The Packer Pundit

Kampman Named
NFC Defensive Player Of The Week
Defensive end AARON KAMPMAN of the Green Bay Packers, running back STEVEN JACKSON of the St. Louis Rams and kicker ROBBIE GOULD of the Chicago Bears are the NFC Defensive, Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played the 16th week of the 2006 season (December 21, 23-25), the NFL announced Wednesday. Playing in front of a national audience on Thursday night, Kampman helped the Packers stay alive in the NFC playoff hunt as Green Bay defeated the Minnesota Vikings 9-7. Kampman had a team-best seven tackles, tied his career-high with 3.0 sacks and added a game-high four quarterback hurries. The Packers defense held Minnesota to three first-downs and 104 total net yards, including just 27 net passing yards. The five-year veteran had 2.0 sacks in the first half, both on third-down plays that forced the Vikings to punt. Kampman's third sack came on Minnesota's final drive of the game with 1:28 remaining and the Packers holding on to a two-point lead. For the year, Kampman ties for the NFL lead with a career-best 15.5 sacks, the third-highest single-season total in franchise history. In his fifth year from Iowa, this is Kampman's second career Player of the Week Award and second this season (Week 8). Kampman joins Pro Football Hall of Famer REGGIE WHITE (1998) as the only Packers to win defensive honors twice in the same season.

Playoff Scenarios Secondary To Winning
The Packers aren't concerning themselves with all the various scenarios that could get them a playoff berth primarily for one reason - nothing will matter unless they win at Chicago. "We need to really focus on beating the Bears," Head Coach Mike McCarthy said. "I'm not naïve to the fact that our players are aware of everything around us, but our focus needs to be to win that football game on Sunday night." Some players claim to know how the playoff scenarios shape up and some don't, but either way the Packers (7-8) will know their status when their game begins on Sunday. The first key result will come Saturday night, when the Giants (7-8) play the Redskins. If the Redskins win, the Packers will need one of the following three things to happen Sunday afternoon in order to be playing for a playoff berth that night:

*The Rams (at 7-8, the only team that can beat the Packers in a head-to-head tiebreaker because of the 23-20 decision on Oct. 8 game at Lambeau Field) must lose to the Vikings; Or
*The Panthers (7-8) must beat the Saints, or the Falcons (7-8) must beat the Eagles, pulling either victor into a three-way tie with the Packers and Rams, a tiebreaker the Packers win based on best overall conference record at 7-5.

But if the Giants win on Saturday night, the Packers' chances become much slimmer. In that case, should the Packers beat the Bears, both Green Bay and New York would be tied with 8-8 overall records, 7-5 conference records, and 1-4 marks against common opponents, invoking the "strength of victory" tiebreaker, and the Packers trail the Giants there by a considerable margin.

Knowledge is power, maybe
While the Packers insist they won't let the early results on Sunday affect them when they take the field, it will be interesting to see if playing for a playoff berth will crank up the enthusiasm in any way.
Defensive end Aaron Kampman recalled the regular-season finale of his rookie season, in 2002, when the Packers were playing at the New York Jets in a late afternoon game. The Packers were playing for the No. 1 seed in the NFC while the Jets were on the AFC playoff bubble. Then the Jets found out at halftime that if they won, they were in the playoffs, and they came out of the locker room and turned a 14-10 lead into a 42-17 blowout victory. "I tell you what, it just energized their team," Kampman said. "They took it to us pretty good." One difference Sunday night is the Packers will be on the road, whereas the Jets were at home with their playoff lives at stake. But another difference is that the Bears, who have secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC, won't have any playoff implications on the line. So it's difficult to predict how everything is going to play out. "This game is all about us," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "They're in. Their future is pretty much set in stone. Ours is still pretty much up in the air. It's up to us. "All you ever ask for is a chance, and that's what we have at this point."

Injury update
Tight end David Martin (ribs), safety Atari Bigby (hamstring) and linebacker Abdul Hodge (shoulder) all are questionable on this week's injury report, but all three practiced on Wednesday. Woodson (shoulder), running back Ahman Green (knee) and receiver Donald Driver (shoulder) all missed practice, but all three are probable. Woodson and Green have been sitting out Wednesday practices for much of the season to help their bodies heal, while Driver has been missing some practice time in recent weeks as well with his injuries, but all three are expected to play on Sunday.





Former president chooses Yale
over Green Bay Packers
Associated Press
A decision involving the Green Bay Packers played a role in Gerald Ford’s path to the White House and his place in U.S. history. In 1935, following his stint as center on the University of Michigan football team, a young Ford played in the East-West Shrine Game. After the game, Packers founder and coach Curly Lambeau offered Ford a contract with the team for $200 a game for a 14-game season. Ford chose a different career path. He turned down the offer and headed to law school at Yale University. Ford, who has died in California at the age of 93, paid at least 30 visits to Wisconsin as a politician. During a visit to the Green Bay Packers complex on April 3, 1976, then-President Ford dedicated the cornerstone of what was to be the Packers Hall of Fame for the next three decades. It was then that he told the players of Lambeau’s offer 41 years earlier. He later campaigned, mostly on behalf of other Republicans, in places such as Beaver Dam, Wausau, La Crosse, West Bend, Fond du Lac and Oshkosh, along with numerous visits to Milwaukee. It was shortly after he left the presidency in 1977 that Wisconsinites got a dose of the public image he most disliked — his accidental blunders. The former president took part in the Vince Lombardi Golf Classic, a fundraising event at North Hills Country Club in Menomonee Falls. His first shot of the day beaned Gene Bartelt, then 55, of Milwaukee, who was about 50 yards away. Bartelt was taken to County General Hospital where he received a visit and an apology from Ford. Ford spoke in September 1997 at the dedication of a $9 million medical research center at Marshfield Clinic named after a former colleague in Washington — Melvin R. Laird. Ford, who represented Michigan in Congress before becoming president, said the center was a “magnificent tribute” to Laird, who served nine terms in Congress and was secretary of defense from 1969-73. Ford recalled an October 1973 call from Laird, then President Richard Nixon’s counselor for domestic affairs, asking if he would be interested in replacing Vice President Spiro Agnew when Agnew resigned from office. “Frankly, the question came like a bolt out of the blue,” Ford said. He accepted. About a year later, Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal, advancing Ford to the presidency. Ford then pardoned Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal and lost his bid for election to Jimmy Carter in 1976. -- Story






Risky business
Bears must decide cards to play
By TOM SILVERSTEIN / journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 27, 2006
Everything the Chicago Bears do should be geared toward winning Super Bowl XLI, but there is this one final bit of business they'd like to take care of before they start chasing their post-season dream. Depending on your point of view, expending energy to accomplish it might or might not be the smartest thing heading into the playoffs. Before they get to their post-season bye week - the result of finishing with the best record in the NFC - the Bears have a chance to cap a "perfect" season with a victory against the rival Green Bay Packers Sunday night at Soldier Field. With a victory, the 13-2 Bears would finish 12-0 in the conference, including 6-0 in the NFC North. And best of all, they might be able to knock the Packers out of the playoffs. "We'd like to keep them out if we could," linebacker Brian Urlacher said in a conference call with local reporters Wednesday. "I don't know what their situation is or anything like that, but anytime you get a chance to knock a team out in your division, that's something you want to do." The question the Bears face is whether it would benefit them to do whatever is necessary to win the game just so they can say they finished undefeated in the conference and knocked the Packers out of the playoffs. Based on their 26-0 shellacking of the Packers on opening day, it might not take but a quarter for the Bears to accomplish their goal, but playing any key starters in a meaningless game creates an injury risk coach Lovie Smith probably doesn't want to take. -- More



Fans Owe NFL's Greatest Rivalry
To Feisty Lambeau, Halas
By Lee Remmel, Team Historian
Posted 12/26/2006
The late George Stanley Halas, urbane founder of the Chicago Bears, and ebullient Earl Louis Lambeau, who co-founded the Green Bay Packers, could arguably be saluted as the founding fathers of the National Football League. But, even more appropriately, as the co-authors of professional football's most prolific and colorful rivalry, which Sunday will find the Green and Gold meeting the alleged Monsters of the Midway for the 172nd time in regular-season competition. No two other NFL teams can make that claim. The reason being that no two other NFL teams have met as many as 172 times. Nor with as much annual animus on both sides of the ball. Halas, of course, was there at the very beginning - on Aug. 20, 1920 - when the American Professsional Football Conference, forerunner of the NFL, was organized in the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton, Ohio. Lambeau, who had founded the fledgling Packers in 1919, came upon the league scene in 1921 - the same season the Green and Gold launched their rivalry with the Bears. From time to time over the years, some observers have expressed doubts about the intensity level of what unquestionably is the granddaddy of all rivalries in the history of professional football, the customary suggestion being that it might be on the wane. And, candidly, the neighborhood series might never have reached its currently imposing dimensions if Lambeau and Halas, both consummate competitors, had not shrewdly fueled the feud from the start. Each a showman in his own right, they did so in part by making it an invariable point never to shake hands after any of their twice-annual contests...win, lose or draw. To the tightly "wired" Lambeau, losing to the Bears any time...any year...was unthinkable. And, to be sure, it was equally distasteful to the suave and comparably committed Halas, a classic and crafty competitor. In point of fact, Halas allegedly would go to extreme lengths to make sure his athletes would have an optimum opportunity to win. All of which added another emotional chapter to the Packers-Bears rivalry. -- More









"I think everybody has made a giant leap forward in their progress and their knowledge of the offense and their ability to work as a unit. I think we're gelling more and more every week. It's not showing up on the scoreboard, but we feel like we're doing well in the games and we have to get some stuff worked out and finish better." -- Daryn Colledge

As the Packers prepare for their rematch with the Chicago Bears this week, there's plenty of speculation that the Packers won't be facing the same team they saw in Week 1. With the Bears having clinched the No. 1 seed for the NFC playoffs, there's a possibility they could rest some starters, or not play their starters the entire game, though no one is revealing any specific plans. But it's worth noting the Bears won't be facing the same Packers team either. Since losing to Chicago 26-0 in the season opener, Green Bay is a different team in many respects. "They are improved quite a bit," Bears head coach Lovie Smith said. "They have talent and with good coaches, normally it ends up being a pretty good football team, and that's what they are."

Here's a quick look at how the Packers have changed the most from Week 1 to Week 17:

Experience up front
Back on Sept. 10, three of the Packers' top six offensive linemen were rookies who had never played an NFL regular-season game. But since then, rookies Daryn Colledge, Jason Spitz and Tony Moll have chalked up three dozen starts among them, so there's a lot less "green" in their green-and-gold uniforms. "I think every guy would tell you he feels like he improved ten-fold," Colledge said. "I don't think anybody is happy with where we're at, and we have to get a lot better. But you look back and watch the old film, and you're like, OK I'm starting to get this, I'm starting to get better, and it's something positive to look forward to." The starting line also has changed. Colledge didn't start the season opener, and due to injuries to Spitz and Mark Tauscher and one missed game by Chad Clifton (illness), the line has shuffled around plenty since then. But the primary starting unit of Clifton at left tackle, Colledge at left guard, Scott Wells at center, Spitz at right guard and Tauscher has played five games together now, and the continuity is coming along despite the low point production the past two games. -- More






Meet Gina
Philadelphia Eagles
Cheerleader

What's your sign? Pisces
If I Had A Superpower, it would be ... to grant people wishes and to read people's minds.

My dream vacation would be ... to travel through out all of Europe.

How does a guy get your attention? Sense of humor.

Favorite Eagle: Dhani Jones. I had the opportunity of seeing him at the Eagles Fly for Leukemia benefit. He was very down to Earth and treated the children exceptional. Not only is he an amazing athlete on the field, but he is also an amazing person which I feel is even more important.

Reality Show You'd Want To Be On: The Bachelorette, what girl wouldn't want 25 men fighting for her attention?

If I'm on a deserted island, I'd have to take ... my cell phone, a photo album of my family and friends and a box of FOOD!

What I love about Eagles fans is ... they are very loyal, dedicated, enthusiatic and PASSIONATE.

Favorite Cereal: Corn Pops and Lucky Charms

I've Never Been Able To Say No To ... dessert.

On a Saturday night, I'll Be ... dancing with my roommates and friends in the city or if I am back home I will be eating at Dino's Sports Bar with my best friends from high school.

I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for ... my family, especially my parents and my sister, and also my high school friends. They are the reason why I am the person that I am today.

My best friend would say that I am ... the only person in the world that knows exactly what she is thinking when she is thinking it.

Favorite childhood memory: Trips to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware every year with all of my family members.

If I had one more hour in the day, I would ... sleep!