight.

That hasn’t been the case.  He was rumored multiple times this past season as a mid-season replacement for an injured starter whether it was in Houston, Kansas City or Miami.  Whether not he is officially on Twitter has even become a hot point for debate.  It seems like there is no escaping Favre even when he isn’t (supposedly) actively seeking the spotlight.

Which brings me to filmmaker Michael Neelsen’s new film “Last Day at Lambeau.”  The film chronicles Favre’s divorce from the Green Bay Packers and its aftermath, and it is currently a topic of discussion amongst Packer fans all over the internet.

Our own Al Bracco received an advance copy of the film and already shared his thoughts.  I have yet to see the film, but I will be attending its ‘world premiere’ this Wednesday at the Wisconsin Film Festival on the UW campus in Madison.  Read more... (1476 words + 1 image, estimated 5:54 mins reading time)

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