We're nice people, unlike those on the East Coast

This doesn't exactly qualify as news, but comedian Frank Caliendo backs the Packers.

In a quick question-and-answer session with Bill Burt of the Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass., Caliendo had this to say when asked whether he's a football fan:

"Let me put it this way, I grew up in Milwaukee. That means I love the Green Bay Packers unconditionally. Everyone loves football in Wisconsin. And everyone loves the Packers. It doesn't matter if they lose, either. It's not like you people on the East Coast. We're nice people."

Asked who will win Super Bowl XLII on Sunday, Caliendo -- who does impressions -- channeled John Madden and said:

"I'm picking the Giants because they're the Brett Favre of underdogs ... But then again, the Patriots are the Brett Favre of undefeated teams ... I guess l like them both."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

She's really feeling blue

This has not been a good week for Dorothy Schneider.

Not only did she lose a bet and suffer the indignity of wearing a New York Giants sweatshirt to work on Friday, but she's found her husband has a fear of commitment. To the Packers.

Schneider, an Illinois native who writers for the Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier, is nonetheless an ardent Packers fan. She says she comes by it naturally. Her parents' families have ties to Milwaukee.

She calls herself "a football team monogamist." Of her husband's wandering eye toward other NFL teams, she writes:

"I'm sad to say that Brian and I have actually spent time arguing on the subject of football. He says I take the Packers too seriously. I accuse him of not taking the team serious enough."

Her husband "claims the St. Louis Rams, since they're his hometown team, but he also cheers for the Indianapolis Colts, at times the Washington Redskins and, thanks to my positive influence, the Green Bay Packers."

Good to see, though, that she's keeping it all in perspective.

"I suppose if the fate of the Green Bay Packers is our biggest problem, we're doing OK," she adds.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Mike Sherman

Barely a month removed from the end of the NFL season, former Packers coach Mike Sherman admits he's still getting used to being a college coach again.

Sherman -- now the coach at Texas A&M University -- visited a recruit in Brenham, Texas, on Monday and told the Brenham Banner-Press that things have changed since he last worked at A&M in the mid-'90s.

"It's still an adjustment time for me, and it will be for quite some time, coming from the National Football League to college, but the biggest adjustment is the growth of College Station and the football facility is totally different then when I was here last time. It's probably as good a facility as there is in college football," Sherman told sports editor Richard Bray.

Sherman said returning to recruiting has come easiest.

"Whether you're recruiting or coaching, you're always selling something," he told Bray. "You're either selling a play when I was with the (Houston) Texans or Green Bay (or) you're selling a philosophy to players and getting them to believe in you, and it's the same thing in recruiting, except now you're selling a program and a university to young men and (their) parents."

Sherman was the Aggies' offensive line coach from 1989 to 1993 and again in 1995 and 1996. He also was A&M's top recruiter in the Houston area, southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana at that time.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Phoenix area's Packers bar seems a little empty

Super Bowl XLII week is a hard week for the folks at Mabel Murphy's, a hangout for Packers fans in the Old Town section of Scottsdale, Ariz.

They'd been counting on being full of Packers fans this week. Instead, it's quiet. Too quiet.

"If the Packers had won, everyone in Wisconsin would have been out here four days ago." bar manager Ryan Dietrich told FoxSports.com columnist Randy Hill.

"I can't imagine how much money we would have made," Dietrich said.

Now, though, he won't have to open at 6 a.m. and won't have to hire six temporary workers to handle the crowds.

Mabel Murphy's is where Wisconsin expatriates gather all year round, and not just during Packers season.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Perhaps he's tired of hearing that song

As the Packers got more national exposure during the NFC playoffs, so did their practice of playing Todd Rundgren's "Bang the Drum All Day" after they scored touchdowns at Lambeau Field.

Though Packers fans probably don't get tired of hearing it, visitors and viewers do.

Perhaps even Rundgren himself is tired of hearing it. He did a 2-hour show in Toronto on Sunday night and left it out of his set, much to the disappointment of reviewer Jason MacNeil, who wrote in the Toronto Sun:

"If there was one drawback some might have found it was the absence of 'Bang The Drum All Day,' a song heard at many sporting events and routinely heard following touchdowns by the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field."

"Bang the Drum All Day" is 25 years old this month. Rundgren included the song on "The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect," the album he released in January 1983.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Larry Brooks

Larry Brooks, the Packers' defensive line coach during their Super Bowl seasons, will have the same job with the Washington Redskins, ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli reports.

He'll be working for defensive coordinator Greg Blache, whom he succeeded in Green Bay.

Brooks, 57, was on Mike Holmgren's Packers staff from 1994 to 1998. He last coached with the Arizona Cardinals in 2006.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Ray Rhodes

As expected, former Packers coach Ray Rhodes, 57, has been named the assistant defensive backs coach for the Houston Texans.

A native of Mexia, Texas, he's been a special assistant for defense for the Seattle Seahawks since having a mild stroke in September 2005.

The move reunites Rhodes with Texans coach Gary Kubiak. They worked together with the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers.

Rhodes was the Packers' coach in 1999, when they went 8-8. He also was the Packers' defensive coordinator under coach Mike Holmgren in 1992 and 1993.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Wheeling into the offseason

Now that the Packers' season is over, cornerback Charles Woodson can turn to another of his interests.

He's the co-owner of Elite Auto Concierge, an Atlanta shop that sells new and classic cars, then tricks them out to the owner's specifications. A fair number of NFL players take their vehicles there.

Kevin Shuler, who manages the shop, had this to say about athletes' tastes: "Every player wants a Yukon, Tahoe, Denali, Escalade or a Range Rover. You're not a ballplayer if you don't have one of those in the garage."

Woodson's partners are former NBA player Shannon Anderson and hip-hop artist T.I., according to a report from Forbes Autos. Woodson lives in Atlanta during part of the offseason. He also has a home in Orlando, Fla., according to the Packers' media guide.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Jenkins feels Favre's pain

Geoff Jenkins not only looks like Brett Favre, but he's a fan of the Packers and their quarterback.

With high rollers in town for the Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Phillies' newest outfielder is hosting a benefit poker tournament today in Scottsdale, Ariz. Jenkins told MLB.com that putting together the tournament helped him get over the Packers' loss to the New York Giants in the NFC championship game.

Jenkins recently signed with the Phillies after playing for the Milwaukee Brewers for 10 years. He became a Packers fan after spending all that time in Wisconsin.

"I was hurting for Brett," Jenkins said. "That stunk to see him throw that pick there at the end. I thought it was destiny for him to be (in the Super Bowl). I'm not sure they would've won, but I would've liked to see him get there."

The Brewers' Bill Hall and J.J. Hardy and former Packers receiver Javon Walker are among the athletes who'll be celebrity players in the tournament, which will benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Phoenix.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Wesley Walls

It was barely four years ago that tight end Wesley Walls wrapped up a 15-year NFL career by playing in 14 games for the Packers.

Now 41, he just had his left hip replaced, according to the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger.

It won't be his last such surgery, either.

"My right hip probably has more damage to it, but I'm not getting the pain I was getting from the left," he told Billy Watkins of the Jackson newspaper.

Walls said he enjoyed his NFL career, "but now I'm paying the price. And I had no idea it would come this soon."

Walls also said he'd planned to retire after the 2002 season, but came back for one more year when Packers quarterback Brett Favre called and said he needed a backup tight end. It wasn't much fun, though.

"That year I really felt it ... my hips, the stiffness that goes with arthritis. I couldn't get my body in the correct position to block or run routes. I pretty much knew that was going to be it," he said.

Walls caught 20 passes for 222 yards and one touchdown for the Packers that year, playing as Bubba Franks' backup.

These days, Walls owns Pavilion Development, a commercial real estate development company in Charlotte, N.C. He played there for the Carolina Panthers from 1996 to 2002.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Eric Crouch

Eric Crouch, who briefly was with the Packers before the 2003 and 2004 seasons, was the third overall pick in Saturday's All American Football League draft.

Though Crouch, 29, won the Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at the University of Nebraska in 2001, he's had trouble convincing professional teams that he can play the position.

Crouch was the Texas team's top selection in the AAFL draft. He wants to play quarterback, he told the Omaha World-Herald.

The St. Louis Rams drafted Crouch in 2002 and put him at receiver. He retired. The Packers signed him in 2003 and tried him at quarterback. When coach Mike Sherman told Crouch he wouldn't make the team at that position, he left the team on the eve of training camp, saying he probably was done with football.

He wasn't. The Packers gave Crouch another chance in 2004, trying him at safety and punt returner. He didn't make it. Crouch played safety in NFL Europe in 2005, then finally got to play quarterback as a backup for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in 2006. He was released last September.

The AAFL has teams in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Michigan. It's scheduled to begin play in April.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Tom Rossley

Former Packers offensive coordinator Tom Rossley has been reunited with former Packers coach Mike Sherman at Texas A&M University.

(In the photo above, Rossley and Sherman chat during a Packers minicamp in April 2002.)

Rossley, 61, will be the Aggies' quarterbacks coach and a "senior assistant" to Sherman, according to the Austin American-Statesman and other sources. He was head coach at Southern Methodist University in Dallas from 1991 to 1996 and was the Packers' offensive coordinator from 2000 to 2005.

"Tom was running a version of the college spread offense years ago as a head coach at SMU," Sherman was quoted as saying. "He will be relied on heavily to develop our quarterback position, as well as contributing in the creation of our offensive identity."

Rossley didn't take another job after leaving the Packers, but was a guest coach in training camp for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League last summer, according to the Regina Leader-Post.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: NFL coaches' corner

More NFL coaching moves involving familiar names:

Greg Blache, 58, who was the Packers' defensive line coach under coaches Lindy Infante and Mike Holmgren from 1988 to 1993, has been named the Washington Redskins' defensive coordinator, according to the Washington Post.

He'd been Washington's defensive line coach for the last four seasons.

Blache is known for his intensity, and this is one of our favorite pictures from his time with the Packers.


Blache buries his face in the grass after Tampa Bay’s Willie Drewrey turned a deflected pass into an 87-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter of the Packers’ 15-13 victory over the Buccaneers at Lambeau Field on Sept. 15, 1991. Love the way quarterback Don Majkowski is looking at him.

As expected, former Packers quarterback Jim Zorn was hired as Washington's offensive coordinator, according to the Washington Post. He plans to run the West Coast offense, he told the Post.

John Bonamego, who was the Packers' special teams coach under Sherman from 2003 to 2005, has been hired for the same job with the Miami Dolphins, according to The Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Bonamego, 44, leaves the New Orleans Saints to go to Miami. He worked with new Dolphins coach Tony Sparano when both were with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Packers draw plenty of Hispanic fans, too

Want more proof of the Packers' universal appeal?

Sunday night's NFC championship game between the Packers and New York Giants at Lambeau Field drew more Hispanic viewers than any other English-language TV program last week, according to Hispanic Business.com.

The game drew a 16.7 rating among those viewers, according to the Nielsen Media Group. That means it was seen in about 1.94 million of the 11.63 million Hispanic TV households in the United States.

The rating includes viewers who watched the game while it aired and those who watched it on a digital video recorder within 24 hours of game time.

The game also was the highest-rated NFC title game among all viewers since the Packers' victory over the Carolina Panthers -- also at Lambeau Field -- in January 1997.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: The coaching carousel

As NFL teams shuffle their coaching staffs in preparation for the 2008 season, we're seeing some familiar names in the news.

Former Packers coach Ray Rhodes, 57, may become the assistant defensive backs coach for the Houston Texans, according to the Houston Chronicle.

A Texas native, he's been a special assistant for defense for the Seattle Seahawks since having a mild stroke in September 2005. Such a move would reunite Rhodes with Texans coach Gary Kubiak. They worked together with the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers.

The Seahawks also may lose quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn, 54, who's being considered as offensive coordinator for whoever is hired as coach of the Washington Redskins, according to the Seattle Times and other reports.

Zorn played 13 games at quarterback for the Packers in 1985, starting five in the second half of the season. He went 3-2 as a starter in an 8-8 season for Green Bay.

Pro Football and Packers Hall of Fame wide receiver James Lofton, 51, fired after six seasons as the San Diego Chargers' receivers coach, may wind up with the same job with the Baltimore Ravens, according to the Baltimore Sun.

The Ravens have hired Cam Cameron as offensive coordinator, and Cameron and Lofton worked together in San Diego.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Pete Van Valkenburg

Look in the Packers' media guide, and you'll find just one statistic for Pete Van Valkenburg from the 1974 season. He returned one kickoff for 22 yards.

A 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, he played in five games for the Packers that season, mostly on special teams, wearing No. 40. He finished the season with the Chicago Bears.

A Utah native who starred at running back at Brigham Young, he was drafted in the third round of the 1973 draft by the New Orleans Saints, then played that season for Buffalo. The Bills traded Van Valkenburg and offensive lineman Steve Okoniewski to the Packers for quarterback Scott Hunter in 1974.

Van Valkenburg played in the CFL in 1975, then called it a career.

These days, Van Valkenburg, 57, is an associate professor of geology at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, according to the Dixie Sun school newspaper.

He went to Dixie State as a geology instructor and assistant football coach in 1984. A decade later, he decided to focus on teaching.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Brrrrr! We definitely are not in Kansas anymore!

They like Packers coach Mike McCarthy at his alma mater, Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan.

So much so that when the Packers made it into the NFC championship game and McCarthy offered tickets, Baker athletics director Dan Harris -- who was an assistant coach when McCarthy played there -- and four friends drove up to Lambeau Field. However, they weren't prepared for the subzero temperatures.

"I had three layers of clothes and it wasn't enough," Harris told the Baldwin City Signal. "I looked like the little guy on 'A Christmas Story' who couldn't move his arms or legs. In fact, it was hard to put my boots on with all of my clothes on. It was a challenge."

Forget about getting some refreshments, too.

"You go up there to order a Coke and give them your money, but by the time they come back with your change, your Coke was frozen solid," Harris told the local paper. "It was taking seconds for the drinks to freeze. In fact, most of the concession stands shut down, because no one was going to buy anything. It was that cold."

So, Dan, would you do it again?

"To the person, everyone said they would do it again, except me. I said I would love to go to a Packers game, but not if it's going to be 25-below wind chill, no way."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Lombardi used to sleep on their spare couch

Ann Mara, the widow of former New York Giants co-owner Wellington Mara, sat down with New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica to reminisce about the 1950s, the last time the Giants were the toast of New York:

In so doing, she shared a story about Vince Lombardi, who was an assistant with the Giants before he became the Packers' coach in 1959:

"'Let me tell you about Green Bay,' she said (Wednesday). 'This is before we even got to the stadium on Lombardi Avenue, before it was Lombardi this and Lombardi that. This was at the hotel the night before (in Appleton). They even had a Lombardi steakhouse, with a letter from my husband framed on the wall. All this Lombardi around you, no matter where you turned, and all I could think was, Vinny used to sleep on our couch!'

"It was the middle 1950s, after she and Well Mara had married. Vince Lombardi, Mr. Mara's old Fordham classmate, was an assistant coach with the Giants and still living over in Jersey. When he would work late, and he would work late in those days, he would just spend the night at the Maras' apartment.

"'1040 Park Ave.,' Ann Mara said. 'We didn't know at the time we had an immortal sleeping on the hideaway.'"

Sunday's game didn't turn out as they hoped

A couple of local guys had a brief moment in the spotlight before Sunday's NFC championship game at Lambeau Field, talking to The New York Times about their prime location for Lambeau Leaps.

Ryan Verrier, a fourth-grade teacher at Valley View Elementary School in Ashwaubenon, and Chris Drosner, a former Press-Gazette copy editor who now works at the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, have sat in the third row of the south end zone for years. Both 30, they've been pals since high school.

That's Drosner at left in the photo above, wearing a gray cap and cheering Packers cornerback Mike McKenzie's Lambeau Leap in the Packers' 24-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 30, 2001.

Verrier must have been pretty pumped up when he talked to the Times' Vincent M. Mallozzi a week ago.

"I'm predicting two or three Lambeau Leaps against the Giants," he said.

"I don't think there's a possibility that we will lose this game at home."

For the record, there was only one Lambeau Leap during Sunday's game. Wide receiver Donald Driver made a modest effort at one after scoring on a 90-yard pass from Brett Favre in the second quarter. Tight end Donald Lee passed on a Leap after scoring on a 12-yard pass from Favre in the third quarter.

And of course, the Packers lost to New York 23-20 in overtime. At home.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Want a Packers 2007 NFC champion T-shirt?

Sorry, you're out of luck.

Even though that merchandise already has been made, it can't be sold, obviously. You won't find it on eBay, either.

The NFL is donating that Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers gear to World Vision, a worldwide charity. That organization sorts through the clothing, packs it and ships it overseas for use as needed.

Last year, for example, all those Chicago Bears Super Bowl champion T-shirts went to Zambia, in southern Africa.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Say it ain't so, Packers Bikini Girls

Well, it's true. The Packers Bikini Girls are going to pose for Maxim, a men's magazine.

But only in their bright yellow swimsuits.

"If they ask us to take off any more, we'll definitely say no. We're not afraid to draw the line," one of the girls, Jen, told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Jim Stingl.

Here, for the record, is what else we learned about the Bikini Girls.

They are sisters Jen Connors, 22, and Ashley Connors, 20, of Mauston, and their cousin, Liz Gray, 21, of Wausau.

All three have boyfriends.

All three are studying marketing in college, Jen at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Ashley and Liz at UW-Milwaukee.

They sit in Section 126 at Lambeau Field, 10 rows behind the Packers' bench -- a perfect spot for national exposure on TV. They're down near the 10-yard line in the southwest corner of the stadium.

They go to the games with Jen and Ashley's dad, who has season tickets.

Jen and Ashley's mom bought the yellow bikinis and the girls sewed the Packers' G logo on the front.

It's not a new thing, either.

"We've done this for six years and never had any interest except for the fans around us," Jen said.

Not sure what that says about the rest of the folks in Section 126.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Everyone loves the Packers Bikini Girls

It was inevitable.

Maxim, a men's magazine, wants to get in touch with the Packers Bikini Girls, according to AOL Fanhouse blogger Stephanie Stradley.

The trio -- two sisters and a cousin -- received plenty of TV time during the Packers' playoff run, setting plenty of tongues wagging across the Internet.

Another blog, Jeff Pozniak's My Official Green Bay Packers Blog, is taking up the trio's cause and helping them make connections for TV and radio appearances, including "Inside Edition" and Maxim Radio.

As if they need any more national exposure.

The Bikini Girls aren't new to us, though. The photo above was taken two years ago, at the Packers' regular-season finale against the Seattle Seahawks in January 2006.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Farewell to a Packers fan

We saw this in a story about a traffic accident in New Athens, Ill., southeast of St. Louis.

Thomas Haggard, 55, of New Athens, was killed Saturday when a truck in which he was riding went off a bridge.

Monica Haggard told the Belleville (Ill.) Daily News that her uncle, who worked as a plasterer, had been building a Packers room in his home.

"He loved football and he was just crazy over the Green Bay Packers," she said. "He just finished that room. Just finished it."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

National media visit Wisconsin, Part III

Over the last few days, we've exchanged e-mails with Mike Seidel of The Weather Channel, who reported live from Lambeau Field before Sunday's NFC championship game between the Packers and the New York Giants.

Here's how Seidel described his experience:

"It was cold! Coldest temperature I've ever reported live in: minus-13 when I started on Sunday morning.

"I came back on Monday morning from Lambeau for a live shot at the top of the CBS' 'The Early Show' and demonstrated how Vaseline (at least in my case) did nothing to keep me warm, followed by several hits for TWC.

"Back home (to Atlanta) last night around 6 p.m. Amazing how warm 40 degrees feels after my weekend trip."

Seidel did updates from Lambeau Field from 6 to 11 a.m. Sunday.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Meanwhile, national media visit Favre's hometown

ESPN.com's Wright Thompson watched Sunday's NFC championship game at a Packers bar -- The Broke Spoke in Kiln, Miss.

He found bras and panties hanging from the ceiling, plenty of Packers fans -- including some from Wisconsin -- a bonfire, shots of moonshine at halftime, beer and gumbo.

Not really sure how it's any different from a Packers bar in Wisconsin, but there you go.

A quote from the story: "The Kiln people and the Green Bay people click," one woman said.

Read the story here.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

National media visit Wisconsin, Part II

Some of the most interesting takes on Wisconsin in the week leading up to Sunday night's NFC championship game came from Ralph Vacchiano, who writes a New York Giants blog for the New York Daily News.

Here's part of his post from after the Giants' 23-20 overtime victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field:

"I just finished watching a huge group of Giants fans close down Brett Favre's steakhouse in the heart of Green Bay, just a few blocks from Lambeau Field.

"I'd imagine that must have felt pretty good.

"That's where I was in the wee hours of this frigid Wisconsin morning, with two-thirds of Team Daily News. The famous restaurant owned by Favre was absolutely overrun by fans wearing blue -- including several with cheesehead hats -- painted Giants colors of course (I guess that would be blue cheese?)."

Well, it sounds like he warmed up to Green Bay.

Whether he ever warmed up in Green Bay is another matter.

Vacchiano also wrote about the bitterly cold weather upon his arrival in Green Bay, after going outside in the cold, after waking up on game day and upon his arrival at the stadium.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

National media visit Wisconsin, Part I

On the subzero night before the Packers hosted the New York Giants in the NFC championship game at Lambeau Field, Sports Illustrated writer Peter King put a bottle of water on the window ledge in his Green Bay hotel room -- inside, mind you -- and it froze.

He got stopped for speeding in Sheboygan County, doing 81 to 83 mph in a 65-mph zone, and escaped with only a warning.

He likes Midwest Airlines.

He thinks people in Wisconsin are nice.

Packers running back Ryan Grant once fell asleep in a meeting when he was with the Giants and was rather rudely awakened by coach Tom Coughlin.

Those tidbits, and some actual football commentary, are in his weekly column at SI.com.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update, offseason edition

Now that the NFL regular season and college football season are over, the job changes involving former Packers players and coaches are coming fast and furious.

In the pros:

-- Jim Bates, who was the Packers' defensive coordinator in 2005, agreed to resign as the Denver Broncos' defensive coordinator, according to ESPN.com's John Clayton and other reports. The Broncos couldn't learn his defensive scheme, which had worked with the Packers and the Miami Dolphins.

-- Hardy Nickerson, who wrapped up his NFL career with the Packers in 2002, has resigned as the Chicago Bears' linebackers coach after only one season, ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli reports. He was working in broadcasting before joining the Bears.

-- Jamal Jones, a wide receiver and kick returner who played in two games for the Packers in 2005, has signed a three-year reserve/future deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to the Phanatic Magazine, a Philly sports blog. Jones played for the New Orleans Saints in 2006 but was out of football this season.

On campus:

-- Seattle Seahawks receivers coach Nolan Cromwell will rejoin former Packers coach Mike Sherman at Texas A&M. Cromwell will be the Aggies' offensive coordinator. He was the Packers' special teams coach from 1992 to 1997 and their receivers coach in 1998.

-- Stan Drayton, who was an offensive quality-control assistant for the Packers from 2001 to 2003, has been hired as running backs coach at the University of Tennessee, according to the Palm Beach Post and other reports. He'd been running backs coach at Florida since leaving the Packers.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

We've moved for the playoffs!

Head over to our new blog -- Green & Gold -- for all the fan stories and other Packers-related odds and ends you've found here during the regular season.

We'll be posting on Green & Gold for as long as the Packers are alive on the road to Super Bowl XLII.

Until the Packers' season ends, the only thing we'll post here are alumni updates.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

NPR discovers New York's Packers fans

In late October, we wrote about Kettle of Fish, the place to go to watch the Packers in New York City.

It's at 59 Christopher St. in Greenwich Village.

Well, National Public Radio also has discovered it, and filed video and audio reports on what it found.

The NPR reporters visited on Dec. 23, when the Packers lost to the Bears, but that didn't seem to bother all the expatriate Wisconsinites on hand.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Holmes likes to get down and dirty

The players at Hampton University are pretty excited about having a former Packers player as their new coach.

Jerry Holmes will be introduced Thursday as the Pirates' coach. He capped a 10-year NFL career as one of the Packers' starting cornerbacks in 1990 and 1991. He's been a coach ever since -- six years in the NFL and 10 years in college.

A couple of Hampton players told the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press how Holmes fired them up on a rainy day by diving into the mud, then put a playful finish on that practice by seeing how far he could slide in the mud.

Here's a sampling of what the Hampton players had to say about Holmes:

Cornerback Sam Pope: "He's real down to earth."

Safety Jonathan Wade: "If we play with the same passion that he coaches with, we'll win."

Offensive tackle Michael Ola: "He's a great coach, someone who has our best interests at heart. I'm more excited than ever."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Tom Hespos

Tom Hespos, a quarterback who spent part of the 1965 season on the Packers' taxi squad -- the predecessor to today's practice squad -- will be inducted into the C.W. Post Athletic Hall of Fame at Long Island University.

Hespos, a 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, was 22 when he signed with the Packers as a free agent. However, he never played in any regular-season games.

The induction ceremony will be March 28 in Glenwood Landing, N.Y.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com