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Desmond Bishop is now a former member of the Green Bay Packers

The first signs of trouble emerged last week and now the Green Bay Packers have made it official.

The Packers today announced that they have released LB Desmond Bishop roughly a week after speculation began about his future with the team.   Bishop missed all of the 2012 season with a torn hamstring and many have speculated that this is the reason behind his release.  Bishop for his part, however, has insisted that he was healthy.

With Bishop’s departure, this leaves linebackers A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones as the likely starters at inside linebacker in Green Bay’s base 3-4 defense.  A healthy Bishop was anticipated to help a Packers defense that struggled at times last year and was thought to be the best inside linebacker on the team.

Bishop was a sixth round draft pick of the Packers in the 2007 NFL Draft.  He enjoyed several successful preseason games before finally getting his chance as a full-time starter when Nick Barnett went down with injury during the 2010 season.  Bishop’s play exceeded all expectations that year and became a fan favorite over the next several seasons.

He finishes his Packers career with 310 tackles  (224 solo), nine sacks, seven forced fumbles, an interception and 13 passes deflected.

Green Bay meanwhile frees up approximately $3.46 million in cap room as a result of releasing Bishop.  Bishop is not subject to waivers since he has been in the league for more than four years and immediately becomes an unrestricted free agent.  Read more... (329 words + 1 image, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football

Profootballtalk.com asked fans to vote on their Packers Mt. Rushmore this week and it created some interesting debate on Twitter and talk radio.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept, the Packers Mt. Rushmore needs to consist of four people. It can be players, coaches, executives or whomever that you feel is one of the four most important people in Packers history.

This is a tough one. If there was an actual Packers Mt. Rushmore, it would need to go on the side of a very large mountain because four people is much too small.

As much as I love guys like Ron Wolf and Bob Harlan and acknowledge that the Packers might not be around without folks like them, I don’t know if I can put executives on a Mt. Rushmore. Isn’t putting executives on a Packers Mt. Rushmore kind of like putting Abe Lincoln’s chief of staff on the actual Mt. Rushmore instead of Abe Lincoln himself?

I’m also not sure coaches belong on a Mt. Rushmore. But that means leaving off Vince Lombardi and Curly Lambeau, which is just asinine.

If I knew that people wouldn’t burn down my house for leaving Lombardi and Lambeau off, I’d probably put Don Hutson, Bart Starr, Reggie White and Brett Favre on my Packers Mt. Rushmore. When the people arrived with torches and pitchforks to take care of me after leaving off Lombardi and Lambeau, I’d remove Hutson and White for the two legendary coaches.  Read more... (758 words + 1 image, estimated 3:02 mins reading time)

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Selected by the Packers in the fourth round of last April’s draft, UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin is the subject of a UCLA video series that will document his transition from college player to professional athlete with the Green Bay Packers. Below is the first installment, Page One.

Franklin also happens to be our special guest on this week’s All Packers Talk Live show. Tune in Thursday night, 8:30PM Central, to hear Jason, Marques and Kris break down the latest Packers news and speak with Johnathan on a variety of topics.

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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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Packers Super Bowl Champion William Henderson

William Henderson, if you didn’t know, is an all-out passionate guy. This was never more clearer than during this interview with our own Jason Perone and Marques Eversoll. Asked about a wide range of questions, Henderson attacked them like an inside linebacker he was trying to clear out of a hole.

Since retiring from football, Henderson has remained in Wisconsin and has turned his enthusiasm to supporting local causes. He latest is the Wisconsin Kiwanis Clubs’ Autism Project. The project aims to buy 1000 ipads for Autistic Children in Wisconsin.

Henderson is helping fund-raise through his Sweet Frog Yogurt shops and by acting as the primary host for “The Ultimate Packer Fan Connection,” taking place on June 15th at the Stadium View Bar. Henderson as well as other former and current Packers will be there to sign autographs and meet fans.

In this interview, Henderson talks about these projects and then takes us back to the Brett Favre / Reggie White Packers with some insights you haven’t heard elsewhere.

Henderson breaks down the current Packers an then tells us…

…what he thinks was Ted Thompson’s biggest mistake.

You don’t want to miss this…

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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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Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football

Sometimes I wonder why Packers players and other professional athletes bother speaking with the media. If it wasn’t mandated by the league, would the incentive to speak to the press be enough to entice players to do it?

In years past, the answer would be yes. These days? I’m not so sure.

Interaction between the media and players is a big reason why sports have exploded in popularity. The media is supposed to be an extension of the fans. By speaking to the press, you’re essentially speaking to the fans. Sports wouldn’t rank as high on America’s cultural landscape without athletes like Joe Namath, Charles Barkley, Pete Rose and Wayne Gretzky being not only great players, but larger-than-life people and ambassadors for their respective sports through interactions with the media.

In other words, athletes used to need the media. Media exposure is a big reason why professional sports is now a multibillion dollar business and many athletes are multimillionaires.

These days, it seems like it’s the other way around. It’s media outlets that need the athletes.

For the purpose of this piece, I’m going to pick on the radio show Green and Gold Today. Before I do, I want to make clear that I listen to G&G Today daily and love it. I trust Jason Wilde on the Packers more than any other reporter and Bill Johnson is the rare combination of over-the-top, yet insightful.  Read more... (1225 words + 1 image, estimated 4:54 mins reading time)

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Jennings says there is no love lost between he and the Packers

Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings played his first seven seasons for the Packers and was an integral part of the team’s rise to their latest Super Bowl championship in 2011.  After the 2012 season, Jennings became an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

Packers General Manager Ted Thompson had to consider that Jennings will turn 30 this season, which is an unspoken benchmark for a skill player’s abilities to begin to erode.  In 2012, Jennings missed half of the season with a core injury that required surgery and extensive rehab.  Legitimately, there were questions as to what Jennings’ value and contributions would be over the next five seasons or so.

Thompson decided that his biggest priority was to work on extending the contracts of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and linebacker Clay Matthews and offered Jennings considerably less than Jennings was seeking.   It’s hard to argue that decision and the long-term contributions that both Rodgers and Matthews, if healthy, can provide the team.  It seemed all but certain that Jennings would be leaving to play elsewhere.  When free agency started, Jennings had stated that he was looking for a long-term deal in the neighborhood of $5-$7 million per year.  He received little interest and there was a real possibility that the Packers would end up being his only and best option.  The Vikings then swooped in and gave Jennings a fiver year deal worth $45 million and just over $17 million guaranteed.  Read more... (1328 words + 3 images, estimated 5:19 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football

I had an idea for a new Packers offseason gameshow while driving home from work today.

The first nine years of my adult life I had a job where I took a city bus to work. It was nice to not burn gas and spend half my salary on parking, but I always had to stay alert so I wouldn’t get stabbed. There are some, ahem, interesting people that rode the city bus on my route.

Now I have a job where I drive 30 minutes to work, in my own car. Yes, I’m burning gas (free parking, thankfully), but I don’t have to worry about getting stabbed. This frees up my brain and allows me to think of all kinds of silly things, like my idea for a Packers offseason gameshow.

I’ve already filmed the pilot episode, and am ready to share the transcript with all of you today. I brought back the ghost of Richard Dawson to host my show, mainly because I crack up whenever I see old Family Feud episodes when Dawson tries to make out with all the female contestants.

The name of the show is Will Johnny Jolly Play for the Packers Before…

Enjoy.

Richard Dawson: Welcome ladies and gentlemen to everyone’s favorite new favorite game show! The object of the game is to guess if Johnny Jolly will play a regular season snap for the Packers before another player currently on the Packers roster. It sounds confusing, but it’s not.  Read more... (1508 words + 1 image, estimated 6:02 mins reading time)

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