October 13, 2012; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins defensive end Datone Jones (56) defends against Utah Utes offensive linesman Sam Brenner (74) and offensive linesman Jeremiah Tofaeono (76) during the second half at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke, in his Audibles column, takes a look at the NFL Draft and the safe picks for NFC North teams and those that are being considered as surprise picks.

Burke sees the Packers going defensive line and talks about how UCLA defensive end Datone Jones would be the safest pick, saying:

Somewhere along the line in this draft, the Packers need to add some depth up front on D. Last year’s second-round pick, DE Jerel Worthy, tore his ACL in late December and may not be ready to go in 2013, leaving the Packers thin behind their three starters (Ryan Pickett, B.J. Raji, C.J. Wilson).

Not only would Jones represent terrific value at No. 26, but also the versatile former UCLA Bruin could plug in just about anywhere the Packers wanted. Solid both as a run-stopper and pass-rusher, Jones would add the pop Green Bay needs.

He’s right. The Packers defensive line is in deep flux right now with the uncertainty surrounding the availability of Worthy, the aging of Pickett and the inconsistency of Wilson. The Packers will most likely attempt to extend the contract for Raji, but the team needs more depth and younger legs along  the line.

North Carolina Tar Heels running back Giovani Bernard.
Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports

However, it’s Burke’s surprise pick that I really like – Giovani Bernard. The North Carolina running back, in my opinion, would infuse a new playmaking element to the Packers backfield – a dynamic back who can catch the ball out of the backfield is what the Packers need. Whether Ted Thompson goes offense or defense is the debate that will continue right up until the Packers selection is announced.

Here’s what Burke said about Bernard:

Bernard might be the missing piece. Carrying some injury concerns, Bernard has taken a back seat to Alabama’s Eddie Lacy throughout most of the draft process, but he may wind up in the more productive role. That’s especially true if he finds his way to a place like Green Bay, where a wide-open offense can take advantage of his quickness and ability to catch passes out of the backfield.

This would be a luxury pick more than a need-based one, but the Packers are close enough to Super Bowl contention to be able to roll the dice like that.

Burke’s projections for the Lions, Vikings and Bears are as intriguing as his picks for the Packers. Check them out by going to Burke’s page. And don’t forget to tell us how you feel about all this by leaving a comment below, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Twitter.

Green Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardi and right guard Jerry Kramer share the special moment that was Lombardi’s final game and Super Bowl II victory over the Oakland Raiders.
Sports Illustrated photograph

Super Bowl Sunday. Yes, we know. We know!

Oh how we all wish it were the Green Bay Packers versus the rest of the world for which we were all preparing. But shucks, it’s not.

So on with our lives, one more day of the Harbaughs, Ray Lewis, and anything and everything San Francisco. I’m sure we will enjoy it once we get into it, but getting there is the tough part for many of us Packers fans who lament this day without our team. But we’re not alone. There are 29 other teams facing the same.

Tooling around the Intenet this morning, I came across this beautiful site (or is it sight?).

Check it out. I was at least quite pleased with the cover photo … it is indeed beautiful – and brings me to this final parting shot: Why does Warren Sapp make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot, while the Green Bay Packers’ Jerry Kramer still waits?

Is there no sense or justice in this world … Not in this instance.

Anyway, enjoy the photographs by clicking here …

Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Ray Lewis (52) addresses the press during this week’s “pageant,” otherwise known as media day.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

As a semi-casual, half-hearted Green Bay Packers fan, I find the lull between the early exit of the playoffs until the start of mini-camps to be a very dull and uninteresting time.  Yet there is always one week that does seem to come alive with at least one or two stories that were either tailor made or were being held just until the right moment to be sprung upon the general populace.

Yep, it is media week so bring out the stupidity and the shocking that comes with the competition we know as the Super Bowl.

This year we have three incidents that clearly are contending for the Crown of Stupidity.  So with no further adieu, let me announce the winners (to date, things could change as we still have five days to go before kickoff).

Mardi Gras figurine of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees at the Super Bowl XLVII media party at Mardi Gras World.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Second runner goes up to Mr. Drew Brees, who also wins the award for Mr. Congeniality.  It seems that Mr. Brees decided to take it upon himself to throw all of the former NFL players who gave their blood, sweat and tears to the game under the bus so guys like him could line their pockets.  Mr. Brees in the question and answer portion of the competition explained that it was poor financial planning on the part of former players that resulted in their financial shortcomings today.  He went on to elaborate that current players should not have to pay or give more in order to support those who came before he and all the other multimillionaires could line their pockets.

Fortunately, former Packer Great, Herb Adderley was there to score Mr. Brees and point out his utter stupidity and lack of understanding of the topic matter.

Mr. Adderley stated,

“Drew Brees is misinformed and he had no idea what was going on as far as why, he never came to any of the guys and said, ‘Well, why did you have to take early pension?’ He just made up his own mind about why some guys were in bad shape financially. And he just came out and made statements like that. And in my mind, Drew Brees is one of the greediest guys, and misinformed guys, in the NFL today. Last year he held out because he wanted more money. The guy’s already made millions and millions and millions of dollars, but he’s going to hold out for more money. And then he comes down on the retired guys for just wanting a few more dollars for the time, the cornerstones, what we put in the league  …  And none of us retired guys are fans of Brees because of him being misinformed. I needed the money. I needed to put my daughter through school and she ended up being a very successful dentist at the particular time in Washington, D.C.  If I don’t do that, she don’t end up going to college.”

Ohhhhh, sorry Drew, it seems you have a severe case of foot-in-mouth disease.  Why don’t you go back to the locker room  and plan some more bounties with the rest of the team … oh wait, I mean develop defensive schemes that will allow your defense to capitalize on the weaknesses of your opponents.

Randy Moss
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

First runner-up goes to Randy Moss.  Up until this point, I forgot that Randy still played in the NFL.  In fact, I thought he had been traded to the CFL for a sled dog and a VHS copy of “Strange Brew,” starring Bob and Doug McKenzie.  But I was proven wrong as evident in the evening gown competition when Randy strutted out on to the stage in a pink gown with matching gloves.

While walking the walk, he clearly talked the talk and reminded everyone who was listening that he is the “greatest” wide receiver in the history of the NFL.  This coming from the man who graciously pretended to moon the faithful at Lambeau Field and insulted the caterer for the Minnesota Vikings.  He also led to the downfall of one Brad Childress and was instrumental in pretty much nothing since leaving the Minnesota Vikings.  Clearly, Randy is a legend in his own mind.

How one man can be so full of himself  to think that he can upstage all the other contestants to win the evening gown competition is inconceivable.  Yet I was informed that it was a close race between him and Honey Boo Boo for this portion of the competition.  The fact that Honey Boo Boo was able to establish more credibility and honesty with the judges allowed him to take the crown.

Congratulations, Randy Moss, you are this years winner of the Biggest Ego.  Unfortunately as your head gets bigger, so does your mouth.

Ray Lewis
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Finally this year’s winner (to date) is a tie.  A tie between Ray Lewis and Sports Illustrated.  In the swimsuit competition, both competitors came out wearing the same one piece black swim suit.  Both competitors clearly knew how to wait until the last minute to make a statement that took all the attention away from the competition and focused it on their own self-indulging escapades.

Sports Illustrated led off with a shocking news story that Ray Lewis used a banned substance (deer antler spray) to help him in his recovery from a season-ending injury in order to be ready for the granddaddy of all pageants.  Ray Lewis, for his own sake, is denying everything (which in this day and age, thanks to Lance Armstrong, equates to admitting guilt).  So as both contestants walked down the aisle, they suffered swimsuit malfunctions resulting in exposing a dirty little secret that will take the attention away from the game.

The winners will receive more TV and face time then Joan Rivers at a plastic surgery convention, yet Joan will definetly look better in the crown and the Go Daddy swimsuit!

Roger Goodell
Jim O

A special award goes to Roger Goodell for his handling of the NFL referees debacle,the Bountygate eruption and everything else that went wrong this year for the NFL.  According to one judge, “If it were not for Goodell, we would have had a normal and uneventful season.”

So as we wrap up this year’s pageant week, a special thank you to all of our contestants.  Though your crowns are honorary, your self-indulgence, greediness and lack of integrity will continue to define you for as long as there is football or at least until next year when some other bone heads take your place during Super Bowl week …

now can we just play some football?

The Packers are profitable for many reasons, with its fan base being one of the biggest factors. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

What will a Super Bowl championship, an MVP quarterback, several league stars and 15 wins bring an NFL team?

Just ask the Green Bay Packers - the franchise announced today that the team earned  $42.7 million in net profits this past fiscal year, a team all-time high. In fact, the figure destroyed the past all-time high of $25 million realized in 2005-05.

The team announced the numbers a week prior to the shareholders meeting set to be held Lambeau Field next week – a meeting that will be held in the shadows of major renovations at the iconic stadium.

What’s even more impressive is that much of that profit came from local income, with the majority coming from online Packers Pro Shop sales.

“A big focus for us has been driving more and more people to our website (for online merchandise sales),” team president Mark Murphy said in published reports this afternoon when the announcement was made.

Mark Murphy feels the Packers season was successful despite the first round loss to the New York Giants. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

“…we continued to ride the wave of the Super Bowl,” Murphy added.

The Green Bay Press Gazette reported today, “The team reported total revenue of $302 million, also a record, and total expenses of $259 million. National revenue, local revenue, total profit from operations, net profit from operations and net income all were records. The previous highest net income was $25.4 million in 2004-05. The Packers reported $17. 1 million in net income for 2010-11.”

So, it’s no wonder that Murphy was quoted as saying earlier this week that despite a 15-win season and an opening Playoff loss to the Giants he thought the year was a success. The level of success in his head was clearly based not only on wins, but on all the factors that go into running an iconic sports franchise.

The numbers also demonstrate the talents employed within the organization. Clearly, the profitability of the organization comes about through the people employed – from Aaron Rodgers down to the team’s bean counters and janitors.

Murphy said that for the team to remain competitive, the franchise had to be within the top half of league rankings. At this point, the team is ranked 10th.

It’s difficult to think things could go south for the franchise with the pieces they have in place, but it does happen. Any Packers fan remembers the 70s and 80s and many wondered during those years whether the franchise would survive.

Back in 1987, Frank Deford, one of the most prolific and recognized writers in America, wrote a story for Sports Illustrated that was a wake-up call for the Green Bay Packers and the franchise's fans.

Remember the article the Frank Deford wrote for Sports Illustrated a couple of decades ago when he literally declared the team dead in the water and compared the franchise to the rusting street signs that dominated the city’s landscape?

Much has occurred since that time and our hope that the sky continues to be the limit.

GO PACK GO!

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Vernon Biever with Brett Favre, 2002. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photograph

If you haven’t read the short piece by Scott Schalin, the former editor of the packershalloffame.com, take a look.

He chronicles one of the best stories in Packers history.

Here was a man with no photography experience who took it upon himself to chronicle, through photography, the most storied franchise in the National Football League long before the team came into the national eye.

In fact, it was Vernon Biever’s work that helped propel the Packers to national prominence. Even before television took over as the prominent media, it was Biever’s iconic photographs that brought the team into focus. His incredible eye and skill in capturing the Packers before, during and after the glory years of the 1960s is evident in every frame. His love of the team and game shines through in every shot – it doesn’t matter if it’s Lombardi, Starr, John Brockington or Brett Favre that was his subject – his thumbprints are all over the franchise.

And his sons, John and Jim, continue to carry on their father’s legacy. John works with Sports Illustrated and Jim has taken the reins of his father’s job as the official photographer of the Green Bay Packers.

You’ve got to read this piece. In it you will discover why this man is so important to the Packers and why his name should be known to every Packers fan.

You can click here to go directly to the Packers Hall of Fame site or scroll down to read it here.

In addition, here are some sites you may want to visit:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1010/vernon.biever.tribute/content.1.html

http://www.galleryofsportsart.com/new/biever.shtmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Biever

http://prod.static.packers.clubs.nfl.com/assets/docs/101015vern_biever_favorites.pdf

http://www.jsonline.com/multimedia/photos/104924329.html#id_41458779

http://www.packers.com/media-center/photo-gallery/Vernon-Biever-Classic-Photos/0020bbee-b6b3-4139-80a3-650125fc8dde

http://www.eernissefuneralhome.com/obituary/33878/Vernon-Biever/

Enjoy.

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Moving Pictures: Remembering Packers Hall of Fame Photographer Vernon Biever

If the eyes are the window to the soul, then Vernon Biever will forever be the conscience of the Green Bay Packers.

For 60 years, his pair of vibrant eyes witnessed and captured the images that made the team bigger than the game and larger than life.

As staff photographer, he may have been the most important Packer on the field to never wear a uniform or stalk the sideline calling plays. During an age before television had figured out how to showcase professional football, the images of Vernon Biever brought the hometown heroes alive in the mind’s eye of the ravenous Packers faithful.

The Packers Hall of Fame is filled with players soaked in the mud, sweat and cheers of gridiron battle and most of those legendary images are forever frozen in time thanks to Biever. His office was the sidelines and the end zones of football fields nationwide. His only weapon in battle was a keen awareness of how to capture the heart of the game with his arsenal of manual-focus cameras.

Biever passed away at age 87, on October 14, 2010, just four years after he officially retired from active shutterbug service. He was the official Green Bay photographer for an astonishing 60 years, beginning in 1946.

He was unanimously elected into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2002, and introduced by none other than Bart Starr, who had long lobbied on behalf of the photographer for his inclusion into the Hall, arguing, “You wouldn’t have a Packers Hall of Fame without Vern Biever.”

In many ways, Biever embodied the spirit and audacity of the small-town team that never shied away from the pursuit of greatness. In 1941, with almost no photographic experience, Biever told the Milwaukee Sentinel sports editor, Stoney McGlyn, that he was going to cover the Packers and send photos to be printed.

After hitchhiking to City Stadium to watch the Bears beat the Packers 25-17 that year, he gave his undeveloped game photos to a train conductor and organized to have the Sentinel pick them up from the local station. Against all odds, Biever’s photos ran and he was suddenly a professional photographer. When he couldn’t crack a full-time staff opening with the newspaper, Biever did the next logical thing: he told the Packers he was going to be their full-time photographer.

“I went to the Packers and said, ‘If you give me a field pass, I’ll take some pictures for nothing,’ ” Biever recalled many years later with a chuckle. “I guess the price was right.” He clicked away through times good and bad, shooting for free, but wisely maintaining the publishing rights. By the time the Vince Lombardi championship train rolled through the 1960s, Biever was finally earning a modest salary from the team, while still paying his own way into games.

Forever an independent spirit, Biever staunchly maintained that football photography was his passion, but not his profession (he owned a Ben Franklin store and, later, a travel agency in his native town of Port Washington, Wisconsin).

“He was truly an exceptional gentleman, and I think personified the statement about consistently chasing perfection,” said Starr, who knows a thing or two about chasing perfection. “I was able to get to know him well, and he’s honestly one of the greatest men I’ve ever known. His unique commitment to God and family are enviable.”

From Curly Lambeau to Lombardi to Mike McCarthy, Packers teams have come and gone, won and lost, but the cherished images of Biever keep those teams alive forever.

There’s the timeless shot of Paul Hornung suspended like Superman in mid-air as he sails over a tangled pile of Packers and 49ers on the turf below for a touchdown in 1965.

The grand Packers power sweep was an insurmountable yard-chewing wall of success orchestrated by Lombardi and played to pitch perfection by the championship teams of the 1960s. Biever captured the delicate intricacy of the play in one of his most famous photos, where Starr has handed the ball to Jim Taylor who looks up field for yardage behind Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston. All the while the creator of this poetry in motion, Lombardi himself, stands on the sideline, hands plunged comfortably into his signature trench coat, looking like a God proudly watching over his flock.

The painstaking patience Biever maintained to get his shot was as awe-inspiring as the results themselves. “There is automatic focus now, but in those days you had to pre-focus the camera on one spot on the field,” Biever recalled. “I had a Speed Graphic 4×5 large format camera and had to wait until the action came to that area. There was a lot of waiting involved. I could only take six to eight photographs a game.”

Such a craftsman and so infectious was his skill that his offspring have carried on the photographic legacy. One son, John, shoots for Sports Illustrated and his other son, Jim, took over his dad’s position as the Packers’ team photographer. In fact, one of the most famous Biever photographs of Starr diving into the end zone as time runs out at the infamous Ice Bowl game was actually taken by John and Vernon.

“I told John to stay in the end zone and that I’d try to get Lombardi’s reaction if the Packers scored,” Vernon recalled. “ John got Bart’s winning touchdown and I got a great shot of Lombardi’s back. But I’m very happy the way it turned out. John got a picture for the ages… he was just 15 at the time and cold as heck like the rest of us. None of us knew how famous that game or that photo would become. It’s a part of Packer and NFL history.”

As the only photographer allowed into the locker room of the Los Angeles Coliseum after the Packers 1967 victory in Super Bowl I, Biever shot what he often called “The best picture I ever took,” as then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle hands the first-ever Super Bowl victory trophy to a beaming Vince Lombardi.

Who knew that someday that same trophy would bear the coach’s name? “I’ve always said it’s an important picture because it was history — the first Super Bowl. I thought that game was very important to the NFL and that it would be remembered for a long time.”

Indeed it was and still is, and thanks to Vernon Biever’s masterful craft and keen eye for the dramatic, much of the Packers legacy will continue to be passed from generation to generation.

“Vernon captured 16 great years of my life in Green Bay and many great moments in Packer history,” Brett Favre has said. “It’s not just the stars on the field, but the great legends like Vernon Biever that make the Packers organization special.”

Scott Schalin is the former editor of PackersHallofFame.com and is currently writing a book with NFL on FOX insider Jay Glazer.

Reggie McKenzie

Peter King, Sports Illustrated’s football guru, released his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback posting where, in one segment, he has nothing but good things to say about former Green Bay Packers executive Reggie McKenzie.

The newly-hired Oakland Raiders’ general manager has a huge mountain to climb to bring the Raiders back to respectability and an even larger climb in getting the team back to playoff status.

But according to King, he feels that McKenzie is well on his way.

Here is a segment of King’s interview with McKenzie:

I asked McKenzie if he wished he could have the Carson Palmer trade back. Last October, then-coach Hue Jackson dealt first- and second-round picks to Cincinnati for Palmer. “You can beat that doggone story ’til it’s worn out,” said McKenzie. “But I know this: We’ve got a quarterback we think can win the division and take us to the playoffs. Losing a one and a two doesn’t bother me one bit.”

McKenzie did a great job in Green Bay, so there’s no reason why he can’t do the same out West.

Here is the entire piece that King put together:

…we start out west, with one of those draft-pick-poor teams, and what the Oakland Raiders are doing about it.

The Raiders are actually doing things right, and Reggie McKenzie’s the reason why.

When the Raiders hired McKenzie as general manager in January, he took over a team with the most decimated draft board in recent history. No first-, second-, third-, fourth- or seventh-round picks because of prior trades or Supplemental Draft picks. McKenzie inherited a team that, in late February, was $26 million over the salary cap and had two draft choices — the 148th and 189th overall — before the annual compensatory picks were awarded. Think about it: An 18-year scout finally gets his chance to run a team and pick the players he wants … and he’s hamstrung by the worst cap situation in the league, and one of the worst draft-choice pools in NFL history. And one more thing: Peyton Manning just walked into his division.

“Never thought, ‘Woe is me,’ ” he said the other night from his office in Oakland. “Not once. Never thought I shouldn’t take the job because of things like that either. It never entered my mind. I just figured, ‘We’ll find players.’ I know how to find players. I’ve been in Green Bay when we found Mark Tauscher and Donald Driver late in drafts, and found Tramon Williams on the street, and signed Charles Woodson in free agency. It can be done.”

If McKenzie’s right, it will be done this year with low-cost free-agents starting at three positions (Shawntae Spencer and Ron Bartell at cornerback, Philip Wheeler at linebacker), and one well-paid (five years, $20 million) starting right guard, Mike Brisiel. Help also came in the form of three of the top 10 compensatory picks awarded last month in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. Oakland’s first pick will be the first compensatory choice awarded by the NFL, the 95th overall choice, which means McKenzie will sit around all night Thursday on day one of the draft, and all night Friday through rounds two and three, till the end of the third round.

I asked McKenzie if he wished he could have the Carson Palmer trade back. Last October, then-coach Hue Jackson dealt first- and second-round picks to Cincinnati for Palmer. “You can beat that doggone story ’til it’s worn out,” said McKenzie. “But I know this: We’ve got a quarterback we think can win the division and take us to the playoffs. Losing a one and a two doesn’t bother me one bit.”

McKenzie said he feels honored to be the first person in almost half a century other than Al Davis to be running the Raiders’ draft. “This is a new day in the Raider organization,” he said. “Coach Davis, he knew football. I relish the chance to follow him and get this team back where it belongs.”

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And there are some good ones: Max McGee scoring one of his touchdowns in Super Bowl I, Brett Favre, Reggie White and Robert Brooks showing their profiles, Jordy Nelson and Aaron Rodgers celebrating the Super Bowl win in 2010.

And so much more.

This is worth a look

Lambeau Field will be the site of a great matchup Sunday between the Packers and Giants. See what SI's Damon Hack has to say.

Sports Illustrated’s Damon Hack just posted his quick look at the Packers vs. Giants matchup this weekend.

I won’t spoil the fun (or agony) in his prediction. I’ll only point you to his website posting.

Of course, he talks about the Giants’ run game; he talks about Eli Manning; he talks about Charles Woodson; he talks about 2007; he provides some quick statistics; and, of course, he provides his pick.

Check it out … as always, he provides a great insight and knowledge into the subject.

Green Bay’s fans voted “most knowledgeable”

Posted by Tom Fanning on December 23, 2010 – 11:35 am
This week’s issue of Sports Illustrated includes a poll of players around the league that asked which city they thought had the most knowledgeable fans in the NFL, and Green Bay checked in at No. 1 with 26 percent of the vote.

The results were based on the 277 players who responded to the magazine’s survey, and Green Bay finished well ahead of  No. 2 Pittsburgh (14 percent). Rounding out the top five were New York (9 percent), Philadelphia (8 percent) and Dallas (7 percent).