Stop the Drama, Let's Play Football
Well, the offseason drama is over and our parodical son has returned. I’m referring to Randall Cobb, who did you think I was talking about? Officially, Cobb is back to help his friend and our new draftee Amari Rodgers learn what it takes to make it in the NFL. Unofficially, it was a request of our new personnel director, Aaron Charles Rodgers.
Air-Ron had a very busy offseason, starting with his announcement at the MVP banquet of his fiancé, Shailene Woodley, then a tryout for the new Jeopardy host, continuous excursions with Shailene, and the “discussions” with the Packers executives, always speaking in questions (a Jeopardy side effect). In the end, Cobb is back, Air-Ron is back with the players of his choice and most of all… THE PACK IS BACK! So let’s play some football!
The Packers, I feel, had a good draft, selecting Eric Stokes, I potential game 1 starter, OL Josh Meyer, to help fill in for the loss of Cory Lindsey, Amari Rodgers, a possible long term slot receiver AND punt returner, T.J. Slaton, a 330 Lbs. wall in the middle of the D-line and RB Kylin Hill who should help with the loss of Jamaal Williams.
Love’s chance to shine in his first preseason was shortened by a shoulder injury that gave Kurt Benkert a chance to show his stuff. Kurt was cut in the final 53 but by luck alone, he made it back to our practice squad.
David Bakhtairi’s return will have to wait another 6 weeks as he was placed on the PUP’s List. Randy Ramsey (LB) and Will Redmond (S) start the season on IR and Jace Stenberger will be serving a 2 game suspension. Z’ Smith is also nursing a back injury but is still on the active roster.
The Packers also released Punter JK Scot, replacing him with 4 year player Cory Bojorquez from the Bills via the Lambs. With his time with the Bills, he actually was one of the leading punters in the league over the last couple of years… Bills/Lambs loss... our gain.
Two things I know for sure is it will be hot in Jacksonville with no Brees and Upon Further Review… duh bears Still Suck! Isn’t it great to
BLEED GREEN MY FRIENDS!
(Packer John)
Now, when you come to Spare Time for the opening game, have a look at the special prize the club has. The club has acquired two genuine Duke, game ready footballs, personally signed by the CEO Mark Murphy. (Editor’s note: This came about because Biker Jimmy wrote a personal letter on behave of the club to Mark Murphy.) Each football comes with a nice display case (Editor’s note II: thanks to a generous donor) and the letter of authenticity. The club is going to be raffling them off. So be sure to have a look at it, and maybe think about purchasing some tickets.
Also, we will hopefully have some T-Shirts for sale that are unique to our club. We will try to display them behind the table. See me for purchasing a shirt. The cost is $25.00. These are a limited supply. M, L, XL and 2XL will be available. Go Pack Go!!!
Just Sayin’
(Biker Jimmy)
GPB In Our SPARE TIME
First off let me say I am no Marge 328, I just don’t have the legs to pull it off, but I assure you, SHE WILL BE BACK NEXT WEEK. Since there has been so much change in our club this offseason, it was easier for me to write this then to tell her what all the changes are.
First of all, this is our 15th season as a club and the 14th for this newsletter. We ended last year with a total of 131 members, had almost 50 at the picnic and start this year with 60 members. A brief history of the club, my daughter Jamie and my SIL Tim with the help of Loren & Nancy Wolf, Linda & I started this club and Tim ran it for the first 5-6 years, handing the reins over to me for the last 8-9 years. It is now time for me to pass the scepter to the next keeper of the club. Let me introduce you to them:
Neil “Clark” Petersen will be the new face and go to guy of the club. Marge 328 & Kathy McGrew are still the pretty faces at the “Office” table. Kraig “Lewis” Pringle with the help from Nik “117” Papala, are on a constant quest to find the ultimate Packer Prizes. Michael & Melody Cox are our finance team. Michael also keeps up the database but is willing to let that go to anyone with a knowledge and access to Access.
Biker Jimmy is the setup coordinator and MC Coordinator is Jim Comensoli. If you have a desire to help there, let them or Neil know. Our Social Medias are in the creative hands of Christy Papalpa.
I will still be the editor/contributor of the Newsletter. Along with the old guard, Kraig, Ken, Jimmy, Marge, Heather & Barb, we now welcome Bill Demuth who got his feet wet last year and our newcomer Kerri Ellinger (see preview below).
A release from Clark: come on down Sunday and expect the unexpected. The pools & Trivia will be the same, prizes will be different and Neil & Company have already started their own new wrinkles. This is a 4:25 start so come to Spare-Time and see what the buzz is all about.
Two things I know that did not change are: we still meet at Spare-Time and we will always
Bleed Green My Friends.
Packer John
It is so exciting that Football Season is here! I am sure that we are all ready to get back to Spare Time and watching the games with our friends. We open the season in New Orleans this Sunday. The first matchup between the Packers and the Saints was Nov. 17th, 1968. We have played the “Aints” 26 times and of course we beat them 17. The Super Dome is not ready for play after Hurricane Ida.
We already have them running scared, as according to reports, the Saints picked the stadium in Jacksonville for the game because they believe Aaron Rodgers doesn't play well in Florida, the Packers won't be accustomed to the humidity, and the city is more difficult to get to for Green Bay fans than Miami or Tampa. Game day with a kick off at 3:25 Green Bay time, the weather is predicted to be in the high 80’s but will feel like a 100. We have faith in our guys, they can handle this kind of weather!
This will be the first season since 2006 that we are not playing against Drew Brees. This season quarterback Jameis Winston will meet our Packer defense. With Winston being a new quarterback with the Saints we will see if he just hands the ball off or if he gets sacked many times while holding onto that ball. We didn’t lose many defensive starters this year, so he is going to be running for his life!
Za’Daruis Smith ended last season as one of the top 10 in sacks. Smith is ques-tionable for Sunday’s game but the rest of the line can fill in the gaps.
Running back Kamara gave us some problems last season, but there has been plenty of time to figure out what adjustments need to be made and shut him down.
There has been so much talk about Aaron Rodgers in the off season and I am sure there will be plenty more this season. It is one of those things you either love him or you don’t. One thing that we all have to agree on is that we need him to keep his head in the game, to not play with a chip on his shoulder and help lead the team to many victories and to Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles.
Jon and I will not be at this first game, but we will be routing the Packers from Las Vegas. We look forward to seeing everyone for the next game though! Drink some beer for us and don’t forget…
the Bears still SUCK!
(Kerri Ellinger #289)
Aaron is pissed! He has every right to be. I knew it when I was watching a YouTube clip of the Pat McAfee show last year. He tells Aaron, “Yeah, but you had a down year.” Meaning the 2019-2020 season. Aaron looks at him and says, “A down year for me is a career year for any other quarterback.” So what does Brian G do in the draft that year? Does he trade up to get Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, CeeDee Lamb or a couple of notable wideouts? NO!! He drafts a project QB. One that’s going to need a LOT of coaching in a Win Now league. Aaron has a chip on his shoulder and goes out and wins the MVP and rips the entire league a new one!
The first call Aaron received when he got home should have been a BIG Mea Culpa from Brian, and the second should have been from Mark Murphy asking how can we make this right for you? To paraphrase Aaron: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Respect.
So Aaron voices his frustration to some of his teammates. One of his teammates tell Adam Schefter, Aaron is mad, I don’t know if he’ll be back in Green Bay. Aaron didn’t say that! His teammates did! Aaron decides to have some fun during the offseason, he goes and does a guest host gig on Jeopardy! He spends time with his fiancé, they go to her home, they go to Malibu to his home, they go to Hawaii, they probably spent some time up in Chico with his folks.
To really drive his feeling home, he didn’t show up for voluntary or mandatory OTA’s. He would have made $500K for showing up at voluntaries, he would have been fined for mandatory absence, but he wasn’t.
He shows up for camp, tweets a cryptic photo and caption and drops dimes in a basket from 40 yards out. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m still betting on 12 for number 5!
Admin Note: I will not be present for the opening game. I will be in St. Thomas, USVI. As noted in the photo, I WILL be supporting the team! Troy and Joe will have the call for Fox most likely because the Cryboys play on Thursday. However, if you can’t stand to hear them and if you have the Tune-In Radio app and a DVR to watch, you can pause the TV for about 2 minutes and sync the action on the field with the play by play and listen to Wayne and Larry on WTMJ. That’s a little trick I learned last season.
