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Surviving Sundays With No Packers Football

As I get older, I can’t tell if I’m getting soft, getting smarter, or both.

I was always one of those people who wasn’t bothered by the use of American Indian imagery and slang for team logos and nicknames. I went to school at St. Cloud State University (the Harvard of the Midwest), which was in a hockey conference with the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

The Fighting Sioux nickname has been debated endlessly in North Dakota and Minnesota for years. Some say it’s offensive to American Indians and should be scrapped. Others say it’s honorable and should be kept.

In college, I proudly supported keeping the Fighting Sioux nickname. I was the guy at parties who had one too many Keystone Lights and got into fierce political debates. When someone said that the Fighting Sioux nickname should be changed, I would shout them down while cracking open another can of Keystone.

I’ve grown up a lot since then. Most importantly, I now drink good beer, not Keystone Light. Almost as importantly, I now hate American Indian team logos and nicknames.

The Fighting Sioux nickname is bad enough, but nothing gets me going more than the Washington Redskins.

I mean, seriously. The Redskins?! How is it ok to name your team after an obvious racial slur? The fact that our nation’s capital still refers to its professional football team as the Redskins in the year 2013 makes me embarrassed to be a football fan.  Read more... (938 words + 1 image, estimated 3:45 mins reading time)

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Packers WR Donald Driver is retiring after 14 seasons.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver announced on ESPN Radio Thursday morning that he is retiring after 14 memorable seasons.

The Packers have scheduled an official retirement ceremony for Wednesday, Feb. 6, in the Lambeau Field Atrium. Fans can attend and tickets will be available at the Packers ticket office starting Friday.

Driver is the Packers all-time leader in receptions (743), receiving yards (19,137), 1,000-yard receiving seasons (7), 50-catch seasons (9), consecutive games with a catch (133), receptions at Lambeau Field (363) and receiving yards at Lambeau Field (5,000).

What else is there to say about Driver? He was one of my favorite Packers of all time and will be remembered as one of the greatest Packers ever.

Leave your favorite Driver memories in the comments section and let’s spend today remembering No. 80 for everything he’s done for the Green and Gold.

Adam Czech is a freelance reporter and a Packers fan living in the Twin Cities. Follow Adam on Twitter. Read more of Adam's writing on the Packers here.

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This video shows all of the monuments that comprise the  mile-long walking tour known as the Green Bay Packers “Walk of Legends. A full description of each stop and their location can be found below the video.

On your next trip to Green Bay, be sure to visit the Walk of Legends:

Thirteen monuments are dedicated to Packers Players or coaches:

Vince Lombardi, at Brown County Veterans Arena/Former Packers Hall of Fame Building, 1901 S. Oneida St.

Bart Starr, at Brown County Veterans Arena/Former Packers Hall of Fame Building, 1901 S. Oneida St.

Jerry Kramer, WLUK/Fox 11 Studios, 787 Lombardi Ave.

Don Hutson, Saranac Glove Co., 999 Lombardi Ave.

Fuzzy Thurston, Hudson-Sharp Machine Co., 975 Lombardi Ave.

Max McGee, Hudson-Sharp Machine Co., 975 Lombardi Ave.

Reggie White, corner of Reggie White Way and Lombardi Avenue

Jim Taylor, near corner of Bart Starr Drive and Tony Canadeo Run

Johnny Blood McNally, near corner of Reggie White Way and Tony Canadeo Run

Paul Hornung, in front of Champions Sports Bar & Grill ,1007 Tony Canadeo Run

Ray Nitschke, in front of the Cambria Suites, 1011 Tony Canadeo Run

Tony Canadeo, on Tony Canadeo Run, behind Brett Favre’s Steakhouse, 1004 Brett Favre Pass

Brett Favre, Brett Favre’s Steakhouse, 1004 Brett Favre Pass

Eleven monuments reference specific eras in Packers’ history, along with a one-word theme meant to capture the spirit of that era:  Read more... (406 words + 2 images, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

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Jerry Kramer Belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Jerry Kramer is the best football player on the planet not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And it’s not just my opinion, although I’ve written about Jery Kramer and the Hall of Fame before. Far more qualified observers than I, such as opposing players and NFL Films president and football historian Steve Sabol, have named Kramer as the best player not in the Hall. From my post above:

Jerry Kramer is a 10-time Hall of Fame finalist and thus, the only player named 10 times or more that has not been inducted. Many former teammates and competitors have come out and accused the voting writers of being jealous of Kramer’s success as an author. Joe Horrigan, Hall of Fame Vice President has said that 25% of the mail that the Hall receives on a daily basis is about Jerry Kramer. Steve Sabol, legendary President of NFL Films, named Kramer as his choice for the best player not in the Hall of Fame. Clearly, it seems that almost everyone except the Hall of Fame voters recognize that Jerry Kramer belongs. It’s beyond ironic that Kramer has earned so much fame, yet can’t get acknowledged by the Hall of Fame. The Seniors committee needs to nominate Kramer every year until all of the Hall of Fame voters come to their senses and this wrong is righted.  Read more... (467 words + 3 images, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

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For a younger generation of Green Bay Packers fans, Wayne Larrivee is the only man they know as the voice of Packers.

For everyone else, Jim Irwin is the play-by-play broadcaster who, from 1969 to 1998, helped place the Packers Radio Network among the best in the NFL.

And after a year-long battle with kidney cancer, the Hall of Fame announcer died Sunday at the age of 77.

His voice extended throughout Wisconsin, as Irwin was also the play-by-play for University of Wisconsin football and Milwaukee Bucks basketball.  But it was the voice he provided for Packers games that will be forever remembered for generations of Packers fans, both in good times and bad.

Irwin became the Packers play-by-play man after six years as a color commentator. From 1975 to ’98, Irwin became the voice that Packers fans routinely chose over television broadcasts. Teamed with personalties such as Lionel Aldridge, Max McGee and Larry McCarren, Irwin was the man that called so many memorable moments in Wisconsin history before retiring in 1998.

He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2003.

Here is his Super Bowl XXXI call of Brett Favre’s first touchdown pass to Andre Rison:

“Back to throw goes Brett.  Here they come.  He’s got time.  He’s throwing it downfield.  He’s got a man wide open!  It is going to be a touchdown to Andre Rison!”  Read more... (284 words + 1 image, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

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Win Packers Tickets

The Packers Hall of Fame is sponsoring a contest where you could win 2 tickets to Packers home games against the Vikings or the Lions. Also included is one night’s Hotel accommodations and two tickets to the Packers Hall of Fame.

There is no cost to enter – just go to the contest page on the Packers Hall of Fame Web Site and enter. One entry per person, but be sure to tell your friends and family about this contest. Spread the word…

When asked for who referred you, put in my name and email:

Jersey Al

jerseyalgbp “at” gmail dot com

GOOD LUCK!

Follow Jersey Al:

          Follow @JerseyAlGBP           Add to Circleson

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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For a Wisconsin boy, not previously experiencing what I experienced this past Thursday borders on criminal.

It’s something I always wanted to do, but for whatever reason (work and before that, getting ready for school as well as my parents both working) I never got around to doing it.  This year however, after an extended NFL lockout, I decided I needed to do this……just a month shy of my 28^th birthday.

I decided to attend a Green Bay Packers training camp practice.

I have outgrown the age where Packers players could ride my bike. Well, I don’t even have a bike but if I did I’d still be over the age limit.   So instead I packed up the car and decided to make the trip to Green Bay alone for Thursday night practice.

It was a trip that almost never even left the driveway.

As I sat down in my 2005 Cavalier, I tried to start the car only to be greeted by chugging and sputtering.  I thought to myself, “This can’t be happening.  You are going to your first Packer practice about 20 years overdue and your car decides to take a dump. Unreal.”

However, much like the 2010 Packers, a little adversity was not going to get in the way of my ultimate goal.  I was going to be there for 7:00 practice if I had to hitchhike my way there.  Read more... (1095 words + 1 image, estimated 4:23 mins reading time)

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