The Packer Pundit

PACKER PUNDIT OPINION
Looking at the Packers Current Kicking Situation I am reminded of Two Things.

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First... the Monty Python film "The Search for the Holy Grail" where they haul a cart around picking up the dead bodies from the Black Plague.



"Bring Out Your Dead!" was the cry then and the present cattle call the Packers have going now is the Kicking Equivalent.

Billy Cundiff... Dave Rayner... and Rhys Lloyd.

These... "Not Ready for Prime Time" Kickers are a bunch of has beens and never weres and guess what... they're the Pick of the current NFL bunch!

Let's Review: Ryan Longwell signed a Free Agent Contract with the Vikings... now we could have stopped him by designating him a Franchise Player but Ted Thompson is very hesitant to pay what it would have cost (about 3 million) for a kicker of Ryan's age. Besides... Ryan made it pretty clear he didn't want to return. If a guy wants out of Green Bay that bad... I say let him go. Next the Pack pursued Adam Vinatieri but he signed with the Colts. Next we went after Colt's kicker Mike Vanderwideright but he signed with the Cowboys.
Geeesh!
Nobody wants to kick for the Packers... Did you ever get the feeling that the whole world is a Tuxedo and You're a pair of brown shoes?

Just last week the New England Patriots signed Kicker Martin Gramatica. Hrmmmmm... that give me an idea... hey Ted... see if any of the Zendejas brothers are looking for work. Maybe if congress passes that "Guest Worker" Bill in time we can make him an "Undocumented Kicker". Why the heck not... they're always saying they do the work American's don't want to and guess what... Kicking for the Packers seems to fit into that category. If that doesn't work call one of the Gogolak brothers. (20 bonus points for remembering and mentioning Charlie and Pete Gogolak)

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The second thing I am reminded of is this...

What do these two gentlemen have in common?

If you answered... "They are both kickers for the Green Bay Packers" you got it half right. Let me explain. Of course older Packer fans recognize #10 Jan Stenerud (on left) and of course the other smiling former Packer on the right is none other than Ryan Longwell. The other thing they have in common is they both left the Packers as Free Agents... and signed with the Vikings.

Now what sticks in my crawl is this... I remember the year Steney left... 1984 and the Packers were on the cusp of making the playoffs. It was during our 40 years of wandering through the dessert and the Pack brass brought in Forrest Mosses Gregg to take us to the promised land. Well Forrest thought "a new broom makes all things clean" and the Pack had gone 8-8 for like three straight seasons... so he did a little house cleaning and Jan Stenrud was part of the sweep. The pack went on to have another 8-8 season but... we could have made the playoffs had we of had a descent... future Hall of Famer... kicker. The Pack lost 3 games that year due to missed field goals and extra points.

Al Del Greco was 9-12 in FG's and 34-34 XPts.
Eddie Garcia was 3-9 in FG's and 14-15 XPts.

Now if you followed the Packers back during "The Wandering Years"... then you can appreciate how much missing the playoffs meant back then.