Cheesehead Central

Click below to see and hear the ageless wonder. I love that man!

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-films-sound-efx/09000d5d8144d828/Sound-FX-Just-a-big-kid

Harris and Kampman out for the season. Ouch.

In other news, the washed up old man that wasn't good enough to play in GB without training camps connected on 22 of 25 passes for 4 TDs and ZERO interceptions and a QB rating over 140. Dude now leads the league in
QB rating (112), fewest interceptions (3), and is 2nd in completion percentage (69.7) and 2nd in TDs (21)...(Thanks Ted Thompson!)(Idiot!)

Right, but if Brett were a Packer, we'd still be 6-4, due to holes in the team aforementioned.

Not to take anything away from the serious egging he's done to Thompson's face this season.

Count me in on the Ted Thompson scorn, BUT I think this whole episode may have been cumulatively good for Brett. I'm not entirely sure he would have been playing this well if none of it had happened.

For one, Gargamel makes a great point about the rest of the team -- and no way Rodgers is commanding exactly Brett's salary so it's reasonable to think the rest of the team would be even worse than it is now, with less money to go around.

But more than that, I think the whole thing gave him some much-needed focus and humility that I don't think he would've gained if he'd coasted along as Brett Favre, Packers Deity. Dude NEEDED both -- focus and humility -- and it's great to see him doing so well and making the good decisions.

Well said.

Perhaps you’re forgetting the man led the Packers to 13-3 his last year in Green Bay. Yes lead: He started all 16 games (of course), threw 66.5% of his 535 passes, 28 of which resulted in touchdowns with only 15 Interceptions, 4,155 and a quarterback rating of 95.7. That neither sounds like a quarterback who lacks focus nor one who needs humility. Show me a GM, any GM, who wouldn’t be thrilled to have his QB, any QB, perform at that level; and I’ll show you a liar, an idiot, or both. Ted Thompson needs to go. He grudgingly offered the most prolific QB in history a back-up position after 16 STRAIGHT years of dedicated, excellent service… and in the process drove a wedge between loyal Packer Fans and arguably the greatest Packer of all time. Ted Thompson needs to go.

I seriously doubt that. I'm not sure T. Jackson beats the Pack either of those games, let alone both.

...and failed to make it to the Superbowl that year because of a spectacularly boneheaded and hubristic pass that was intercepted.

He had a lot of reason to think a lot of himself but I do think he needed a dose of humility.

So you agree then it would be a matter of T. Jackson's ineptitude, and not Favre's superiority over Rodgers at QB.

Not so fast; I am asserting that not only is Brett so far still superior to Rogers, but ALSO that he is superior to Jackson. Ted Thompson screwed the pooch twice on Game Days against the Vikings.

That’s an awful lot of weight to put on one errant ball... and that's a ball he may throw a dozen times or more yet this year.

Well, it wasn't just the errant ball. It was how he handled his end of the whole mess (Ted Thompson is villain #1 here, but Brett also fucked up). And it was enough of that season -- even though they were 13-3 -- that when the interception happened I thought "goddamn it there he goes again" instead of "how very out of character."

Anyway, it's moot, right? I'm bummed he's not doing the lovely stuff he is doing now for the Packers instead of for the Vikings, but I'm very glad that he's doing so well (and fervently hope it continues to the Super Bowl).

Thompson only proved his incredible foresight. He knew well in advance what Rodgers has proved over the past 26 games: Favre was dispensable. So when he started acting like a princess, or Terrell Owens, take your pick, Thompson did exactly what he had to do: he told him to screw. Obviously I'm going heavy on the pathos here, but all I ask is that we not confuse Favre's indisputable talent with the way he jerked around the front office, as well as the fans. Like you, I believe his track record on the field earns him some flexibility, but not this much: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9956006/The-world-according-to-Favre

Point to Favre's "miracle" season of 2007 all you like--it was, in fact, incredible. Nevertheless, Rodgers all but replicated it the following year, his first year as a starting QB. Check the stats for yourself. And while we're lauding Favre's spectacular 2009, let's see where Rodgers' QB rating lies:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/quarterbackRating

Hmmm. He appears to be sandwiched between some nobody named "Manning," and some amatuer called "Brady." And, wow, what's that? He's been sacked at least three times as much as either QB, twice as much as Favre, and still he's managed to maintain a top rating. And without the luxury of a running game to fall back on, I should mention. Interesting.

I'm not saying Thompson is beyond criticism. But clearly we lost nothing at the quarterback position; in fact, we expedited the development of one of the league's best, who will still be around long after Favre begins spending his autumns forking hay in Mississippi.

Dang!. That's some good writing

It is. Unfortunately, it's nonsense as well. 13-3 to 6-10 can be described as a season “all but replicated” only in fantasy apology land. Pretty stats do not tell the whole story. In 16 years with the Packers, Brett Favre turned in one (1) losing season. Rogers, by contrast, matched that stat his very first year. The 2008 Packers was as talented of a team as any Packer Team Brett ever played on, with the possible exceptions of the 95-96 Packers.

Brett’s first year with the Pack, we finished 9-7 after the team had finished 4-12 the previous year (+5 wins). Aaron’s Packers finished 6-10 after the team had finished 13-3 the previous year (-7 wins). That same year, low and behold, Brett took the Jets to 9-7 after that team had finished 4-12 the previous year (+5 wins). Sound familiar? Tell me, do you think the 92 Packers or the 2008 Jets were better teams than the 2008 Packers? (Not even close).

So what’s the difference? Winning ability is a lot harder to quantify than simple stats. But there are guys out there who just seem to step up in the clutch moments and frequently over-perform when it really matters. Joe Montana had that. John Elway had that. Brett Favre has that. Aaron Rogers? Not so much. In his young career Aaron has not yet shown much ability to “take over a game” when it matters. He usually loses the close ones. His two-minute drill is feared by no one. Brett, on the other hand, has made stars out of ordinary guys his entire career. How many times has he come out firing and rescued his team from defeat? (43 fourth quarter comebacks and counting).

One should also take notice that when the game’s on the line, and you come out gun-slinging in an attempt to bring victory home; stats suffer. A spike to stop the clock counts as an incomplete pass. A bullet ball through triple coverage has triple the chance of being intercepted. These things weight stats down heavily, but are risks that need to be taken when the clock is running out. Aaron, apparently, would rather get sacked than risk his pretty numbers… too frequently as the game clock ticks just ticks away.

Comparing Stats is pretty silly if you’re going to leave out the most important Stat of all: Number of W’s in the Win/Loss column.

None of this is meant to impugn Aaron in any way. He’s shaping up to be a better than average quarterback and may well one day reach the plateau of greatness. It isn’t his fault he’s standing in the shadow of the most productive passer the game has ever seen. Thompson, on the other hand is a ******* idiot. He had an opportunity to retain arguably the best quarterback in the history of football AND had easily the best backup quarterback in football ALREADY under contract. The “have to make a decision” nonsense was a false dilemma. Aaron Rodgers wasn’t going anywhere. Couldn’t go anywhere.

Thompson’s ego alone drove a wedge between the most beloved Packer in history and loyal fans such as yourself. Now his foolish, selfish, disloyal idiocy has resulted in one of the Packer's fiercest rivals being led to victory after victory (including 2 over us, so far), by the guy who never missed a game in 16 years. A guy who always said he wanted to finish his career in Green Bay. A guy who earned his right to waiver on when he should retire.

Since the fateful day he showed up for training camp, only to be told he's only welcome as a backup to an unproven kid, Brett Favre’s teams have gone 18-8. Ted Thompson’s have gone 12-14. It shouldn’t be difficult to discern who the winner is here… or who the loser is (Everyone involved). Ted Thompson is an idiot. He should be hung by the neck until dead, and God should not have mercy on his soul.

Dang!. That's some good writing

I agree Brett could have handled the front office’s idiocy better. But you don't fire your best guy because he doesn't kiss your ass on his days off. No player in history has ever been more dependable or dedicated, during football season.

Taking the easy way out? By gesturing at all of Bret's "intangibles" you have the luxury of eschewing numbers for impassioned words. You have the support of years of lavish praise from broadcasters and journalists. You have the myth. Compelling.

But I'm sorry that I cannot take you at your word. Particularly when you say, "The 2008 Packers was as talented of a team as any Packer Team Brett ever played on, with the possible exceptions of the 95-96 Packers." Why? Because they weren't even as good as the 2007 Packers.

We agree that wins and losses are the most important statistic of all, but the onus is on the entire team, particularly the defense. Again I must rebut with mere numbers, but only to uncover some of the details swept under the rug in your too-simple comparison of the records bewteen the 2007 and 2008 teams:

--The 2007 Packers scored 435 points that year; the 2008 Packers scored 419. That's only a 16-point difference.

--The 2007 Packers gave up only 291 points on defense; the 2008 Packers gave up 380. That's an 89-point difference!

--Speaking of shitty defnese, the 2007 Packers allowed only 1645 yards rushing; the 2008 Packers gave up 2105.

I guess what I'm saying is that I missed the part of the 2007 season where Brett proved his secret mettle as a middle linebacker by routinely shutting down the opponent's running game.

While it's certainly true that our Defense was badly banged up in 2008, it is also true that Aaron Rodgers led the team to 7 losses by 4 points or less. It is precisely these situations where Brett Favre has always excelled (43 4th quarter comebacks and counting, remember?) One can only speculate, but if past performance is any indication; Brett would likely have lost 3 of those games on Interception tosses and won 4 on similar passes that our guys did reel in. Say what you will about the guy, but he goes down fighting. Seriously, Garg; who would you rather see behind center in the final 2 minutes of a shootout?

And don't forget the sword has two sides; assuming a T. Jackson led Vikings team doesn't beat Green Bay this year; the Packers would be sitting pretty at 8 and 2.