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00:00:01
Packers International 2.0
67 Plays2 years ago
G'day! This week its Joe's turn to lead the show! Joe is joined by podcaster from nfltr.com and Packers fan from Turkey, Himli Celtikcioglu! The 2 talk about their experiences in Green Bay, how Himli became a Packers fan, and how the roster currently looks.
Please like and subscribe to the pod and also go check Hilmi out at NFLTR Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Please like and subscribe to the pod and also go check Hilmi out at NFLTR Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
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Transcript
00:00:12
Speaker
so
Introduction and Guest Appearance
00:00:33
Speaker
Good day, everyone. Welcome to the Outback Packers podcast, the show where two mates from across the world have a yarn talking Packers football and everything green gold. As you can probably tell, I don't have an accent. I can't pass for Australian. Nick's not here. He's dealing with some family issues. So does I, Iowa Joe leading this show. And this week I am joined by NFLTR.com podcaster Hill, Hill me.
00:00:57
Speaker
And he told me not to even try to bother pronouncing his last name, so we're gonna just stick with Hilmi. So, Hilmi, it's good to have you on. How are you doing tonight? Oh, I'm doing very well. Yeah, it's 7.5 AM. We had a lot of time, just arranging time zones here. Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot of fun, but you're not Australian, but did you start the podcasting today, or are you just channeling Nick?
00:01:23
Speaker
I was trying to do my best G'day, but you know, it just, it doesn't roll off the tongue for me. So I'm hoping our listeners don't tune out after that weak try of being Australian for a second.
International Flavor and Packers Fandom
00:01:38
Speaker
So no, Nick usually starts us, I always make Nick start us out with a G'day and you know, obviously him being Australian, he's a little bit better at it than I am. Yeah, sure. We'll drop a bunch of like mates and everything and then if it gets obnoxious, you let me know, right?
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll try and throw some out there too or talk about a kangaroo or maybe another shrimp on the bobby or something, you know. But I just alienated all our Australian listeners, so.
00:02:09
Speaker
As you guys can tell, this is probably going to be a goofy episode because Nick, as you, everybody who listens knows he runs the show. I'm just basically the comedy release. So hopefully we can get through it. But he only wanted to, uh, we've been working to get, help me on for a little bit. Uh, just, you know, as, as everybody knows, we kind of bring the international flavor to everything. You know, me being from the United States, Nick being from Australia.
00:02:33
Speaker
We had Wendell on a few weeks ago who was Brazilian. So we try to cross seas every once in a while and he'll be DM me one night and said, hey, why don't we get together sometime? So this is it. As everybody also knows, if they've listened, I am just returning from a weak vacation in the promised land, the Mecca, whatever you want to nickname it, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
00:03:00
Speaker
Um, I was up there for a few of the, I, you know, they, they weren't open practices, but I still can say I was up there for OTAs. They wouldn't let me in. I tried, but you know, Hey, what can you do about it? Uh, but, uh, Hilmi has some experiences being in Green Bay also. So we figured we would take this episode and just talk about what each other has done up there and, you know,
00:03:26
Speaker
you know, talk a lot about the Packers, but maybe also a little bit about Green Bay itself and the surrounding areas. So Hill me, uh, since this is your first time on, uh, you know, I, I gotta ask, I asked this, and Nick, I asked us a window, a window and all that. How did you be in a guy from Turkey living in Uzbekistan become a Packers, uh, fan and
00:03:54
Speaker
and podcasts. So I live in Uzbekistan for a year now.
Journey to Becoming a Packers Fan
00:03:57
Speaker
I'm in construction, so I move around a lot. Gotcha. So I started playing. I was always amazed by football, whatever. I'm 43 years old, so all of what I say. We finally found somebody who's older than me. Yes. So everything I say is like, I think 90, late 90s, no internet, very few TV, especially.
00:04:20
Speaker
I've always fascinated by football, but seeing bloopers and big highlights once in a while from wherever in movies. So in 97, I entered college and law and behold, there's a football team in Turkey. And college football is big in Turkey. We have a bunch of teams, 30, 40 teams. So I signed up right away, broke my pinky the first day, but whatever, kept playing. And at the same time, I started working football. We got like one game a week.
00:04:52
Speaker
NBC teams, the NFC teams. And I noticed that around 97, this guy wearing four was having a lot of fun on the field. And I'm all about fun. I think, oh, this guy, this guy, he plays well and he, and I also bought my first Madden game that year and the package were rated quite high. I liked the colors and I liked everything. And I say, well, I'm, what do I know? I'm 17. So that's my team now.
00:05:21
Speaker
And since then, it could be the confirmation bias, but since then, everything I've experienced, heard, lived, watched about Green Bay and their team, I loved it.
Experiencing Lambeau Field and Green Bay Culture
00:05:34
Speaker
I loved it. And in 2002, I went to do my Master's degree in Purdue. Gold Warriors.
00:05:43
Speaker
But there, all my feelings were confirmed. I experienced what it was like to be Midwest nice, as you would know. And then I got a car in my second year, I drove up there twice to watch games, and they were even nicer up there.
00:06:05
Speaker
It's amazing, but now I know not to stop at Minnesota because the night stops afterward. I'm kidding, but this would be a good segue to when I... But he's really not. Yeah, he's really not. So when I was there, I went twice to Packers games and then once when we were visiting family in D.C. and I flew there for a game.
00:06:31
Speaker
Okay. Uh, out of my three games, my record is one and two. Uh, the Eagles beat us down on McNabb. The Jackson was Jaguar, David Garad, who even remember David Garad, but, uh, my third game was the Bears, which we don't lose at home to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, that's, I mean, me living a little bit closer, you're even on par with me with games. I've been the four of them in my life.
00:07:00
Speaker
so you're you're you're even equal with me and I live a little bit closer but um yeah you know Green Bay
00:07:09
Speaker
They get a bad rap because of the small town. There's nothing to do. There's all this and that. But I think that's what makes the team better because they are a community team. They're not lost in a big city. They're not lost because they've got two other major league teams in the city to share with.
00:07:33
Speaker
And what you're saying is basically true. It's hard not to love Green Bay. I mean, I won't completely agree with you with Midwest Nice. There are, you know, there are the bad ones around and I have a habit of being one. So I am a self-emitted asshole, so we're good on that one. But yeah,
Memorable Game Experiences and Weather Challenges
00:07:56
Speaker
I mean, and even in all the times that I've been up, because I usually just go up for the training camps,
00:08:01
Speaker
But, you know, COVID kind of put a kink into that one for a while. Nothing, I mean, they're getting bigger, but nothing really changes. I can still go down one road. No, well, you know, there's Cabela's over there. There's, you know, there's, you know, a quick trip on every corner and there's, you know, all the Culver's everywhere.
00:08:22
Speaker
So I mean, while it's upgrading, it's still staying the same and it's still a small town team. But I have to say that I was up there. When was the last time that you were up there, Hilmi?
00:08:40
Speaker
20 years ago. So it's really changed since you've been up there. And it's only been four years because the last time I went up was 2019. And then like I said, COVID kind of hit and made things a little bit hard to get up there. But so I made it back this year for
00:09:01
Speaker
And I mean, just in those four years, it seemed like everything changed. There was a lot more stores and of course, Lambo's changed tremendously. Right now they're working on the big new indoor practice facility that's connected to Lambo and the underground players parking lot.
00:09:24
Speaker
And it just it's completed. I mean, there are still things that are the same. Like, you know, the pro shop is still where the pro shop. Well, probably not since twenty two thousand three. But, you know, the pro shop is still in the general area since the last time I've been up. But.
00:09:43
Speaker
um you know it just it always amazes me when I get there because with it being a small town when you first get on to the interstate heading towards there you can see Lambo you know you don't have other buildings drowning out Lambo and it's just it's hard to keep your eye on the road when you see the just massive Lambo field off of the corner because you're just like
00:10:09
Speaker
I got, you're like a moth to a light. You gotta, you gotta go there. So, um, now you said you went to a few games. Have you ever been to like a training camp or anything like that in your time there, or was it just strictly to go up for the games?
00:10:26
Speaker
Well, back then I wasn't a broadcaster or I didn't do podcasts. I didn't do the TV show yet at that time. So I just went as a fan to do the experience. And my experience was different because you didn't have the phone. So you cannot say, oh, let's meet up. Let's do this. Where's Hot Curates when he's not around? There's not a weak catchment at the time. So at that time,
00:10:52
Speaker
media, the most is not on ESPN, there's Greg Bedard was around, and Tyler Dunn wasn't a complete piece of whatever. And so it was really different. What I ended up doing, if I could get into that now, I went to the pro shop, of course, got a few stuff, not
00:11:18
Speaker
of stuff uh shot glasses everything which i don't know where they are now but i had a lot of fun with them pendants uh car fridge magnets everything i bought uh the Porsche was there the whole affair was there yep so i i went there and saw three
00:11:34
Speaker
trophies, not four. And then the atrium was much smaller, no title down the street. So I ended up eating at the Farves two minute grill. I don't know if it's there now. It's not Farves anymore, but as far as I know, the restaurant is still there. I can't remember what the, I think it's like legends or something like that. Oh, okay. Okay. If it was Rogers,
00:11:59
Speaker
really took me 30 seconds because he needs less time. Two minutes too much time for him.
00:12:07
Speaker
What I did end up doing is I asked about what to do. They say tailgating. All right, so I went tailgating and I was looking around that I didn't have a car. I did drive up there, which was a two door, like small, cheap sports car that I bought for five installs for 1.5 when I left US. Not the best tradesman.
00:12:31
Speaker
I went there, I didn't do tailgating, but I was ready to buy some burgers and beers and stuff. And turns out you don't do that. Turns out what you do is just show up. They ask you, hi, honey, where are you from? I'm Turkish. And then they shower you with burgers and hot dogs and beer. They're there. And I had a lot of time. I played games.
00:12:53
Speaker
because we didn't have and I did have Facebook which was the Facebook at the time three separate words but they didn't because I was
00:13:06
Speaker
You know how it goes, you know? It was EDU email address back then. So, I didn't make connections, but I made memories, let's say. It was a lot of fun. And during the Jaguars games, it was the coldest I have been in my life, despite the multiple layers of... I am prepared for anything. I am never caught unaware.
00:13:28
Speaker
This shocked me. I had multiple layers of socks, two pairs of gloves, two pairs of gloves. I threw away my old coat and bought a
00:13:39
Speaker
big packers coach in the whatever shop there was. They're not the pressure, but somewhere else. And I had chemical warmers, which I had several. I broke them, put it in my hands, put it in my feet. Nothing works. Nothing worked. I had to stay another night while I thought I was going to die of the cold. And if anybody knows, I think it's the Christmas 2020 or 2024 game against Jacksonville. They beat us.
00:14:10
Speaker
That was a very cold day. I had a worse day since because for construction, I move around. Right. That really shocked me. And it's the frozen thunder for a reason. Guys in Australia, people, if you're ever going, it is not a joke. I know you're tough. Nothing faces you. You deal with six foot spiders. It's cold out there.
00:14:32
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I don't think anybody, I think that's why everybody drinks so heavily in the tailgating. That's how they can handle the cold. The coldest game that I went to was...
00:14:47
Speaker
Well, let me take that back. I went to a game in 1999, the dreaded Ray Rhodes year. And it was my grandpa got tickets from a guy that he worked with. And he gave them to me and my mom and we went up and it snowed. It was during November. It was around Thanksgiving, but it wasn't a Thanksgiving.
00:15:06
Speaker
and it snowed, but we didn't know because the tickets that my grandpa got were box seats. So we were inside the indoor seating. So we prepped to go up there for cold, but then when we got there, we were overheating because we were inside. We didn't have to worry about coats and all that.
00:15:25
Speaker
But the coldest game that I went to that I was actually in the bowl for was December 2014. And it was against the Atlanta Falcons. And it was the game where the Packers were up before halftime. And then Julio Jones turned it into a one man mission to almost come back and beat the Packers.
00:15:51
Speaker
Uh, but that was probably the coldest. I think they said that it was like 20 degrees above Fahrenheit above zero. But then with the windshield factor and knocked it to like negative 15 degrees and it had, it snowed pregame, but it was one of them wet snows that as soon as it hits something, it's soaked. So.
00:16:13
Speaker
you know, the only reason we were on our feet and all that stuff was just to stay warm. You know, we were bouncing around, bumping off against each other just to keep ourselves warm. And, but that was probably the coldest and I did end up coming back and getting sick from it. But if I kept, I was, I would stay with my grandpa at that time, because my grandpa lived in Sheboygan, which is about an hour south of Green Bay.
00:16:38
Speaker
And I, I came back that night and he looked at me, he goes, was it cold? I said, yeah, I probably won't warm up for two weeks, but it was worth it. So yeah, it can, it's, but it's so weird because you can go from one extreme to another, like the early September games, it can get so hot up there. And then you turn around and in October and November, it can start getting so frigging cold up there that you never know what to prep for anymore. But.
00:17:07
Speaker
Yeah, I've always heard that with the tailgates. I'm not one to, I don't drink anymore. I haven't drank any alcohol in three years, but even up to when I started going to games, I very rarely drank. And then like I said, at the time I would be driving an hour back and forth and I wasn't going to drink and drive.
00:17:31
Speaker
I never got into that, but I had always been told that the tailgates, you know, you just wander around the, the parking lots and people just start handing you stuff. So I, and that's why another reason why I say, you know, Green Bay is just a great place because the fan, you know, the, the fans and the people are welcoming in that aspect.
00:17:56
Speaker
You can even show up wearing bears stuff and they're still going to welcome you in. They're still going to feed you and all that. But the minute the game happens, they're going to rip your ass for everything because you're a bears fan, but they're still going to make sure you're well fed and well, liquored up and all that stuff before you, before that happens.
Packers History and Hall of Fame
00:18:12
Speaker
But, um, so I'm trying to remember.
00:18:19
Speaker
I think I remember that jaguars game because wasn't that the one where Donnie Donovan Darius almost took off Robert Ferguson's head. Oh, Robert Ferguson was never the same after that. I thought you're not talking about the clothesline on corn Robinson, right? No, this was on Robert Ferguson. That was because Robert Ferguson got hurt and he was never the same after that one. Yeah, I wonder what happened to him. I don't know if that was the game.
00:18:47
Speaker
Yeah, you get less of the game if you're actually there. Yeah. That's for sure. Well, now they now they were putting up bigger.
00:18:59
Speaker
uh jumbo trons when I was up there so you might you wouldn't even have to watch the game on the field you just look up at the jumbo tron and watch it from that point but I'm trying to remember because I think I actually remember that game because like I said I remember that hit on Robert Ferguson and it almost killed me watching that hit let alone um his uh how he felt about it
00:19:25
Speaker
It was in December 19 2004 so I okay, so it was yeah. Yeah, you were there the year before so But yeah, I was gonna say I kind of remember one of those and I remember That hit specifically because I know a lot of people were really upset with it because he was the Donovan Darius was basically headhunting Yeah, I got it. It says he was ejected for clothesline hit on
00:19:54
Speaker
That is the game. Yes. Yes. I remember the clothesline. I was there. So it's not Robert Ferguson. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cause like I said, I remember the hit and then he just never was the same again. Cause he was always gun shy after that. And he just, he never, uh, and which was sad because he was kinda an up and comer and to have it, have them end like that just kind of suck. But so anyway, you know, uh,
00:20:21
Speaker
I think the last time you were there the Hall of Fame and the pro shop are still kind of Joined in one once you finished the Hall of Fame you basically entered into the pro shop if I remember, right Yeah, so now when I was just up there recently, or I mean just up there a couple weeks ago Well, I mean this has been the way it's been for a while, but the pro shop is just one full
00:20:50
Speaker
building in itself and the the hall of fame is still in the same area but um you know they don't lead into each other it doesn't feel like a gift shop for the hall of fame anymore it feels it's definitely its own entity it was really small that i remember yeah and now it's huge this is like walking into like a
00:21:16
Speaker
I don't want to say a Walmart because Walmart's going to be pretty big. But I mean, it's got the feel of that, that you're just walking into a department store. But so I'm trying to think because I had I think I was up there around the same time or, you know, in the same years that you were. So I'm trying to think off of those years.
00:21:45
Speaker
I don't know, my memory's not the greatest anymore. So like, when I was up there a couple weeks ago, of course a lot of the parking lot was closed off so you couldn't really get into any of the sections, but they still had some of it up there. And if anybody knows me...
Autograph Collecting and Player Interaction
00:22:04
Speaker
They know I'm a pretty big autograph hound. Ever since I was a little kid, I've always been into autographs. So I got to go up there for at least a day after one of the practices and talk to some of the players.
00:22:23
Speaker
That's another thing that I love about this team is you have that chance to interact with the players better than what it seems like other teams do. Again, it just gives you a hometown feeling. It makes it easier because it doesn't make them feel like they're untouchable superstars.
00:22:44
Speaker
You know, obviously you got the ones that are bigger that won't, you know, interact. They just go straight to their car and leave, but you still have that interaction with some of them where you don't get the get as star struck because, you know, they'll just come up and talk to you like a regular person. You know, you don't have to worry about.
00:23:06
Speaker
you know, three, six foot eight, 400 pound bodyguards pushing you out of the way and stuff like that. So, uh, but I'm trying to think 2003 and 2004 was still the Sherman years, right? Mike Sherman. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
00:23:27
Speaker
You know, the guy was an offensive genius. He just couldn't run a team to save his life. I know he was also the GM. So that was a mistake with him.
00:23:39
Speaker
Yeah. They, he, when they signed him to his contract, they gave him the GM powers and he really hurt this team. I mean, like I said, he was a hell of a coach. He just, he really hurt the team with the way he was running things.
Coaching and Management Impact
00:23:51
Speaker
Yeah. And, uh, what's funny about that is that, uh, Mike Holmgren left because they wouldn't give him, uh, GM powers. Yeah. And then he, they lost him and then they went around and did the same thing for sure. Huh.
00:24:04
Speaker
You make sure wonder what would have happened if Holmgren would have hung around a little bit longer. Yeah, I think that they would have seen another Super Bowl with Favre. Yeah, I remember it was really good.
00:24:21
Speaker
Yeah, Holmgren was a great coach. I just don't know how he would have been as a GM. I don't know if they gave him the GM powers in Seattle, so I don't know if he was the one, per se, building the teams up there, but... I think he did, because he also had an advisory GM role in Cleveland after he stopped actively coaching. Yeah. So I think he had in the Seahawks, and he went to the Super Bowl with Matt Hasselback.
00:24:51
Speaker
Yeah. Which there you go is a former Packard draft pick. That's a name to remember. I remember the year they drafted him because my mom took me up to training camp and I thought he was the new punter. I thought they had because he was in on the practice field wearing number 11 and he was putting balls down the field. So I thought he was the punter.
00:25:17
Speaker
And I was like, well, who the hell is that punter? Cause you know, he's really not bad, but he's not like great either. And it turned out it was Matt Hasselbeck. Yeah. I'm back in those days, um, for a few goals. Yeah. Holders were back up to be, it's
Podcasting and International Fan Community
00:25:35
Speaker
not the punters. Yeah. So he didn't hold on. Yeah. So I, I, I kind of wish they would go back to that in a way because that would still.
00:25:46
Speaker
give the it would make the defenses think a little bit because okay well it's the backup quarterback is he going to run a fake or is are they really going to kick but you know but if you are doing that on the uh after the touchdown then you have to do it 15 yards instead of two so you cannot fake fake p80s are less common now
00:26:08
Speaker
Right. So, but you know, so you do a podcast. How did you get into the Packer podcasting?
00:26:19
Speaker
Here's what happened. In 2005, a year after I finished my Masters and I went back to Turkey and then you have to do six months of military because that's part of the world. I did my six months and then I wanted to get back into football so I found a team to coach which I ended up playing again because turns out 25 is not too young to stop playing.
00:26:43
Speaker
And then I also wanted to write. So my podcast partner is the founder of NFLTR, which he did when he was 15. Wow. Yeah. And so I reached out to him. They pointed me towards him. I reached out to him. I said, I can write NFL or NCAA, which I didn't write one NCAA article ever.
00:27:05
Speaker
A lot of years we wrote, wrote, wrote, but then we would be also talking on the phone for hours at a time about, and he happened to be a Packers fan at the time, so we talked a lot. After a while we said that we could turn this into a podcast, but we did that 10 years ago. So 10 years ago we did a pilot, we enjoyed it a lot, but we kind of forget about it.
00:27:27
Speaker
Two years after that, which is eight years ago now, we started and we are in our eighth year. So it's not the, we didn't get into it in quality or something. We do a lot. We used to have three hours and then we would realize, oh, it doesn't record. No problem. We do another three hours on the same subject. We used a bunch of different methods of talking and recording.
00:27:52
Speaker
We tried a lot of things and we do it in Turkish. That's the thing NFL TR is TR is for Turkey so or Turkey and we recently changed it Our listeners are all Turkish so we have a niche markets, but we have cornered Right. Yeah So the last two years there are some more podcasts popping up because now is all the fashion and
00:28:17
Speaker
Yeah, we are the flagship now. We are still the best, but I enjoy watching some of the other podcasts, listening and watching. We do the entire NFL, not just the Packers. We have to be on top of a lot of things. Right, right. Yeah. I understand that. I'm glad Nick decided that we were just going to do Packers because I don't know if I would be able to handle doing the whole NFL. But so
00:28:46
Speaker
I'm trying to form a question here. So you're basically the flagship in Turkey. Well, no, let me start. Let me go with this question because this is something Nick and I have talked about before with you being an international fan.
00:29:07
Speaker
Do you find that you deep dive into a lot of other podcasts to get your information? I know like Nick has said before that he follows almost all Packer podcasts just because there's not a lot in Australia or a lot of people in Australia that he can
00:29:26
Speaker
talk to them about this stuff. So he, you know, fills that space with podcasts and all that other stuff. Is that something you have to deal with too? Or is it a big enough thing in Turkey or Uzbekistan where you're at right now where you can get your fill? Uh-oh. Yeah, now everything's online now. So
00:29:49
Speaker
Of course, I hardly got any real-life footballing track in Turkey, let alone in Uzbekistan. I used to drive a lot for work back and forth at one point in my life, so I downloaded and
00:30:06
Speaker
But now I don't do as much because I have, even though I don't live with my family now, I have very little time to do anything basically. And podcasts are too much drawn out. It's not something you go for information, but just to pretend like you're not all along the world. There's like a couple of guys talking to hackers and you just listen to them in a passive way while you're washing the dishes.
00:30:25
Speaker
Right, right. I get most of my information from Tucker's Twitter. It's amazing how nice they are and how much on top of their things they are. But they can be the biggest people, biggest babies in the world. They can have the biggest drama fights. Oh, I don't want to name names, but holy hell. I mean,
00:30:47
Speaker
It's amazing because they invested so much in it. Now that I'm 43, I emotionally diverse with myself. I don't become happy or sad. I don't live and die with the packers for the last 10 years, as I used to. So it also changed since I started the podcast. I'm not a...
00:31:05
Speaker
giant fan I follow it as close as anyone so more than a fan I would be like maybe the world's one of the biggest Packers aficionados or however you pronounce that right so it's a giant
00:31:20
Speaker
20-something year episode of All or Nothing on tackers that I'm watching every single day. So I'm on top of my tackers, but I don't like smash things around when we'll lose them. Or last time I did that was, oh, could be the one where it went to overtime against Kurt Warner and the Cardinals. Yeah, that's been a while. Yeah, it's been a while. So like when we lost the Brandon Bostic game, I just said, oh, well, I'm turned off and went to sleep.
00:31:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's how it goes. Oh, I get you. I just, you know, it's kind of the thing between me and Nick where, like I said, Nick says that, you know, he spends a lot of time listening to the podcast and the Twitter and stuff like that. Whereas me, you know, I can walk down the street and somebody and be wearing something Packers and somebody will stop me and want to talk for, you know, an hour or whatever. So I don't you know, I listen to some podcasts, but I don't listen to a lot of them, not that they're not great creators.
00:32:18
Speaker
It's just, you know, I don't need it to fill in my time. You know, I don't want to make it sound like they're not worth my time. No, it's just it's different when I can walk down the street and talk to somebody for an hour compared to like Nick, who has to wait for the next podcast to drop before he can, you know, be involved in Packers. So it's always interesting about how international fans, you know,
00:32:47
Speaker
how much they are into it because sometimes it feels like international fans are more invested into it than people who are actually near the teams. I mean, I've got friends in the UK that one specifically Peter Jones, amazing guy, but he knows so much about the Packers that I couldn't even
00:33:14
Speaker
He could probably write an encyclopedia of the Packers with the knowledge that he has for it.
00:33:20
Speaker
Whereas me, you know, I forget, you know, who was the running back for the Packers in, you know, 2015, you know, it's one of those things that I'd have to sit here and Google it before I could remember it. And then once I remember, I was like, Oh, yeah, I remember that, you know, he did this, this and this. So it's always amazing how much more it seems international fans.
00:33:44
Speaker
are invested than domestic families. I will agree with that. And I used to do what you did. I used to wear my Packers jersey, whatever one I had at the time. I had one with a number eight and my name in the back, one of those I had. And I was wearing two bars at night in West Lafayette, Indiana.
00:34:03
Speaker
to see if I can get some conversation going and it's not always the nicest conversation because it was in Vienna. A lot of people are from Chicago and they happen to be drunk around the times I go there. So it was really nice and when I drive up to games how familiar
00:34:22
Speaker
Yes, sir. That was my ringtone for years. Oh, okay. So it says there if you drive to Soldier Field, they make you pay at all. They do. And also if you drive through Soldier Field with your car and shock painted, go pack up because I'm driving up for games. So I paint car packers, this and that. I have the antenna ball wearing a cheese head and everything. I have like all agreement driving up to games. They ask you on the road.
00:34:51
Speaker
If they are not very nice in Chicago, I know it's a bigger, colder town.
00:35:00
Speaker
So when I'm back in Turkey and I meet some Americans, they're usually like diplomatic missions, military, sometimes they're missionaries, and sometimes they're just teachers, all the other teachers. But they're not as into football as I am. Some of them aren't fans, not to be sexist, but women are less interested in football. And men, sometimes they are, sometimes they're not. And even if they are,
00:35:26
Speaker
None of them are interested in the Packers. So I'm not going to speak about the Packers with somebody. And my Turkish community is not all Packers fans, of course. And I cannot do it. And I don't want to talk too much about the Packers on my podcast because our listeners said, OK, too much about the Packers. Dial it down. So that's why I spoke to you on Twitter. And I said, I want to speak about the Packers in English. Call everyone.
00:35:52
Speaker
Yeah, hey episode with the Packers without border guys. It was a lot of fun And now with you guys this is amazing. I'm having a great time Well, like I said it there are a lot of good creators out there, you know Packers without borders I we've done a lot with the game on Wisconsin cruise and we've got some more guests coming up that we're scheduling from
00:36:18
Speaker
Different we've had pack a day guys people on here. But yeah, we've got some more guests I won't say anything here, but they're a little bit higher profile than we've had before so It's just there's just a lot of amazing Content out there that
00:36:44
Speaker
They all work together also, you know, I, it's very rare that if I send a message to somebody saying hey you know we're a small podcast but we would like to get you to come on would you come on, you know, they'll jump at it.
00:36:58
Speaker
like you know and like a lot of other people know we do weird recording times so it doesn't always match up for everything so you know sometimes they balk at that and say well you know can you do this time instead of this time or so we're a little bit flexible like that but you know I
00:37:20
Speaker
that's how me and Nick got started was he just wanted somebody to talk Packer football with and I just happened to be wanting to get back into podcasting. I had started a small podcast with a guy I knew a few years back and it just really never took off. So we stopped and I had kind of went away from it for a while and then always laugh at this because I make fun of Nick all the time about it.
00:37:47
Speaker
I saw some random post on Reddit, Packers Reddit, saying, hey, I want to do a podcast about the Packers. Is anybody in Australia interested? And I said, well, I'm not from Australia, but I think we can make something work. And that's pretty much how we started.
00:38:09
Speaker
You know, it's like I said, there's a good community out there and I love meeting new people
Upcoming Season and Team Potential
00:38:15
Speaker
with it. I've met some of the greatest people in the world when doing podcasts and, you know, it's so much fun interacting with them on Twitter and sometimes even getting to meet them in person and whatever.
00:38:15
Speaker
So
00:38:29
Speaker
You know, now that the world's starting to kind of come back to some kind of norm, I'm hoping that eventually we'll be able to do like meet and greets at some point and say, hey, you know, we're all going to be here at this one time. Let's just meet up and do one big show or something. You know, the big goal is trying to get Nick over because, like I said, Nick's never been to Green Bay. So that that's the big, the end goal for everything.
00:38:58
Speaker
So I had an easier time. I had happened to be there. I just drove like six hours north and I was there. Yeah. On the two times I dropped there. So it wasn't big, that big of a stretch. If you're anywhere in the continental US, you can just take a flight. You didn't save up a lot, but he's literally halfway around the world. Yeah. Yeah. I think we figured he's
00:39:21
Speaker
what, 16 hours difference between just me and him. So yeah, it's a big difference. But you know, some people can, some people can. I know he loves to tell the story that
00:39:38
Speaker
A couple years ago when the Packers were close to the Super Bowl, he had just started a new job and he told his boss, if the Packers go to the Super Bowl, I'm leaving. So, but, you know, you said you wanted to talk Packers. I think we've covered a lot of the other stuff.
00:39:58
Speaker
Let's go ahead and start talking about some of the packers, you know, right now with what's going on with the Packers. Obviously, they finished up their OTAs. So the next thing up is training camp. I don't figure there's going to be any big moves between now and then.
00:40:16
Speaker
But I figured, you know, maybe some of the UDFAs might get cut, you know, some new ones signed in. The Packers have this habit of always making some kind of roster move a week or two before the starting training camp. But what do you, how do you think the roster is filling out right now? Oh, well.
00:40:39
Speaker
but I call it more like recovering from salary cap help. And as you do, yeah, you have a lot of roster holes and your QB is basically a rookie with a lot of most of this experience, let's say, users of it. And so it's good that expectations are a little low for the Packers right now because then this is where their draft and develop strategy really works because it's not just,
00:41:06
Speaker
not getting players through free agency. It's also, you tend to go for smart, athletic guys who are raw. You could go for these guys and that works for the Packers because they can't wait a year or two and look at how long Roshan Gary took to develop. And the way I read it and what I've seen from the few practices and what I read from beef riders I trust,
00:41:40
Speaker
Lucas Van Ness, as good as he is, he can just contribute this year. I don't know if he could be a full-time starter, especially in the first half of the year. So I would call this team young and raw. So there's a lot of hope, but to make any successful season, maybe a winning season, some kind of player Friday, to put it all together, you would need a lot of things to go right.
00:42:06
Speaker
But for the season to go down the drain, you just need a couple of things to go wrong. As we could tell from last year. Yeah, definitely. You fracture a thumb, your lineman never recovers from his injury, defense does their thing, and then suddenly you lost X in a row and you don't recover from that. Yeah. Right. So those are my expectations.
00:42:37
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, obviously I'm not going to say anything negative about Lucas Van Ness. I, you know, I make it pretty well known that I'm a University of Iowa fan. So, you know, I'm not going to downgrade anything. Matter of fact, the first Jersey I've bought in five years was a Lucas Van Ness Jersey. So really banking high on him. But yeah, I completely agree. I don't think it's a complete rebuild.
00:43:06
Speaker
But I don't think this is also a Super Bowl contending team right away. Can they make it to the Super Bowl? Sure. Any team can make it to the Super Bowl. Hell, we didn't think they were going to make it to the Super Bowl in the 2010-11 season. Um, but you know, they ended up winning it all. So it, it just depends on what a, how they develop, how they, uh, um,
00:43:33
Speaker
you know, mesh. And, you know, like the saying goes, any given Sunday, you know, it can happen. Now, I know Nick went on a big breakdown of Brian Goudekoun's tenure last week's episode. So we're not going to do a complete redo of Nick's episode, but
00:43:53
Speaker
you know, this team still has, you know, I would consider some holes that it's going to be interesting to see how they can fill the gaps with them. You know, are the draft picks going to step in? Because there's going to be a lot of young guys that need to step up. Safety is a position that I think, you know, it's a big question mark.
Team Challenges and Roster Evaluation
00:44:18
Speaker
Is Darnell Savage going to be able to make the turn that corner and become a
00:44:22
Speaker
you know, the guy that we need is Anthony Johnson Junior going to be able to step up and, you know, contribute being a seventh round draft pick this year.
00:44:32
Speaker
And then you got just as much as Rudy Ford and guys like that, you know Who the ones they signed to various more and Jonathan Owens, you know as much as you know They brought them in to me right now. They're just guys, you know, they really aren't top-notch replacements so it's
00:44:58
Speaker
It's going to be interesting to see what they can do at that spot. And I think, like I said, that's the one glaring hole. And then number two, I know this is a weird one, but the kicking game, you know, we're going from, you know, the silver Fox Mason Crosby to a relatively unknown and Anders Karlsson. You know, I know they're saying good things about him in practice, but it's practice.
00:45:26
Speaker
You know, I don't want to go on the Alan Iverson tirade of it's, you know, we're just talking about practice, but, you know, we're not going to know him until he gets into game situations. Exactly. I always said that kicking is a game done with the mind, not the leg, with the head. So, uh, yeah, so.
00:45:47
Speaker
He's in the NFL now, so we don't know if his sights can hold up to kicking in the NFL with all the pressure, storied franchise, this and that. And maybe he got some pointers from his brother, Dave, we don't know. But it's really, really hard. And much as Packers have been spoiled by years of Hall of Fame QB play, we also had, except for a couple of years there and there, here and there, we had a lot of stability at the cricket position, too, with Mason Crosby.
00:46:12
Speaker
So we're spoiled with that. We are not one of the teams that change three kickers in a year. It's just not us. So it's a concern, too. And back to what you were talking about, the defensive backs. It's a big concern for me this year. I mean, if we are real talking about, do the Packers have a shot? In my experience, and I'll back it up from my years of coaching football, too.
00:46:36
Speaker
If there's a problem in the skill positions or something, if the receiver can't get open, no problem. We don't pass to them, we don't throw to women, that's fine. You can hide the bad player in the offense any day, even in the line. But in the defense, if you have a weak link in the chain, they will expose you and they will exploit you.
00:46:52
Speaker
So if you are not good at one position in the backfield, safety, it's an issue. And if you have questionable contributor in Darnell Savage, as much as I like the guy, so that some is a big area of concern. It's 2023. Everybody's passing. Everybody's passing. Who's going to help with Justin Jefferson? Can you basically cover DJ Mona? We don't know.
00:47:21
Speaker
And our corners tend to get injured a lot. We don't know how Eric Stokes was coming back. Jury still have Russell Douglas as much as I like him too.
00:47:31
Speaker
And just one possible Hall of Famer cornerback doesn't cut it anymore. In the NFL, you need three good cover cornerbacks and dependable safeties. We don't have that. So as good as the front seven could be, and it should be, we have Clark, Wyatt, and Edge. We have three guys at Edge Russia that can rotate once Gary's back. Linebacker's as good as it's going to be.
00:48:00
Speaker
Can we Campbell and the other first round? Yeah, quite Walker. So that's okay. But comparing to what the standard for stopping the run is in Green Bay, which is nothing. So we could be able to take a step up. But if you can't defend the pass, the fans going to be exploited. And then Jordan now is going to try to play hero ball a lot. And we don't know if he has it in him, especially after
00:48:28
Speaker
So we know we're not going to be getting free agents. So as you said, a lot of things, a lot of people have to step up in their first or second year. It's hard, but any hat, even winning the division, a lot of rookies have to go up very, very fast. They do. And, you know, the Packers have had, uh, what's the word for it? They've had, uh,
00:48:56
Speaker
success drafting the year before they need it instead of the year they do need it. But like you said, there's been injuries and everything else, you know, as Rashawn Gary, I know Rashawn was quoted that he's prepping to start week one. Well, you know, that's pretty, you know, optimistic of him, you know, it's
00:49:19
Speaker
for an ACL injury considering we've seen, you know, the low side of Bakhtiari dealing with his to the high side of, you know, Elton Jenkins dealing with his. So we've got to temper our expectations for what Roshan or when Roshan is going to return and what he's going to be like when he does return.
00:49:41
Speaker
We've got, you know, they drafted Van Ness. He's like you said, he's raw. They have JJ Enigbare. He's, he really showed up last year. I know Nick and I talked to highly of him all year when he was put in.
00:49:57
Speaker
But he was a rookie last year. Is he going to be able to take that next step this year and be that solid rotational guy until then ask gets up to speed and Rashawn gets up to speed. Preston's not getting any younger. Is he going to be able to continue to have his success or is he going to start declining kind of like Adrian Amos? Nobody figured Amos would drop off like he did, but that was like an immediate drop. So.
00:50:28
Speaker
And with a new starting quarterback, this defense is going to have to be relied on. They're going to have to try to cover the mistakes Jordan's going to make. You know, Jordan, I kind of compared Jordan
00:50:41
Speaker
a little bit to farve in when he throws the ball, it's either going to be touchdown or interception. There's not really going to be an inner and in between on it. And unless he starts learning, okay, maybe I don't make this throw at this time. Maybe I just, you know, make the check down and go with that. I don't try to force it in between, you know, three defenders.
00:51:04
Speaker
so but you know the thing with him he's got an arm on him he's got legs so he can get outside the pocket I hate to judge a guy off of just a small amount of time
00:51:18
Speaker
But that little bit he was in for the Eagles game, amazing. That little bit he played against Detroit the year before, I thought was pretty good. It wasn't great. Obviously the Packers didn't win that game, but I thought he still was decent. There were some mistakes made, but when aren't there mistakes made with our young quarterback?
00:51:42
Speaker
And so the pre-seasons I thought were pretty good. He's just got to work on a few things, but he's going to make his mistakes. We've got young receivers on the, on that side too. They're going to make mistakes. You know, I know Nick is the biggest Christian Watson fan you'd ever want to meet right now, but Watson is going to have his issues. He, you know, he's until he gets comfortable enough and can make that step.
00:52:11
Speaker
He's going to have his issues. Dobbs is the same way. Torrey, I'm hoping, can make that next step. The three guys that were drafted this year, I'm hoping, can contribute. But who knows until we actually start getting into games. Sorry, I'm trying to think of what my next question or topic should be because we just covered most of it right there.
00:52:40
Speaker
The running game is going to be another thing that's going to be an interesting thing to keep an eye on because as we know, agent AJ Dylan's contracts done at the end of the year, they're going to have to make a decision on Aaron Jones. They drafted Lou Nichols in the seventh round.
00:52:58
Speaker
They got my boy, Tyler Goodson there. And Goodson, from what I understand, has really been working his butt off. He actually was working out with Aaron Jones throughout the offseason. So, you know, we could be seeing him step up. A little bit me being the Iowa homer hopes he does make that next step and he can continue to be a Packer.
00:53:20
Speaker
If I take the Iowa bias out of it, I have been hearing good things out of him from the offseason. So he will be a guy I will be keeping my eye on when training camp hits. What do you think of the running back situation? Do we keep all those guys? Who's going to stick around for next year and maybe further or do they just start completely over?
00:53:45
Speaker
Oh, I think it's going to be a major overhaul next year for the following reasons. Aaron Jones, as much as he helped us out with this contract, he'll probably not be here next year. And AJ Dillon is up for his contract. We know, and again, as much as fans love him, and I love him, he's the nicest guy in the community. You can't tell he's not faking it.
00:54:08
Speaker
But it is a business and he might not be around for his second contract. So we don't know who's going to be in the backfield It should be a certain that this point is that David bacteria would be moving on because his contract is something else to I Don't expect him So the running game is not going to be getting so much up after this year Add this to the fact that if Jordan love and the receiving core doesn't
00:54:36
Speaker
what people hoped they would become, it goes hand in hand. If he doesn't comment as much respect in the past game as Rogers does, people are going to be king and on the run. So it's going to be harder and you know, this team, since Metal Floor game, this team started morphing into more of a running team as I think they should. Yeah. But it's not easy.
00:55:06
Speaker
You think you're a big physical guy, but you still have to protect your QB. So remember in the years of like McCarthy, people were criticizing him because we didn't have road graders like Dallas and we had finesse blockers and they were dancers. It's not that. I know it's 2023. This team right now should be a passing, a running team.
00:55:28
Speaker
couple of years down the road with all the people who drafted, sure, it could be the other way. It depends on how Jordan Raptors are to be. But we will still have moderate success this year in the running game. Next year, who knows who's going to step up. And the thing about running backs is that a running back can make significant contributions and show where he is, who he is as a football player, even in their rookie year. So we see a lot of like six
00:55:58
Speaker
in their first year. So that could always happen.
Financial Strategies and Player Development
00:56:02
Speaker
But if it doesn't, then we are going to go back to the years then who we don't know who our running back is. So the Sam Congato years. Sam Congato, Vernon Morrissey, time Montgomery. Yeah. Yeah. Time Montgomery. The game starts running grand. Those were actually two different guys. But Sam Congato, the doctor is in, but he's not on the field.
00:56:27
Speaker
Yeah, I completely agree. I would absolutely hate to lose, you know, as much as everybody loves A.J. Dillon, I would honestly hate to lose Aaron Jones because I think he is an amazing person. He's not only a great player, but he's just an amazing human being. And I think that would be more of a loss. Don't get me wrong. I love A.J. Dillon. He's a great guy. He really hasn't lived up on it on the field as much as people had hoped he would.
00:56:57
Speaker
But I think the big loss would more be Aaron Jones than anything. But as we said earlier, it is a business. Some decisions have to be made. I would hate to lose Bakhtiari too, but I understand the contract. I don't know if that's something that can get worked out. I don't know if that's something David Bakhtiari would want worked out. I don't know if that's something Brian Gudekunst would want worked out. But you know, it's
00:57:23
Speaker
It's going to be an interesting couple of years now that the money for Rogers is coming off the books. But so we look at the running backs. I kind of touched on the wide receivers a little bit earlier. I do want your opinion on those guys, but I'm going to lump it in with the tight ends because they're all a young group. So, you know, they're going to have their growing pains. It's the first time in a long time the Packers have had
00:57:52
Speaker
you know, such athletic tight ends that are at a decent age, you know, it's not a reclamation project like a, you know, a Jimmy Graham or a Martellus Bennett or Jared Cook or one of those, but it's the first time we've got young athletic type tight ends.
00:58:11
Speaker
And it's the first time in a long time we have actual players at the wide receiver core. Watson, Dobbs, Turay, Reed, Wicks and Dubose or Dubose or however you pronounce his last name. Sorry Grant. Again, if you go back to the beginning of the podcast, I'm not great with the names. So
00:58:33
Speaker
But what are your feelings on those groups as a whole? I know fans need to have their expectations tempered with them. But right now, people are riding on Cloud9 because of the names that we have there right now. So what are you looking at with those guys?
00:58:55
Speaker
What I saw in the first year from Watson and Dabs, it was all right, but you also had temporary expectations. A lot of players don't progress as much as they do. And people might call it a sophomore slump, a regression. It's not always a regression, but if they don't progress as much as you think they would or you hope you would, you see it as a regression.
00:59:17
Speaker
Now, remember how nice years Kenny Gallaudet and DJ Chark had as development receivers? Oh my God, if he's doing this much in this X year, what's he going to do? Where are these guys right now? So, come to your expectations. The Packers don't really whiff at receivers as much as some other teams do, but they do. It happens. They have their moments. They have their moments. Shout out to Amari Rodgers.
00:59:43
Speaker
Hey, now I'm not going to bash Rogers. I think he had a bum deal in Green Bay, but he wasn't what we were expecting, but I think he got a bum deal in Green Bay. Yeah. So what I'm looking for in receivers, unless you're drafting them in the first round, which we don't, you are looking at athleticism and football smarts, which means they could be coachable and they should be team players.
01:00:05
Speaker
You have those three, then the rest will come. You can just coach them up and then they'll be good to go second or third year. Titans maybe add a year to that. So this is what they've been doing for a while, which Roger wasn't a big fan of because he needed Watson now, not in 2023. So I understand where he's coming from, but our approach right now is that we have a year or two to recover from cellular cat health.
01:00:30
Speaker
So it's good that we drafted projects, a role, development guys. It's fine. And it's going to be all right. Would I have preferred to have a veteran receiver presence just to be mentoring the players like Sam Watkins in the room? Sure. That would have been nice. But hey, you never know. You can start your own...
01:00:50
Speaker
They all gel and grow up all together. Yeah. Yeah for white receivers growing up all together with their QB I could see that happening too So we have a good young stable of receivers and as they say if you have a lot of at bats You are sure to hit their home run more often So I'm happy about that as for tight ends Definitely feel the same thing. It's hard to be a tight end in the NFL. So I
01:01:18
Speaker
If they can contribute first year, fine. But by the second year, I want to see those two bookending the line. And however they decide to use Josiah DeGora, because people love him a lot. He's a player, I mean. As a person, probably he's nice as hell. But I don't know. I don't know if somebody, we have to get to the real tie down. I think he will be the odd man out. So the other two, Kraft and...
01:01:48
Speaker
Those, I expect them to be bookending by year two, early year two. They have a year to develop as good as I've seen their film in college.
01:02:00
Speaker
They should contribute even first year. They're athletic as hell. And the last time we had this athletic at Titan Group, we had a German-cursed felony of his injury fame. And even he, as good as he was, he wasn't a complete product either at that point. He had a injury. So these guys, we will hopefully not have them injured. And we do not have the shadow of riders closing windows.
01:02:27
Speaker
on them anymore. So take your time, take this year, recover from cap help. Do all the guys you sit here, let's see what we have with Jordan Love. Let's see if you want to stay stick with Joe Berry. Okay. That's your last season. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And this is, this is the mate I'm putting in for the Aussie listeners. This is her last season. Very show us what you have. This is as talented the roster as a lot of people have in the NFL.
01:02:53
Speaker
in terms of just development potential. I know you have your holes, safety is an issue. We don't have depth inside linemen. Take this here, OK? Rest, take this here, see what you have, because you're never going to get good free agents in Green Bay.
Draft Strategy and Leadership Speculation
01:03:13
Speaker
It's just not going to happen for a bunch of reasons. This team is not a Super Bowl contender, so Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett are not going to happen anytime soon.
01:03:22
Speaker
uh taxing that issue.
01:03:25
Speaker
Right? State tax is an issue. I don't think it's as bad as some other states, but it's definitely not as good as others. Yeah. And the last thing is that this is not a draw. The town, as much as we like it, is not a big draw for players who are famous, have money, and they want to blow it. They're in their 20s. Yeah, life is good. Tesla strong coming out of their ears. Right. Do you want to be in a green bay day after day?
01:03:53
Speaker
So that is the issue. And also you are going to be getting out of local ad revenue. You're not going to be sponsored a lot there. So add all these together, you have to be a draft undeveloped team. You have to be. So this is like the road that, not like the Aaron Rodgers and his goddamn window is gone. We can go back to being a draft undeveloped team and just
01:04:19
Speaker
have like, if Jordan Love turns out to be the real deal, have 10-15 years of franchise QB level play and be a contender year after year, take shots at the playoffs, who knows? But yeah, it's going to be a different team.
01:04:34
Speaker
Yeah, and that's the big question is if Jordan Love can show that he is the player that they had hoped when they drafted him, then maybe he can draw in some of those free agents. But, you know, yeah, that that quick trip money isn't going to draw too many people into the state. So it's yeah, I get you. I've always said with the draft stuff that I've done and I've I've gained this opinion from a lot of people that I followed that do the draft.
01:05:05
Speaker
It usually takes three years for a player to develop into what you know he's going to be. The first year is just them getting used to the league. The second year is them applying what they learned from the first year. And the third year is where they turn it all or put it all together and become that player. So, you know, sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it takes shorter time. Sometimes it takes a little bit of longer time.
01:05:31
Speaker
But, you know, you've always got to temper expectations on everything. I mean, we've even got to temper expectations on Jordan Love. We really have no clue what Jordan's going to be. So, but like you said, the good thing is, is they're all young. They're all going to be able to gel together. They're all going to be able to grow up together. They're all going to be able to work together.
01:05:55
Speaker
I do agree and I think I've said it on our podcast before that I wish they would bring in somebody, you know, like a veteran wide receiver, not necessarily to sign him.
01:06:07
Speaker
Um, because I don't know who you would release to fill, you know, to allow that veteran to fill a spot, but to bring somebody in as a special advisor to be that guy that can, you know, the player, you know, the young guys can go to and say, Hey, you know, this guy's dogging me out there on the field.
01:06:27
Speaker
What do I need to do? You know, he's, he's not biting on any of my stuff. What do I got to do? And then that guy can say, well, you know, just, you know, take that extra step or, you know, hold a beat longer or whatever it is. Nothing against Jason Vrabel, but you know, he's a, he played quarterback at Marietta college in Ohio.
01:06:49
Speaker
Yeah, you know, that's great and all, and he can help out tremendously when it comes to communication with your, your quarterback. But does he have the experience to help that receiver in developing what he needs to have? And you said it, there's nobody on the team that really can, they can lean on, you know, right now our veterans are three guys that were rookies last year.
01:07:16
Speaker
So there's no leadership there. That's why I was kind of hoping they would bring big dog back Mercedes Lewis, because at least he could have been a voice in there to help the young guys say, all right, you know, take a breath, take a step back, relax, you know, do your thing. You don't need to be the superhero and stuff
Season Excitement and Fan Community
01:07:37
Speaker
like that. But
01:07:38
Speaker
You know, they've got a plan. I keep telling this to everybody. I'm really excited for this year because it's an unknown. This is the first time we've really had an unknown season in a long time. And it could be really good. It could be really bad. Either way, we're going to have two first round draft picks next year. Knock on wood. If something doesn't work out, we just start again. Yeah. And I don't think we're drafting defensive back in the first
01:08:07
Speaker
who we used to, but we're still picking defenders. And the last time we have two first round picks. Yeah, you know what we did. But I like those picks. I stand behind them. And I share your optimism for the future in that regard as well. But as we always say, it all comes down to how Jordan Love plays. It's good to come to pick to begin with. And it's the old by Matt Lafleur. His career is molded by him. So how
01:08:36
Speaker
If he turns out to be bad, it's their jobs on the line too. So they ride with this guy. So it makes sense. They favored him. They built Rosalito more toward him than Rogers. So it makes sense. And Love has not one, but two pairs of really big shoes to fill. The great thing is Green Bay is not a rabid fan base. They're not going to hang you out to drive.
01:09:03
Speaker
Well, now, some are. Well, I'm going to take a step back there because you may want to remember the first year Rogers took over. They were booing the poor guy at family night at a practice. They booed him out of the stadium. So I'm not going to say they're not rabid and they won't turn on this guy quickly.
01:09:28
Speaker
but they're going to have, he's got a short leash with the fans right now. If they start going sideways, I could see them turning on him quick because it's the same kind of situation. You know, whereas they turned on, they were ready to turn on Rogers in a snap of the fingers because they got rid of far to keep Rogers. I could see the same thing happening with loving that. So I have a little bit more optimism on that front because, uh,
01:09:59
Speaker
If you haven't seen how far it went, it was an absolute hell. He showed at the training camp.
01:10:09
Speaker
very, very, very bad. And people loved Far a lot because before him, there was nothing and he was a lovable guy. And, you know, like it's like he'll be Midwestern. He could have been a Midwestern the way he was. And they got rid of him for these guys from California who is more aloof and who. And then, of course, they're going to stand on him. But the relationship to men between Far and writers took a while.
01:10:40
Speaker
Considering that awkward NFL honors night, I think it was the SPS, I think it was the NFL honors. They were on the shared stage together. They make this awkward joke, Roger the Smirk, and they make the fences, let's say. But there's nothing like that going on between Roger's and love now, because he chose to, even if it is like that, or he makes it look like that, people feed off that energy.
01:11:08
Speaker
So I think love could get a little bit more love to make a dad joke. So a little bit more patience. But yeah, this is still the NFL. And what have you done for me lately and put up or shut up? Yeah, I agree with that. But he wouldn't be he will not be as harshly judged as in some other
01:11:37
Speaker
Yeah, or New York. That's why I keep saying that if I was going to follow another team, it would be the Jets right now because I could just see the Jets fans eating Rogers alive. I've gotten into disagreements with people, but
01:11:52
Speaker
I really think that the way the Jets fans are thinking they've got, you know, they're they're basically booking their trips to the Super Bowl. Now I could just see if Rogers does, you know, doesn't lead them to the promised land that they will turn on him in a heartbeat.
01:12:10
Speaker
Um, so it's, but yeah, I mean, I'm not going to say they're going to be out there, you know, ready to let loose the dogs and have their, uh, torches and pitchforks to take out love. But I, I also think he's got a shortish leash because of, you know, it's change and who really likes to have change.
01:12:35
Speaker
You know, we all were hoping we'd have Rogers for a hundred years when we knew it wasn't gonna be possible to have Rogers for a hundred years. But it's really gonna be something to see. I'm really, like I keep saying, I'm really excited for this year. Well, I don't wanna keep you too much longer because I know the time differences and everything else. You're up early, I'm up late. Is there anything else you would like to touch on before we close things out?
01:13:04
Speaker
Oh, nothing. Just hello to all ghoulishners. I love talking to peckers. I hope you really enjoyed this episode. Enjoy this underdog year, one we never had as far as I can remember. When have we ever been the underdogs in our division? So enjoy that. Work with optimism all the receivers growing up. Work your QB as he takes his baby steps, let's say. It's a lot of fun. Enjoy this year. Enjoy your fandom and go get
01:13:30
Speaker
interact with us on Twitter. I love Packers Twitter with all the overreactions and, you know, messing around bears Twitter and their rivalry with the Jets. Where did that come from? Where did that come from? But it's a lot of fun and enjoy football. It's a lot of fun. Don't take it too seriously. It's not life or death. I just love football. I love football fans. I love the Packers and I hope you did that too.
01:14:00
Speaker
That's all I gotta say. That's great. Hill me. It was great having you on. I really appreciate it. Um, hopefully next time we get you on, we can have Nick here. Unfortunately, like I said, he's, he's had a last minute issue pop up. Uh, is there anything you want to plug before we say, you know, you want to give out your Twitter and you know, where they can find you and all that stuff? Oh yeah. Yeah. My tutor is he'll meet H I L M I underscore coach. And you will probably give a link when you put the pot
01:14:29
Speaker
add me not because I need followers but I want to interact with as many packers fan as possible. I love doing that on Twitter and I do NFL TR podcast but in Turkey so your viewers are not going to unless AI can do voice translations on the go which could happen you never know. Who knows. Yeah until the
01:14:51
Speaker
and let's have a fun great year that sounds good to me oh and i just remembered i asked for questions before we uh before we uh recorded and i just want to say ben what i do when no one is looking is nothing
01:15:10
Speaker
because I'm not that good at hiding things. So take that for what it's worth. Oh, is that also a question for me? If you want to answer it, his question was exactly this. So you have reference. He goes, what do you do when no one is looking?
01:15:27
Speaker
Oh, I'm a man. We do nothing in the blink of an eye. If we don't have to do anything, then we do just that. Nothing. I don't talk to anyone. I don't need to do anything. But now I'm going through my midlife crisis.
01:15:48
Speaker
Yeah, if anyone coming up to that age, it will happen to you. Tessa soon drops while your own son starts becoming an athlete and it hurts. I can't lift anything and it takes a week to recover from a leg workout. Yeah. That's what's going on. Normally Nick would have this nice little send off for everything.
01:16:13
Speaker
I'm not Nick and I didn't prep a lot for this. So I'm going to go back and read one of his old ones. So you can find our podcast out back underscore Packer.
01:16:30
Speaker
Packers on Twitter you can find Nick at Nicholas grgr you can find me at Iowa underscore Joe 8 6 Please do like and subscribe You know give us a rating whatever you got to do. We really want to bump up. We want to get out there and
01:16:51
Speaker
Like I said, if we can really make this into something, hopefully we can get Nick over here to visit Lambo one of these days. But we need your guys' help because without you, we're basically talking to nothing. So, you know, please do like and subscribe. Find us anywhere you listen to podcasts. If we're not on the platform you listen to, let me know. Send us a message and I will make sure we get there as soon as we can. So with that all being said,
01:17:20
Speaker
I hope you guys have a great evening. Emily, it was great to have you on. Do you enjoy your day? I'm going to enjoy my night. Go pack, go, and I'll see you later. Bye guys.