Zero2Cool
18 years ago

By Chris Havel

There is a reason it takes two words to reference one area.

The locker room is a double-edged sword that cuts in whatever direction the players allow it. Seniority doesn't rule. Neither do ability, stability or credibility.

Majority rules.

It is why the NFL has winners and losers, champions and chumps. It may be the No. 1 reason if not a close second to coaching why some teams succeed and some fail.

When the regular season ends and the Packers and Bears shake hands and jog off Soldier Field, will Green Bay be a team on the rise? Will it be a team to get excited about? Will it be reasonable to think 2007 playoffs?

Or won't it?

In 15 seasons worth of locker rooms, I have seen the awe-inspiring and the awful. I have seen teamwork at its finest, friends at their best and men taking pride in their profession. I have seen envy, indifference and intolerance.

Which way is it going to fall for the Packers?

The early indications arrive today at noon when the Packers play the Dolphins at Miami's Dolphin Stadium. Coach Mike McCarthy's team is coming off a bye week. It should be fairly obvious whether the time off was well spent or misspent.

The Dolphins aren't very good right now. Neither are the Packers. Not now. Green Bay has played just well enough to get fans especially irate when it loses. Better to spend Sundays at the bedside of a doomed team, rather than "that damned team!"

The Packers, at 1-4, have a favorable schedule ahead of them and enough positives to build on behind them. This season doesn't have to be listed as a "rebuilding" casualty. Sorry, but I missed the "Season Under Construction" sign at Lambeau Field.

Ted Thompson, the Packers' general manager, wants to win. He prefers to do it by drafting, developing and directing talented young players. The players need to take it from there and finish the job.

To be fair, Thompson has succeeded in drafting a lot of promising, productive and potentially special players. The influx is so rapid it has almost gone unnoticed.

A.J. Hawk, Nick Collins, Brady Poppinga, Abdul Hodge, Corey Williams, Michael Montgomery and Will Blackmon need to impose their collective will.

Greg Jennings, Daryn Colledge, Jason Spitz, Tony Moll, Scott Wells and Noah Herron need to follow Aaron Rodgers' lead: Watch and learn from Brett Favre Rodgers so he can be ready to take over; the rest so they can be ready to follow.

Together, the Packers' youngest and brightest players have an opportunity to take the team's future into their hands. They can control their destiny, to a great degree, if they trust in Thompson and McCarthy, and if they want it bad enough.

It isn't going to happen by showing up, practicing hard, studying a bit and going home. Not a chance. It is more than doing your job. It is doing it together. Football is a young man's game, and the quicker the Packers' young players realize it and accept the consequences of daring to be great, they'll be just another team that doesn't quite cut it.

Majority rules.

Chris Havel can be reached by voice mail at (920) 431-8586 or by e-mail at chavel@greenbay.gannett.com


UserPostedImage
Rockmolder
16 years ago
Wow, this really looks familiar.

I'm being horribly bored at school, just browsing around some old posts, and this one seems to apply for this season aswell.

If you read this though, you'd think last year was indeed a fluke, as we're still waiting for alot of the young guys to step up and get this team back to greatness... and I couldn't agree more with the irritation of a team losing all these close games.

Hope just sinks to your shoes after losing 6 of these close ones in one season.
Greg C.
13 years ago
I remember that the Packers won that game. Darryn Colledge got thrown into the deep end of the pool at left tackle, because Clifton was hurt, and he got lit up by Jason Taylor early. Charles Woodson had a pick-six.
blank
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
13 years ago
6 of the 15 players listed are gone. A few more could leave this year.

A.J. Hawk, Nick Collins, Brady Poppinga, Abdul Hodge, Corey Williams, Michael Montgomery and Will Blackmon need to impose their collective will.

Greg Jennings, Daryn Colledge, Jason Spitz, Tony Moll, Scott Wells and Noah Herron need to follow Aaron Rodgers' lead: Watch and learn from Brett Favre Rodgers so he can be ready to take over; the rest so they can be ready to follow.


UserPostedImage
Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : WR who said he'd break Xavier Worthy 40 time...and ran slower than you
Mucky Tundra (2-Apr) : Who?
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : Texas’ WR Isaiah Bond is scheduled to visit the Bills, Browns, Chiefs, Falcons, Packers and Titans starting next week.
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : Spotting ball isn't changing, only measuring distance is, Which wasn't the issue.
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : The spotting of the ball IS the issue. Not the chain gang.
Mucky Tundra (2-Apr) : Will there be a tracker on the ball or something?
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : uh oh
Martha Careful (1-Apr) : Too bad camera's can't spot the ball as well.
Mucky Tundra (1-Apr) : So will the chain gang be gone completely or will they still be around as a backup or whatever?
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : The method for measuring first downs in the NFL will switch from chain gangs to camera-based technology in 2025, the league announced.
Martha Careful (1-Apr) : A big step in the right direction. Just put in the college system is very very good.
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : NFL has passed a rule that allows both teams to possess the ball in OT during the regular season
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : Touchbacks on kickoffs will now bring the ball to the 35-yard line.
beast (31-Mar) : It might of gotten more popular recently, but braiding hair (even men) in certain cultures goes back for centuries.
Martha Careful (30-Mar) : Is men braiding their hair a new style thing? Watching the NCAA men's tournament many players have done
Zero2Cool (29-Mar) : Ha. Well, it'd be nice for folks to reset their own password. Via validated email 😏
beast (29-Mar) : Monopoly was supposed to be an educational game, that show how evil capitalism was and how we should avoid it
beast (29-Mar) : Lol, I was thinking username would be better, as then I wouldn't have to keep an email up to date lol 😂
beast (29-Mar) : Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : I was thinking email because I think it'll make folks keep it up todate lol
wpr (29-Mar) : sure is
Zero2Cool (29-Mar) : Monopoly is a rip off of The Landlord's Game
wpr (27-Mar) : 28 days until the draft
earthquake (27-Mar) : Which seemed strange to my 9 year old self, that you could be a fan for a team other than the one you play for
earthquake (27-Mar) : Nothing eventful happened, other than it being clear that he was a bengals fan
earthquake (27-Mar) : And we went and hung out with him one afternoon, I must have been 9 or so
earthquake (27-Mar) : That’s wild, when I was a kid my friend lived in the same apartment complex in De Pere
Mucky Tundra (27-Mar) : Only career highspot was a 200 yard rushing game while playing for the Cardinals
Mucky Tundra (27-Mar) : He is a former Packer. Drafted out of Northern Illinois. Didn't do much in GB.
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Despicable
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : Former NFL. I think Packers too
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : NFL RB Leshon Johnson has been charged in a massive dog fighting operation, with the FBI seizing over 190 Pit Bulls
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : Some real irony of a QB as short as Wilson playing for the Giants
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : Giants country, let's be the tall beings of lore!
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : Russell Wilson signs with the Giants.
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : I was thinking email because I think it'll make folks keep it up todate lol
wpr (25-Mar) : I don't think there is a significant difference. I use a user name for many. Others email.
Martha Careful (25-Mar) : email
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : would it be better to use EMAIL or USERNAME to log into a site?
wpr (25-Mar) : Thanks Zero
Zero2Cool (24-Mar) : New forum has the ability to Thank a post now.
beast (24-Mar) : And the only time they have won the Championship in an even year, was the first time they did, in 2006.
beast (24-Mar) : Since 2007, there have been 10 odd numbered years, Wisconsin Women have won the Championship in 7 of those 10 odd numbered years.
buckeyepackfan (24-Mar) : Congratulations Lady Badger Hockey Team. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!
Zero2Cool (23-Mar) : I don't think it's completed yet. it was just announced last month, right?
dhazer (23-Mar) : did netflix ever release the Packers documentary
Zero2Cool (21-Mar) : And it is glorious!
beast (21-Mar) : Unsigned FA QB Rodgers is supposedly in the Steelers building
Martha Careful (19-Mar) : But I don't own a car! So can I still use it in my apartment?
Zero2Cool (19-Mar) : btw, new site auto updates
Zero2Cool (19-Mar) : Woohoo!
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2024 Packers Schedule
Friday, Sep 6 @ 7:15 PM
Eagles
Sunday, Sep 15 @ 12:00 PM
COLTS
Sunday, Sep 22 @ 12:00 PM
Titans
Sunday, Sep 29 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Sunday, Oct 6 @ 3:25 PM
Rams
Sunday, Oct 13 @ 12:00 PM
CARDINALS
Sunday, Oct 20 @ 12:00 PM
TEXANS
Sunday, Oct 27 @ 12:00 PM
Jaguars
Sunday, Nov 3 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Sunday, Nov 17 @ 12:00 PM
Bears
Sunday, Nov 24 @ 3:25 PM
49ERS
Thursday, Nov 28 @ 7:20 PM
DOLPHINS
Thursday, Dec 5 @ 7:15 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 15 @ 7:20 PM
Seahawks
Monday, Dec 23 @ 7:15 PM
SAINTS
Sunday, Dec 29 @ 3:25 PM
Vikings
Sunday, Jan 5 @ 12:00 PM
BEARS
Sunday, Jan 12 @ 3:30 PM
Eagles
Recent Topics
6h / Feedback, Suggestions and Issues / Zero2Cool

2-Apr / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

2-Apr / Green Bay Packers Talk / bboystyle

1-Apr / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

1-Apr / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

31-Mar / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

30-Mar / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

29-Mar / Random Babble / wpr

28-Mar / Feedback, Suggestions and Issues / dfosterf

28-Mar / Random Babble / Martha Careful

26-Mar / Random Babble / Mucky Tundra

25-Mar / Random Babble / Martha Careful

24-Mar / Random Babble / packerfanoutwest

24-Mar / Random Babble / Zero2Cool

21-Mar / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2025 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.