Thursday, December 8, 2011

This Packer's Team Was Not Built To Lay Down.




This Packer's Team Was Not Built To Lay Down.
( " Hello You Play To Win The Game " )

Since game 8 of this NFL season all the talk around the league has been can the super bowl champ's Green Bay Packers not only repeat but do it with an undefeated season. Now with a undefeated regular in eyesight ( 12&0 going into their game with the Oakland Raiders ) the talk has turn to should they even try. If they get to 14&0 with home field advantage through out the NFC playoff's would it be better to rest players ( aka the Manning led Colts of a few seasons ago ) or go the Patriots way and go all in and try and go for the undefeated season.

It blows me away how anyone could think a team should lay down ( and run away from perfection ) instead of embracing the very thought of reaching the ultimate goal that every team should strive for, being consider one of the greatest team's ever. The Packers are in position to do just that and I don't think this is a team that will bow down to the magnitude of the situation. In fact to a man they seem to embrace the ideal of what the possibility might mean for their team and the city of Green Bay WI. GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy have built a team of winners, and while losing is part of the game I can't believe they would ever set up this team to lose a game on purpose just to avoid the pressures of greatness.

I borrowed a famous quote from former NFL head coach and now ESPN annalist Herm Edward " Hello You Play To Win The Game " enough said.


Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Friday, December 2, 2011

McCarthy The right coach at the right time




McCarthy The right coach at the right time

If history has taught us anything it's taught us that timing is everything. In the case of a small blue collar city in the midwest and a blue collar guy from the steal city of Pittsburg this was a marriage made in heaven. Coach Mike McCarthy of the super bowl champion's Green Bay Packers has turn out to be a perfect fit as the leader of this story franchise from Green Bay Wisconsin. McCarthy has brought a no nonsense hard working approach to playing the game of NFL football back to a city that expect's nothing less from it's team.

In a time when money and ego's has gotten in the way of how football is played on the field, this coach has found a way to instill a team first concept with this talented bunch of players. You only need to listen to his pre and post game interviews to gain a sense of the value he puts on team. He talks of how we prepare as a team, " it's about what we do as a team " not what the other team is going to do. Like their coach, McCarthy's team has brought into his way of thinking that if you out work your opponent leaving no stone unturned in preparation there is nothing your opponent can throw at your team you won't have an answer for.

Now by no means does this mean Green Bay can't be beaten, however it does mean it will take a huge effort to get the job done at their home or on the road. Another way in knowing Mike McCarthy was in the right place at the right time, was the arrival of now all world quarterback Aaron Rodgers to his young team in 2005. With hall of frame quarterback Brett Favre still on the roster and playing at a pro bowl pace, McCarthy was given the time it took to develop this raw but talented QB into the player we see today. Being in the right place at the right time is all about luck, but knowing how to handle that luck take's a lot of hard work and a believe's you can get a team to see you have what it take's to get the job done.

You only have to look at McCarthy's first 5 seasons in Green Bay ( one losing season, 3 playoff appearances, 2 NFC finals, and a super bowl win ) to know that GM Ted Thompson did his homework in bringing this blue collar coach to this blue collar city at the right time to lead this team. Thompson knew there were changes coming to the city of Green Bay and it's beloved Packer team, and knew he needed the right coach with thick skin in place to handle the fallout. I don't know if it was just dumb luck or some kind of Devine intervention, but for fans of the Green Bay Packers Mike McCarthy has turn out to be the right coach, at the right time, for their team in the tiny blue collar city of Green Bay Wisconsin.


Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com