Here is a list of the top kick off returners (by average return) for the Packers since 1997: Year Player Average Weight 2009 Jordy Nelson 25.4 217 2008 Will Blackmon 21 202 2007 Koren Robinson 23.8 205 2006 Robert Ferguson 22 219 2005 ReShard Lee 21.3 220 2004 Robert Ferguson 25 219 2003 Najeh

Passing offense aside, pretty dismal start: terrible special teams, weak defense, non-existent running game.I don't understand the decision to move Pickett out to end. I understand wanting to get Raji on the field, but let Raji earnhis way unto the field. Why play key players out of position? Last year it was Kampman, but that was excusable as it was out of necessity. Rather...

Cliff Christl argues that the Packers should retire #5 in honor of Paul Hornung (sub req'd). I completely disagree. As a preliminary matter, if any running back should have his number retired, it should be Jim Taylor.The fact is the Packers have too rich a history to retire every great player. If the Packers retired the numbers of all their great players, the Packers would...

Nagler says that the Packers need to blitz more:"The coach abandoned the run!""The play calling was too conservative!""The defense needs to blitz more!"This is the type of crap you can hear every Sunday during football season coming from the mouths of slobbering drunks with Buffalo wing sauce on their shirts. And its usually wrong.Now, that said, sometimes...

Says some dude named Jeff Hughes at Chicago Now Dot Com. Apparently the news is "just in" that the "Chicago Bears are Good."Is it that time of year again?Yes it is..

Here's an interesting story from New Zealand. The CEO of small-market rugby team the Southland Stags is vacationing in Green Bay:Meanwhile, Clark spent yesterday looking at the infrastructure of NFL team the Green Bay Packers, ahead of a holiday in the United States"It's a dream come true. I'd planned a holiday around doing the Green Bay thing because it's so...

Sad (and somewhat strange) news: Harry Galbreath passed away at the age of 45.Galbreath signed with the Packers shortly after Reggie White. Both of the Packers first two big free agents have passed away a very young ages..

Mark Chmura claims that he has heard that Jolly failed 20 drug tests. We can forgive Chmura for his rumor-mongering because he has never faced legal troubles of his own that could have learned from. There actually is a possible explanation. Under NFL substance abuse policy a missed test is the same as a failed test. One possibility---this is speculation---is that Jolly was worried about

Here is a piece of Packer-lore that I had never heard before. Vince Lombardi recommended piano lessons to his players. From the obit on Ms. Sadie Berman Jerry, a Green Bay musician and teacher:She taught piano and organ for over 70 years and it was not uncommon for her to have taught several generations of students within one family. More than a piano teacher, Sadie helped her students with life

Gross revelations:"Two locations were cited after an employee "did not wash hands after blowing nose or eating food prior to handling customer food or ice."This is a teachable moment: drink more beer.

Al Harris, and his reformed childhood friend are dropping an album:In 2008, the two finally got serious about putting together an album, but this time with the religious twist. Both have teenage sons, and each says his hope is to use the music to steer their children and their peers away from falling into the street hustle."If all they listen to is, 'I am smoking weed,&...

From today's paper:"In truth, general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy could hardly have hoped for any more from Aaron Rodgers after they mortgaged their futures by trading Brett Favre."How does this make sense? When you give the bank a mortgage on your house, the bank gives you money today. If you fail to pay the bank, the mortgage gives the bank the...

Here's a story that I apparently missed during my hibernation: McCarthy is not going to bring in competition to mason Crosby.I just don't understand this (non)move. The only explanation that I can come up with is that McCarthy is trying to rebuild Crosby's confidence. But if Crosby can't handle the pressure of another kicker in camp, how is he possibly going to...

One of the most intriguing questions (to me) regarding the upcoming season is whether Adrian Peterson will bounce back from his disappointing 2009 season. While Peterson did have 1300+ yards last season, that doesn't tell the whole story (and besides Ryan Grant had 1200+, but no one would confuse him with a franchise back). Peterson averaged 5.15 per carry during the first six games of the

I have been laying low for a few months but it is definitely time to ramp up again. I missed some great stuff like the NFL draft, the Bucks playoff run, and the Lost series finale. Suffice it to say that all these events were awesome except for one half of the Lost finale (purgatory? really?). Anyhow, I'm sitting here plucking through the Football Outsiders 2010 Almanac. While it is still

TWo week ago, Some-Guy-Who-Writes-About-"Sports" at OnMilwaukee.com wrote:Rodgers played a great game against Arizona and ran up incredible statistics. He led his team. He made tough passes and spread the ball around. But he missed on the big one.And just for the sake of getting under everybody's skin, I will maintain that Brett Favre doesn't miss that pass.Well...

Fist bump to the Daily Drink.

The big blogging news from yesterday is that Sportsbubbler.com is shutting in down. While some blogs, like Railbird Central will thankfully live on, the Daily Drink is hanging them up. This really stinks. For the record, Daily Drink readers are not saying "boo-urns." Anyhow, there remains but one acceptable tribute when good blogs are found bloated on the bathroom floor...

Last May I wrote:The combined choking power of the Vikings and Favre has the potential to be the Hall & Oates of choking, the Cagney & Lacey of season ending disasters, and the Tango & Cash of missed opportunitiesWell, the Favrikings choked. I know this much is true. But, I was expecting something epic, like Favre intercepting his own pass and returning it the wrong...

Think about this: if the Packers could have kept the Steelers out of the endzone they would bhave the same record as the Vikings right now with an outside chance of getting a first round bye in the playoffs. A "game of inches" pretty much sums it up..

It is overshadowed by Woodson's year and the emergence of Clay Mathews, but Johnny Jolly is flirting with becoming a superstar. It's a contract year, and he will certainly get paid. I know some fans don't like his "attitude" but having a player with a little (or a lot) of a nasty streak isn't the worst thing in the world for a defense.McCarthy needs to...

Schadenfavre: (n.) The joy associated with watching an arch rival suffer through a 40 year old quarterback's fourteen year old antics.

As I describe here, Jolly's alleged crime is most accurately described as possessing at least 200 grams of soda containing some tiny fraction of codeine.Some fun facts from my previous post:If you are on sitting on the front porch relaxing with 27.9 grams of cough syrup, the most you can be charged with is a Class B Misdemeanor (punishable by the still way too extreme six months...

Football Outsiders has popularized the "Curse of 270" which states that: "A running back with 370 or more carries during the regular season will usually suffer either a major injury or loss of effectiveness the following year, unless he is named Eric Dickerson."Last year Peterson "only" carried the ball 363 times, short of 370, so he should be in the...

Interesting post at Volohk about instant replay. The thrust of the post is that NFL officiating would be better served if the instant replay reviewer gave absolutely no deference to the on-the-field review.I must agree, sort of. How many times have you seen an official who was completely out of position make a call and then the instant replay was denied because there was not