AllGreenBayPackers.Com

The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers are just two years removed from playing a pair of games that essentially decided the NFC North in 2009, but the franchises couldn’t have veered in more different directions since then.

The Packers rebounded from two crippling losses to Brett Favre in ’09 to win the Super Bowl last season, and they’ve started 2011 with six straight victories. Green Bay is the last remaining undefeated team in the NFL and the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl for the second consecutive season.

The Vikings, on the other hand, went through a circus year in 2010 which saw them stumble to a disappointing 6-10 record. Things haven’t gotten better this season under coach Leslie Frazier, as the Vikings are fresh off a 39-10 drubbing at the hands of the Chicago Bears which dropped them to 1-5.

But despite everything suggesting an easy path for Green Bay to get to 7-0 this week in Minnesota, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy is standing firm that Sunday isn’t a game that his team will overlook on the schedule.  Read more... (696 words + 1 image, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

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Ted Thompson is not happy about the items on this list.

As a follow up to Part 1 of this series,  Part 2 is a compilation of Ted Thompson’s worst moves as General Manager of the Green Bay Packers. Finding 10 things that Ted Thompson has done wrong in his career was a much more painstaking process than finding what he has done right. Without further ado, here they are:

The Misses:

1. Allen Barbre – Ted Thompson went into the 2009 season with Allen Barbre as his starting right tackle. During his starting stint Barbre may have been the worst right tackle in the history of the franchise. He allowed Jared Allen to sack Aaron Rodgers 7.5 times in two games, which was a huge factor in two of the Packers most painful losses of the last decade. Need more proof Barbre was awful? He allowed 5 sacks by Antwan Odom, who has only 23.5 sacks in his 7 year career.  Read more... (1010 words + 1 image, estimated 4:02 mins reading time)

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Green Bay Packers GM Ted Thompson

Since January 14, 2005, Ted Thompson has been the driving force behind the reincarnation of the Green Bay Packers. At times he has been reviled by a huge portion of Packer Nation, and recently has been lauded as the eccentric genius architect of the deepest and most talented team in the league. To encapsulate his triumphs and failures of the past 6 years I have created a top ten list of hits and misses (coming soon).

The Hits

1. Drafting Aaron Rodgers:

This draft pick caused me and my friends to scream and throw our draft guides at the television. “Get Brett Favre some weapons! Our window is closing! Why does The Albino hate us?” we shouted between moments of rage filled couch punching. Aaron Rodgers is arguably the best quarterback in the league, which is the most important position in all of sports.

2. Hiring Mike McCarthy:

It took some guts to bring in the coordinator of the worst offense in the NFL to be your first hire. As my screen name may indicate, I was an extreme doubter of McCarthy and may have even called for his head on a platter on this very website. Two things have become very clear after the Packers beat the Steelers in the Superbowl; Thompson found the right man for the job, and I good sirs, am an idiot.  Read more... (723 words + 1 image, estimated 2:54 mins reading time)

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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.”  Read more... (1095 words + 1 image, estimated 4:23 mins reading time)

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Weekly Green Bay Packers News from Twitter and other Sources by Al Bracco and Holly Phelps (As heard on Cheesehead Radio (7/18/11 ).

To listen to the show, click on the play button below. The Jerry Kramer interview begins around the eleven minute mark.

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JERRY KRAMER, G, GREEN BAY PACKERS

Career Highlights:

Played 11 Seasons for the Green Bay Packers, 1958-1968

Played in 4 League Championship games and two Super Bowls

Earned 5 Championship rings.

5-Time All-Pro and 3 Pro Bowls

The Case for Jerry Kramer:

A fourth round draft pick in 1958, (selected after Jim Taylor and Ray Nitschke), Kramer earned a starting job immediately. As a rookie, the 6′ 3″, 250-lb Kramer quickly gained the reputation as a tenacious player that could hold his own against the best defensive tackles. In 1959, a fiery new coach came to town and soon recognized Kramer’s talent. Years later, Vince Lombardi would say of Kramer, “He didn’t know how good he was…”

Lombardi helped develop Jerry Kramer into an All-Pro NFL guard.  Kramer became the key blocker to the success of the famous Green Bay Packer sweep. Along with fellow guard Fuzzy Thurston, it was Kramer’s job to provide the inside “seal” Vince Lombardi famously talked about, keeping pursuing linebackers or defensive backs away from Jim Taylor and Paul Horning.  Read more... (1112 words + 1 image, estimated 4:27 mins reading time)

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Da Crusher from Milwaukee and Dick the Bruiser, a former Packer, dominated wrestling's tag team division for over 10 years.

We continue our “Sunday Storytime” with chapter 3 in a series examining the history of the NFL, the Green Bay Packers and professional wrestling. The introduction to the series can be read here. Chapter 1 can be read here and Chapter 2  can be read here.

Remember when pro wrestlers had barrel chests and round bellies instead of bulging biceps and chiseled physiques? Remember when wrestlers looked like larger and meaner versions of your dad’s drinking buddies? Remember when old ladies used to sit in the front row at wrestling events and swing their purses at the bad guys?

If you do, then you also probably remember Dick the Bruiser. Dick the Bruiser’s wrestling career began in the mid 50s and lasted until the late 80s. He won multiple titles in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and started his own promotion in Indianapolis called the World Wrestling Association.

The Bruiser used his wrestling career to become a cross-media star and local celebrity in the Indianapolis area. But the first step on his rise to fame came with the Green Bay Packers.  Read more... (1438 words + 1 image, estimated 5:45 mins reading time)

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