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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.

Some names to keep an eye on in the first or second round for Green Bay are Harrison Smith, George Iloka and Brandon Taylor.  Each of these prospects could eventually replace the production that fans were used to seeing from Collins.  Read more... (343 words + 1 image, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sundays With no Packers Football

If you missed the three-hour ESPN special unveiling the NFL schedule, congratulations. I was open minded enough to give it a shot, but only managed to last about five minutes before trying to leap through my living-room window.

Three hours to unveil the NFL schedule?! I allow the NFL and the Green Bay Packers to monopolize my life from September through January. I can’t let them do the same in April.

Besides, why watch an ESPN anchor read off a cue card and a bumbling former player or two unveil the schedule in Bristol, CT, when you could just visit ALLGBP.com and find out all you need to know? Here’s a link to the NFL schedule, and below are some random thoughts on the portion of the schedule that involves the greatest franchise in the history of sports, the Packers.

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• I was hoping the Packers would play the Giants in the NFL’s Wednesday kickoff game. I didn’t care about exacting revenge for the playoff loss, but it would’ve been nice for the Packers to get 10 days off after the season opener. It turns out the Packers will get 10 days off early in the season, but it comes after playing the Bears on Thursday night in week two.
• I’m mad that the Packers don’t have an early October home game. Those first three weeks in October are perfect for football at Lambeau.

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Surviving Sundays With No Packers Football

I’m sitting in the press box at Target Field in Minneapolis right now, getting ready to cover the Rangers vs. Twins game and Yu Darvish’s second career start.

I guess now is as good a time as any to bring Packers fans up to speed on the stadium fight happening across the border in Minnesota.

Target Field is a beautiful stadium. It’s quaint, it’s comfortable, the sightlines are excellent and there are very few silly gimmicks. Like most stadiums, Target Field received a sizeable public subsidy in order to get built.

This made people angry. Why should the billionaire owner of a sports franchise get public money to build a stadium for his millionaire players?

Of course, once it was built, you didn’t hear much complaining. It’s tough to complain when you’re watching outdoor baseball in a beautiful stadium while sipping on a cold beverage. Or maybe everyone who was mad at first realized their anger didn’t stop the stadium from being built so they might as well try and enjoy it.

I don’t know where I stand on public funding for sports stadiums. Deep down, I know it’s wrong, and I should be outraged. But I never really am.

Maybe it’s because I love sports too much and I’m biased. Maybe it’s because I understand that we don’t live in a utopia, and sometimes the American process of making major projects a reality is ugly and unfair. Or maybe I truly am anti-sports stadium subsidies, but realize I’m powerless to do anything about it so I’ve become indifferent.  Read more... (1091 words + 1 image, estimated 4:22 mins reading time)

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Nick Collins after suffering a neck injury versus the Panthers

Tom Silverstein of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote yesterday about how Green Bay Packers’ safety Nick Collins hopes that he’ll be able to return for the 2012 season.  While the ultimate decision will be made by Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson regarding Collins’ future, the basic fact still remains that Collins wants to play, if he can.

And if Collins wants to play, then let him play.  One look at the defensive unit from the 2011 season and it’s pretty clear to see that the Packers could use Collin’s playmaking ability back on the field.

Not only was Collins a leader for the defense, he was also one of the most consistent performers and a perennial Pro Bowl player.  That type of talent isn’t replaced overnight.  Heck, that type of talent isn’t replaced over a year, or even two years.

If Collins isn’t 100 percent healthy and ready to go, then he shouldn’t play.  No one would criticize him for that decision.  No one would consider him less of a man, or less of a football player.  We’re talking about a man’s life and health and that trumps football every single time.

However, if Collins is completely healthy, gets the go-ahead from numerous doctors and the Packers won’t let him return, that is an entirely different matter.  Not allowing someone to do what they want takes away free will.  Without free will, we have nothing.  Read more... (349 words + 1 image, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sundays With No Packers Football

This news about Aaron Rodgers being in the final eight to make the cover of the new Madden video game upset me. No, it didn’t make me angry because I believe in some silly Madden curse and worry about Rodgers breaking his leg or turning into Mark Sanchez, it angered me because Madden isn’t as fun for me as it used to be. I don’t want the QB for my favorite NFL team as the poster boy for a video game that never really does anything to improve year in and year out besides make roster updates.

Before I get to Packers news and links, allow me to pontificate a bit on this topic:

Maybe it’s because I’m 30 years old and growing out of mashing buttons on a controller, but I need more depth in my video games than what Madden offers. Yes, the bells and whistles of Madden are nice and I still buy it every year, but I always feel empty after playing it. The game looks like football. It sounds like football. It’s supposed to be football. But it doesn’t feel like football.

I want to do more in a football video game than just find a few plays that typically work and try to exploit the game’s artificial intelligence. I need player ratings to actually matter, even ratings for interior offensive linemen and backup linebackers. I need an opponent that realistically reacts to my playcalling, allowing me to set up future play calls or adjust on the fly to my opponent’s new strategy. I need realistic statistics and results, not every game ending 45-41 and defensive ends totaling 30 sacks per season.  Read more... (1569 words + 1 image, estimated 6:17 mins reading time)

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Today is the day – the day when Green Bay Packers safety Nick Collins should receive his medical recommendation on whether he can play again the NFL.  After going through a battery of tests in New York this past week, he will finally have the information to start making a decision about his future.

It was Week 2 of last season when Packers fans held their breath as Nick Collins lay still on the turf. The injury seemed minor at first. Collins had stretched himself out to tackle an oncoming Jonathan Stewart when his head collided with the running back’s leg. He felt some numbness in his limbs but fortunately did not suffer any level of paralysis.

Tests would later show that he had a herniated disk between the C-3 and C-4 vertebrae. Collins underwent cervical fusion surgery on Sep. 29, a procedure where the disk is removed and replaced with a bone graft that fuses the vertebrae together over time.

Quarterback Peyton Manning underwent the same surgery less than a month earlier.

Regardless of what information Nick Collins receives today, Mike McCarthy made it apparent that this would just be the start of the decision to return or retire, not the conclusion.

“I anticipate that [the doctors] are going to say it’s a very positive report because I know they felt good about the surgery,” said McCarthy at the NFL owners meeting in Florida last week. “To me, that’s really the first step. Then our doctors have to get involved and we’ll all sit down and talk to Nick and see where Nick is, so it will be a process that we’ll go through.”  Read more... (1482 words + 1 image, estimated 5:56 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sundays With No Packers Football

For those looking for Adam Czech, I’m sorry to report I am not him. I’ll be filling in for him in this edition of Surviving Sunday.

Ted Thompson continued his uncharacteristic off-season by continuing to be extremely active in free agency. The Packers signed Anthony Hargrove after the move was speculated last week. So far this off-season, the Packers have added Jeff Saturday, Daniel Muir, Anthony Hargrove, and re-signed Jermichael Finley and Jarrett Bush.

The Packers also brought in Dave Tollefson, formerly a New York Giant, for a visit that began on Thursday and continued into Saturday. Whether or not Tollefson is signed, it is clear Thompson is not playing around when it comes to revamping the Packers defense.

It was clear that the Packers defense needed reinforcements, but no one could have predicted just how active Thompson would be. It makes sense with how quickly Super Bowl windows open and close. The Packers’ window to compete for and win Super Bowls in the near future is open and Thompson’s activity shows the Packers aren’t interested in waiting around to strictly develop new talent on defense.

Brian Carriveau over at Cheesehead TVhas a great piece on the Packers’ recent activity and the possible implications of the moves. In the article Carriveau points to the Packers moving towards a hybrid defense with situational role players being shuffled in accordingly.

Packers Thoughts:  Read more... (917 words + 1 image, estimated 3:40 mins reading time)

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