Originally wrote on January 7th, 2006

One of my earliest memories of being a Packer Fan was in the late eighties. It was a game against the Vikings. The Packers had second and goal, maybe third and goal. The RB (Brent Fullwood or Keith Woodside) took the handoff towards the outside of the tackle and did a shake n bake check your jock cuz its on the turf move and my dad dropped his beer and with a soft eerie’ish voice said ‘holy shit……….son a green bay packer juked’. I never fully understood my dad’s frustration that pushed him to be impressed with a juke move until this 4 – 12 season. This season was frustrating, but I enjoyed watching the Packers and learning what fans were true fans and which ones were there for the ride.

This season was not what most Packers Fan’s expected. Yes, some of us feared it and others will boast ‘I told you we wouldn’t win more than five games’ but does being right about the Packers poor season ease the pain?

I’m not gonna focus on just one aspect in this article, but instead I’m gonna hop around like a writer on ADD.

Bob Harlan
I have no qualms with this man, however I wonder if he knew Mike Sherman needed be fired and wasn’t man enough do it himself and figured let’s pick off two birds with one stone. As it’s been documented heavily Bob never liked a GM/HC he felt they should be separate. By hiring Ted he achieved that and also knew there was a very slim chance Ted and Mike would be able to work together, successfully. I’m not saying Bob is a bad man, he’s great. That doesn’t mean I don’t speculate because he simply HAD to know it was going to be extremely difficult for Ted and Mike to co-exist after Mike had the GM stripped from him and given to Ted who was his boss when Mike felt he was doing an excellent job in the dual role. If doing a good job was measured by effort, he was right. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way and Mike is free to coach another team.

Ted Thompson
It’s been said Ted Thompson is forcing Brett out of retirement. Lack of proof and common sense leads me to disagree. Why would he rid the team of its best player? Perhaps because HE didn’t draft him? That’s foolish. Ted’s first ever pick as the Packers GM was Aaron Rodgers. Ted needs Rodgers to develop and who better to watch then Brett Favre?
It’s also been stated Ted should have retained Mike Wahle and/or Marco Rivera. First Mike was offered a five-year, $27 million contract which included $11.5 million in bonuses over the first year. Marco Rivera was offered Five-year $20 million with a $9 million bonus. With Marco at age 33 how could the Packers spend that kind of money IF they even had it on someone that age?

Unfortunately the Packers couldn’t match either with their salary cap problems that were caused by Sherman the GM, not Ted the GM. There is a difference. Give Ted a chance before you put his rear-end on a fence.

Brett Favre
Brett Favre finished third in the NFL for passing yards. I am willing to bet no one outside of the Packers fan base could name 3 receivers he threw to this year. That’s something in its own. Brett piled up yards with a group of no names and Donald Driver. He threw more INT than anyone in the NFL this year (and still had a higher passer rating than Kyle Orton). Brett needs 10 men around him, not 9 NFL Europe players and Donald Driver. Give this man some talent and the Packers will go places. He is still one of the top five QB’s in the NFL and anyone who says different is a Chris Collinsworth wannabe and no that is NOT a compliment.

I do not think Brett is being pushed out by Ted, the Packers or anyone. I can’t understand why few are even giving this a legitimate thought. If you want a little insight on Brett read Chris Havel’s articles. For some reason or another Brett has confided information to him that he hasn’t to others. Maybe it’s because he helped him write a book? Who knows. As Scott Favre said and Chris has said, Brett and Tom Rossley did not see eye to eye and the same can go for Mike Sherman but on a less severe level. The firing of Mike Sherman didn’t push Brett to retire, in fact it’s going to help keep Brett playing as a Packer longer.


Jim Bates
I firmly believe he will be a Packer next year. It’s been reported he has had a private chat with Ted and has an interview tailing off the list of interviews next Thursday. I have no confirmation on this however reports state Ted wants to announce his HC after two weeks of interviews. I bet the conversation with Jim was about his future with the Packers as HC and/or DC. I could see Ted telling Jim he’s the guy desired for the HC but doesn’t want to rush to a decision. That’s something Jim would have to respect. I could also see Ted informing Jim that the new HC will be asked to keep him on board if the HC is not himself. Why the special treatment? Jim turned a 20 something ranked defense into a top ten ranked defense. That’s something you simply do not toss aside.

Steve Mariucci
Bus Cook, the agent for Brett stated on a published news article at PackersNews.com he believed if Steve Mariucci was the coach in Green Bay Brett would be less inclined to retire. Another interesting bit of information is the agent (Gary O’Hagen) for Jim Bates is also the agent for Steve Mariucci and that leads me to wonder. What if Jim gets HC would he offer the OC, the entire O to Steve? While he was HC in SF and DET Steve had upper management on the field telling him how to coach, that alone will burn out many people. If he’s given the opportunity to come to an organization that is well structured and where he doesn’t have to worry about being told how to do his job, even if its only operating the offense I have to believe that would be very intriguing for a man like Steve, not to mention working with Brett again. I wonder if any of this was brought up in the private conversation with Ted?



I predict
Jim Bates, HC. Steve Mariucci OC-Assistant HC and Bob Sanders for DC. Brett commits to two more years and Aaron Rodgers gets the bench and appreciates it. Ted makes a mild splash in the Free Agent market. Samkon Gado proves to be a solid RB while a low draft pick RB picks up the slack given from his inexperience. Javon Walker comes back, healthy with a vengeance. The OL gets better with experience and our D continues its improvement. Terrance Murphy I think he may have had his career cut short. Robert Ferguson will be traded for a 1994 Geo Metro spare tire. I would also be willing to say something with Kabeer Baja-Biamilla is going to happen this off season that may surprise a lot of people.

I want the Packers to win every game, however that doesn’t define my fanhood for the Packers. When it comes down to it. I’m glad I am a Packer fan. Win or lose, I’m a Packers fan. Good move or bad move. I’m a Packers fan.
I’m perhaps a tad over optimistic but who wants to go into a season looking for disappointment? I chose to look for ways the Packers will improve. Lord knows we have the room for it.

---