AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Packers DL Johnny Jolly

According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers have made a deal with the recently re-instated Johnny Jolly to reduce his salary from $2.5 million to $715,000 for the 2013 season.

Jolly signed a 2.5M first round restricted free agent tender in 2010, before getting arrested again and subsequently being suspended by the NFL.  Jolly had been released from jail in May after serving six months of a six year sentence, but remained suspended by the NFL until just a few weeks ago.

Despite Jolly’s repeated missteps, the Packers organization have shown considerable compassion for Jolly, believing he is not a bad guy, but more a victim of choosing friends and situations poorly.  Many teams would have cut him by now, but not the Packers.

The Packers are certainly hoping their faith in Jolly will be rewarded, especially with the possibility of Jerel Worthy not being ready for the start of next season. Jolly has played well for the Packers in the past, knows their system, and is a much cheaper option than bringing in a free agent like Chris Canty.

Silverstein points out that the Packers could still choose to release Jolly down the road, and it’s not known if the Packers have had an opportunity to work him out to see what kind of shape he’s in.

As it stands, the Packers save $1.8 million on this year’s salary cap and will only owe Jolly 383,000 if he ends up on injured reserve. That’s a win-win for Ted Thompson.  Read more... (310 words + 3 images, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Packers DL Johnny Jolly

Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly has been reinstated by the league following a three-year suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Jolly was released from prison in May after serving six months of a six-year sentence on drug charges. After avoiding jail time following a similar charge in 2008, Jolly was arrested in October of 2011 and charged with possession of a narcotic compound containing codeine, which is a felony. He was already suspended by the NFL at the time of his arrest.

Jolly hasn’t played football since 2009, but the Packers could opt to bring him back to camp and compete for a roster spot. He was a restricted free agent at the time of his suspension, so Green Bay still holds his rights at the $2.5-million tender he received in 2010.

After being a two-year starter at Texas A&M, Jolly was selected in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played four seasons with the Packers prior to being suspended.

Brian Carriveau of Cheesehead TV tweeted a picture of Jolly’s reinstatement letter, which the defensive end posted on Instagram. His article ran before other media outlets ran with the story, and the news became public.

Pete Dougherty, of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, confirmed the story on Wednesday evening via Twitter.

NFL spokesman confirms Packers DL Johnny Jolly was reinstated effective Monday.

— Pete Dougherty (@PeteDougherty) February 27, 2013  Read more... (378 words + 1 image, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Johnny Jolly – Deserving of Another Chance?

It’s been two years since Johnny Jolly last played in the NFL. After multiple drug possession arrests and convictions as he fought a codeine addiction, Jolly sat in a jail cell last November facing another 6 years in prison. Having received some breaks from the judicial system previously, Jolly would receive what will hopefully prove to be the biggest break of his life.

In May, Jolly asked for and was granted “shock probation” by a Houston judge. Shock probation can be granted to first-time prison attendees who can convince the judge that they’s been sufficiently “shocked” or “scared straight.” Jolly was re-sentenced to ten years probation and released.

Soon after, in early June, Jolly applied to the NFL for reinstatement and has heard nothing since. Of course NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been busy dealing with some other minor distractions, namely Bountygate and the concussion lawsuits. But if Jolly wishes to have a chance to play this season, whether with the Packers (who still hold his rights) or another team, he needs to get into a training camp sooner rather than later.

For his part, Jolly talks of being eight months sober and how he has finally taken the steps to evaluate his life and find the right group of people to help him.  A cynic might say that we’ve heard this kind of talk before, but has his stay in prison coated those words with a new layer of truth?  Read more... (501 words + 3 images, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Johnny Jolly has been released from prison on "shock" probation.

Johnny Jolly, a former defensive end for the Green Bay Packers, has been released from prison and given 10 years of “shock” probation by a judge in Houston, Texas.  This comes after serving only six months of a six-year sentence for numerous charges related to the controlled substance Codeine.

While I’m no legal expert, “shock” probation is given to first-time offenders who have been “shocked” by their prison experience, which would then hopefully bring about a change. Jolly gets 10 years of shock probation along with 200 hours of community service.

Jolly was originally drafted by the Packers in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL draft.  The two years before Jolly was suspended indefinitely by the NFL in 2010, he played in all 32 games and was a key contributor to the defense.

The chances of Jolly ever returning to the NFL or Green Bay are slim to none, but it is always encouraging when a human being makes a genuine change in their life.  Hopefully, this is just the beginning to a new life for Jolly.

---- Get AddToAny

Yesterday afternoon, our fellow blogger in crime Zach Kruse shared an interesting bit of information over at CheeseheadTV.com. Apparently some Green Bay Packers sources indicated to Pro Football Weekly that they “will not be shocked in the least if the team releases injury-prone DE Mike Neal after the draft.”

Neal’s recent violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy earned him a four-game suspension to start the 2012 season, and this has most likely put him on the short list in the mind of Ted Thompson. Of course, this is also just adding to the fact that, due to injuries, Mike Neal has only been active for 9 games in his first two years as a pro football player. And in only 3 of those games did he actually record a tackle.

A lot of fans have been hailing him as the second coming of Justin Harrell, though perhaps a bit prematurely. Now, though, it seems he also has a little bit of Johnny Jolly in him, too.

This is not the way to start an NFL career, especially one that carried so much promise (or “potential”) with it. Mike Neal is a second-round draft pick who showed some good flashes of ability in training camp, but not much else. A decent number of fans have already called for his release, and I’m sure they’re happy with this recent news from Pro Football Weekly. Yet the question remains:

Will Mike Neal play for the Green Bay Packers in 2012?  Read more... (1388 words + 1 image, estimated 5:33 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

The 2011 NFL draft is now officially over, and its time to take a look at what the Packers did.  Over the next couple of weeks, fans and analysts alike will sit in front of their computers and grade each team’s draft class; in my opinion this is completely absurd for two reasons.

For one, these players haven’t played a single snap in the NFL yet and no one knows exactly how these players are going to pan out; if anyone did the draft would be a pretty boring affair.

And second, the inherent flaw in grading is that it’s based on a big board typically made by an analyst or the fans themselves.  There are only a few people privy to the actual boards of the 32 teams, and I’m willing to bet that none of the boards you see online are even remotely close to the real things.

Nevertheless, one fact that must be true is that every team drafts with a logical purpose; whether drafting purely on talent, athleticism, speed, need or value, it would be simply foolish for a team to draft a player without an idea of what to do with him and how that player fits into the team.  With that in mind, in the following article I hope to analyze what the Packers were thinking when they drafted each player.

Overall Impressions:  Read more... (580 words + 1 image, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

In an somewhat stunning development, Green Bay Packers defensive end Johnny Jolly will avoid going to prison following his arrest on March 26 for possession of codeine.

Jolly instead will receive a five-year deferred adjudication and have to get mandatory treatment, according to a tweet sent out by the Green Bay Press Gazette on Thursday.

@gbpressgazette gbpressgazette: Green Bay Packers defensive end Johnny Jolly gets another 2nd chance on codeine charge: 5-year deferred adjudication, mandatory treatment.

This wasn’t Jolly’s first run in with the law either.  He was suspended for the entire 2010 Super Bowl winning campaign after a 2008 arrest on a similar charge.  Jolly had applied for reinstatement with the NFL not onger after the conclusion of the 2010 season.

Despite Jolly’s good fortune in the courtroom, it is hard to imagine him coming back to the Packers in any circumstances once the lockout is lifted.  The Packers after all won a world championship without his services.  Throw in general manager Ted Thompson’s “Packer people” precedent and it seems all but certain Jolly’s days in Titletown are numbered.

Kris Burke is a freelance sports writer currently residing in Wisconsin. His work has been linked to by sites such as National Football Post and CBSSports.com. Follow @KrisLBurke

——————

---- Get AddToAny