Namely, I was trying to find the primary emotion I was feeling following the Green Bay Packers’ heart-stopping 28-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field.

Was it jubilation? Relief? Vindication?

In some ways, I could say “yes” to all three. Emphatically, in [...]]]> For a good portion of Monday, I found myself thinking about what Sunday night meant to me.

Namely, I was trying to find the primary emotion I was feeling following the Green Bay Packers’ heart-stopping 28-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field.

Was it jubilation? Relief? Vindication?

In some ways, I could say “yes” to all three. Emphatically, in fact. But that wasn’t the main emotion. No, it was something else.

Peaceful.

See, for almost two-and-a-half years, Brett Favre seemed intent on making every single Packers fan feel stupid. Every action, interview and performance felt like it was aimed right at us for showering a decade-and-a-half’s worth of praise and undying support on him. He may have been targeting Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, Mark Murphy and Aaron Rodgers, but more often than not – far more often than not – we seemed to be the ones who really took the punishment. After all, those four seemed fairly content with how things played out.

And they never loved him like we did.

For us, though, it was never going to be that way. Sure, we could take joy from the small victories – a spat with his new head coach here or a game-losing interception in the NFC Championship Game there. But, really, who were we kidding? We were never going to fully put everything that happened to us – everything he’d done to us – until the team we loved beat him head-to-head.

It took a long time, longer than any of us would’ve wanted, but it finally happened. We beat him.

Winning alone would be enough to cover the first three emotions I discussed. But to achieve peacefulness, there’d have to be more. If he were to have played well despite losing, say, a 38-35 shootout, tranquility might have fallen just a hair short. No, our guys would have to beat him.  

They did just that. A defense that once dropped back into coverage attacked him. A group that, once upon a time, couldn’t get a hand on him, to use a hockey term, finished their checks. Okay, so maybe there weren’t a ton of checks, but the ones that were to be had were had. Cornerbacks, safeties and linebackers – three positions Favre owned just a year ago – got themselves in position to make plays. And, boy, did they make some plays (Nick Collins = holy crap). In every sense, the reverance they’d shown him before was gone.

In 2009, our guys struggled to keep up with him. This time around, he struggled to keep up with them.

He looked old, slow. Sure, he could rear back and let the occasional dart fly, for old time’s sake. But not like he used to. He could still feel the rush as well as anyone, but he couldn’t avoid it like he used to. His footwork – the most underrated part of his game – was still kind of there, but not like before. There was more stumbling, more bumbling.

The shots of Favre in full-on joy were few and far between. He looked bitter. He looked broken. Part of the “broken” is literal, Favre sustaining two separate stress fractures in his left ankle via a hit from Brad Jones in the third quarter. But it’s more than that. His love for the game seems lost, Favre showing the look of a man who knows he’s gone all-in one too many times. To quote Gene: “The house wins – it always does.”

He called the defeat “devastating.” That surely had something to do with the scoreboard, but again, there’s more to it. He could absorb the boos and the hatred from the Lambeau faithful when he was walking off the field a winner. After all, there’d be time to repair the damage done down the road. He couldn’t be bothered with that then. He was lost in his “dream season.”

That dream season is long over now. The end is near. The bell tolls for Favre.

And this time, he felt every ounce of our hatred for him, because, in defeat, he knows now he’ll never be able to go back. The one true love of his career – the love he felt from Packers fans – will never exist again. He always figured we’d come around, but see, we were smarter than he ever gave us credit for. He knows that now. That’s what brought on his tears.

In a matter of weeks, the game that’s always been there for him will be gone. He faces an uncertain future, both publicly and privately.

But the fans he once so viciously spurned? We’re moving on. And we’re going to be just fine.

-Chris Lempesis

Our bad.

With the week winding down, here are my thoughts on some of the major Green Bay Packers-related stories of the past, well, five days.

Well, it appears as though cornerback Tramon Williams took [...]]]> It’s been a few days since we last checked in. Okay, five days.

Our bad.

With the week winding down, here are my thoughts on some of the major Green Bay Packers-related stories of the past, well, five days.

• Williams joins Jolly in signing tender; Bigby appears to be digging in

Well, it appears as though cornerback Tramon Williams took me up on my advice – at least, in part. Williams signed his one-year RFA tender (worth $3.168 million) laaaaate Tuesday night. Actually, he didn’t sign it by the 11:01 p.m. Lambeau time deadline, but rather (reportedly) verbally agreed to sign it, which counts just the same under league rules.

By getting Williams to sign, the Packers can now breathe a sigh of relief as it appears there will be no ugly, prolonged holdout between the rising corner and the team. In my last post on the topic – again, click on the link above – I said that Williams needed to play ball with the team and ink his tender as a sign of good faith (similar to what Nick Collins did earlier this offseason).

He’s done his part, and now the Packers should do theirs by opening discussions on a long-term extension. Williams is still fairly young, 27, and has shown the ability to make plays in two different schemes (again, similar to Collins). He’s got the potential to become a Pro Bowl-type talent, but even if he falls a bit short of that, he’s no worse than a No. 2 corner for the foreseeable future. As much as we love Charles Woodson and Al Harris, it’s likely those two won’t be around more than a few more years – even less in Harris’ case – and the team has nothing but question marks behind those three. Williams provides some stability and the team must ensure it has someone to count on.

Johnny Jolly, like Williams, also signed his tender (worth $2.5). He has been excused for the next week to deal with his personal situation (i.e., “the drug trial that will never end”). We’ll have more on Jolly on Monday.

Finally, Atari Bigby appears to be digging in for a prolonged holdout. He didn’t even come close to signing his one-year tender (worth $1.759). Oddly, it still has not been made public as to whether or not the Packers made good on their threat to cut his salary to 110 percent of what he made last year ($1.704 million). He’s reportedly told teammates he’s willing to take his battle into training camp.

Just to reiterate what I wrote a few days ago: Have fun sitting at home, Atari. Morgan Burnett will take over your spot and the defense will be just fine without you.

• Commish hints at an 18-game schedule

Earlier this week, Commisioner Roger Goodell said the NFL no longer needs four preseason games, a clear sign that he is in favor of upgrading from the current 16-game regular season format.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the NFL season will become an 18-game slate. It’s just a matter of deciding when that happens. Packers president Mark Murphy seems to be on-board with the move.

Ultimately, I’m on board, as well. I’m in favor of anything that shortens the preseason from its current four-game death march. Too many injuries that have a long-lasting impact on the regular season occur there. Fans suffer in other ways, as well, like having to pay full-price for tickets to a game that, essentially, means nothing.

Some changes will have to be made to the current structure, of course, like increasing roster size (I’d bump it up to a 60-man roster, but that’s just me). The season really can’t go any longer than early February, in my mind, so that means things will have to start at least two weeks earlier than now. That puts us at the last Sunday in August – the second-to-last if you throw in an extra bye week for each team, something that will have to be strongly considered in order to avoid having a Super Bowl decided by second-and-third string players.

The players don’t seem to be in love with this idea, at the moment, and I can sort of see why. Two extra games means more of them will suffer injuries, with some of them being season-enders. They will come around, though, once they find out that two extra games will likely mean an increase in salary.

Frankly, I don’t see who loses in an 18-game world.

• We’re working on something…and we need your help

We’ve rolled out one special series so far this summer: Our all-time 53-man roster. We’re in the process of doing one more before the start of training camp (just 41 days ’til the first practice!!)

We can’t tip our hands too much about the focus of the next series – we’re all about being secretive here at OBOD – but we can say we’d like to ask you, our dear readers, for some help.

When you go to Green Bay (or the Fox Cities, in general) on a game weekend, where are some of your favorite spots? You can take that to mean anything you’d like – restaurants, bars, malls, hotels or “other.”

We simply want to know what spots you hit in order to put your Lambeau weekend over the top. Again, anything applies – just tell us, either via email (olbagofdonuts@gmail.com), comment on this post or at our Twitter or Facebook pages. 

We hope to reveal just what this all means to you guys and gals soon enough. If we can do it right, it’s going to be pretty sweet.

-Chris Lempesis

We aren’t really reporters here at OBOD, so consider the following an emptying of my mental notebook (like THAT’S not scary) from the last week or so.

Between writing [...]]]> Reporters write notebooks after games. Basically, it’s their way of touching on a few key topics they couldn’t get to in their game story and sidebar.

We aren’t really reporters here at OBOD, so consider the following an emptying of my mental notebook (like THAT’S not scary) from the last week or so.

• Schneider hired as Seahawks’ GM

Between writing our offseason to-do list and bashing Brett Favre, we completely forgot to write about the news that John Schneider, formerly Green Bay’s director of football operations, was hired as Seattle’s general manager last week.

While his was a name likely unfamiliar to many fans before the news of his new gig, Schneider was a key guy in the Packers’ front office in recent years. He kind of had a hand in everything – including scouting college and pro players and hashing out trades and, truth be told, I was actually surprised Green Bay held on to him this long. Schneider, along with college scouting director John Dorsey, were both very key in building this team. And I’m still shocked no one has made a run at Dorsey given the fact that the Packers have been built almost entirely through the draft.

Regardless, Schneider should do a nice job in rebuilding the Seahawks, provided Pete Carroll actually listens to him. I know this much: He will be a tough guy for the Packers to replace. Congratulations on the move up, John. 

• Is Peterson really the best running back Favre’s ever had?

Even before Favre signed with Minnesota, football analysts were saying, almost across the board, that Adrian Peterson would be the best running back he ever played with – by far.

Something about that never quite sat right with me. It just seemed like they were all forgetting about Ahman Green and how good he really was.

Then I went and looked at the numbers. Turns out, I was right to feel that way.

Some of Peterson’s numbers, through the first three seasons of his career: 4,484 yards rushing (4.9 per carry), 40 touchdowns, 829 yards receiving, one touchdown, 20 fumbles.

Compare that with Green’s numbers in the same categories for the three best seasons of his career (2001-2003): 4,510 yards rushing (4.8 per carry), 31 touchdowns, 1,354 yards receiving, nine receiving touchdowns, 16 fumbles.

Green had more yards rushing (and a lot more receiving yards and touchdowns) and fumbled the ball less (shocking since that seems to be all many of us remember about Green). Peterson had more rushing touchdowns and a slightly higher per-carry average, but that’s it. Peterson’s shown a big play ability, yes, as he holds the league record for most yards in a game. But Green’s 2003 season is still tied for the eight-best ever by a running back, so I’d at least call that a tie for Ahman.

Now, it should be noted that Green’s years came between the ages of 24-26. Peterson is just now 24 years old, so he could ultimately have better numbers than Green did for those same years. And honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if Peterson did just that – he’s a tremendous talent.

But until he actually does it, I’m saying Green is the best back Favre ever played with – by a decent margin.

• Packers’ ticket prices increase for next season

For the first time in quite some time – three years, to be exact – ticket prices will increase for the Packers, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last Friday.

The average increase, according to the story, is $9 per ticket, with the increases ranging from $8 to $11 per ticket. Packers’ President and CEO Mark Murphy is quoted as saying the increase was needed to keep the team competitive. The story suggests that the increases will bring in an extra $6.3 million to the franchise. That might not seem like much, on the surface, but to a team like the Packers, it’s a huge amount. That’s almost enough to pay the combined salaries of Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy, for example.

Even with the increases, Green Bay will still likely be below the league average in terms of average ticket price. The article says that, last season, only two teams had a cheaper average ticket price than the Packers ($64.48 per game).

At first glance, some fans might get upset by this, powered by the mindset that, once again, prices go up as the little guy continues to get squeezed out. That’s not really the case, though. Again, it still costs far less to get into a Packers’ game than it does many other NFL games. And if you think about the truly unique, once-in-a-lifetime-type experience that going to a game at Lambeau provides, is an extra $10 really a dealbreaker?

If you haven’t been to a game there yet, trust me on this: Cough up the extra dough. It’s more than worth it.

-Chris Lempesis

Well, well, well – it looks as though there’s a little lover’s spat going on here [...]]]> (Please note: I was originally planning on writing my Christmas list for the Green Bay Packers as my usual lighthearted Tuesday post. But then Sunday night happened in Charlotte, North Carolina. And, well, that’s just too good to pass up.)

Well, well, well – it looks as though there’s a little lover’s spat going on here in Minneapolis, doesn’t there?

Seems Minnesota Vikings’ head coach Brad Childress and Judas aren’t getting along.

(No, you know what? Scratch that. It’s the holidays. I’m in a giving mood. For just this once, I’m going to refer to him as – gasp! – Brett Favre.)

Childress and Favre got into a verbal sparring match on the sidelines during Minnesota’s blowout loss to Carolina on Sunday night. Apparently, Childress wanted to bench Favre – who had been taking a pounding at the hands of the Panthers’ defense – even though the Vikings held just a 7-6 lead at that point. Favre, as per usual, was having none of that. He got his way, stayed in the game and continued to take a beating. The result? The second loss in three games for the previously 10-1 Vikings.

An argument between a coach and player – even one as massive as Favre – doesn’t make for much of a story. This is the NFL; things get heated.

Now, though, we’re finding out that Childress unleashed a “profanity-laced tirade” at Favre in private well after the game Sunday night and that Childress actually tried to bench Favre for changing a play call in the first game against our beloved Green Bay Packers on Oct. 5.

Now, we would seem to have a story…until you consider that what’s happening between the two was inevitable. Both men have massive egos and both have won their share of public battles in the past.

Childress first came to public knowledge when he, as offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, got into a heated argument with Terrell Owens after a practice in 2005. Philly head coach Andy Reid stood by Childress. The team de-activated Owens for the rest of the season, essentially ending his time in Philly.

Then, as one of his first acts as head coach in Minnesota, Childress got into a public war of words with then-star quarterback Daunte Culpepper over a multitude of factors. Childress again was victorious – Vikings’ ownership took his side – and Culpepper was pretty much done in purple.

We all know Favre’s history. In short, the man slayed everyone who dared stand in his path ever since Mike Holmgren bolted for Seattle. Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and Mark Murphy were the first to stand up to him in quite some time. Well, we all saw how Favre reacted there, didn’t we?

(But his behavior was, and still is, okay to some “Packers fans” because Favre plays the game like a little kid and he seems like someone they’d know.)

In other words, it was only a matter of time before the two turned on each other in some sort of weird, “Who has the biggest ego?” contest. The team was winning week-in and week-out and there was only going to be so much credit to go around.

In Childress’ mind, he likely can’t stand that Favre got ALL the praise for the Vikings’ great start. After all, Minnesota won a division title last season without Favre. Plus, if you look at the team’s progression with him as head coach, winning more than 10 games this year was a possibility, anyways (the Vikings have gone from six wins to eight wins to 10 wins in his three previous seasons heading into 2009).

And, hey, didn’t Childress just get a long-term contract extension from the team? Why would the team do that if the wins were all on Favre?

In Favre’s redneck noggin, it’s the same old song and dance. He makes this offense go. He allows them to score points in a way Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels could never dream of. He puts the defense in a spot to pin its ears back and rush the passer. It’s not about anyone else. It’s all about him. Hell, he probably believes that roughly half of Childress’ new money should go directly into his bank account.

Neither man is right, really. Both have acted like idiots, again and again. But if you’re asking the question of who is most to blame for things ending up this way, you have to point the finger directly at Childress. He’s the one who has repeatedly let Favre get away with pretty much whatever he wanted.

He set deadlines for a decision last summer. Repeatedly. Favre laughed those off. Repeatedly.

Favre said he was done. No comeback in purple. Childress said the door was closed. The team had moved on.

Favre changed his mind. He wanted in. Not only did Childress accept him with open arms – essentially throwing Jackson and Rosenfels under the bus in the most public of ways – he picked Favre up at the airport!

Before Favre had even taken a practice snap, he KNEW this organization was wrapped around his finger. And when Favre started winning games at an insane pace – causing every Vikings fan that had spent the previous 15 or so years cursing his name to run out and buy a purple No. 4 jersey – Childress really had no shot to reign him in.

That was never going to change, good times or bad. If Childress thought losing two of three would, all of a sudden, allow him the opportunity to get tough on a now struggling Favre, he was a fool. Favre is way sharper than he ever gets credit for, publicly. And in his mind, once he owns you, you’re there forever.

(Can’t you just see Childress screaming profanities at Favre as he sits there with a blank look on his face, Childress’ voice sounding similar to that of the teacher on “Charlie Brown” in Favre’s head?)

It’s not just Childress, either. The Minnesota Vikings are entirely Brett Favre’s team now. They’ll follow his lead – straight to hell or otherwise.

-Chris Lempesis