Category Archives: Off-Field

6

May

Surviving Sunday: Packers News, Notes and Links for the Football Deprived

Junior Seau

Junior Seau's suicide shocked everyone who pays attention to the NFL.

If the NFL wants a case study on how not to handle tragic situations involving past and current players, it should look no further than professional wrestling.

Here’s a small sample of well-known professional wrestlers who have died before the age of 50 since 1997: Bam Bam Biggelow, Eddie Guerrero, The Big Bossman, Hercules, Crash Holly, Road Warrior Hawk, Ms. Elizabeth, Mr. Perfect, Davey Boy Smith, Chris Benoit, Yokozuna, Chris Kanyon, Ravashing Rick Rude, Louie Spicolli and Brian Pillman.

All of those wrestlers died from suicide, drug overdoses, or health complications that many speculate were caused by years of abusing drugs, painkillers, steroids and/or alcohol.

If you used to watch wrestling, or just tolerated it while your kids or spouse watched it, chances are you recognize many of those names.

Now think back to your favorite Packers players from the 80s and 90s. What if 15 of them were dead, all before the age of 50, many from suicide, drug overdoses or health complications (likely) caused by abusing drugs and alcohol?

2

May

Anthony Hargrove Suspended For Half of 2012-13 Season

Anthony Hargrove says he's a Green Bay Packer

Anthony Hargrove will miss the first eight games of the 2012 season.

If the Green Bay Packers were expecting defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove to make an early impact during his inaugural season with the team, they might need to revisit their plans.

Roger Goodell handed out the penalties for four players from the New Orleans Saints for their involvement in “Bountygate” scandal.  Hargrove received the second-harshest punishment of all the Saints’ players (only Jonathan Vilma receiver a harsher punishment).

According to a report from NFL.com, Hargrove has been suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 NFL season.  This is a big hit to the Packers, who likely knew that some type of punishment was coming, but probably couldn’t fathom him missing half the season.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Hargrove and the other suspended Saints’ players are likely to appeal their suspensions.

While Hargrove’s play will be sorely missed by the Packers because of their desperate need for improved defensive line play, the suspension of Hargrove brings an entirely new issue to Green Bay.

30

April

Watch the Video: Week 7 of Packers’ Donald Driver on Dancing With the Stars: Viennese Waltz

Video from week 7 of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. Lets see how Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd perform the Viennese Waltz:

Donald and Peta received a  total score of 27, a string of nines across the board  from judges Carrie Ann Inaba,  Len Goodman and  Bruno Tonioli.  This is their fourh straight week with a score of 27. The elusive perfect 10 score still eludes Donald and Peta.

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You can follow Jersey Al on Facebook and Twitter .

#82914 on the Packers Season Ticket Waiting List.

Be sure to bookmark Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com where we are "All Packers All the Time"

Jersey Al Bracco 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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30

April

4 Main Themes Emerge From Green Bay Packers 2012 NFL Draft

  1. NFL Draft Logo Image

    2012 NFL Draft

    Ted Thompson hasn’t gone crazy:  While many people were surprised by the fact that Thompson traded up several times, a good indication that Thompson is still following his MO is that he’s trolling the media about his “change” in personality.  If you’ve followed Thompson enough, you’d know that he’ll never tell anyone anything, so if he’s saying he’s doing things differently, chances are he really isn’t.  I now think Thompson wasn’t as averse to trading up in the past as we all thought; it simply didn’t make much sense in previous years to do so.  For instance right now Thompson probably has one of the best teams in the NFL in terms of depth so he can afford to trade picks to move up the draft but when Thompson took over in 2005 the team was in a salary cap nightmare and salary cap nightmares usually also mean that there were no quality backups on the team (or else why pay more for an aging veteran?).  Secondly, the rookie salary cap has altered the draft to a point where the picks at the top of the 1st round are the most valuable (as they should be) and teams have adjusted accordingly by trading up in order to secure the best talent for them. In fact the majority of 1st round draft picks ended up being selected by teams who were not the team originally award the pick.  I am a little surprised that Thompson was so quick to recognize the change and act upon it, which is why I now think that Thompson isn’t averse to trading up, he just could justify paying the price in the past.

26

April

NFL Draft Economics: Draft Trading and the Rookie Wage Scale

How much would trading up for a player like Clay Matthews cost the Packers in 2012?

Ted Thompson and the Green Bay Packers have a lot of options in the 2012 NFL Draft with 12 overall selections, and they are probably going to need them with some of the defensive holes they need to fill.

Our own “Jersey” Al Bracco spent time presenting some First and Second Round trade-up scenarios that could possibly occur, and Thomas Hobbes looked into Thompson’s trading history in relationship to the Trade Value Chart (TVC).

A lot of people are wondering, though, does the old TVC still apply?

This will be the first draft under the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFL and NFLPA, and it comes with a shiny new set of rules for a rookie wage scale. Though we haven’t had a draft under these restrictions on pay, the 2011 rookie class did feel the effects of it when they were finally signed.

Below is a comparison of the contracted salaries of the top 10 picks in the 2010 and 2011 NFL Drafts. The numbers shown are in millions of dollars, and for simplicity in numbers, only the guaranteed amount has been recorded. It’s not a perfect barometer of the wage scale’s effects, but it should give you a general idea of what has happened:

25

April

Green Bay Packers Release Safety Nick Collins

Nick Collins has been released by the Packers

The Green Bay Packers have released free safety Nick Collins today according to a report from Jason Wilde at ESPN-Milwaukee.  This decision has been hanging around us all since Collins saw his season end just two games in after suffering a severe neck injury against the Carolina Panthers.

Collins was one of the most beloved Packers on the entire roster, and his overall performance on the field is what caused so many fans to fall in love with him as a player.  Collins was voted to three straight Pro Bowls heading into the 2011 season, and was also a member of three straight All-Pro Teams.

No one will ever forget his interception that was returned for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  It was that play that was the catalyst for the Packers to bring the Lombardi Trophy home after so many years.

Now the Packers need to figure out what to do without Collins, and it’ll all start tomorrow with the 2012 NFL draft.  Instead of being able to focus on outside linebacker and defensive line early in the draft, Ted Thompson and the Packers will now need to add safety to their positions of greatest need for the 2012 season.

23

April

Watch the Video: Week 6 of Packers’ Donald Driver on Dancing With the Stars: Foxtrot

Video from week 6 of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. Lets see how Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd perform the Foxtrot:

 

Donald and Peta received a  total score of 27, a string of nines across the board  from judges Carrie Ann Inaba,  Len Goodman and  Bruno Tonioli.  This is their third straight week with a score of 27.

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You can follow Jersey Al on Facebook and Twitter .

#82914 on the Packers Season Ticket Waiting List.

Be sure to bookmark Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com where we are "All Packers All the Time"

Jersey Al Bracco 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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