Inbox: It was a tight-knit group all around

Les from Las Vegas, NV I love how the guy took a beat to toss his hat in the boat before making the leap for the ball. A savvy, veteran move. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Let’s get to it. Mark from Sturgeon Bay, WI Are NFL coaches secretly hoping kickoffs go away? Think about it. Get rid of a couple specialists to put a better position player on the team, less time spent in practice on kickoff return and coverage teams, fewer injuries, more time on the clock for offense, and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Hmmmmmm… Chad from Madison, WI If the Packers would have been able to beat the Giants in the 2007 NFC Championship, how well do you think they would have matched up against the Patriots in the Super Bowl? It would have come down to how disruptive Green Bay’s pass rush could have been. The Giants won the game with their four-man front and a fluke play. The Packers had three very good pass rushers up front in KGB, Kampman and Corey Williams. The Packers would have been underdogs, but they’d have had more than just a shot, especially if they’d gotten a key bounce to go their way, as the Giants did. Jeff from South Bend, IN Thoughts on Matheny getting fired? Did the NL Central just get more competitive? If the firing of the manager achieves the intended effect in St. Louis, it won’t take long for it to become a three-team race. Of course, if the Brewers keep playing the Pirates, one of the three teams will change. Sheesh. Ivan from Dublin, Ireland Mike, the Irish Wolfhounds would be much more appropriate and if you did ever make it across, we’d happily buy you a Guinness! Good to know on both counts. Eivind from Nordfjordeid, Norway Hello Insiders, as a foreign fan of only a couple of years I love the "100 Moments" articles. Seeing as Favre left the Packers in ’08 and got into Canton in ’16, how do you feel the relationship between Favre and the Packers/fans would have been if Rodgers did not win us the Super Bowl in 2010? I think time eventually would have healed the wounds regardless, but Rodgers winning a Super Bowl for Green Bay might have sped up the process. So did Favre not winning one in ’09 with the Vikings. Kyle from Los Angeles, CA By when does AR need to have a new contract for it to count towards this year's cap? Is it late in the year like Linsley and Adams in 2017? Are there upsides/downsides to getting it done earlier/later in the year? There’s no real deadline for applying money to the 2018 cap, as long as the deal is done before the season ends. It all depends on how it’s structured, as far as 2018 salary and signing bonus proration. Jeff from Saukville, WI So, is it the heat or the humidity? It’s always the humidity. Always. Mike from Dubuque, IA Can I ask Sean from Cambodia if the little boy ever got a jersey and a ball? If not, I’d like to get those for him. Can the Inbox do a public service and help connect me with Sean? Multiple submissions like this came in over the weekend, but unfortunately I’ve lost track of Sean’s original email with his contact info. So I’m posting this to encourage him to connect with the Inbox community in the comments section. There are folks interested in creating a fan club over there, Sean.Tyler from Grantsburg, WI There’s under 40 seconds left at the end of a quarter and the defense has no timeouts. The ref places the ball, but the offence nonchalantly starts walking to the sideline. No other offensive players have entered the field when the offense suddenly turns and sprints back to the ball, snapping it while the defense is out of sorts. Would this be a legal play? Only if everyone on offense stayed set at the line of scrimmage for a full second before the snap, and provided the formation used is legal. Scott from Gainesville, FL Just a comment. Oct. 16, 1982, I was a walk on for Coach McClain, on the sideline of that Badger-Spartan game. What a thriller! One of the equipment guys had sneaked a small transistor radio to listen to the Brewers game. All that momentum carried throughout that next week in practice also preparing for Illinois. We successfully completed the "bounce-pass" play, only to see the Illini's Tony Eason move them into field-goal range and kicker Mike Bass make a last-second FG to beat us. I’ll never forget the bounce-pass play, from Wright to Toon to Nault, also known as the “Oh My” play, if I recall correctly. Nor will I ever forget the final moments of that game. It’s the greatest crunch-time trick play I’ve ever seen pulled off by a team that didn’t win the game. Tony from Sterling, IL So did Ben from Pensacola get another "real" date yet or what? 26 days... I know, right? The Inbox is demanding an update. David from Catonsville, MD As Vic would remind readers from time to time, it is the Hall of Famous. What made T.O. famous was he always did things his own way, even if that meant getting in his own way. It’s what made him stand out amongst other talented receivers. Banging on him now for continuing to do what got him in the Hall in the first place seems self-righteous. The NFL needs those who stir the pot. Al Davis did it and is revered. Maybe let’s consider the man instead of the tradition, shall we? Sorry, not buying it.Dan from Jimboomba, Australia Loving seeing James Jones on NFL Network as an analyst now. His wit is great for TV and his obvious bias towards GB is both funny and genuine. How much did it mean to him when he was re-signed a couple years ago and what was he like in the locker room? Seems like that was a real group of friends with Jordy, Cobb, JJ, Rodgers and Co. JJ loved being back for that one final year, and he was excited to be playing with Adams as well. The two had gotten connected when Adams was in high school, via a receivers coach both knew. It was a tight-knit group all around. Darren from Kingston, Ontario When the Packers are on offense, do you initially watch the ball, the line of scrimmage, or something else? What do your eyes initially follow when we are on defense? I notice from the moment any play starts, my eyes tend to follow the ball, regardless of whether or not the Packers are on defense or offense. Spoff, I ask because I wonder if you, Wes and Larry see the game through a slightly different lens than most fans. With the benefit of watching from the press box, I’m always looking at the offensive formation and how the defense is reacting to it. Two-deep safety look? Or single high? Who’s lining up across from the tight end if he’s in the slot or split wide? What matchup is the quarterback looking for? If there’s a blitzer, who’s picking him up? Pre- and post-snap, I’m mainly trying to follow the quarterback’s eyes to see what he sees. Andy from Walpole, MA When a team signs a player off another team’s practice squad, as the Pack just did with Cooper, what kind of scouting do they base that on? This guy went to a Division II school, has been out of college for two years, and hasn’t played a down since he got to the pros. There isn’t any film on him, is there? And scouts aren’t allowed into other teams’ practices either. So how does Gutekunst think he’s worth a shot? This isn’t a knock on Cooper, but a question about the process. If he’s played any preseason games, there’s film on him. Also, scouting departments keep their college reports and always have their lists of guys they might bring in should they become available. Sometimes late acquisitions like this soon get bumped for the next look-see. Other times they’re signed even after training camp begins and they find their way onto the roster, like Chris Banjo a few years back. You never know. Thomas from Davis, PA I read once that the waiting list for Packers season tickets was over 300 years, since the vast majority are like family heirlooms. Is this true? If so, what is the current wait list? It has over 100,000 names on it and they don’t come off it very fast. That’s about all I know. Jim from Hainesville, IL In 1970, Terry Bradshaw was the No. 1 overall pick by the Steelers. He threw six TDs and 24 INTs that season. In 1971, the Saints took Archie Manning No. 2 overall. The Steelers stuck with TB, put together one of the greatest defenses ever and added Swann, Stallworth, Franco, Webster, etc., to the offense. The Saints? Not so much. Bradshaw has four rings and is in the HOF. Manning played just as long and never got to a playoff game. If roles reversed? Friday's Favre questions made me think of it. Steve Young went 3-16 as a starter with a 63.1 passer rating over two seasons with Tampa Bay before being traded to the 49ers as a backup.Darren from Alice Springs, Australia What qualifies a person to be a “diehard” Packers fan? I never see someone write in and say they care but are malleable or moderately invested fans. Just want to know how I should categorize myself. To me, a “diehard” fan for any team must have lived through a significant success drought and not relinquished his or her allegiance. In the Packers’ case, that means having witnessed at least part of the ’70s and/or ’80s, given that the franchise hasn’t experienced more than two consecutive seasons without a playoff berth since 1992. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying a younger or newer fan is any less of a fan. I’m just saying a diehard has to have earned the label. Dwight from Orellana, Ecuador I am sitting in the Napo Wildlife Center watching the finals of the World Cup. My question for you is, where is the most out-of-the-way place you have watched a Packers game or a sporting event? In elementary school I found the janitors sitting in their supply closet, into which they’d snuck a TV, watching the afternoon baseball playoff games. So I joined them of course, and continued to do so under a mutually beneficial code of silence. Does that count? Doug from Duluth, MN Any chance the “100 Moments” will be available in a coffee table book format with extra pictures? I think it would be a nice keepsake. There will be a printed version, with an entirely different presentation, in the 2018 Packers Yearbook, which should be available in a little over a week. But it won’t be if I don’t make my editing deadline on it, so I’d better sign off and get cracking. Happy Monday, everybody. HAVE A QUESTION?

Inbox: It was a tight-knit group all around

Diehard fans must earn the label