Coach hopes you had a Merry Christmas, and let me be the first to wish you a Happy New Year! At this point, 2019 can’t get here fast enough. Now I’m not normally one to go controversial with political correctness around the holidays – hey, Coach loves the holidays as much as the next guy, but with the Lions coming to Lambeau as both teams close out the NFL regular season and the holidays (and the 2018 edition of The Coach Clarahanson Show!!!), I can’t help but reflect on their traditional Thanksgiving home game that kicks off the holiday season each year, and I just have to be honest enough with myself to ask “Does Thanksgiving annually glorify the historical slaughter of the Detroit Lions?” If you ask me, Thanksgiving is just plain disrespectful to the Lions and their fans. That franchise has suffered for decades and decades, and yet there we are every year – celebrating the total massacre of the Lions. Don’t get me wrong, I celebrate Thanksgiving just like everyone, but I’m starting to worry that it makes me complicit in the pain that the city of Detroit and all of lower Michigan have to endure. Think about it: it’s a whole day that is built around an entire team being systematically and brutally wiped out. It shouldn’t be a holiday, it’s a national tragedy! Whether or not you want to admit it, Detroit Lions fans still exist. You probably rarely see them if at all, but there are literally hundreds of thousands of them. Think about what Thanksgiving Day must be like for them… when you’re gathered with your family, watching comfortably, enjoying yourselves at their expense. This has been going on for so long that some young people might not even remember how badly the Lions have been annihilated in the past…enough is enough I say! It’s time to stop having them be the sacrificial lamb that starts the holiday season each year. I’m not suggesting you stop having family over on Thanksgiving for a nice meal, I’m just saying be aware of your privilege because you are not a Lions fan. Put yourselves in their shoes for once, and try enjoying the holiday in a more solemn, respectful and conscious way. I for one am choosing to not watch the Lions game next Thanksgiving, and I would urge all of you to do the same. But, yeah, I’ll be at Lambeau watching ‘em get slaughtered THIS Sunday, of course! Create A Seam Here – X’s & O’s about the game or a scheme Here’s what you need to know about the Jets game. Number 1: In a scintillating duel between two losing teams, we took a potentially easy game and we made it like the kid who dives and slides while catching a routine fly ball in the outfield. Yes a win, but made much, much more difficult by totally inept Special Teams. Yes, yet another ST f’up, this time with a KO return for a TD. Not only did we gift them a direct TD, we fumbled a return and gave them another long return to tie up the game at the end. So chalk up 17 Jets points directly to the Zook’s Special Bus Boys. “But Coach, when I watch Packers shows on TV they say it’s not his fault because the players are recent signings that don’t usually play Special Teams or know their assignments very well.” Well, concerned reader from Two Rivers, the job of a Special Teams coordinator is to take any sluggo off the street with speed and get him familiar with the 2-3 assignments he has to complete on Sunday. That’s it. Thirty-one other coordinators in the NFL have the same responsibility, and do it better (much). Moreover, the Zookster is just as responsible for getting HIS returner to run for long returns (including touchdowns) like the other teams do against him. He just sucks at it. All of McCarthy’s ST coordinators have stunk. Fire Zook. The Defense was absolutely horrible for three quarters, and then finally stiffened up for the last 5 drives. But to be fair to Pettine, Blake Martinez and Tramon Williams were the only Week 1 starters still on the field by the end of the game. Keep Pettine A subplot to the game is that Jamal Williams and Aaron Rodgers had a heck of a game running….and….Aaron Rodgers heard that Coach contemplated benching him (read last week’s blog), and he responded!! The highlight of the game was our Savior Jake Kumerow arrived in all of his glory! The 2018 fan favorite, UW Whitewater Alum and new GB Packer Superstar, Jake Kumerow scored the pivotal first Packers TD in the game to bring the score to 7-14. Kumerow is the son of former Miami Dolphins first round pick Eric Kumerow. He is also the cousin of current Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa and Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa. In unrelated news, 4 out of 5 Packer fans surveyed could not identify relatives of Jeff Janis. Fast-forwarding to the impact of Sunday’s outcomes on the 2019 draft… We are picking at No. 14 right now, with a best/worst range of draft possibilities between No. 10 (we lose, with help) and No. 18 (we win, with others losing). We are going to win and the Dolphins and Skins are likely to lose, so we will be picking with the Browns at no. 17 or No. 18. The tank vs. win debate has been a hot topic since the Cardinals debacle. The pro-tank crowd points to our swiss cheese roster next year after CM III, Cobb & possibly Bulaga are gone, coupled with issues at TE and guys like Bakhtiari and Daniels entering the injury-prone phase of their careers. Lots of holes to potentially fill via the draft and free agency. The pro-win crowd points to all the stuff you’ve heard Rodgers say this week—the win feels good on the plane ride home and in the locker room, leadership, players are competitors, groom young receivers to step up next year, guys playing for roster spots next year, etc. Coach is definitely AGAINST tanking in the NFL. Despite the moronic argument that each win means missing out on a game changer, you can always trade up if you want to if you feel it is that important. You never know who will be picked by other teams in front of you, and there are no slam dunks -- so even if you’re picking high “your guy” can be a bust. Or worse, you’re picking number 5 and “you’re” guy gets picked at 4. There’s just too much up in the air on draft day to worry about it the season prior. Besides, have you ever noticed it’s usually the same teams who are picking in the top 10 every year? …and the teams picking late in the 1st round usually are in that position each year? What does that tell you? The primary reason Coach is against tanking is because being a consistently good team is about having a winning culture … an expectation that you are going to win every game you play (#PackersFans). Teams that tank don’t have a winning culture and it is nearly impossible to create one unless you snag a Lombardi or a Belichik, who are once in a generation rarity. McCarthy was lucky that the Packers had a winning culture when he arrived, and they got rid of him when he could no longer convince them that he could sustain it. Unfortunately, it took Murphy 3-years longer than it took the rest of us who grew up with and truly understand the Packers franchise. Coach cannot express in words how frustrating this season has been. We have a megalomaniac at 1265 who has installed himself as the Jerry-Jones/Daniel-Snyder of the Packers. We will not be great again until he is gone or relinquishes his authority over football operations. So net takeaway after 15 games in 2018? We have a really mediocre team with questionable talent when healthy. We have a good D-Coordinator, a pretty good QB and a handful of nice players. We need a probowler at each level of the defense, our competent O-linemen to stay on the field, a new head coach, but most of all we need an inspired leader at the top of the organization who can empower the experts do their jobs and demand Lombardi trophies – not participation trophies, from them. Fire Murphy. WTF – Coach’s take on football news that’s messed up Military Honors NFL Heroes By Wearing Jerseys ARLINGTON, VA—In recognition of the brave and altruistic Americans who risk their health and safety for the greater good, Pentagon officials announced last Friday that the U.S. military would honor the sacrifices of NFL players by wearing their jerseys throughout the holiday period between Christmas and New Year’s Day. “Every week, these men are out there on the gridiron, putting their bodies on the line for our country. Having our soldiers wear these jerseys is the least we can do to show our support,” said Pentagon spokesperson Robert Vanden Heuven, who announced that all active-duty soldiers would be sporting gear form all 32 teams to raise awareness of the people who put their lives aside to preserve the American way of life. “These men leave their homes and their families and travel to cities across the country to uphold our nation’s traditions. They are battered and bruised for years, their lives often cut short while we sit back in our barracks and enjoy our freedom. Some of them are never the same after they end their service, and yet we take them for granted. Hopefully, this small gesture shows that the soldiers and officers of the U.S. military know who the true heroes really are.” Packers Coach Named Sexiest Man In America HOLLYWOOD, CA – Congratulations to Green Bay Packers interim head coach — and apparent sex machine, Joe Philbin, for being selected as 2018’s Sexiest Man In America by People Magazine! Being put atop the coaching ranks of the most popular franchise in the NFL certainly has its perks, but the fame and attention from being selected this year’s top male specimen was more than Philbin expected. “Honestly, I just want to win football games. All this other stuff is for you media guys. I wouldn’t say I’m a ten, maybe a nine-and-half, but not a ten.” Well, you’re just being modest, Joe. According to People’s Celebrities Center Of Excellence Director, Michelle Duqúe, Philbin comfortably won the award this year after points deductions were administered to other contenders for minor rules violations (technicalities, really), as Philbin edged out actor Hugh Jackman of Wolverine fame (turns out he’s really from Australia), and so-called comedian Joy Behar (turns out he’s really just an ugly post-menopausal woman, and not funny). Duqúe went on to say that “Joe Philbin was far and away the top candidate this year, primarily because of the dapper way he fills out a jogging suit, his irresistibly debonair personality, and his remarkably sexy resemblance to an unearthed human skull.” Speculation Mounting Over Which Packers Coach Will Be Emasculated The Most By Position Taken On Another Team GREEN BAY — With several names circulating as possibilities for the unique brand of public humiliation, speculation continued to mount Monday over which Packers coaches will be utterly emasculated by working in a lesser capacity for another team next season. “As teams out of the playoff picture begin assembling their staffs for next year, it appears probable that the likes of Ron Zook, Joe Philbin and Mike McCarthy will have to swallow their pride and accept a position where they will pathetically wield a mere ten percent of their former power, authority and prestige that they once had as the top coaching leaders for the Green Bay Packers” said ESPN NFL analyst Adam Schefter, adding that league sources are “fairly confident” in former head coach Mike McCarthy debasing himself as an offensive coordinator, for which he must humbly obey the orders of another guy who was once his peer. Additional insights from reliable unnamed sources also contend that a 2018 Packers coordinator will pitifully spend next season taking orders from a current coordinator on another team who once served as his assistant. Aging Lions Radio Announcer Pushed Out After Struggling To Keep Team’s Failings Straight DETROIT, MI – Attributing a drop-off in cognition to his advanced age, compounded by blunt force trauma to his brain suffered during his playing days, the Detroit Lions boldly ended the broadcasting career of their long-time radio color-commentator, Jim Brandstatter, replacing him this year with former Lions offensive tackle, Lomas Brown. Relatives of Brandstatter told reporters Monday that the 70-year-old had been noticeably struggling to keep the numerous failings of all Lions teams straight. “It’s so sad hearing the once-vibrant man call Wayne Fonts a winless loser when he’s always been so sharp at recognizing Wayne as a classic 8-8 overachiever, and it’s actually Rod Marinelli that went 0-16” said Judy Neidermeyer, Brandstatter’s eldest daughter, who noted that her father has always been “sharp as a whip” about the Lions’ foibles, flaws, past mistakes, and embarrassments that Lomas Brown lacked the guts to talk about this year. “The hardest part is how quickly he’s going. Just this Christmas, Dad was reminding everyone that the last time Detroit lost to the Packers on the very last play of a game was on Thanksgiving 1986 when Walter Stanley returned the final Lions punt back for a touchdown, when in reality it was Aaron Rodgers throwing a Hail Mary pass to Richard Rodgers after an extra play was granted to Green Bay for a meaningless facemask on the QB when time had already expired.” Neidermeyer added that all she could do was listen as her father railed against former head coach Bobby Ross as an emotionally distant, passive aggressive disappointment before gently reminding him that he was actually describing Dick Jauron. The Bears Still Suck – Coach has proof Ryan Pace Not Ruling Out Someday Trading Way Too Much For Johnny Manziel CHICAGO-Drunk on delusions of grandeur, Bears GM Ryan Pace claimed Monday that he “Can’t miss” when it comes to acquiring players for the team. “Just look at me now” he boasted between a belch and hiccup of hasty conceit, “…the Bears won the NFC North division, and other GM’s are just jealous that we could accomplish a winning record in just 8 short seasons.” Pace went further into detail, telling reporters he has not ruled out eventually giving up far too much to acquire the former famous Texas A&M quarterback and NFL (and CFL) burnout, Johnny Manziel. “Make no mistake, we may have passed on Johnny in the draft and tried to make up for it later with overpaying Mike Glennon and overreaching for Mitch Turbinski, but I’m still leaving the door open to impulsively trade away our future first- and second-round picks for the rights to him and guarantee him upwards of $100 million if we don’t win the Super Bowl this year,” adding that he needed to double check to see if he actually had any first- or second-round picks left in the foreseeable future. Pace also confirmed that he would be equally open to subsequently cutting Manziel after poor showings in his first four games as a Bear. Udder Stuff – Commentary from the Badger Underground Badgers football captain and Green Bay native, Alec Ingold, got the honor of ringing the bell to start trading on Wall Street this Wednesday leading up to Bucky playing Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl. That day the New York Stock Exchange rose more than 1,000 points – the largest single day increase of the NYSE in history! Thank you, Alec InGOLD! He also scored a touchdown in the 3rd quarter of their bowl game, a dominant victory over the Miami Hurricanes for the 2nd consecutive year, 35-3 (despite Gagmeandnoway missing 2 gimme field goals!). Some of Miami’s D-linemen looked pretty good, making hay often in the Badgers’ backfield … wouldn’t mind seeing some of that talent playing for the Packers next year. Yeah, the Badger Underground can comment on the Packers, too, ya know!... Green Bay Packer Benchmarking Opportunity – Athletic Bilbao One must look far and wide to find a small city professional team with consistent big-time success in which the local “club members” control the team without a rich team owner. The Badger Underground staff was dispatched this week to just such a place for investigating the inner workings of Athletic Bilbao of La Liga Espanol (translation: a soccer team in Bilbao, Spain called the “Athletics”). First a little background (Click here for more info). Athletic is one of only three teams to never have been demoted to a lower level league, which is common when a soccer team over there has a bad year (the other two are Barcelona and Real Madrid, who lawn fags know well). They have won La Liga 8 times (the top professional soccer division of the Spanish league since 1928) and have won the Copa del Rey “King’s Cup” 24 times since the inaugural match in 1903 (sort of like a National Championship tournament for professional soccer players). Not too shabby for a team that almost exclusively has local players which would be the equivalent of the Packers only having players from the west division of the Big Ten. We began our investigation by naturally heading out to the local establishments of Bilbao. Thinking that a Thursday afternoon would be a slow time in which to catch some die-hard fans to interview, we were majorly mistaken. The bars were packed with patrons imbibing heavily on a work day. This piqued our interest to say the least. After minimal inquiries were learned that today was the day that the club members (socios) were electing a new president. Our thoughts immediately flooded with the debacle back home that is Mark Murphy, so we needed to know more! Was this true? Did the actual club members, which we learned equate to season ticket holders, have the power to elect the team president of their choosing? Sure enough, this is true! Holy effing shit what a great idea! Imagine if Packer season ticket holders had the power to elect the team president? This makes our heads spin. This type of democracy could cut both ways, but right now it seems very appealing. We can imagine Murphy’s feet being held to the fire three years ago, which woulda led to Ted’s on time departure. The Packers may even have started the 2015 season with a more competent game manager than Mike McCarthy, instead of that crap show where he temporarily had Tom Clemens call plays so he could focus more on overall game management – which ended up being worse than his play calling! At the very least we would not have to always rely on thought-provoking, tasteful blogs such as this to make our opinion known! Murphy would be voted out NOW! Alas, we can only dream of such things. Imagine… Badger Underground would get behind Coach, for President! No doubt a key facet of his platform, after having Gutey bring in a wise game manager of his choosing who is also an unpredictable sideline tactician, and holding Gutey accountable for top-to-bottom gridiron talent, would be to copy the intriguing eye candy aspects made popular by some of Bilbao Athletic’s BIGGEST fans! We’re Gonna Kick Your @$$ – predictions for the upcoming game Coaches’ Rant about Local Radio Coach has is getting sick and tired of local radio hacks debating whether or not “true Packer fans” will watch the last few games (see also, teenager producing Bill Michaels show). Of course you go to all the games, and if you can’t get there, you watch the games. There is no debate. Being a Packer Fan is a unique privilege, one afforded to only a minority of sports fans. The franchise with the most championships in the NFL is very special and a treasure to its faithful. Being a fan is not about building your stupid, non-existent, fantasy football team, it’s about supporting the Packers through thick and thin. It’s about learning enough about the game to know when the coach is doing the right thing or needs to be fired (3 years ago), or knowing to not cheer when the Packers are on offense. Coach watched every game in the 70’s and 80’s when winning was a sometime thing. Coach was at Lambeau for almost every game in the 80’s, when there was a huge controversy after the team was booed, once. Coach sat in the rain until the last tick on the clock on October 5, 1998 when Vikings rookie Randy Moss made his Monday Night Football debut at Lambeau Field and had five catches for 190 yards and two touchdowns and snapped the Packers home win record streak. If you want the right to complain about the team, you watch the games. If you want the right to criticize the coaches, you watch the games. If you want to call yourself a fan, you watch the games. In case you need a bit more help understanding if you are a Packer fan or not… You jump at the chance to shovel snow You've gotten free hot chocolate at a game Your den is decked out in Packer gear You put your newborn baby on the Packers season ticket list Your grandma crocheted you a green & gold hat You own the team Your junk drawer is filled with hand and foot warmers Your dog's name is Curly Or Lambeau, Vince, Fuzzy, Willie, or Reggie You own at least one foam cheese product You know who made the first Lambeau Leap (hint 25th anniversary this week) "Fall colors" means green and gold You cried when Favre played that game after his dad died ... then you hated him when he signed with the other guys ... and now you love him again The wounds are healing, and we haven't worn our "Brent who?" T-shirts in years You know people who talk about the Ice Bowl as if they were there You know people who actually were at the Ice Bowl You're not a Bears fan Except for Cutler, 4th best QB in Packers history You actually do hate your in-laws for being Bears fans You remember exactly where you were for every Packers playoff game, and what the score was Above all, whether or not you can watch the game, you read The Coach Clarahanson Show!!! every week during each Packers season. (Thanks for that.) I hope I see you at Lambeau on Sunday (look for me in the Leinie’s Lodge at halftime), but if you can’t get there I’m sure you’ll be watching… Sunday will be the 185th meeting of the Lions and Packers. It’s the longest continuous rivalry in the NFL (Packers and Bears did not meet in 1982 due to the NFL strike) with the Packers leading the series 100-71-7 and winning by an average score of 20.5 to 17.5. The last 7 games of this season have been tough for the Packers, but they have been a dumpster fire for the Lions. The Lions are almost -4 points over their last 7 games, while the Pack are +3½, with a net difference of about 7½ points. Guess what, the betting line on the game is Packers by 7½. Adding to the pile, the Packers are 5-1-1 at home with the Lions almost matching the Packers 2018 road futility at 2-5. Coach foresees a “Matt Flynn Special*” win this Sunday, with a reprise of the first meeting of the Portsmouth Spartans and the Green Bay Packer on November 2nd, 1930. Pack 47 Lions 13 * - Jan 1st, 2012, the Detroit Lions entered Lambeau Field with a great chance to put an end to their losing streak in Titletown against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers at 14-1 had nothing to lose or gain and decided to put Aaron Rodgers on the shelf to eliminate the possibility of an injury. Vegas to make the Lions a 6.5-point favorite and Matt Flynn responded: 31-44, 480 yards and 6 touchdowns. (ha ha) JB – Packers you forgot about, but stories you’ll remember about them Well, it’s been 100 years for the Green Bay Packers. Pretty amazing for a small mid-western city of 100,000 overweight alcoholics (takes one to know one). So, in our final episode of The Show!!! in this 100th season, Coach felt compelled to research players from the 1919 picture of the inaugural Packers team. I noticed something unusual about the guy circled below, who was perhaps the most unique receiver in Packers history. Gus Rosenow, an original Packer and never-to-be-forgotten Green Bay wonder… On Sunday, November 28, 1920, the Green Bay Packers were at the end of the schedule, facing the Lapham Athletic Club of Milwaukee. The 26-0 Packers victory that day wrapped up a 9-1-1 regular season, the Packers’ second as an independent team under captain Curly Lambeau’s guidance, organization, and stellar play. One of Green Bay’s scores that day, against Lapham’s valiant but ultimately overmatched defense, came via a 30-yard touchdown pass. In those days this was quite a feat. Lambeau’s eye towards an aerial offensive attack was formed during his collegiate years playing for Notre Dame and coach Knute Rockne. But in 1920, the Packers were just beginning to start the forward-thinking revolution. Johnny “Blood” McNally was nearly a decade away from furthering Green Bay’s advanced use of passing. Don Hutson didn’t debut for the Packers until 1935. In their second season as a team, the Packers didn’t have someone to make the sort of plays as often as Hutson or McNally would later.
But on November 28, 1920, a lanky backfielder made a “flying catch of the oval” – as it was described in the next day’s issue of the Press-Gazette – for a 30-yard touchdown. …and he made it like Gus Rosenow made all of his catches as a member of the original Packers teams: One-handed. Despite the ignorant notion that somehow Odell Beckham, Jr. made the one-handed grab ubiquitous in the NFL, Packers history is scattered with one-handed grabs by receivers. Max McGee’s reaching-back, hungover snare and gallop for a touchdown in Super Bowl I. Randall Cobb’s one-handed over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone against the Bears in 2014 on Sunday Night Football. Dvante Adams pulling in some out-of-reach missile in the corner of the end zone. There are thousands of examples, all in some way shocking as it happens. Grabs with one hand are always memorable in the moment. They all draw the same instant reaction: Was that one-handed? Did he actually catch that? The degree of difficulty is high. We respond accordingly when it happens. Gus Rosenow’s one-handed catches were different, though. Rosenow made them with the only hand he had. There actually is no photographic evidence that Rosenow had only one hand. In the photo above, his torso is visible and his arms are crossed. Only one hand can be seen, though that’s hardly concrete proof that Rosenow was a one-handed pass-catcher. Still, Coach thinks Rosenow is missing much of his left forearm based on deductive reasoning using text from articles of yore... Reviewing oodles of microfiche from the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Gustav Adolph Rosenow – called “Rosie” with the Packers, was born in 1892. He probably grew up in Menasha and definitely went to the University of Wisconsin. Shortly after college he started as a teacher and was one of the football coaches at Green Bay West High School in 1919. Noteworthy to me, on September 5, 1919 a report from GB West’s first practice sits next to a write-up on the Packers’ second workout. The Packers, according to the Press-Gazette, were being coached by West head man Bill Ryan, and captained by Lambeau. (OK, here’s Coach’s ‘That’s freaky!’ moment... I actually used to work with Gus Rosenow’s great grandson “Ryan” at a now-failing paper company in the Fox Valley.) Then, in the Saturday, September 13 edition of the paper – a day before Green Bay’s first game against Menominee – “Rosenow” is listed under the “FB” position in the lineup. Back in 1919, the Iron Ore newspaper, which at the time covered the Twin City football team of Ishpeming-Negaunee, Michigan, documented that on October 19, 1919, the Packers went up to Ishpeming to face an undefeated Twin City team. The Iron Ore’s account says Green Bay’s speed and depth overwhelmed the home team in a 33-0 Packers win. Then, in the second-to-last paragraph of the write-up, this: “Lambeau, the Green Bay captain, played a star game. He is a former Notre Dame fullback and displays the result of expert coaching. Rosenow, a one-armed player who entered the game in the last half, showed cleverness at dodging. He also did the kicking during the time he was in the game.” Was he one-handed or one-armed? Was this article out of its mind? Was it some weird, dated figure of speech? It isn’t all that clear, but it was noteworthy that this disappointed Iron Ore account of the Packers’ sixth game of 1919 bothered to call out a guy named Rosenow because he was good and only used one hand. Fast-forwarding to a preview of the 1961 NFL Championship between the Packers and New York Giants, famed sportswriter Red Smith mentions the 1919 outfit… Rosenow is, Smith writes, “among the hometown mob that Curly Lambeau recruited for the Packers’ first season.” Smith continues with this aside, writing, “Rosenow, the coach at West High, was a one-handed end and a remarkable pass receiver.” How did he know this? In a regularly-appearing Press-Gazette sports column called “Looking Em Over” in 1919, writer Val Schneider would run through various talking points in a bullet point sort of style. It was, oftentimes, something like a late night talk show host’s monologue, in written form. In one of his spaces, Schneider writes: “Many spectators who have witnessed the football games in which the Packers have participated marvel at the playing of Gustav Rosenow, half back. “Rosie,” as he is familiarly called has but one hand, but his does not seem to handicap him at all. He is able to spear forward passes with the best of pass receivers, is a good open field runner and line smasher. His greatest asset, however, one connected with his backfield duties, is giving interference. Rosenow is a past master in the art of blocking and spills the opposition with due regularity. When he goes for a man he always gets him.” In 1919 Rosie scored twice against Chicago on November 9. Even back then, Chicago sucked. The Packers only loss that year was to the Beloit Fairies (not that there’s anything wrong with it). After a winter coaching basketball at West High, Gus returned to the Packers in 1920, injuring himself in the October 3 game against the Kaukauna American Legion. The following week he was listed in the paper’s injury report on October 7: “The lanky backfielder’s knee got a bad twisting in last Sunday’s game.” Rosenow played the following Sunday versus the Stambaugh Miners. The contest was played in terrible conditions, the Press-Gazette calling the pouring rain the “the worst gridiron day in the history of the game here.” Water rose up to player’s ankles, everyone so caked in mud it was difficult to tell the two sides apart. In this game, a 3-0 Packers win, Rosenow caught the only completion for either side: A 15-yard catch in the third quarter. He caught a 20-yard pass from Lambeau the next week against the Marinette Professionals and ran in a touchdown three plays later. Green Bay won 25-0. Rosenow made a “nifty” 30-yard grab on Beloit in a 7-0 Packers victory on October 31. Rosenow was listed in the lineup for the November 7 contest against the Milwaukee All-Stars, and in the following week’s 14-3 loss to the Beloit Fairies. (A quick word on Beloit: During these first two seasons the Fairies were arguably Green Bay’s fiercest rival. Beloit upset the 1919 Packers in the last game of the season on November 23. The 6-0 contest nearly caused riots due to dubious officiating – and no doubt, gambling money lost. The referee, allegedly using an outdated rulebook from 1918, according to the Janesville Daily Gazette, called an offsides penalty on Green Bay, wiping the tying touchdown off the board. A December rematch was set for $5,000, the Janesville Daily Gazette notes, but was later cancelled by Beloit’s manager due to unseasonably cold weather. In any event, Beloit served up both of Green Bay’s only losses in 1919 and 1920. There was bad blood here.) Previewing the Packers next game against Menominee after the 14-3 Beloit loss, the Eau Claire Leader wrote about Green Bay leaving the defeat an injured, beaten up team. Lambeau was hurt. And, as the Leader puts it, “Rosenow, another back, was pretty much used up at Beloit.” Rosie wasn’t in the lineup against Menominee. Or the next, against Stambaugh, on November 25. He returned Sunday, November 28, 1920, where he made the “flying catch of the oval” for his 30-yard touchdown against the Lapham Athletic Club of Milwaukee. The Packers won. And Rosenow’s career with the team was effectively done. So, as we bid farewell to the 2018 season, we salute you, Gus “Rosie” Rosenow from Menasha and player on the inaugural Packers team 100 years ago, who caught passes with the only hand he had. I wonder what picture will grab the intrigue of Coach’s great, great grandson 100 years from now when he researches the 2018 season?
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Author"Coach" is the insightful collective brain and funny bone of a few legendary Packer fans who provide everything you need to know (and what Packers beat writers often plagiarize) about the Green & Gold, plus a weekly guest appearance by The Badger Underground. Archives
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