Friday, October 30, 2009

OK, calm down!

I’m convinced that if (Brett) Favre ever left the Packers to voluntarily play with another team, you’d hear things like “Oh, he was just a pill-popping alcoholic” or “He threw too many interceptions anyhow”.
Brad Carlson - March 2007



Not sure I've heard any Packer fans get so personal as to invoke Brett's addiction to Vicodin. But the interceptions bit has been bandied about since Favre left Green Bay, and it's a fair criticism. But it was rarely acknowledged during Favre's tenure with the Pack.

This week more than ever, emotions are running high in Wisconsin. In case you haven't heard, the legendary former Packer QB is set to arrive in Lambeau Field this Sunday as a member of the hated Minnesota Vikings.

First off, I feel the need to correct the record and say that I don't believe all Packer fans are phonies and/or delusional. As a matter of fact, my Uncle Gene and my two blogging colleagues (and good friends), W.B. Picklesworth and Mr. D, are some of the more intellectually honest fans amongst Packer Nation. But when KFAN radio host Dan Barreiro starts getting e-mails from Packer backers saying Aaron Rodgers is the all-time second best Green Bay QB behind Bart Starr? That goes beyond the realm of absurdity.

Speaking of absurd, there has been talk all week of how the city village of Green Bay will greet Favre upon his return. A Wisconsin radio station came up with a rather unique, if not morbid, idea.

12 comments:

  1. Aaron Rodgers has been rackin up some impressive stats. The Pack made the right decision.
    The Vikes, after making poor decisions for a QB made the best decision they could at the time. Would we be better off with Cutler? Hah!

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  2. But will they use a casket from Wal-Mart?

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  3. Aaron Rodgers has been rackin up some impressive stats. The Pack made the right decision.

    I agree. So I don't understand why there is all the vitriol towards Favre. They should embrace the fact he paved the way for Rodgers. But that said, 22 NFL starts is no basis for declaring any QB the second-best in a given franchise's history.

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  4. Good one Bubba! lol

    We agree, Brad. Come back and talk to us when Rodgers is a future hall of fame QB; Fav-rey is a HoF lock.

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  5. But that said, 22 NFL starts is no basis for declaring any QB the second-best in a given franchise's history.

    I agree, Brad. Some (but not all) Packer fans tend to be overly solicitous of whoever is wearing the green and gold laundry at the moment. I remember back around 1990, someone took a poll among the Packer faithful and those polled selected then-current coach Lindy Infante the greatest coach in Packers history. So I'm not surprised to see this, silly as it is.

    K-Rod is right, Favre is a HoF lock and perhaps the greatest Packer of them all -- the only other contender for that crown would be Don Hutson, who played 70 years ago.

    And Bubba, while I must give you credit for an excellent bon mot, every Packer fan knows that the only place to buy a casket is Fleet Farm.

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  6. Hey, ya gotta love a place where you can get both the casket AND the fixin's for the meal after the burial!

    "I'll miss 'ol Brett. Can you pass the roasted macadamia nuts?"

    "Yah. Hey, didja get a box of slugs for the shotgun opener, too?"

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  7. Whereas I think Favre belongs in the conversation for best Packer ever, (and realizing that I'm not a Packer fan from birth), doesn't anyone from those multiple title winners in the 60s belong there too? Statistically I'm sure they don't measure up, but they took home an awful lot of hardware.

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  8. Wow, Lindy Infante!! I remember he got fired after GB finished 4-12 in 1991. In his outgoing press conference, Infante basically said that with a break here or there his club could have easily finished 12-4.

    W.B., the likes of Bart Starr, Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung are often in the conversation as being the greatest Packers. Don Hutson, who was with GB in the 30s & 40s, is considered one of the NFL's finest wide receivers ever, never mind Packer history.

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  9. WBP, the 60s Packers were awfully good but the key was always Lombardi. Many of the key players were already in place when Lombardi arrived in 1959, but they hadn't won a thing. The reason I suggest Hutson is because he was so completely dominant in his era. No one else was even close. The Packers had a pretty good quarterback for the first half of his career (Arnie Herber, who's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame) and a decidedly ordinary passer for the second half (Cecil Isbell), but Hutson was dominant with both. Pro football was a very different game then, very much of a scrum most of the time. The Packers were the team that introduced the vertical game to the sport.

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  10. Given that it's Packer fans, somebody will dig up Dan Devine's dog and throw it on the field.

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  11. Given that it's Packer fans, somebody will dig up Dan Devine's dog and throw it on the field.

    If it could block Jared Allen, I could see that happening.

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  12. When Rodgers wins a super bowl and get's to another one then you can start the comparisons. You Green Bay fans have to figure out why your best players keep going away. Better look to your public ownership...gotta take care of the shareholders!

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