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

The Right Winning Chemistry

The Right Winning Chemistry
( check your ego at the locker room door )

The defending super bowl champion Green Bay Packers are well on their way to making a run at back to back super bowls ( 9 & 0 ) and the one thing that stand out more than anything is team chemistry. The Packers look to be the odds on favorite to not only get to, but also win super bowl 46. While team chemistry is a key component to winning in the NFL. The Packers under the leadership of coach Mike McCarthy have found to leave their ego's at the locker room door before every games this season so far. To a man the only thing we've heard from this team from the beginning of the season is a united attitude of winning as a team.

Even with the local media trying their best to throw a fly in the ointment ( with their talk after only one game of how quarterback Aaron Rodgers would be able to keep all of his receivers happy ) the superstar QB and his star studded receiving core just shrug it off as outsider trying to stir the pot. Now I'm not saying for one minute there are not a ton of ego's on this team, however this team has taken a single mindset to check their ego's at the door for the the sake of playing team winning football. It's easy to see this Packer's team has the focus it take's to repeat, and the talent on both sides of the ball to reach that goal.

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

Elite Quarterbacks In The NFL

Elite Quarterbacks In The NFL

Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers........ Ben Rothlesburger and Stop.

We are at the halfway point of this NFL football season, so we've had more than enough time to separate the elite quarterbacks from the very good or average QB's. There has been so much talk over the last two season's on who the elite QB's in the league are that it's become very annoying. The list of names that have hit people's lists is a joke. There's only four elite quarterbacks in the NFL ( Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Ben Rothlesburger ) and you must stop there. Trying to add any other names to this list is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

There are a lot of very good quarterbacks in the NFL, however the tag elite is used to loosely in today's NFL. When I think of elite QB's the names that come to mind are ( Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, and Jim Kelly ) and how anyone can put Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco or Eli Manning in the same class as theses great quarterbacks is beyond me. You don't need a super bowl ring to be an elite quarterback, ( Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, and Fran Tarkenton ) but you need to be very special. Taking nothing away from the three young QB's mention in this post and one has a ring ( Eli Manning ) but elite they are not.

Elite quarterbacks are rare and special, only 23 modern day QB's are in the hall of fame. That itself speaks volume to what it take's to be an elite quarterback in the NFL. Some have called me old school because of my take on what i think the standard of an elite quarterback should be. I just don't believe you need to lower your expectations to fit the QB's of today's NFL football. There's more to being an elite quarterback than putting up Fantasy football numbers. The bottom line is can you count on this guy when all the chips are in. I've said it once and it bear's repeating an elite quarterback is a QB the other team knows can win no matter where the game is played. There's only a hand full of quarterbacks in the NFL today you can put that tag on week in and week out.

So before we start anointing every Johnny come lately QB's with eliteness after only a small body of work, let's remember true greatness of a quarterback comes after there's a book on him. A true elite quarterback is one who is alway a step ahead of his opponent.

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

Aaron Rodgers Has The Three C's To Be A Great Quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers Has The Three C's To Be A Great Quarterback.
( Confident, Cockiness and Coolness under pressure )

Just when we through it could't get any better, Green Bay's super bowl MVP, championship belt wearing star quarterback Aaron Rodgers is showing teams around the NFL his 2010 drive to the super bowl was just a sample of things to come. Rodgers has started the 2011 season as hard as it might seem to believe even better than last season's remarkable march to the super bowl. Aaron has shown in the first quarter of the season, there's another gear to his game and has shifted it to the next level. In my opinion a QB needs the three C's ( confident, cockiness, and coolness under pressure ) to be an elite quarterback in the NFL.

Confident

A quarterback has to not only have confident in his-self, but also earn the confident of the GM, head coach, fans, and the players he's trying to lead. Rodgers has shown everyone inside and outside of the organization from day one confident was one thing he was not lacking. Call it rookie arrogance or letting anger of having to sit and wait while 22 other rookies were drafted before him in the 2005 draft get the best of him. Aaron spoke with a clam confident when interview after being drafted that he would make all the teams that past on him regret their decision.

Cockiness

I don't think you can be a great player in any sport let alone an elite quarterback in the NFL without having some kind of cockiness attacked to your personality. The great one's had it, Joe Montana had it,as did Troy Aikman, and Dan Marino showed that cockiness of an elite QB day one he step on an NFL field. Aaron Rodgers has that cockiness that it's takes to be great. He walks with that swagger that tell's his opponents, I'm good, you know it, now try to stop me. Cockiness without performance mean nothing in sports, in the early stages of his NFL career his performance has live up to his cockiness.

Coolness under pressure

To be a great quarterback in the NFL a quarterback has to have that coolness under pressure. That ability to slow a game down, know where he is in a game, and what it will take to win that game. From the first minute GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy informed Rodgers he would be replacing Packer's icon Brett Favre as their starting quarterback, it seem as if Rodgers had a coolness and calmness about himself that he was indeed ready to take on the task at hand. Even after facing the distain from fans and media when Favre out of the blue decided he wanted to end his brief retirement and get his old job back; when his GM an Coach had Handel it the only way they could by telling Favre he had to compete ( wink wink to get his job back, it was never going to happen ) show a coolness under pressure that had to make playing in an NFL game seem easy.

While it is way to early to put an hall of frame tag on Rodgers, it's very easy to see he has the three C's to get him there. his first three and a quarter season's as Green Bay's starting QB has been nothing short of remarkable knowing all he had to endure to get to where his is. The only thing I can tell fans on NFL football is don't blink, because we are seeing something special.

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

Green Bay need's to run to a championship.

Green Bay need's to run to a championship.

The Super Bowl champ's Green Bay Packers go into the 2011 season with the same questions as 2010. Can the offensive line keep super bowl MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers from getting killed and can they mount a good enough running attack to stop that happening.So far this preseason that does not look to be the case. Everyone in the NFL know's they have the best passing attack in football, however without some kind of balance on the ground game side of the ball Rodgers could spend more time on the ground than his running-backs.

The biggest problem the Packers have is knowing the have 6 games this season going against division rivals who know how to get after the quarterback. With only one preseason game left and knowing starters will not play more the one or two series in the game; coach Mike McCarthy and his staff need's to find answers to a problem that could derail they're chances of repeating in 2011. A running game can go a long way in helping to solve theses problems.

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

where will Green Bay go in this year's draft?

Where will Green Bay go in this year's draft?

Linebacker.......offensive linemen.......running back

There's no doubt the Green Bay Packers have one of the most talented teams in the NFL, however even a Super Bowl champ has needs. The three positions Green Bay should address in this year's draft that could fill some glaring needs in my opinion are (outside linebacker, offensive line, and running back) to make an already solid team that much better. With Clay Matthews looking as if he's going to be a superstar pass rushing linebacker for years to come, the Packers could use someone on the other side ( aka the Pittsburgh steelers dynamic duo of Lamarr Woodley and James Harrison )
to take some of the pressure off Matthews being he's the Packers only true pass rusher.

The offensive line which showed some improvement last season, need's some upgrading. Aaron Rodgers Houdini like ability to escape on coming pass rushers made the line look better than they actually played. One only needs to take look at last season playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons to see help on the O-line might be needed. Given all the injuries the line has sustain the last few seasons and the need to keep Rodgers upright, offensive line should be Green Bay's # 1 priority.

I see running back as the easiest of the positions to fill. I know after last season you might wonder why I'm saying that? How much help the Packers need at running back depend's on how Ryan Grant come's back from his ankle injury. James Stark's showed in Green Bay's Super Bowl run last season that he is capable of taking over as the starting feature back in Green Bay's backfield; and Grant looked very strong before his injury. However if any one of theses two go's down it put to much pressure on the passing game, so I can see Packer's GM Ted Thompson looking at a running back early in this year's draft.

There's seem to be a lot of talent in this year's draft at all three position I just mention, so look for Green Bay to load up as this could help answer a lot of the questions surrounding next year's defending Super Bowl champion.

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

Preparing for the future

Preparing for the future

I've been reading and listening to all the pre-draft talks about who each team should take and why. With this year's draft being highly spotlighted ( with the Players lockout and the Players Union asking draftee to stay home ) and draft picks not knowing how this could impact their lives the days and maybe months after draft day is over. I keep going back to a story I read on the ESPN Webb sight, John Clayton one of the best in the business at getting the inside scoop on what is happening in the NFL; had two opportunities to address the question of the New England Patriots drafting a young Quarterback in the early rounds of this year's draft to have him mentor behind Tom Brady and maybe one day take over.
In my opinion he missed badly on both answers to this question, first he believe's it might upset the veteran QB that a quarterback has been drafted ( IMO a horrible answer ).Given a second shot at the same question he soften his take on the subject, by saying yeah maybe it's ok but don't look for any help from the veteran QB in the mentoring of a guy who might be his replacement one day. He feels the veteran QB may be unwilling or unable to help in the development of the Quarterback who could be drafted as a look to the future for his team. He sighted the Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre situation as a reason it might not work out. I know its has been talked about over and over again about the fact that Brett wanted nothing to do with the mentoring of his replacement.However taking a young QB by the hand and saying here let me show you how to take my job, is neither realistic or what a true team player has or needs to do to help a young Quarterback to grow into an NFL QB.

As I stated in my earlier blog sitting and watching is just as Important to a young QB's development than anything a veteran QB might say. One would hope a veteran Quarterback at the end of his career ( when ever it might be ) should want to see his team in good hands because it's not if, but when that day is going to come. We're not talking about a lot of Quarterbacks here we're talking about the Payton Manning's, Tom Brady's, or the Drew Brees's of the NFL. The hard true about this game is all careers come to an end ( by the Players choice or the team's ) and the team who most prepares for that ending will be the one who will sustain that winning edge.

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

Destined For Greatness

Destined For Greatness

( Will Aaron Rodgers take that next step to NFL greatness? )

There is no such thing as a sure bet in pro football, however Aaron Rodgers just may be the closes thing to fast money as you can get. After three seasons as the starting Quarterback of the Green Bay Packers; Rodgers has gone from the guy who replace a Packer's living legend in Brett Favre, to possibly the most dangerous Quarterback in the NFL. With a strong pinpoint laser arm and feet nimble enough to someday get him an invite to appear on dancing with the stars, Rodgers has put the whole national football league on notice that he will be a force to deal with for years to come. After setting a NFL record by recording 4000 yards seasons in his first two years as a starting Quarterback and missing a third by less than a hundred yards. Rodgers did something his predecessor had not accomplished is his Hall Of Fame career ( win a Super Bowl MVP ) with his near perfect performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.

One could see how it might easy for Rodgers to get caught up in all the hype that's been coming his way, after having just reach the pentacle of any young Quarterbacks's dreams. No only playing in and winning a Super Bowl Championship, but also taking home an MVP award to boot. However as most of us who tune in and witnessed on draft day 2005, Rodgers had that look and let it be known that he would not let any of the 20 teams who passed on him in the first round ever for get they under valued his talent. So after having in my opinion a Pro Bowl coming out season in 2008, Rodgers even had Chicago Bears fans who were counting the days until # 4 Retired; believing lighting was about to strike twice in Green Bay WI.

Rodgers not only proved to all cheesehead nation but also to a lot of NFL expert na- Sayers that Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy were right to give him the keys to the car. So after what has to now look to him like a small bump in the road on draft day, and after handling a Quarterback controversy that could have turn into an all out turf war with nothing but class. Aaron Rodgers who now has one championship belt around his waist, has put his self in a position to give the fans of Green Bay something they haven't seen in the team's story history, Back to Back Hall of Fame Quarterbacks.

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

Can an " Elite Quarterback " be develop or is he just " that guy "

Can an " Elite Quarterback " be develop or is he just " that guy "

With the game of NFL football at the height of it's popularity and no ceiling in sight, the Quarterback position has become the most debated in football. In my opinion the NFL Quarterback position has to be the hardest to play in all of sports. In a sport that is totally Quarterback driven, you might be hard press to come up with a list of ten QB's ( out of 32 teams )who will hit anyone's Elite list. With such a high premium put on the Quarterback position to carry a team, you have to ask yourself, why there are so few team's in the NFL with the capability to develop a championship caliber QB. The first thing you might hear is players don't work as hard at the game the way they use to. I don't believe that to be true, professional football player probably train harder at their sport than any other. People might say it's all the money players make, it give them no incentive to work at their craft. While I think there might be a case to be made with some players, I think the number is very small. You don't play this game without some love and passion for it.

Where as I don't think money is the reason Quarterbacks fell to make the impact we as fans feel they should. I do feel money is the main reason their development is hinder. NFL Owners and General Managers feel they can't let that kind of money sit on the side line and learn the game at a more gradual pace. The Quarterback position is the one position on any team where a longer learning period is needed. There have been very few exceptions of Quarterback who have started their rookie year and became Elite QB's. ( Troy Aikman, Payton Manning, Dan Marino to name a few ) Theses three guys had that " it factor " the first day they step on the field. Troy and Payton took a pounding their first few years, just tying to stay alive while learning on the job. Dan Marino looked like a polish veteran right from the beginning, one in a million, you may never see this kind of Quarterback again.

Without the time that is needed to sit behind and watch a veteran Quarterback go though the day to day riggers of being an NFL Quarterback, these young QB's are eaten alive. I believe it take a minimum of three years to develop an NFL ready Quarterback, a guy who learn's the position inside and out.This mind you is not an Elite Quarterback, this is a QB who might not lose his team a lot of games. We have seen this type of QB win Super Bowls ( Trent Dilfer, Rob Johnson, Doug William, Mark Ripen ) the one thing these Quarterback have in common, they learn the game from the bench. These were veteran QB's who had the opportunity to develop their skills to the point where they could lead a team to and win the Super Bowl.

The term Elite Quarterback is used to loosely for my taste. The real question is what make's a Quarterback Elite? I know it can't be winning a Super Bowl, Dan Marino was one of the most Elite Quarterback's in NFL history ( no SB ring ) Ben Roethlisberger on the other hand has been to three Super Bowls and won two and there's a lot of so call experts who don't think he's Elite ( I'm not one of them ). My definition of an Elite Quarterback is every time he go's on the field the opposing team know's he can win, Big Ben fits that definition. There are only a few QB's in the NFL today that give me that feeling.They are ( Payton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger ) these are the only QB's I feel have that " it factor " in the NFL.

Aaron Rodgers is the only QB on my list who got the chance to sit and watch the game being played by a veteran for a extended period of time. And if not for Brett's on again off again retirement talk he might still be sitting. I believe sitting helped Rodgers become the Elite Quarterback he is. Time.... Time..... Time is what it take's to develop an NFL ready Quarterback! The approach a majority of Owners and GM's take with the most important part of their team's blow me away. It put to much pressure on coaches, their team's, and most importantly the young Quarterbacks they bring in to lead their team's.

If money is the underline reason for the under development of an NFL Quarterbacks, than money should be the main reason team's take a more diligent approach to this position. Most of the team's in the NFL go though QB after QB tying to find that guy, a ton of money spend hoping there's a diamond in the rough coming out of college football. I read a very amazing take on this subject on the ESPN Webb sight the other day.( and by amazing I don't mean good ) John Clayton had a Q&A on his blog sight, a fan of the New England patriots ask John if the Pats should draft a Quarterback to develop as Tom Brady's successor? John said no because it might upset Tom ( wow! John miss the whole football field on this answer ) if there's a right time to draft a young Quarterback and develop for future it's now for New England. They have a great QB and the time to let a young man sit and watch how it's done.

As we have witness with this lockout, NFL football is a business, so any Quarterback who gets upset about a smart business move has no loyalty to his team. ( he can't play forever ) I believe if more time is taken with the development of young Quarterbacks, we might see 15 to 20 team's with a real shot to win a Super Bowl instead of the 4 to 5 we can count on each year.

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

Have the Packers geared up for that special run?

Have the Packers geared up for that special run?

The Green Bay Packers have the look of a team that's about to do something that will be talk about around Football for years to come. Have you ever had that feeling something special was about to happen? If there was ever a time to sit back and watch a Dynasty appear before your eyes this might be it, I'm here to tell all Cheesehead Nation, don't look away you might miss history in the making. Dynasty is such a scary tag to attach to a team; especially when it's so early in the team's rise to greatness.

The Packers have been built from the top down, to go on a 5 to 6 year run of being the Elite Team in the NFL. With that stature comes the pressure of being the hunted. In my opinion this Team has all the key Players in place to handle any of the pressures that will come their way. Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy have the making of a dynamic duo at the forefront of what could be a very special Team for years to come. They have a Quarterback in Aaron Rodgers who has not yet touch the Surface of his full potential as a Superstar QB in the NFL!

The Defensive and Offensive units look to have nothing but a huge upside. If there's one area for concern, it's the special Team's, but with all the Players coming back from the injury reserve it will probably take care of itself. So we have a very good Offense, a very good Defense, a special Team's that has a great chance to get better. Leadership at the top pulling all the right stings, and a Coach who seem to be focus and determine to not be a one hit wonder. Now, the Green Bay Packers do pass the eye test, they look good from top to bottom, but as we have seen with other Teams that missed their chance at greatness; most of the time they got in their own way.

The one ace in the hole the Green Bay Packers have going for them that no other Team in the NFL has, to keep them grounded.The Fans and the City of Green Bay Wisconsin. Green Bay with a population of about 100,000 people, has a way of making you humble, not many places to hide in a City of that size. With the Packers being the only publicly own franchise in the NFL, and most of the stock holders living in Green Bay; it's easy to see how getting out of the public eye might be hard. The school bus driver who drives their kids to school could live two blocks away from them, the local Postman could be their next door neighbor. The neighbor kids who babysit's their children, probably have parents who own stock in the Team.There's just a unique relationship between the Team and Fans in Green Bay that's very hard to duplicate.

There's always a chance what I'm saying is just a bunch of malarkey, and the Packers will fall by the wayside like other Teams poised for greatness have done before them. But this Green Bay Packers Team like few we have seen before, has the look of a Team that will be very hard to keep out of NFL History Books.

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The growth of a coach

The growth of a coach

I've been a Green Bay Packer fan for over 40 years, and this is the first time in all of those years that I have been happy to be wrong about a coach. When Mike McCarthy was first hire as head coach, I like most Packers fans had no real clue who he was. I went to the 49ers media guild to find out something about this guy. I thought Ted Thompson had just lost his mind, how could he hire a guy no one heard of for this team. We had a great quarterback who's going to the hall of fame, there were other parts in place too that had me wondering, why give my team to an unknown? When coach McCarthy was introduce to us fans, you could see he had something, what, you just didn't know.

The first thing I needed to know was how would he get along with Brett, did he have the stones to coach him? We found out early he had what it took. He had no problem pointing out Brett's short comings as his quarterback, that got him off on the wrong foot with a lot of fans(me included). The bottom line, he was right and we were wrong, a coach is the head of a team, the quarterback is one of it's leader.

He had to take control of his team, and sometimes you need to start at the top. Brett had a lot of years doing things his way and it really wasn't working. Yes he won a lot of games, but he lost a lot of big games with Brett being Brett ( New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears twice in 07. I know it's not right to put a loss on one man,But all you need to do is remember with your head and not your heart and you will see I might be right. Brett will always be a hero in Green Bay and around the NFL, but his unwillingness to change and get on the same page with his coaches and team mates cost the Packers, big games.

It's became apparent very early there was a power struggle between coach and quarterback, something had to give. Now as a fan it's hard to watch a great marriage come to a end, but there was no way this was going to work without both party's parting ways. It wasn't that Brett had lost it or could not play at very high level, he just could not play for coach McCarthy. I think both Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson wish this had ended better for Brett , the Packers, and the fans who had to sit back and watch it unfold in front of us.

Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy took a huge gamble letting Brett go after a 13&3 season and just missing a chance to play in the Super Bowl. But they knew something none of us had even thought was possible,they could make this team better. By moving past Brett they show the rest of the team they were in control of the team, and coach McCarthy would be calling the shots(good or bad from now on)Now enters the biggest piece to the puzzle Aaron Rodgers, a man in a very bad spot, he had to replace a living legend, how hard can that be?

We can't forget, Brett did say he wasn't coming back( yes I know they really did not want him back ) so they moved on with Rodgers and no one was happy. Fans calling for Ted&Mike's head on a patter, hated Aaron for just being the next man in line. Now coach had his quarterback and the team seem to be ok with it. Just as Mike Hologram&Ron Wolf tied their self's to Brett, Mike McCarthy&Ted Thompson did the same with Aaron( how can you not love that kind of leadership at the top ) made me think back to how it was before Ron&Mike got here.

Remember that old saying be careful what you wish for, you just might get it, that's exactly what happen to Mike McCarthy. He wanted his own team,that he could put his own stamp on( I know. He had players from the old regime but it was going to be his way) as we have seen in the past it all start with a quarterback who has the potential to be great. Who knew when they drafted this guy late in the first round he would be that guy. Ted did. you don't pick a QB in the first round unless you think he will start for your team one day. Mike saw Aaron had that "it factor"that it take's to win in the NFL, there's a lots of QB's with strong arms, guys with great legs, some with both, but without that "it factor" they just can't win when you need it. Aaron proved to Ted&Mike with his hard work and that big chip on shoulder that he didn't just want to play good, he wanted to be great. In hind sight sound simple, but we all know that wasn't the case.

While his quarterback had outstanding seasons in 2008&2009, Mike McCarthy's haters were everywhere. He could have been like a lot of bad coaches we have seen over the years, take everything said about him personally, cry to the press that he was being treated unfairly by them and the fans... The only thing we saw was a coach talk positively about his team and where they were going. I'll be the first one to say I had a problem with his playing calling in the red zone. But the one thing I didn't question was that this coach had the attention of his team. He had instilled in these guys he was there for one reason to win, and he would work as hard as them to get it done!

The 09 season I think help ease some of the tension between coach McCarthy and fans, not all, some fans will never get over #4 not being part of the Packer family. I though you could see a more confident coach in 2010, he knew he had a good team, and didn't care that people knew he loved his team's chances to win it all. But like with all great plans, he saw bad injury after bad hit his team, not one time did he make an excuse or ask any fans to feel sorry for his team. All he said was "next man up"( the growth of a coach) he didn't let his players off the hook by saying how hard it might be to win games without key players. What I watch this team do over the last 8 games of the season was nothing of short of remarkable. Yes I know we lost to Detroit and New England, if not for those losses they never make that run. We saw a coach grow up right before our eyes, he let the whole football world and anyone who would listen to him know he had a championship team. I know as a fan I love his grit. Through out the whole playoff run, even the Super Bowl he only talked of winning, not I think we can win, he said the only reason we're here is to win and take the Lombardi trophy home! It took a few years and some thick skin but I think we might have witness the growth of maybe one of the best coaches in football

ONLY TIME WILL TELL

Ajjones

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