Favre retiring? Not today; just technical difficulties

If you were on the Packers' Web site during a 4-minute stretch earlier today, you may have seen this:


Pro Football Talk saw it first. Then Sporting News saw it. Then WTMJ radio in Milwaukee saw it.

But no, the Packers insist, quarterback Brett Favre isn't retiring. Not today, at least.

They say they were just working in advance -- as many news organizations do -- and it was posted to the Web by mistake.

Here's what Jeff Blumb, the Packers' director of public relations, told Sporting News:

"The people who handle our website set up mock pages. It's as simple as that. ... A third party was preparing something in case (Favre's retirement) happened. They've done that the last five years."

The key phrase there is "a third party."

The folks who maintain the Packers' Web site don't officially work for the Packers, he added.

However, they probably will be answering to the Packers after this.

According to The Associated Press, this isn't the first time a team put major news on its Web site, and then promptly removed it.

On Oct. 23, 1999, the news that Don Baylor had been hired as Cubs manager appeared on the team’s Web site, and subsequently was removed within hours. The team denied the story, but on Nov. 1, Baylor was hired.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

'Run to Daylight!' co-author dies

W.C. Heinz, who co-wrote the classic book "Run to Daylight!" with Packers coach Vince Lombardi in 1963, has died. He was 93.

He died Wednesday at an assisted-living facility in Bennington, Vt., where he'd lived since 2002.

"Run to Daylight" was a groundbreaking book because it used Lombardi's voice and read almost like Lombardi's diary. Sports books of the time were much more conventional, with stories told to an author.

Heinz was considered to be in a group of elite sports writers that included Green Bay native Red Smith, a close friend. Though known mostly for his sports writing, Heinz also co-wrote the novel "M*A*S*H," which was turned into a hit film and TV series.


Heinz also helped Press-Gazette photographer Orvell Peterson get this rare photo of Lombardi shaking hands with Packers founder Curly Lambeau. Former Press-Gazette sports editor Art Daley tells the story:

"Curly was elected to the Wisconsin (Athletic) Hall of Fame in 1962 and I figured it would be appropriate to take a picture of Vince congratulating Curly with a handshake. I asked Lombardi after a Tuesday practice and he flat out refused, shrugging something like 'I won't do that with him.'

"W.C. (Bill) Heinz, widely known author, was in town gathering information for 'Run To Daylight' and I asked Bill if he could talk to Vince and get him to pose for the picture.

"Well, come Saturday morning, Vince had on his Sunday coat, and after practice he went to the stadium and posed with Curly for what turned out to be a rare photo snapped by Orvell Peterson."

In 2000, Sports Illustrated crowned Heinz "The Heavyweight Champion of the World" in a profile that recognized his long, distinguished career. Ernest Hemingway praised Heinz's novel "The Professional" as "only good novel I've ever read about a fighter."

Here's what Jeff MacGregor's profile had to say about Heinz's work with Lombardi on "Run to Daylight!":

The Lombardi book, which became Run to Daylight!, tested Heinz's patience as much as his skill. Lombardi was no storyteller and had a terrible memory for any kind of detail that wasn't an X or an O, so Heinz found himself filling his small Woolworth's notebooks with background from Marie, Lombardi's wife. He lived in their guest room for two weeks before the 1962 training camp, interviewing the coach every morning in his basement rec room to get the boilerplate epigrams about winning and losing and then talking to Marie in the afternoons for the color stuff, the psychology and personal history, while Vince played hurry-up, full-contact golf with Green Bay luminaries like Don Hutson and the local Pontiac dealer.

Heinz roomed with Lombardi through camp and preseason, a constant presence players dubbed "the shadow," those pale eyes behind the thick black glasses he wore then taking in everything while he filled those notebooks and Lombardi's office ashtrays.

To get a sense of the high regard in which other writers held Heinz, read the appreciations of his life in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Capital Times.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Packers observe Black History Month

The contributions of black players to professional football and to the Packers will be the main topic of discussion on Thursday night at the Packers Hall of Fame.

For the second consecutive year, the hall will host the Black History Month observance. On the panel: players Colin Cole and Rob Davis, coaches Carl Hairston and Ty Knott, and staff members Brandon Johnson and Tim Terry.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. in the hall's auditorium. The hall is in the lower level of the Lambeau Field Atrium.

Admission to the hall is free after 6 p.m. for the discussion.

If you're wondering, the Packers' first black player was receiver Bob Mann. He played for the Packers from 1950 to 1954. He was a 5-foot-11, 175-pound end who led the Packers with 50 catches, 696 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 1951.

Art Daley, who covered the Packers for the Press-Gazette in the 1950s, remembers when Mann was forced to stay in a different hotel than the team on road trips because of his race.

Daley recalls Mann telling him, "All it is is politics."

Green Bay was different, though.

"I never had any problems. Everyone treated me well," Mann said during a 1997 visit to serve as an honorary captain for the Packers at a game at Lambeau Field.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Geoff Jenkins still looks like Brett Favre

Geoff Jenkins is playing for the Philadelphia Phillies these days, but he's still getting mileage out of his resemblance to Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

You can't blame the Phillies' beat writers, though. The story is new to them. The Burlington County (N.J.) Times shares this Jenkins-as-Favre story:

"Geoff Jenkins was approached by an autograph seeker, then handed a photo to sign. The photo wasn't of Jenkins, but Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

"Then a rookie outfielder with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1998, Jenkins figured he might as well play along. Instead of telling the fan who he really was, Jenkins scribbled Favre's name down on the picture and the man went away happy."

That rascal.

(If you want proof, Jenkins admits as much during a 1998 appearance with Favre in this YouTube clip from the archives of Milwaukee's WISN-TV. See how young he and Favre look.)

It's all new to Phillies slugger Ryan Howard, too.

“Trim his goatee, get him a little scruff and Favre is Jenkins' twin,” Howard said last week before a spring training workout in Clearwater, Fla.
-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Ken Stills

Ken Stills, the former University of Wisconsin cornerback who played for the Packers from 1985 to 1989, has been named coach of the River City Rage of United Indoor Football.

He succeeds Eric Van Tassel who resigned. Stills had been assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Rage, which is based in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Mo.

Stills, 44, lives in his hometown of Oceanside, Calif. He's been coaching for 11 years, most recently as defensive backs coach at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. He spent five seasons as defensive backs coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Hello again, Bikini Girls

Wondering what's up with the Packers' Bikini Girls?

Someone asked Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Jim Stingl about it, and he checked into it.

The girls -- sisters Jen and Ashley Connors of Mauston and cousin Liz Gray of Wausau -- are waiting to hear whether Maxim magazine is still interested in what Stingl described as "a PG-13 photo spread."

In the meantime, indoor football and hockey teams have asked the Bikini Girls -- all college students -- to make appearances, according to Pat Connors, Jen and Ashley's dad.

The girls' plans also include autographing photos as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness and promoting a line of swimsuits.

In case you've forgotten, all three Bikini Girls have boyfriends.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Jarrett Bush, band nerd?

Packers cornerback Jarrett Bush admitted just that when he spoke last week to students at his alma mater, Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, Calif.

Bush said he did more than play football at Wood. He also "said he was a band nerd, participated in gymnastics, wrestled and even played soccer," according to the Vacaville Reporter.

He encouraged the Wood students to work hard, saying: "I can relate to them. Even though they might not be great in school, they can excel in something else."

For all his varied activities in high school, Bush didn't find his thing until he discovered track and football.

"I knew I had something because I was fast. But I still had a long way to go," he told the students. "Talent isn't the only thing you need. There are a lot of talented people, but they don't have the dedication."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.cojm

Alumni update: Eddie Lee Ivery

Former Packers running back Eddie Lee Ivery is going back to his alma mater -- Thomson High School in McDuffie County, Ga.-- as an assistant football coach, according to the McDuffie Mirror.

He starred at Thomson in the early 1970s, then went on to Georgia Tech. He was the Packers' No. 1 draft choice in 1979. Often injured, Ivery played in 72 games over eight seasons with the Packers from 1979 to 1986, wearing No. 40. He's still 11th on the Packers' career rushing list, with 2,933 yards on 667 carries.

Ivery, 50, spent the last seven years as strength and conditioning coach at Georgia Tech. Seeking a job as head coach at another Georgia high school, Ivery asked Thomson coach Luther Welsh for a recommendation. Welsh offered him a job instead.

This will be Ivery's second stint as an assistant at Thomson. He'll coach quarterbacks and offensive backs, as he did in 1989. He also will be parent involvement coordinator for the McDuffie County school system.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Steve Morley

It'll be another season, another team for Steve Morley, the massive Canadian offensive lineman who was on the Packers' roster in 2004 but never played in a regular-season game.

The 6-foot-7, 330-pounder was traded last week to the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL. Morley's old team, the Toronto Argonauts, dealt him to save money. He was to make about $110,000, according to the Regina Leader-Post.

Morley, 26, was the CFL's top draft pick in 2003 and played for the Calgary Stampeders. He then signed with Green Bay.

After Morley played poorly in NFL Europe in the spring of 2005 and didn't distinguish himself in training camp, the Packers traded him to the New York Jets just before the 2005 season. The Packers received what turned out to be a seventh-round pick in the 2007 draft, which they traded back to the Jets on draft day.

Last season, Morley was overweight and was bothered by groin and hip injuries, the Regina newspaper reported.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Keith Jackson

Keith Jackson, one of the tight ends on the Packers' Super Bowl-winning team in 1996, was honored last week by the University of Oklahoma, his alma mater.

Jackson was named a distinguished alumnus by OU's College of Arts and Sciences. He has a communication degree from Oklahoma.

These days, Jackson lives in his hometown of Little Rock, Ark. He's president of Positive Atmosphere Reaches Kids (PARK), which works with at-risk junior and senior high school students. He also works as a motivational speaker.

Last week in Florence, Ala., he told teachers: "You have to set the expectations for (students) because if it's left up to the kids, the (expectations) will never be high enough for them to reach success," the Florence Times Daily reported.

Speaking recently to business people in Benton, Ark., he emphasized the need for them to be involved in their communities to help young people: "You can't sit on the sidelines. You can't be an armchair quarterback. You've got to get in the game," the Saline County Voice reported.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Barry Rubin

Barry Rubin, who spent 11 seasons as one of the Packers' strength and conditioning coaches, is back in the NFL.

Rubin, 50, is joining the Philadelphia Eagles as assistant strength and conditioning coach.

That was his job in Green Bay from 1995 to 1998 on coach Mike Holmgren's staff. Then he was the lead strength coach on the staffs of Ray Rhodes and Mike Sherman from 1999 to 2005.

Rubin was fired two years ago, when Mike McCarthy took over as coach and changed the Packers' approach to conditioning.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

He's probably thawed out by now

It's a good thing that Eric Hinske is in spring training with the Tampa Bay Rays. It's warm in Florida.

Hinske, who grew up in Menasha, is a Packers fan. He went to the NFC championship game at Lambeau Field a month ago.

"And I paid for it because I was sick for like five days," he told the St. Petersburg Times.

Hinske, who lives in Arizona, also went to Super Bowl XLII in Phoenix ... even if the Packers didn't.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Going from outdoors to indoors

A couple of players who had tryouts with the Packers last spring have moved on to indoor football careers.

Adam Tadisch, a lineman from North Dakota State, spent last season with the Green Bay Blizzard of arenafootball2 and will be back in training camp with the Blizzard next month. He's from Wausaukee.

Tristan Burge, a safety from Eastern Illinois, has signed with the Rock River Rampage of the Continental Indoor Football League. He spent a month on the Packers' practice squad during October and November of last season.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

He calls the signals for Obama

Reggie Love spent just shy of three weeks in the Packers' training camp in August 2004. He was a wide receiver who'd also played basketball at Duke University.

These days, he's the "body man" for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Love, 25, "makes sure Obama is up on time, is dressed properly for functions and has time set aside to eat. He makes sure Obama's teleprompter is at the correct height, checks phone messages and returns calls," the Charlotte paper reported.

After the NFL didn't work out -- he also spent time with the Dallas Cowboys -- Love took a job on Obama's Senate staff, working with his Illinois constituents. Now he's working on Obama's campaign.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Keeping it all in the family

George Starr is the sports information director at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.

He's long been around sports in that part of Tennessee, just east of Chattanooga. He started as an athlete. He's also been a sports writer, a sports editor and a broadcaster.

It's not clear whether Starr is a Packers fan -- it doesn't seem so -- but he named two of his sons for Packers quarterbacks.

Bart Starr is the minister of music at First Baptist Church in Manchester, Tenn.

Scott Starr -- named for former Packers quarterback Scott Hunter -- is an Army captain.

George Starr and his wife, Joyce, have another son. Joe Starr is named for Joe Namath, who -- like Starr and Hunter -- played at the University of Alabama.

So why these names? Here's what George Starr told the Cleveland Daily Banner:

"I'm not a true one-team fan, but I like individuals who my kids could pattern their lives after."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

He ran 13.1 miles with a cheesehead

Matthew Brietzke is originally from Wisconsin, but he now lives in Raeford, N.C., and is out to prove he's "America's No. 1 Packers fan."

On Saturday, he ran 13.1 miles while wearing a foam cheesehead and a Brett Favre jersey. He finished the Dasani Half-Marathon in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in 2 hours, 36 minutes, 45 seconds.

"I've developed quite a following out there on the course," he told the Myrtle Beach Sun News.

Brietzke, 41, said people along the course chanted "one more year," as he ran past, expressing the hope that Favre returns to the Packers for the 2008 season.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Tim Hauck

Tim Hauck, a backup safety and special teams player for the Packers from 1991 to 1994, has been hired as defensive backs coach at UCLA.

Hauck, 41, played for seven NFL teams over 12 seasons, retiring in 2002. He played in 58 games for the Packers and wore No. 24.

He spent the last four seasons as a defensive backs coach at Montana, where he played and where his brother, Bobby, is the head coach. Bobby Hauck worked with new UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel at Colorado and Washington.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Ahman Green, still going in style

Former Packers running back Ahman Green is a car buff, according to a story published in the San Jose Mercury News.

His wheels include:

A2007 Shelby Cobra Mustang GT 500.

A 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 with Batman pedals and symbols.

A 2006 BMW 7-Series with 22-inch rims.

A 2006 Range Rover Supercharged with 24-inch rims.

A 2006 Dodge Charger in Nebraska red and white with his autograph on the hood and his collegiate statistics on the floor mats.

Of course, it helps that Green owns R Series Innovations, an Omaha company that customizes vehicles.

"I've always been a big fan of cars," he said. "Now that I can afford to toy around with cars and get the ones that I've always wanted, it's even better."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Tough guys then, tough guys now

Steve McMichael starred at defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, but he finished his NFL career by playing for the Packers in 1994. He's apparently never gotten over it.

"I was 16-6 against the Packers, so I whipped them right. And in my last year, I went up there on my last leg, stole their money. whipped them again. That's how I feel about the Packers," he told WREX-TV of Rockford, Ill.

He's still cashing in on that animosity. McMichael, 50, will fight former Packers cornerback Sammy Walker on Feb. 23 in a celebrity match at the Rockford Rumble, an amateur kickboxing event. Because it's a celebrity match ... no kicking!

McMichael also fought an old nemesis, former Packers nose tackle Gilbert Brown, in Waukesha earlier this month. No word on who won that match. (Remember when Brown threw McMichael back into the ring after he tried to flee a match against the Packers' Reggie White at WCW Slamboree in May 1997?)

A common thread among all three men -- McMichael, Brown and Walker -- is indoor football. McMichael coaches the Chicago Slaughter of the Continental Indoor Football League. Brown coaches the Milwaukee Bonecrushers of the CIFL. Walker is the former defensive backs coach for the Green Bay Blizzard of arenafootball2.

McMichael sounds fairly revved up: "They didn't call me Mongo for nothing. I like to whoop some butt," he told the Rockford TV station.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Adrian White

Adrian White, a backup safety who played in 15 games for the Packers in 1992, has been named defensive quality control coach for the Buffalo Bills, according to the Buffalo News.

The move reunites White with Bills coach Dick Jauron, who was his position coach with the Packers.

White, 44, spent seven seasons as an assistant coach in NFL Europe and spent two training camps with the Bills on a minority coaching fellowship.

He played in the NFL for six seasons, four with the New York Giants before coming to Green Bay. He last played in 1993, with the New England Patriots.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Ex-Packers on campus

We've been pretty busy with coverage of Wisconsin's presidential primary, so let's get caught up on a little Packers news.

Former Packers cornerback Terrell Buckley has been hired as assistant strength and conditioning coach at Florida State University, his alma mater, according to Scout.com. Buckley, 36, was the Packers' first-round draft choice in 1992 and spent three seasons in Green Bay.

Super Bowl XXXI most valuable player Desmond Howard was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame on Monday night, according to the Detroit Free Press. Two days earlier, he was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor. These days, Howard is a college football analyst for ESPN.

Brian Cabral, a linebacker who played seven games on special teams for the Packers in 1980, last week was named associate head coach at the University of Colorado, his alma mater. Cabral, 51, has been the Buffaloes' linebackers coach for 20 years. He played in the NFL for nine seasons, including six with the Chicago Bears after leaving the Packers.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Joey Thomas

Joey Thomas, the brash cornerback who lasted only 1½ seasons with the Packers, is back in the NFL.

A free agent, he was signed today by the Miami Dolphins, according to the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Sun-Sentinel and other reports.

He hasn't played in the league for the past two seasons, having been cut by the New Orleans Saints before the 2006 season and by the Dallas Cowboys before last season.

Thomas' time with the Packers is most memorable for his meeting-room brawl with fellow rookie cornerback Ahmad Carroll in 2004. Thomas, a third-round pick, never got along with Carroll, a first-round pick, insisting that Carroll got preferential treatment.

Thomas also was notorious for drawing repeated penalties on the field. Coach Mike Sherman cut him at midseason in 2005, three days after benching him for poor play in a 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. During that game, Thomas sparred with defensive coordinator Jim Bates on the sideline.

Thomas said the benching wasn't justified, and that didn't sit well with Sherman, even though Sherman insisted Thomas' comments weren't the reason for his release.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazete.com

Butler: Upsets in big games haunt you

LeRoy Butler knows all too well what it feels like to lose a Super Bowl everyone thinks you should have won.

So, after the New York Giants upset the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald talked to some former players whose teams were rather memorably upset in big games to try to find out how -- or whether -- New England can bounce back.

Here's what Butler recalled of Super Bowl XXXII, in which the Packers were upset by the Denver Broncos:

"I know the devastation. I couldn't get rid of it. That's all I thought about the whole offseason. I tormented myself with it. I beat myself up about it. Why were they so much better than we were? That's what goes through your mind, over and over again. You think about moving on, but you don't want to move on. What happened? We should have beat these guys. That just plays on you."

Butler, 39, the starting free safety on that Packers team, added:

"It's hard to rebound emotionally because it's on every station. It's on every talk show. It's in every newspaper. It's in all of your friends' minds. Your family is going to ask you for the next six months what happened. 'Why didn't this guy do this?' You yourself will play Monday morning quarterback. It’s going to be tough for them."

The pain lingers for months, he said:

"The sting is still going to be there in minicamp, in training camp. I didn't like the idea of seeing John Elway with that championship. I still don't."

Might Butler also be talking about how -- or whether -- the current Packers can bounce back from the loss to the Giants in the NFC championship game?

As always, you be the judge.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

How to dress for the cold at Lambeau

Reuters photographers John Gress and Jeff Haynes covered the NFC championship game at Lambeau Field.

A couple of weeks later, after their fingers warmed up, they wrote in a Reuters blog about how they dressed for the subzero cold, and how they managed to shoot pictures.

Gress' gear: "I put on two pairs of socks, foot warmers, snow boots, long johns, felt-lined jeans, a ski bib, a thermal top, a long sleeve shirt, two fleece jackets, a ninja mask, an Elmer Fudd hat, two pairs of gloves and a Parka."

Even with all that, Gress took a beating. He split a lip and chipped a tooth when his camera slipped and hit him in the mouth. He also had mild frostbite on six fingers.

Haynes' gear: "I had on two pair of thermal underwear covered by wind and rain proof winter pants, two Under Armour shirts and a winter wind proof parka, a fur-lined hat that covered my ears and my neck covered by a neck warmer, with two pairs of toe warmers covered by two pair of socks in winter boots."

Haynes tells how he and others used hand and foot warmers: "I found on my left hand, which does not use as many finger movements while taking photographs, a heavy mitten with a chemical hand warmer inside and on my right hand a wind-proof thin glove with a hand warmer in the palm of the glove and placing it in a pocket in my jacket with another hand warmer inside after each timeout and play stoppage worked best for me."

Oh, yeah, and their camera gear didn't work too well in the cold, either.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Preston Dennard

Preston Dennard wrapped up an eight-year NFL career by playing one season -- 1985 -- with the Packers. He was the No. 3 receiver behind James Lofton and Phillip Epps, and he caught only 13 passes in 16 games, but he has lots of nice things to say about his time in Green Bay.

In an interview with Gary Herron of the Rio Rancho (N.M.) Observer before last month's NFC championship game, Dennard recalled playing in another cold game at Lambeau Field -- the Snow Bowl.

On Dec. 1, 1985, the Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-0 in a blizzard.

"I think it was pretty close to 20 below," Dennard recalled. (It actually was 30 degrees at kickoff.)

"It was snowing — you could barely see past 15 yards. All you knew is coming out of the mist of the snow and the white mist, you would see the ball come out of the white. You knew what the route was and you knew the direction of the ball."

The blizzard was so strong that only 19,856 made it to the stadium. Dennard almost didn't make it, either.

"There was a big, heavy snow -- 4, 5 inches on the ground. Roads in my neighborhood were packed -- I couldn’t get out. My neighbors came out of their houses and dug about an eighth of a mile so I could get out and go to the stadium. The main roads were plowed. There were about 20 people out there -- I’ll never, ever forget that."

Dennard marvels at the passion of Packers fans, sharing the the story of a woman who stopped him in an airport in northern Wisconsin last year after spotting the NFC championship ring he won with the Los Angeles Rams in 1979:

"I told her I played in Super Bowl XIV, and she asked me my name. I told her and she said she remembered me. I said, 'No you don’t.' She said, 'Yes, I do -- you were No. 88; you played here in 1985.'"

Dennard, now 52, is a broadcaster and motivational speaker living in the Albuquerque suburb of Rio Rancho, N.M.

The last word from Dennard: "To experience the NFL was not complete until I went to Green Bay."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Buchanon likes Packers, but not how they dress

Former Packers cornerback Willie Buchanon chatted with San Diego-area readers of the North County Times last month, before the NFC and AFC championship games.

He was a little off on his predictions:

"My two picks are Green Bay and the Chargers. Green Bay playing New York at Lambeau Field is a given. And San Diego has a vendetta (against New England). They owe them one. ... San Diego will win the Super Bowl this year against the Packers."

Asked about allegations of cheating by the Patriots, Buchanon said:

"I'm going to tell you a little story. Yes, every team was doing it ... is doing it. And I can remember being on the sideline when Lord Belichick came into town and because I work for the league, I check infractions to make sure their socks are pulled up, their shirts are tucked and they're wearing the right shoes. I also take pictures of all infractions. Lord Belichick's staff tried to force me not to take pictures and all along they were taking pictures ... BUSTED."

One reader, noting Buchanon's job as "the uniform police," asked him which NFL team was "the sloppiest when it comes to uniform infractions." Buchanon's answer:

"Green Bay. They are probably the worst."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Found deep in the mailbox

The e-mails and stories came fast and furious during the Packers' playoff run, and we didn't get to all of them. Here are three more that are worth a look, even now.

They got snow last month in the Atlanta suburb of Austell, Ga. That "doesn't happen very often," 12-year-old Maddie Garner wrote, so she and her family "made a big Packers football out of snow."

Maddie says "the people in the picture are, from left to right, my sister Ashton, (me) Maddie, my daddy Bob, and my mommy Lisa."

On the eve of the NFC championship game, Jerry O'Neill of Green Bay wrote to say his daughter, Patti O'Neill Orbell, had been shopping for Packers clothing in Vernon Hills, Ill., one of Chicago's northern suburbs.

"She noticed in the retail and sporting goods stores that the Packer apparel was full price and the Bear apparel was discounted up to 75 percent," Jerry said.

Earlier last month, the Everett (Wash.) Daily Herald caught up with Frank Hammer, an Appleton native and lifelong Packers fan. He's since turned 90.

Hammer, an Arlington, Wash., psychologist who's lived in the Seattle area since he returned home from World War II, recalled the Packers' earliest days and explains how he came to have a 7-foot-tall cardboard statue of Packers quarterback Brett Favre in his living room.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Embattled husband defends himself

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about Dorothy Schneider, the Indiana columnist who likes only the Packers -- calling herself "a football team monogamist" -- but whose husband seemingly has a fear of commitment to a single football team.

Now, Brian Wallheimer is having his say.

Writing in the Lafayette Journal and Courier, he says:

"It's time to set the record straight.

"I was called a bad fan in Dorothy's last column. To a diehard sports fan, like myself, that is an unspeakable thing to be called."

He explains how he came to be a Redskins fan, then a Rams fan, then a Colts fan. Then he confesses:

"And finally, I root for the Green Bay Packers, mainly to keep the peace in the household."

What? You call yourself "a fan of the game," and that's all the enthusiasm you can work up?

Oh, but he's not done. Not thrilled about being razzed by his in-laws or his appearance in this blog, he says:

"I'll probably never root for only them, and it's clear I'll never be a Packer fan like my in-laws. I enjoy the fact that I don't go into clinical depression every time my team loses.

"So, I'll root for a few, and I don't think that makes me a bad fan.

"I'll even root for the Packers to make Dorothy and her family happy.

"I just hope they're not playing the Rams or Colts next season."

Hey, we're almost convinced.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: James Lofton

It's official at last. James Lofton, the Pro Football and Packers Hall of Famer, will join the Oakland Raiders as wide receivers coach.

He was interviewed by embattled Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, but worked out a contract with owner Al Davis.

Lofton, 51, replaces receivers coach Charles Coe, who will be reassigned.

A former Raiders receiver, Lofton was fired last month after six seasons as the San Diego Chargers' receivers coach. He had one year left on his contract in San Diego.

Lofton twice has interviewed for the Raiders' head coaching job. He was passed over for Art Shell in 2006 and for Kiffin last year.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Want to buy an authentic Super Bowl ring?

A member of the 1996 Packers has sold his Super Bowl XXXI ring, and it's being resold on eBay. The asking price: 1 cent shy of $50,000.

The eBay listing ended Tuesday night, and it's not clear whether the ring was sold. The seller -- an Ashwaubenon ticket business -- received 28 offers.

But whose ring was it?

The seller says the player's name was blacked out. The listing described the player as "a starter for the Green Bay Packers."

However, an e-mailer to The Big Lead and AOL Fanhouse blogger Michael David Smith speculated the ring might have belonged to linebacker Ron Cox.

That's because you supposedly can see an "X" above the "16-3" in the picture above, which accompanied the listing.

By this morning, we've gotten three e-mails and two blog comments from folks who took that picture, ran it through photo-editing software, enhanced the image and said they clearly see "Cox" on the ring.

In 2006, when the Packers tracked down members of the 1996 team to mark the 10th anniversary of the Super Bowl victory, Cox was living in Lake Forest, Ill., and trying to break into the NFL as a coach.

Cox was an assistant coach at Lake Forest College in 2005. He said he otherwise spent his time with his wife and three children and enjoyed bow hunting.

Cox didn't become a starter for the Packers in 1996 until middle linebacker George Koonce went down with an injury.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Darrell Thompson

Darrell Thompson, whom the Packers drafted out of the University of Minnesota in the first round of the 1990 draft, has made himself quite at home in his native Minnesota.

Last week, he was appointed to a three-year term on the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The commission oversees amateur sports groups and promotes the Star of the North State Games, Minnesota's version of the Badger State Games.

Thompson, a 6-foot, 215-pound running back, played in 60 games for the Packers from 1990 to 1995. He led the Packers in rushing in 1991 and 1993 with 471 and 654 yards, respectively. He was second on the team in rushing in 1990 and 1992.

Now 40, he lives in Plymouth, Minn., and is executive director of Bolder Options, a mentoring program in the Twin Cities. He's worked with inner-city youths for 18 years. He serves on the boards of several community organizations and Minnesota NFL Alumni.

Thompson also does commentary on University of Minnesota football broadcasts and serves on several university athletics committees.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Maybe he got the idea from 'Diner'

Sherry Nelson, a community columnist for the Winona (Minn.) Daily News, writes that her husband wouldn't allow any Packers games on their TV until she learned about football.

She describes her husband, Tony, as "a die-hard Vikings fan."

Sherry became a Packers fan after learning she shares a birthday with Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

The good news is Sherry has learned football, partly through "Mom's Pocket Guide to Football," a book written for women by former Vikings linebacker Kailee Wong and his mother, Linda, and partly through Tony's patient use of their TiVo to rewind and explain plays.

The whole thing is reminiscent of "Diner," the 1982 film in which Steve Guttenberg's character makes his fiancee pass a quiz about the Baltimore Colts before they can be married.

However, in addition to knowing football, Sherry knows music.

Before Sunday's Super Bowl, she wrote this: "I will even look forward to Tom Petty's half-time show and the infamous commercials, though nothing can top Prince last year singing 'Purple Rain' in the rain. That was way cool."

Indeed it was.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Jonathan Brown

Defensive end Jonathan Brown never made much of an impact with the Packers, but he's found a home in the Canadian Football League.

Brown, 32, was the Packers' third-round draft pick in the 1998 draft -- the 90th player taken in that year's draft -- but played in only four games for Green Bay. He was released just before the 1999 season started.

Over the weekend, the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Brown signed a contract extension to stay with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts through the 2009 season. One look at his statistics from last season, and it's clear why the Argos want him back.

Brown's 13 sacks led the team and were second in the CFL. He also had 47 tackles in 18 games. Among his postseason honors: East Division outstanding defensive player for the first time, CFL all-star team for the second time and East Division all-star for the third time.

Brown has 40 sacks and 157 tackles in his four seasons with the Argonauts.

After leaving the Packers, he spent time with the Denver Broncos, St. Louis Rams and Washington Redskins, and had stints in NFL Europe and the Arena Football League.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Packers didn't make it, but he did

There's at least one Packers fan at Super Bowl XLII today.

J.J. Huggins of the Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass., found him.

Mike Edwards, 24, of Madison, was walking aaround University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

He wore a Packers jersey and a cheesehead.

He held up a sign saying, "We should have been here."

Edwards isn't all that bummed out, though.

"My company is paying for it," he told USA Today. "So it's still a good deal."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

This Porscha needs to get revved up

Mike Weddington was a 6-foot-4, 245-pound linebacker for the Packers from 1986 to 1990. Wearing No. 52, he played mostly on special teams.

His daughter, Porscha, is a 6-1 sophomore power forward at the University of Kansas. (That's her at left in the photo above, colliding with Baylor's Angela Tisdale in a game last month.)

Porscha has started 11 games for the Jayhawks this season and has played in nine others. She's averaging 2 points and 2 rebounds a game. Last year, she started 12 games and played in 16 others.

She starred at Temple (Texas) High School, where her dad starred in football in the late 1970s.

However, Porscha's game could use a little of Dad's aggressiveness.

"I think she's way too nice," Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson told the Temple Daily Telegram.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Dellenbach follows in Dad's footsteps

Dax Dellenbach, the son of former Packers center Jeff Dellenbach, says he'll commit to Auburn University next week, according to the Huntsville (Ala.) Times.

He'll be a long snapper for the Tigers, choosing them over Dad's alma mater, the University of Wisconsin.

However, at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, he'll redshirt for his first season at Auburn, according to the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.

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