Clay Matthews is introduced at a game at Lambeau Field. Matthews, who signed a five-year contract this week to stay with the Packers, says the Packers franchise is something special.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

The Green Bay Packers is a different franchise, I think every Packers fan and most people who view the organization from the outside agree – and Clay Matthews reiterated what we already know today when he talked about his new contract and much more on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

First of all, the organization doesn’t have a single owner who pushes their personality on the team – in fact, the Packers have thousands of owners – the fans who own stock in the team. Though they have no say in how the organization is managed, the members of the Packers board of directors hear what the fans say, what they think.

Aaron Rodgers is poised to sign a new contract with the Green Bay Packers.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Second of all, professionalism has been the key word that describes the Packers on and off the field. When the Mike McCarthy/Ted Thompson/Mark Murphy took over the reins of the team about eight years ago, they picked up where the Mike Holmgren/Ron Wolf/Bob Harlan triumvirate left off and it’s been a relative smooth transition. The bottom line is that there is an unspoken code in Green Bay – one that was so well described by Mathews.

Here’s what he had to say about how players handle the issue of contracts:

“We like to keep everything in-house, make sure we handle our business professionally. There is not a lot of buzz around these contract negotiations, as well as Aaron’s here in the near future. So I’m sure we will wake up one day and hopefully they will announce he is the highest-paid quarterback. In the meantime, you are not going to be hearing much grumbling from anyone.”

His description hits home for all Packers fans – folks who have come to expect excellence not only from the leaders of the franchise, but also from the players who excel on the field and carry themselves with dignity off the the field.

Again, here’s Matthews, who has only been in Green Bay for four years, but clearly understands how things operate:

“I think that is one of the most important things they look at. Obviously, you need to have athletic ability and be able to help this team, but for the most part, you look at the players up and down the board, it’s very rare that you are going to find a Packer get into trouble or saying something outlandish.”

But he has a distinct interest in the National Football League and has spent gobs of time in the loo (and other places, we’re sure) thinking about all sorts of unique ways to display his artistic talents. His “Dave’s Art Locker” contains his latest creations – a logo for each of the National Football League teams as they would appear if the team was British. With the focus on mustaches and monicals, Rappoccio clearly has a unique sense of humor.

Some of my favorites? Well, you’ve got to start with the Green Bay Packers first. Rappoccio describes them as the “Frigid Tosspots,” with a logo of wedge of cheese sporting the classy mustache and monical.

But there are others that catch one’s fancy. Consider these team names and see if you can figure out which NFL team they represent (All are featured here):

• Beaky Bastards

• Those in Her Majesty’s Service

• Buggery Bandits

• Fancy Flyers

• Jolly Good Biters

• Stonking Tweet Birds

• Whiskery GrowlyCats

• Uncouth Norsemen

Did you figure them out? Well, if not, slide on over to Dave’s site for the answers.

Oh, and by the way, though he’s a Brit, Dave says he doesn’t favor adding an NFL team to play in London. He feels that would be a bad idea. He would rather continue to follow the teams stationed in the states.

We agree.