Top overrated/underrated Green Bay Packers
Who should be the Packers most overrated player, Brett Favre or Don Majkowski?
Raymond T. Rivard photograph
It’s the offseason dog days of June, about a month removed from the NFL Draft and a month before the start of the NFL Training Camps, including that for the Green Bay Packers. So you know what that means – it’s time for everyone to put out their “best of” lists.
We won’t disappoint here at Lombardiave – tonight we piggyback off the NFL Network’s recent look at the most overrated/underrated players for each of the 32 teams. For the Packers, the experts tell us that the most overrated Packer is Brett Favre and the most underrated Jerry Kramer.
I like the Kramer pick … he’s got to be in the top five of all Packers players who were so good when they played, but have been disrespected through the years. Kramer could be my pick for this category.
But Brett Favre for the most overrated?
C’mon, give me a break. We all know that Brett threw way too many interceptions and didn’t have a very good Playoff record, but to call him overrated is simply silly. The guy broke every record not only for the Packers, but the entire league. He was the face of the Packers franchise for a decade and one-half and brought the Packers back to elite status after nearly 30 years of ineptitude. Had it not been for the Ron Wolf-Mike Holmgren-Brett Favre-and-Reggie White base who knows what would have happened to the Packers franchise. My guess is that they would have been dissolved and the Green Bay Legion Post would be the richest in the world.
Thank God that never happened.
So who is our pick for the overrated/underrated Packers?
Here you go:
Robert Brown
Most underrated – Defensive lineman Robert Brown
Brown played 11 seasons for the Packers during one of the team’s worst decades – the 1980s. He came into the league as an outside linebacker and made the transition to defensive end. Between 1982 and 1992 Brown played in 164 regular-season games, which is more than any other Packers defensive lineman since 1921.
Brown became a full-time starter in 1986 and would hold the position through his final season in 1992. In his career, he was never the flashy player, registering 25.5 sacks, but he was one of the more consistent defensive linemen over the past 30 years. He could do it all. He was a run-stopper and could also disrupt an offense in the backfield. He was a quiet, productive team player who didn’t look for the praise, but played the game because he loved it.
Most overrated – Don Majkowski
Don Majkowski
Had it not been for Wisconsin’s own Tim Krumrie’s hit on Don Majkowski, we may have never known Brett Favre. At least his entrance into the league may have been different.
But for Majkowski, his flame burned brightly early and was snuffed out just as quickly because of injuries. While he had a remarkable season in 1989, leading the Packers to a 10-6 record, Majkowski would never duplicate that year. He held out in 1990 and missed a lot of Training Camp, setting him behind that season. He then hurt his shoulder and frankly was never the same. Other injuries, including his ankle injury when he would lose his job to Favre forever, led to his downfall.
The Majik Man was great for one season, but the rest of his time with the Packers is largely forgettable. In six years with the Packers, he threw for 10,000 yards and change, tossing 56 touchdowns and matching that with 56 interceptions.
Far from star statistics, yet Majik is still revered for that one season when the Packers won so many come-from-behind games. Unfortunately, it was just that one season where Majkowski’s legacy lies.
What do you think, Packers fans? Who is your most overrated/underrated players?