Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show!!! Congratulations goes out to this week’s contest winner, Matt Andrusbro of Maribel, who correctly answered “Who is the hottest chick ever in a music video?” As Jerry Jones famously once said about who his starting quarterback would be, IT’S NOT EVEN A DEBATE. You’ll recall these ditties from Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” video… Bobbie Jean Brown (great name) was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and grew into such a stunning natural beauty by the time she was in her teens that it was pretty clear to her and everyone else that she would eventually end up as a model working out of Los Angeles, which is exactly what happened by the time she turned 18. Yikes. In addition to being named Miss Louisiana Teen USA, she won the spokesmodel category on TV’s “Star Search” a record 13 times! Full disclosure, there is definite bias on my part because, as luck would have it, Coach was living it up in L.A. at the time Bobbie Brown was partying and clubbing on the Sunset Strip in her early twenties. Good times, good times. A-hem. OK. Congrats, Matt! Now back to football (sorry, I’m sweating a little…). Purportedly, a small joke around the Packers locker room leading up to their trip to Detroit was “…all of a sudden there are Brewers fans coming out of the woodwork, now that Milwaukee is in the playoffs.” WRONG, 3rd-year-player-still-on-your-rookie-contract. You are an idiot. Wisconsinites are real sports fan, not fair weather fans. Just because YOU weren’t paying attention when you returned to Green Bay for training camp doesn’t mean we weren’t watching Rock and BA nightly since April on FoxSports Wisconsin. We know everything about this year's Brew Crew…how their spring training roster invitees became part of the core team, why they sent Santana, Arcia, and Broxton down and back, and we even know how to pronounce Schoop. We know that Brian Anderson used to be a minor league catcher, Sophia Minnaert speaks fluent Puerto Rican Spanglish, and Bill Schroeder’s son is a decorated military warrior. And we know winners don’t mock winners. You need to shut your pie hole (nice tie in, eh?) and learn how to play some competitive professional football. By the way, I’ve already deer hunted, duck hunted, and watched more Bucks preseason games than Packers home games, so get your shit together NOW before the rest of the dairy state turns its attention elsewhere. Have a nice day. Create A Seam Here – X’s & O’s about the game or a scheme Statistics are for losers…uttered by virtually every losing coach…..particularly Fat McCarthy. But you know what, the Big Tuna was right….and we gotta haul him out again Packer Fans, we really are what our record says we are….a 0.500 team at best. Every week the specifics are different… …. jobbed by the Ref’s …. missing 4 field goals and an extra point (as Crosby did last week) …. poor clock management by Fat Mike …. passing with a one legged quarter back when the RB’s are getting 5+ yards per carry. … yes the specifics are different every week, but the eye ball test tells you that we are lucky to be 2-2-1. “We look terrible, is that my imagination?” No, Johnny, that’s your brain working properly, it is processing electrical signals from your optic nerve. And when the signal is properly interpreted it makes you want to vomit. Yup, same as a finger down the throat or mixing up your Dixie Cups and accidentally chugging 10 ounces of tequila that you thought was beer. (Additional insight: the number 3 urinal from the left at the Big Ten Pub has never drained properly since.) No Johnny, it’s not your imagination, it’s the data, the data that Eminem wants to ignore. The chart below has the net score (our points less their points) for each quarter so far this year. The bars show whether we won or lost the quarter and by how much. The blue line shows the cumulative point differential, or how much we were winning or losing for the whole season. Depressing? Through 5 games, after 20 quarters plus 10 minutes of football, we are ahead by one point. The three highlighted points show the three games where we got kicked in the teeth in the first half, and where we collapsed in the second. Truth-be-told, we are much closer to 1-4 than anything else. We suck for a hundred reasons, including getting jobbed by the refs, but the primary reasons are: Average/Below-Average Offensive Line Play (covered every week this year, so let’s not do it again this week) Abysmal Defensive Line Play (do we have a D-Line? Coach is tired of banging this drum every week, so he won’t, and laughably, Fackerel, the worst guy, is actually having a better season than any of the others). One-week Collapses see also: Crosby, Mason Turnovers & Penalties Yup, this is a huuuge problem, and one that lousy teams never get over. On net turnovers we are tied at No. 23 with Dallas, Denver and Pittsburgh, all teams that look like crap-ola this year. When so much is going wrong in so many parts of the team, you simply cannot give the ball up. A common theme in all of the 1st half meltdowns have been turnovers early in games (#McCarthyWorstCoachEverInFinal2MinutesOf1stHalves). We have had some nice garbage time picks and fumbles, but they aren’t enough to cover the hole we are in… …and in penalties? We are fricking number 2. Not like, oh good were number 2, this is like “hey how ‘bout a courtesy flush?” number 2. Yeah, that’s right kids, we are only one off the bottom. 50 penalties for 413 yards Offensive Holding: 12 Roughing the Passer: 5 False Start: 5 Defensive Pass Interference: 4 Delay of Game: 3 Face Mask: 3 Defensive Offside: 3 Intentional Grounding: 2 Illegal Block Above the Waist: 2 Offside on Free Kick: 2 Illegal Formation: 2 Roughing the Kicker: 1 Taunting: 1 Unnecessary Roughing: 1 Unsportsmanlike Conduct: 1 Illegal Shift: 1 Offensive Pass Interference: 1 Illegal Motion: 1 Who’s Number 1? Da Stillers! Mike Tomlin, one of the NFL's longest-tenured coaches, and one of two coaches who sit on the league's competition committee, let loose Sunday with a blunt assessment of officiating in 2018. Speaking after his team's 41-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said some of what he has seen is "a joke" and that he's "pissed about it." Tomlin is known in NFL circles as a level-headed defender of football, and his judgment Sunday reflects league-wide concern that the biggest problem of 2018 -- an over-correction in protecting quarterbacks by the league’s least-experienced group of referees in memory -- will be more difficult to fix than anticipated. At its core, the most common reaction of defensive players is -- "I don't know what we are supposed to do" -- this a clarion call for fans who want to see a fair game and for game-changing penalties to be justified. So, if they are so focused on Player Safety, then WTF was up with Hand’s strip sack of Rodgers last Sunday? In the good ole days (like 3 months ago) Coach would say to Aaron, Tough Spaghetti, that’s football. But if we have our long-haired guy getting flagged, and this whole rule came about because Rodgers was injured last year…then WTF??? Hand gets a good strip sack, but clearly lands with his full body weight on Rodgers. Where is the flag?? While Coach believes that AR was not concussed, he did act more than a little bit strange in his post-game press conference and later this week in an exclusive interview with Coach. At first, A-Rod expressed to me some reservations he has about allowing defenders to have instant, unfettered access to the backfield. According to Rodgers, in Tuesday’s practice he asked Offensive Coordinator Joe Philbin to modify a read-pass-option play so that he’s not immediately sacked by six players after the snap. “I told him that I’m happy to run whatever the coaching staff draws up, but I think we can adjust this play a little so that I can take more than three steps without getting pounded into the turf.” He furthered the conversation with Head Coach Mike McCarthy explaining that perhaps one of the offensive linemen could attempt to stand in the way of the oncoming pass rushers, “‘there’s a lot to like about this play,’ I told him, ‘but we could try working in some play-action or a quick slant pass before the pocket dissolves and I’m hit from three different angles. At the very least, we should minimize calling the plays where I get sacked before I can start running around in the backfield and getting strip sacked.’” As of Thursday evening McCarthy was apparently still confused by Rodgers’ assertions, but was seen drawing up a new play where A-Rod scrambles left and right multiple times and then throws the ball out of bounds. But there’s something else, possibly unrelated, that Coach is also starting to worry about with Aaron: Is he wandering off the reservation? It’s no secret that Rodgers is a big fan of HBO’s popular fantasy series Game of Thrones, but now he is obsessed with the theory that Daenerys, Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister are all related. “I think that Jon Snow, Daenerys, and the Hand of the Queen [Tyrion Lannister] — I think they are all related. Three dragons, three riders, three siblings. We know from Bran, the Three-Eyed Raven, that Ned Stark was not Jon Snow’s father. The Mad King might have been his father, might have been him–and that would make Daenerys and Jon brother and sister. And then Tyrion, we don’t know who his mother is, who Tywin slept with. I think there’s some sort of relationship. At least Jon Snow and Daenerys are going to be working together, and they are mining the dragon glass.” Well, that’s what he said to me, anyway. So I ask you… Cause for concern? WTF – Coach’s take on football news that’s messed up Once again, we find ourselves with the referees in our crosshairs. So, what’s worse?... Is it the bass-ackwards NFL rules that fly in the face of common sense, or the incompetence of those entrusted to ensure the players abide by those rules? Well, whether it's ignorance or apathy (truth be told, I don’t know and I really don’t care), NFL football is getting very tough to stomach. It scarcely resembles the game I fell in love with as a kid, and WARNING – kids rarely watch it these day. They DO, however, regularly watch UFC, people eating spoonfuls of cinnamon, and guys getting teabagged on YouTube, so that’s really all you have to be better than, Roger Goodell. Just sayin, the bar ain’t that high, but you continue to trip over it and fall on your face. Here’s a look at just a few of the failures by the refs (at the expense of the Green Bay Packers, again) from Ford Field observed last Sunday…
And those are just the ones I saw. Half of the contest, I was in the next room kicking my dog because I was so pissed at how badly the game was being managed. I could understand 1, maybe 2 of these egregious errors by refs occurring in any football game, but half a dozen??? I admit I’m a homer, but c’mon man, the refs have screwed the Packers enough already this year. Sheez! Jimmy Garappolo Lacks Ability To Step Out of Brady’s Shadow Santa Clara, CA – Jimmy Garappolo is no longer in New England and was paid top dollar by the San Francisco to be their starting quarterback, but can he truly step out of Tom Brady’s shadow and start a sham diet and fitness program of his own? This guy was Brady’s backup for so long he’s bound to have learned a thing or two from the future Hall of Famer. But can he really push a bullshit diet and pseudoscience workout regimen on the world with the same ease and confidence as Brady? It’s hard to believe so … no yet at least. Sure he’s got skills (he can probably do some TV spots for protein shakes), but are we going to see him hawking sensory deprivation tanks and spreading nonsense about muscle pliability in San Francisco in 2018? Don’t get your hopes up Niners fans. Garappolo showed flashes of greatness in New England – he’s got an impressive arm, but if you seriously think he’s going to be able to talk incessantly about the importance of lowering your pH levels and convince people they can stay in perfect shape until they’re in their 60’s, you’re gonna have to manage your expectations. He doesn’t even have a health guru / body coach / business partner whose been fined by the FTC for selling fake medicine. That kind of Tom Brady talent for spreading bogus health bullshit takes time to cultivate. Sorry, Jimmy, I’m sure there’s lots of pressure on you to show up right away and sell some kind of lemon water cookbook or some shit, but don’t let it get to you because – look: the real problem here is that you’re being compared to Brady at all. You have a chance to be your own kind of player in San Francisco, and maybe start your own crappy clothing brand, or a cheap reality TV show. The Bears Still Suck – Coach has proof Most of America is unaware of this fact, but the Chicago Bears had a bye last week. I had to check to be sure, and – yep, the official NFL schedule showed them playing nobody. For Chicagoans, it’s one of the more positive weeks of the season because there is little that can go wrong. Things CAN go wrong in Chicago, though, even when the Bears aren’t playing. For example, murder. There are so many murders in Chicago, that if you go to Google and type in “how many mur” this is what shows up: Amazing. Murders in Chicago appears TWICE before murders in the U.S.! …more than murders in Mexico, New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit. Wow. Coach is particularly tickled that the category of murders in Chicago is so big, that it is actually broken down by how many murders happened in Chicago THIS WEEKEND! You know how many murders there were in Green Bay this weekend? Zero. And we got beat by Detroit, so I had some concern about that. Oh yeah, we had zero last weekend, too. And the weekend before that. You get the idea. Aside from murder, their O’Hare airport – one of the busiest in the nation, has leaky roofs when it rains. No shit! Mind you, the solve for this is at least centuries old. Coach got dripped on the last time he walked through the B terminal toward his connecting gate in F. There were “catch buckets” placed every 20-feet or so where the roof seams were. What geniuses. Holyjeezman, why don't they fix the roof leaks with all that tax and toll road money that they collect in Illinois? Oh, that’s right, their corrupt. What else can they screw up? Oh yeah, how about their shitty stadium! Back at the turn of this century everybody was upgrading their stadium to remain “competitive” including the Packers and Bears. Coach actually enjoyed going to a game once a year at Soldiers Fields in the nineties because it had those classic concrete Greek colonnades, and lots of empty seats to get a good view of Brett Favre throwing touchdown after touchdown after touchdown after touchdown. But with the stadium renovation, the idiots running that organization covered up most of the cool architectural parts with what appears to be a spaceship-esque tilted toilet bowl outer appearance, and they left the crappy parts on the inside (the crappers) crappy. As a related aside, a disgusting feature of going to Bears games today is that you can buy a warm can of beer in the bathrooms from a sidecar vendor (who quite possibly might be a homeless person actually living in there) while standing in line on the urine-covered floor. Hard to enjoy that can against your lips -- unless you’re from there, I guess. But here’s the real kicker about that shithole of a stadium: In addition to the $690 million it cost the city of Chicago to build it (note that the Lambeau renovation was a thrifty $295 million), it also cost them their 2026 World Cup event! That’s right, the Bears had 7,000 seats designed OUT of the stadium in order to accommodate its dreadful renovation design. Now with a maximum capacity of only 73,490, the city lost their their lucrative opportunity to host the most spendy tourists on earth, World Cup soccer hoodlums, by falling just short of the 80,000 minimum required seating capacity for a FIFA opening ceremony or finals game. All that money will now be going to an alternative, less murderous North American city to be announced later. Too bad... they could have used a big influx of cash to put some Flex-Seal® in the roof seams at ORD. Nice going, dumbass FIBs! Udder Stuff – commentary from the Badger Underground Ann Arbor is a Whore – It’s Weasel week! ANN ARBOR, MI—Excitedly touting the toughness and perfect form that elevate it above the millions of blades he watches every day, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh spent a post-practice interview Thursday heaping praise on a blade of grass on the field that really impressed him. “It’s been doing a hell of a job in camp, that’s for sure, and you can tell it’s not afraid of taking a hit,” said Harbaugh, who effusively complimented the single strand of grass’s ability to bounce back after getting stepped on and it’s selfless, no-nonsense work ethic, noting that the grass appears at practice every day before he himself even gets there. “It never complains, and it does its job every single day. That’s the kind of grass I want on my field. It has the true heart of a champion, and watching it out there putting in a hard day’s work always gets me jacked up.” Harbaugh then confirmed for reporters that he had cut several thousand blades of grass from the field this week after determining they did not meet his expectations for Michigan turf. MADISON, WI – As expected, Bucky took care of business and dispatched the Cornholers in a typical hum drum affair. The O-line showed up! They shitstomped Nebraska’s thin defensive front, and Taylor ran for over 200 yards, finally breaking a couple of long runs. The passing game continues to be weaker than expected, partly due to the absence of Cephus, partly due to receivers’ inability to get behind defenders and partly due to Horndog’s inability to throw deep should receivers ever find their way past opponent D-backs. That said, Hornibrook has thus far cleaned up the picks that were so maddening last year—floating only two through five games. Pro Football Focus has him rated currently as the top passer in the Big Ten (WTF we say!). Ratings consider drops, passes that coulda been caught or coulda been intercepted. Despite not often throwing deep, he is second in the conference in % of passes thrown beyond the first down marker. You’re thinking Wisconsin must have a lotta 3rd & short situations, but he’s 3rd in the league in average distance thrown. He’s only thrown 3 balls that coulda been picked. 4 of the 9 drops came vs. BYU. You’re still thinking he has zero pocket presence and he sucks, but we are talking Big Ten rankings—not NFC Central rankings. OK, you’re still thinking ‘show me the rankings next week after the Michigan game.’ C’mon Horndog, time to step up! Bucky’s secondary is decimated and positively sucked bag in the second half, with underclassmen chasing down wide open Nebraska receivers while playing prevent defense and protecting a three score lead. Four dropped interceptions didn’t help. A pattern has emerged with several data points accumulating. Scott Nelson is the #1 offender when it comes to peeking in the backfield, allowing busted coverage followed by easy opponent scores. His up & down services will not be available until the 2nd half Saturday night due to a targeting call. It is uncertain how many starting DB’s will suit up in Ann Arbor. Dixon was not on the Monday injury report, which is encouraging. Though acknowledging that the Cornholers had two of the top Big 10 receivers and a capable freshman QB, we neglected to give their passing game the proper respect in last week’s installment. Wisconsin did improve their pass rush, caused many pressures, and actually registered two sacks to bring their season total to four. The fact is that Nebraska has a really good passing game, considering that opponents need not worry about their running game. Also in ANN ARBOR, MI— Nebraska was a good test for Wisconsin, since they will be facing similar talent vs. the Weasels on Saturday night, prime time on ABC. We add that the Weasels, aka Michigan, has a better OL and a respectable running game. Playmaking DE Loudermilk was among those injured vs. the Holers. Listed as questionable on Monday’s injury report, he needs to be taking his usual diet of snaps. We hate to say it, but Michigan is a horrible match up for Bucky’s defense. They play a lot of misdirection in the run game, attack the edge with WR screens/short outs to receivers who can run and they have a mobile QB who can take off or throw on the move. Michigan loves to establish its offense by sprinting QB Shea Butter Patterson out and taking the easy underneath yards, then exposing the middle of the field. This is just a bad match up against OLBs who can’t fight off blocks on the edge and corners who give a huge cushion. Michigan TE Zach Gentry has passing statistics almost identical to Wisconsin’s Ferguson. The Weasels also have better D numbers than Bucky so far this year. Will this make for a tough day for the Sports Illustrated cover OL? We shall see: We will obviously need to control the ball and that is achievable with our run game being so strong. The scenario to be avoided at all cost is falling behind by two scores and getting taken out of our running game. Michigan has a very good defense with top calibre pass rushers. We need this game to be a low scoring grinder. We look forward to Chryst breaking out a few razzle dazzle plays, perhaps former HS QB Groschek will have a passing TD to an eligible offensive lineman. One can hope. We have to remember, however, that Michigan still sucks. The Weasels are a combined 1-5 vs. rivals Ohio State and Michigan State during that span and hasn’t finished above third place in the Big Ten East Division under Harbaugh. They likely will land in third place again this season behind Ohio State and Penn State, but are 8-point favorites over Wisconsin. Another WTF. BU scored an exclusive interview with the always revealing Coach Jim Harbaugh: Nothing silences an opponent’s crowd like a suffocating defense. We will not win a shootout as Michigan’s offense is much better than the 2017 & 2016 editions. So how do we win this game? Most of the defenders missing time vs. Nebraska need to be on the field and contributing. Let’s play a clean game offensively like we did against Iowa & Nebraska. Michigan has a couple of injuries to their DL. If those players are unable to go, Wisconsin’s running game may tip the balances. Preferably we need to play with a lead or if forced to, keep the deficit to only one score. Don’t give up easy busted coverage scores like we did vs. Iowa & Nebraska. Maybe Jimmy Leonard will roll out some exotic Dom Capers-esque scheme that prevents Michigan’s offense from methodically going down the field with Patterson rolling out and eating up clock. Please, don’t punt inside the opponent’s 40-yard line. Go for it on 4th down! In summary, appreciate that it takes a lot of guys and this is another opportunity to improve and get better. Badgers 21, Weasels 14 in a repeat of the 1981 classic. We’re Gonna Kick You’re A$$ – predictions for the upcoming game Yooce gize ever git tah Lambeau? Coach wants to know! Coach really loves the Jerry Kramer video that features the question “Were you there when…????” and he has a riff of answers like “the Sneak” accompanied by video of Bart going in the end-zone. Really cool, well up to the point where you find out it’s a bratwurst commercial. But hey dare, gotta laugh, only in Lambeau can you sing the beer barrel polka at every game, in a stadium on an Indian Reservation where Native Dancers perform regularly. “Norm, hey, grab me another one.” Well Coach wasn’t there for the Sneak, but he’s been to one hell of a lotta games since then (way too many according to Mrs. Coach), and one of the most fun was being one of the 60,787 in attendance for the 1996 Divisional Playoff game against the Niner’s on January 4, 1997. Let’s set the Stage. The Niner’s and Cowboys were the dominant teams in the NFL and Steve Young and Troy Aikman were the dominant QB’s. In ’95 we showed the NFL that we were a force to be reckoned with by beating the Wine & Hors d’oevres crowd in the playsoffs…in their home stadium (Wayne Simmons was awesome). Anyway, for the ’96 Playoffs we were coming off of a dominant 13-3 season and would eventually win the Super Bowl. In a weird weather week, it warmed up into the 50’s, the snow melted, and the game was played in steady rain. It was a mud bowl where Edgar Bennett sealed his reputation as a “mudder.” But Coach is getting off track. The real story was Desmond Howard. A Heisman trophy winning receiver that never did much catching passes, but was awesome returning punts in ’96. The Pack stopped the Niners on their opening drive and just 2:15 in to the game Dez took one 71 yards to the house. Coach was sitting in the SE end zone and it was amazing to see the whole field open up, like Moses parting the Red Sea. After that the flood gates opened and we won 35-14, in a game that was not as close as the score might indicate. So why is coach reminiscing like this? Well, the ol’ NFL adage is that no team is as good as they look in a win and no team is as bad as they looked in a loss, so we’re gonna hope that’s true this week. In the last few weeks Coach has laid out all of the technical reasons we should be optimistic, so let’s go with that (you know, everyone pulls their craniums out of their own rectums, the new OC and DC get their units going and Crosby bets back to normal). No, Coach is going to drill deeper and give you, the educated and refined Packer Fan, the inside and deep psychological reasons why we will Kick Their Asses. Exhibit A is that the 49’ers entered the NFL along with the Cleveland Browns from the All-American Football League in 1949. Clearly confused about their identities, they started with a logo/mascot approach that would be later emulated by the “Happy” Pirate logo of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Shown below is one of the original logos of SF…notable that it includes a football, but no other designation of the team other than their official mascot, The Lumberjack (Click On Link). Even more curious is the positioning of the gun and exploding white substance. Coach is not sure what this all means, but his pretty sure that the weird professor from Psych 101 had a copy of this poster up in his bedroom. Even more curious are the forms of advertising that SF used for home games. The poster below is from a game against the LA “Dons”, who appear to be men dressed in women’s clothing. So this all got me thinking, “What the hell is going on out there?” And, although the thought crossed my mind, my friends in geology explain that no matter how much fracking we do, it’s impossible to create a big enough earth quake to get California to break off as an island. Yes, the Niner’s have had a weird and wandering history with their logo, but they seem to have finally settled on an identity. Just this week, Niner’s CEO Jed York publicly revealed their new logo. Said Jed, “We felt it was time to embrace our diverse cultural heritage and reflect it in the team logo. Many other teams reflect the greatness of their communities, too, especially the Green Bay Packers. So we thought this week would be the perfect time to establish a fresh symbol that reflects what we’re all about.” In a “we-don’t-nab-nuggets-and-our-quarterback-is-not-on-IR” guarantee, we WILL play our first good game of the year… Pack 35 Niners 14 JB – Packers you forgot about, but stories you’ll remember about them So Coach got to thinking…this season looks like it’s setting up to be another 8-7-1 year, which brought me back to 1986 – a pivotal year for the Green Bay Packers. Here is a flavor of the Packers records leading up to 1986 (skipping the strike-shortened year and a couple 5-win seasons): 1978: 8-7-1 1981: 8-8-0 1983: 8-8-0 1984: 8-8-0 1985: 8-8-0 Forrest Gregg exclaimed “mediocrity no more!” and forced the organization to bring in many different players from non-typical places in order to infuse new talent into the team, including this week’s honorary Packer, and another great “Bobby” … outside linebacker Bobby Leopold! Coach was researching former 49ers who also played in Green Bay and was surprised to learn that Bobby was the first. For the mathematically challenged, that’s 37 years before a 49er played for Green Bay! And, as an aside, Coach recommends you do NOT search Google Images using the words “san francisco players” and “packers” at the same time (learned that one the hard way in the lunchroom at work). Familiar foes? Both teams have been against each other 69 times, including post-season, regular season, and foreplay. The record is fairly close at 35-30 in favor of the good guys, and – yes, we even had one tie with them, too, not there’s anything wrong with it. ADVERTISEMENT -Coming soon in your local theater! “Bohemian Rhapsody” Leopold may not have had eye-popping stats as a Packers linebacker (1 INT, 1.5 sacks), but part of his Packer legacy was the sorely needed winning drive that he displayed in the locker room each day. He inserted unfamiliar, San Francisco bay methods of physicality into Green Bay teammates that made some want to scream at first, but they became accustomed to just biting their lip with their eyes focused forward on better days ahead. And Bobby Leopold was just the beginning of a long, penetrating influence that 49ers have had on the resurgence of the Green Bay Packers. Recall that before the Packers became the best team in the NFL in the early 90’s through current day, the 49ers were the best team during the 80’s after getting really good head coach Bill Walsh. Bringing over former 49ers was a clever way to rub out some of that San Francisco magic on Green Bay. Leopold, a west coast guy, was first to willingly slide into a muddy situation in Green Bay, which was traditionally an off-limits option, and in doing so he made it easier for others to follow from that direction. After Leopold came, his fellow San Francisco mates soon followed, such as all-purpose blocking back and local football genius Harry Sydney, possession receiver Sanjay Beach, solid QB backup Steve Bono, and even coach Mike Holmgren. No coincidence today, current and very temporary Packers head coach Mike McCarthy came directly from the 49ers offensive coordinator position, and superterrific all-pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers was raised just outside of San Francisco and grew up a 49ers fan. Yeah, I'm biased. So this week we salute the first San Francisco 49er convert to the Green Bay Packers, Bobby Leopold! Oh, and just in case you were wondering how 1986 turned out… Uh, 4-12-0.
Let's stop the mediocrity, right the ship, and hope that WE'RE the ones celebrating Monday night!
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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
November 2022
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