Packers Daily Links: Mark Murphy Joins NFL Owners Meeting
The Green Bay Packers president took part in a labor committee meeting yesterday near Chicago. That and more in today's Daily Links...
On the Packers calendar today, the NFL Broadcast Boot Camp continues in New Jersey where former Packers Antonio Freeman, Rob Davis and Barrett Brooks are taking part...
Packers president Mark Murphy arrived in Chicago for an NFL labor committee meeting on Monday in advance of today's meeting with representatives of all 32 team owners. "A number of league executives, owners and members of the NFL's legal team arrived for prep work on Monday afternoon," writes Albert Breer of the NFL Network. "The league's labor committee had a late afternoon meeting that lasted for two hours, with Tuesday's general session set to kick off at 10 a.m." Today's meetings are being labeled as "crucial" by Breer as all the NFL owners are being briefed on the status of labor negotiations and the deadline looms for the league to agree on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement or risk training camp being delayed.
Former Packers offensive lineman Greg Koch took to Washington D.C. yesterday to talk about a sleep disorder that doctors tells him was caused by blows to the head in football. "Led by [Carl] Eller, former Minnesota Vikings defensive end, a dozen former NFL players put their faces and suffering on display at the National Press Club on Monday, seeking to raise awareness about the cost of pro football — and the price they hope the NFL and current players will pay in the form of a better pension, more benefits and less red tape for retirees in the next NFL labor deal," writes Jarrett Bell of the USA Today. How much influence they have on the group of owners that are meeting today near Chicago remains to be seen. Koch was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame last year.
With the lockout still standing, Packers safeties coach Darren Perry was left to preparing for the Packers' first regular season game as of yesterday. "On this day in the fourth month of the lockout, Perry was watching tape of the New Orleans Saints, preparing for a home opener everybody hopes will not be delayed by the work stoppage," writes Vic Ketchman of the Packers official website. "His main concern is for this year’s rookies. He knows how important his rookie season was to his career." Without the benefit of OTAs and minicamps this year, it will be even tougher for rookies to contribute in their first season.
It was found that former Packers linebacker Jason Hunter was struck by a knife thrown by his girlfriend during an incident in April, according to a recently revealed police report. "Detroit police have said only that Hunter had been stabbed and taken to a local hospital for treatment," reports Mike Householder of the Associated Press. "Hunter’s agent, Robert Walker, said afterward that the player required several stitches." Hunter currently plays for the Denver Broncos.
Reaction from Charles Woodson to riding in an IndyCar driven by Al Unser Jr. is provided by Kareem Copeland of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "It was great," said Woodson. "What an exhilarating feeling to go that fast and be in a car that small holding onto the roll cage. What a great day.” Woodson rode in the pace car that led the field to the green flag in Sunday's Milwaukee 225.
Player-organized workouts also get some attention at Packer Report (sub required). "Nothing is set, and the Packers remain the only team in the league to have had no large-scale workouts," writes Bill Huber. "By contrast, their Week 1 opponent, the Saints, just concluded six weeks of practices to hone their skills and get the rookies up to speed." Linebacker A.J. Hawk said workouts were "definitely" an option. Whatever the outcome of the season opener, it will not be fair to judge the effectiveness of player workouts based upon one game.
Pass protection from the running backs is the topic of an article from Bill Huber of Packer Report (subscription required). "One overlooked reason why the Packers' passing game is so explosive is the protection work of the running backs," writes Huber. "You've heard again and again about Brandon Jackson, but he's not the only man involved. Don't look for much to change under new position coach Jerry Fontenot."
Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com commented upon tight end Tom Crabtree's recent visit to a local mall in Green Bay to show off his Super Bowl ring to fans. "I guess a cynic could find any number of alternative reasons for cruising the mall with your Super Bowl ring, but I prefer to consider this as a genuine gesture of egalitarianism that probably wouldn't happen in other NFL cities," writes Seifert. Considering fans weren't allowed to the private ceremony, at least one player did his part to show off the ring to them.
The Packers' margin of victory in 2010 is examined by Mike Davidsen of Green Bay Packer Nation. "We all know about the Packers’ razor thin margin of defeat from 2010; they didn’t lose a game by more than four points," writes Davidsen. "Their margin of victory, however, wasn’t astoundingly higher across the board. Half of their ten wins were nail biters; the median margin (for all regular season games) was five and a half."
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be taking part in the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in mid-July near Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Other players taking part are linebacker A.J. Hawk and kicker Mason Crosby. Former Packers and Bears quarterback Jim McMahon will also be playing.
Linebacker Clay Matthews will appear on an episode of The Biggest Loser in September, notes Brandon Benson of Acme Packing Company. He'll be joined by Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez.
Cornerback Josh Bell didn't deserve a Super Bowl ring, writes Michael Rodney of Packer Update.
Defensive end Willie Davis is ranked as the 10th best Packer of all time by Green Bay Packer Talk.
A picture from Bart Starr Day in 1970 is provided by Packerville, U.S.A.
Video: Drew Smith of Fox 11 in Green Bay recently caught up with former Packers great Jerry Kramer at a charity golf outing last week in Door County...
Brian Carriveau is the editor of the Maple Street Press Packers Annual. To contact Brian, email [email protected].
Comments (8)
June 21, 2011 at 10:10 am
They should be getting together and practicing. Enough with the golf tournaments and tv show appearances.
EVERYONE ELSE HAS PRACTICED?
WTF?!
So every other NFL team is wrong and the Packers are right.
Whatever.
"Basking" time is over.
Brian Carriveau
June 21, 2011 at 10:27 am
To be fair, they'd be doing the golf tournaments even if they didn't win the Super Bowl. Always have. There have probably been a few more doors opened to TV appearances thanks to a Super Bowl win, but even those aren't new to the Packers. Greg Jennings appeared on Criminal Minds a year ago, and it didn't seem to affect his performance.
And generally speaking, the time has passed for team workouts. It's time to recover before the grind of a five-plus month season beginning in mid to late July.
June 21, 2011 at 10:47 am
Excuses are like a**holes.
Everyone's got one and they stink.
Not getting together will cost them.
I'm predicting that this team will underachieve for the first 4-5 games of the season.
The Packers are talented but they aren't so talented that they can just walk out and win.
They were the MOST COHESIVE team in the league last year. It's what made them good.
They earned that through preparation.
Brian Carriveau
June 21, 2011 at 10:59 am
Gotcha. But the Packers didn't get off to a good start last season either. How will you know the difference between good preparation and bad preparation?
June 21, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Same defense, same offense, same coaches & 20 of 22 starters known .... With a new CBA any day, GB will still have a full TC plus 4 pre-season games ......
Are you saying that missing a mini-camp & a few OTAs are the key to a successful 2011 season ?? ..... Ridiculous .....
June 21, 2011 at 01:39 pm
Make that POWs (player organized workouts) instead of OTAs ..... No coaches, no trainers & a bunch of QBs who think they are (coaches & trainers) .....
June 21, 2011 at 11:45 am
Siding with Brian on this one.
I don't think the Packers have done much "basking" at all. On the contrary, they've really been out of the spotlight with the exception of the events they'd be doing regardless of the lockout.
Most players have been seen working out hard on their own, and even McCarthy said getting together for practice is pretty pointless as far as technique is concerned.
June 21, 2011 at 01:06 pm
I don't know for sure if it'll hurt them or not, the Packers are known for being a team that veterans show up for minicamp and OTAs, but there's two variables that come into place here:
1) They went to February playing football, while all other teams except Pittsburgh were resting. Not only that, there are 15 players coming back from IR, not to mention the others that were injuried but still able to play, and got injuried in the playoffs like Woodson, Driver and Nelson.
2) The value of player-organized workouts is questionable.
Add to that the fact that, like Brian said, the Packers are notorious for slow starts, and there's no quantifiable way to determine (see, Fitz? I got it right this time) if not having player-organized workouts had any effect in team chemistry.
Also, like WoodyG said, this is almost the exact same team from the last 3 seasons, with the same schemes they've been running for what will be the 3rd season in a row, so the impact of not having any player-organized workouts seems to be minimal.
This team doesn't need to bond. As long as they're hungry for another title and are keeping in shape, it won't matter.