April 16, 2011 8:09 p.m. |
The Green Bay Packers won the 2011 Super Bowl in 2005 when Aaron Rodgers fell to them at No. 24 in the first round.
We could mention other opportune/astute draft picks in recent years that helped make them champions more than two months ago, including Clay Matthews, B.J. Raji, Jordy Nelson, Josh Sitton, Desmond Bishop, A.J. Hawk, Greg Jennings, etc., etc.
Point being, circumstances occasionally change.
Currently in Minneapolis, for example, a federal judge is baby-sitting the owners and players while they fight over the $9 billion pacifier that decides when the NFL will next play football games as the commissioner negotiates on the side with talk of a postponed '12 Super Bowl and such.
But nothing else really changes if you happen to be one of the parties caught in the middle.
If you're Ted Thompson looking for an edge in the draft, it's locked-in, blinders-on business as usual here in the moment.
If you're a fan looking for a coping mechanism for the silliness out of your control affecting an industry that has none of your interests at heart, ask yourself:
What would TT do?
As tiresome as the phrase seems whenever a player incurs a less-than-catastrophic injury, aren't we all day-to-day in the big picture?
Now that Philosophy 101 class is dismissed, here's all we know:
The NFL will conduct its draft, beginning a week from Thursday. There will be the usual blend of cheers and catcalls from inside the Mall of Lambeau. Tourists will walk by 50th and 6th in New York City without even knowing the NFL has taken out a three-day lease on Radio City Music Hall for the annual event guaranteed to make some of its franchises look smart but most of them look dumb.
So, if you're looking for advice on the labor row that may or may not spoil your fall/winter, enjoy the draft - or not - while greed, as it always does in real life or diversions involving angry large men violently greeting each other, eventually finds its level.
Indulge yourself in the day, likely sometime this week, when the Packers' schedule is released. Treat it like the quasi-holiday it has become in Wisconsin. Plan those trips as if they're going to happen as sure as April frost, but maybe hold off on guaranteeing them with a major credit card.
Naturally, the runaway No. 1 question anybody in my seat gets right now is whether the NFL will figure this thing out.
Well, sure, why not? It's too much of a money-grab to drag on past a regular-season game or two, right?
And while you're at it, could you please pass the Mayan calendar?
It's sort of like asking what the Packers should do in the first round from the champ's 32nd slot.
Huh?
Their needs - an outside linebacker, maybe a defensive lineman - are fairly obvious. But the draft being the fickle dance partner it is, immediate needs vs. future considerations are unpredictable enough that you should never run out and buy it a carnation.
As we've established, nothing was more important to a Super Bowl year than five seasons prior when Rodgers dropped into the Packers' lap while Brett Favre was still productive and healthy.
On the flip side, how did that Matthews-Raji first-round tandem in '09 work out as a means for filling in the 3-4 blanks?
So with their first pick in the 2011 draft, the Green Bay Packers select Corey Liuget, defensive tackle, University of Illinois. And the lockout will end, conveniently enough, in time for the fourth preseason game.
Or Thompson will trade up to get outside linebacker Von Miller of Texas A&M, because Mike Sherman said it was OK. And Matt Schabert will quarterback the Packers' first replacement game this season.
It's like a famous pro football freak once said. If you're going to buy the ticket, you've got to be prepared to take the ride.
Send email to mhunt@journalsentinel.com
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