When we think of the current Green Bay Packers team and players who bring the nasty, defensive lineman Mike Daniels is surely one of the first names that come to mind.  The former fourth-rounder quickly forged a reputation for being more on the chippy side while on the field.  Interestingly enough, when asked who he thought was the meanest Packers player, Sirius XM NFL Radio's Mike Clemens said it was Sam Barrington and also added in Mike Neal, who is currently a free agent after spending six seasons with the Packers.  Perhaps it's the limited amount of time that most of us have seen Barrington on the field that makes Clemens' assessment so intriguing, but it's good to know that someone with some insight can name someone other than just Daniels that should be taking the field for Green Bay this season.

When asked recently if he thinks this Packers defense is nasty enough, Daniels answered the question with a question.  He asked the reporter if he saw last year's playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, a game that featured 18 combined penalties, several of which were very aggressive in nature.  Daniels was careful to say that he isn't calling for dirty play nor penalties, but for guys to toe the line between what is legal and not.  Daniels also sees the team headed in the right direction when he noted the following to Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com:

“I think we can still get a little nastier.  It’s been building up. It’s been growing every year. I think this is the year you could see it, the intensity out of the guys. Everybody’s looking forward to getting the pads back on as opposed to a handful of guys. That’s definitely a plus. I think the culture is great for the young guys who come in.”

Most teams who achieve high success have a stable of players who carry an attitude or chip on their shoulder each week.  Think of the last several Super Bowl winners:  Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens.  All of those teams had guys who weren't afraid to mix it up.  The last Packers team to win a championship featured guys like Charles Woodson, Clay Matthews, Nick Collins, and Desmond Bishop to name a few.  And for those who remember the 1996 championship team, it was a dream load of those type of guys.

Many of the better teams carry that x-factor of playing with a little more spice so Daniels seems on to something in what he wants out of this year's team.  One of the most important ingredients to having that and achieving more is confidence.  With a perennially young team, the Packers coaches and veterans are constantly working on building it with the first and second year players.  While there has been quite a turnover over the last three seasons, this core of veterans has been together long enough that they should set the tone as well as can be expected.  And the young guys know what is expected in Green Bay.  

Teams that have swagger and win develop a personality as a whole.  They're the teams that fans are still talking about years later:  the '85 Chicago Bears, '96 Packers, '13 Seahawks, '00 Ravens.  The list goes on.  Those were teams other teams did not want to face.  They had most games won before they started with their reputation alone.

A word that appeared often in scouting reports describing rookies Kenny Clark and Dean Lowry?  Nasty.  They have yet to take the field, but some keen eyes have seen it.  Younger guys like Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins seem ripe to develop some added grit.  If it all comes together, this team could look quite different from the last few and carry a different air with them into 2016.  It's not as apparent right now, but in time we'll see how much Daniels' words resonate with this Packers team and if they can take another step towards establishing themselves as one that opponents are more weary of.