Blackmon's big moment? A family reunion

Packers cornerback Will Blackmon went home to Warwick, R.I., last weekend to have his jersey retired at Bishop Hendricken High School.

He spoke to the students -- here's a slideshow -- and was asked about his best NFL moment.

It isn't what you think. It isn't last season's game against the Oakland Raiders, when he scored two touchdowns on special teams.

No, it was last season's game against the Dallas Cowboys. Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal picks up the story:

"He looked across the field and saw his cousin Deon Anderson across the field. The same Deon Anderson who also had grown up in Providence and played against him in youth football. Two kids from inner-city Providence now both in the NFL, and what had been the chance of that happening when they were kids."

After the game, Blackmon ran across the field and hugged Anderson, a fullback for the Cowboys.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

And now, a Ted Thompson action figure

Tom Ruesink, a Packers fan from Minneapolis, dropped us a note the other day about another of his passions.

He's into electric football. You may not be familiar with electric football unless you're older than dirt, like we are. You take small football figurines, put them on a metal field that vibrates and watch them go.

Tom customizes his electric football players. His latest batch is a Southern Methodist all-star team, done up in SMU's classic Pony Express uniforms. There's even one of Ted Thompson, the Packers' general manager, from his SMU days.

"If you thought Ted Thompson didn’t talk much, the electric football Ted Thompson doesn’t talk at all," Ruesink says.

Ruesink, who runs a travel consulting company, adds this in the contact information on his Web site: "Call us anytime (except during a Green Bay Packer game)."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Pat Matson

You know about Willie Wood and his physical troubles. Now meet another former Packers player who's having difficulty.

Pat Matson wrapped up a 10-year AFL and NFL career with the Packers in 1975. The 6-foot-1, 245-pounder was a part-time starter at right guard, splitting time with Keith Wortman on a team that went 4-10 under first-year coach Bart Starr.

He wore No. 62 for the Packers and played in all 14 games that year. He had a bad ankle and played the last six games with it heavily wrapped. Only after the season, Matson tells Terry Frei of the Denver Post, did he find out he'd played on a broken ankle.

Matson, 63, says he's had 22 surgeries, including 17 during his playing career. He's since had hip and knee replacements. Last fall, he broke a leg and had a steel rod inserted in the leg, but his recovery has been hindered by complications from the knee replacement.

"My leg's infected, so they think they're going to have to pull everything out that they just put in," Matson said.

Needless to say, money is tight, too.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Ready for Opening Day?

Of the baseball season, that is? You may find this tidbit helpful in case you like trivia.

Did you know New York Mets manager Willie Randolph's brother once played for the Packers?

Terry Randolph, a 6-foot, 184-pound cornerback out of American International, was the Packers' 11th-round draft pick in 1977. He wore No. 23 and played in all 14 games for a Packers team that went 4-10. He was a backup and a special teams player.

Randolph played only that season with the Packers. He then spent some time with the New York Jets, but never made their regular-season roster.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Jay Barker

We realize this is a stretch, but it's just too good to pass up.

Jay Barker, the former Alabama quarterback who was one of the Packers' fifth-round picks in the 1995 NFL draft, must be living right.

According to People.com, he's engaged to country singer Sara Evans. That's her above, singing at the CMA Awards in Nashville in November 2006.

Barker, 36, hosts a morning radio show in Birmingham, Ala. His co-host is former Packers kicker Al Del Greco.

Evans, 37, has appeared on Barker's show, and he's traveled with her to her shows.

Both have been married before -- she finalized a nasty divorce last fall -- and they have seven children between them.

The Packers cut Barker during training camp in 1995. He may have led Alabama to a national championship, but he couldn't throw worth a lick. He also had a cup of coffee with the Patriots and played in the CFL and XFL.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

The first Aaron Rodgers action figure

If you're a collector of the sports figurines produced by McFarlane Toys, you'll have a new Packers product to watch for in the fall.

The Packers' offense is one of four teams being offered as an "NFL Ultimate Team Set." That is, individual, 2-inch-high figurines of all 11 starters.

The players in the Packers set: quarterback Aaron Rodgers, running back Ryan Grant; tight end Donald Lee; receivers Greg Jennings, James Jones and Donald Driver; and linemen Chad Clifton, Daryn Colledge, Scott Wells, Jason Spitz and Mark Tauscher.


This 6-inch-high Brett Favre collector's edition figurine also is being produced by McFarlane Toys.

Both the team set and the Favre figurine are due in stores in September.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Her house? 'It looks like a guy lives here'

Penny Russell does not apologize for the way her house is decorated. Nor for the way she is decorated.

Her house in Kodiak, Alaska, has Packers jerseys on the wall, Packers curtains on the window and 60 Packers caps here and there.

"It looks like a guy lives here," she told Derek Clarkston of the Kodiak Daily Mirror.

Russell herself has a tattoo of the Packers’ logo on her left forearm. She fell in love with the Packers' gold helmets in the late '60s, when she was 8.

She's so passionate about the Packers that after quarterback Brett Favre retired earlier this month, she threw a party to remember all the good times from his career. More than 50 people, including 30 Packers fans, showed up at the Rendezvous Bar and Grill.

Russell, 47, may not be able to see her beloved Packers much longer. She has glaucoma. She's blind in her left eye and has had seven surgeries to try to save the sight in her right eye.

The good news is that Russell has realized her dream of seeing Lambeau Field before she loses her sight. When she visited seven years ago, a stadium tour guide let her walk on the field. She called it the thrill of a lifetime.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Ron Wolf and the beautiful people

Ron Wolf, the Packers' retired general manager, has a winter home in Jupiter, Fla.

That's where baseball's St. Louis Cardinals have spring training. You can count on Wolf to drop in on his friend, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, seen above with former Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst, right, who's 85 and still a regular at camp.

In fact, Wolf also is a regular, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

So are a few other sports figures you might know: Bob Knight, Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells, John Havlicek and Charlie Spoonhour. Also, author John Grisham, comedienne Elayne Boosler and musician Bruce Hornsby.

And you thought Tommy Lasorda cornered the market on celebrity fans.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Getting in on the ground floor?

We've written here before about the guy from Indiana whose wife -- an ardent Packers fan -- is exasperated at his inability to be faithful to just one NFL team.

Brian Wallheimer now says he may be willing to be more fully committed to the Packers now that Brett Favre is retired.

Writing in the Lafayette Journal and Courier, Wallheimer says he's "getting in on a new era of Packers football."

He adds:

"It's like the Packers are starting over in a sense, and now I can fully participate.

"This doesn't mean I'll abandon all support for my Rams or the Colts, but I can get more on board with the Packers now and not seem like the outcast.

"For the record, I'd have liked to see Brett Favre play another year. Of course, retirement gives him more time to focus on his other passions -- leaping tall buildings in a single bound and all that stuff."

I wonder what his wife, Dorothy, has to say about that.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

This year, the NFL is all about now!

This probably didn't have anything to do with Brett Favre's retirement, but you never know.

The NFL's marketing theme for the 2008 season will be "Believe in Now."

"We decided to go with something new that focused on the emotion and passion of the NFL while dialing up the sense of urgency. We want fans to feel like they can't miss a moment, because there might be a 'now' moment at any time during the season," said Jaime Weston, the league's director of brand management and integration marketing and sales.

NFL marketers are targeting four key areas for 2008: youths, Hispanics, health/fitness, and globalization, according to SportsBusiness Journal. (Registration required to read original story.)

"I find it incredibly worrying that when you step out on a Saturday morning where I live at least half the kids are playing soccer. To stay No. 1, we have to own kids and be their most popular sport," said Mark Waller, the NFL's senior vice president for sales and marketing.

Waller added that the NFL is "massively underrepresented in the Hispanic market."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Charles Woodson, philanthropist

Packers cornerback Charles Woodson has donated $150,000 to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, to create two scholarships.

One of the scholarships honors his mother, Georgia. The other is set aside for students majoring in kinesiology, the science of human movement.

Both of the scholarships will go to incoming freshmen with financial needs from one of four communities -- Woodson's hometown of Fremont, Ohio; Detroit, the closest major city to the U of M; and Oakland, Calif., and Green Bay, where he's played in the NFL.

Woodson is only the third professional athlete to make such a gift to the university. His donation will be matched by the Presidential Scholarship Challenge.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Steve Okoniewski

Our sister paper, the Kewaunee County News, recently profiled former Packers defensive tackle Steve Okoniewski.

These days, he's the principal at Luxemburg-Casco High School in Luxemburg, about 15 miles northeast of Green Bay. (That's him at right in the photo above, in the high school office.)

He played in 28 games for the Packers in 1974 and 1975, wearing No. 73.

Okoniewski, 58, was in the news because he received a community service award.

To read Ramelle Bintz's story, go here.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

The coaching carousel

There's good news and bad news for a couple of coaches who've spent time on the Packers' practice field.

The good news is for Chris Simpson, who had a minority coaching internship with the Packers in the summer of 2006. He's been named defensive line coach and special teams coordinator at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He worked in those areas when he was with the Packers.

He's been an assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for the last five seasons. He also has coached at Waunakee High School and was a graduate assistant at UW-Platteville. He also interned with the Dallas Cowboys last summer.

The bad news is for Larry Beightol, who coached the Packers' offensive line from 1999 to 2005. He's been working as the offensive line coach for Team Arkansas in the new All-American Football League, according to the Harrisonburg (Va.) Daily News.

However, the AAFL ran short of cash and last week pulled the plug on its spring 2008 season. Beightol and the rest of the Team Arkansas coaches were immediately laid off.

"We're no longer on payroll," coach Ron Calcagni told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Extra, extra: Our special Favre coverage

Just a quick note to remind you that all of the Green Bay Press-Gazette's special coverage of Packers quarterback Brett Favre's retirement is available at our online store.

That coverage includes:

-- The March 4 extra edition.

-- The March 5 commemorative edition.

-- The March 7 edition with coverage of Favre's press conference.

-- The March 9 tribute edition.

-- Our forthcoming book on Favre's career with the Packers.

-- Joe Heller's best Favre cartoons.

The online store also offers some of our collectible editions and publications about the Packers' journey to Super Bowl XXXI.

To shop our online store, click on this link.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Rodgers has gone to the dogs

What's Aaron Rodgers doing in his first week as the Packers' starting quarterback? He's in Alaska, sled dog racing.

Here's the great lead from the story by Gary Curlee of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:

"Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers once again found himself facing the rear ends of several athletes poised for action. This time, it wasn't 300-pound linemen waiting for the 'hike' but a team of jumping, barking and impatient sled dogs."

Rodgers was in Fairbanks for the Jeff Studdert Passenger Race on Wednesday. It's a prelude -- sort of a pro-am -- to the Open North American Championship Sled Dog Race.

He started out as the passenger on a two-man, 11-dog sled, then took over as the driver halfway through the race. (Sounds like his Packers career, eh?)

Video: Watch Rodgers with the sled dogs.

Rodgers was part of a group of NFL players visiting Army soldiers and families at nearby Fort Wainwright on a five-day trip organized by Unlimited Potential, a Christian outreach group. The Packers provided door prizes for Wednesday's prayer luncheon.

(Video link fixed. Sorry about the inconvenience.)

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

The Onion shares your pain

Leave it to The Onion to put its distinctive spin on Brett Favre's retirement.

The headline on today's faux story: "Packers Tell Fans They Gave Favre To A Nice Farm Family."

Satire, of course, is always a little darker. Let's just say all those mourning Favre's retirement are being spoofed. You'll just have to read it for yourself.

The Onion's writers also gave us these memorable faux stories about Favre's in previous years:

From May 2007: "Brett Favre Demands Trade To 1996 Packers"

And from April 2006: "Packers To Favre: Take Your Time, ***hole"

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Timing is everything

Ever get a good opportunity at a bad time? That's what happened to Brett and Deanna Favre in the days before Favre announced his retirement from the Packers.

The Packers' chaplain, the Rev. James Baraniak, called the Favres at their Mississippi home to invite to Pope Benedict XVI's Mass in Washington, D.C., next month, according to a report by Jeff Kurowski of The Compass, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. The papal advance team had invited the Favres and Packers coach Mike McCarthy.

Baraniak had a little trouble reaching the Favres. When he finally spoke to Deanna, she apologized, saying it was "an intense time," and that they weren't taking all their calls. Now we know why.

"When I shared with her the proposal, she said if it was entirely up to her, she would give me an answer immediately, but she had to talk to Brett. 'You know that husband of mine,' she said," Baraniak told Kurowski.

There's no word on whether the Favres eventually accepted the invitation.

During their time in Green Bay, the Favres attended St. Agnes Church on the city's west side. That's where Brett and Deanna were married in 1996 and where their daughter Breleigh was baptized in 1999. Breleigh and her older sister, Brittany, attended Holy Family School, which is on the church grounds.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

A sign of the times

They're proud of Packers offensive lineman Allen Barbre in his hometown of Granby, Mo.

So proud that they want to put up signs at the city limits proclaiming Granby as the home of Allen Barbre of the Green Bay Packers.

They're just getting started with the project, according to the Neosho Daily News. They need to raise about $3,000 for the signs. So far, they've raised about $120.

How proud, again?

"We are well pleased any time a Granby boy makes good," said Barry Flint, who chairs the city's Economic Development Committee.

Granby is a town of about 2,100 people in the far southwestern corner of Missouri.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Steve Warren

Another former Packers player has gone into indoor football.

Steve Warren, a backup defensive tackle who played in 25 games for the Packers in 2000 and 2002, is the coach of the Omaha Beef of United Indoor Football.

One of Omaha's UIF rivals is the River City Rage, which is coached by former Packers cornerback Ken Stills.

Warren, 30, played in the NFL for four seasons, then finished his career with two seasons in the Arena League. He was the Packers' third-round draft pick in 2000, but was hampered by injuries.

There's another familiar name on Warren's staff. His defensive coordinator, James Kerwin, played and coached at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and coached with the Green Bay Blizzard of arenafootball2.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Alumni update: Brett Sterba

Brett Sterba, a kicker who spent three months with the Packers during the offseason in 2001, has made a bigger name for himself in golf.

He's just been named the championship director of the 2009 Senior PGA Championship, which will be played at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio. It's his second such gig. He was championship director of the 2007 Senior PGA at The Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, S.C. He also has been operations manager or director of four other major PGA events.

Sterba, 29, was released by the Packers before training camp started. He started working in golf management in 2002.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Coming attractions

George Clooney plays a character based on Packers legend Johnny "Blood" McNally in his new film, "Leatherheads," due out April 4.

We can only hope the film, set before the NFL was formed in 1921, is as good as this line from this column by Doug Moe of the Capital Times newspaper of Madison:

"I hope 'Leatherheads' does Blood justice. The Packers tried to, naming a banquet room in the renovated Lambeau Field in his honor. I think he would have preferred the bar."

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Also the retiring kind

Quiz time!

According to Chris Foster of the Los Angeles Times, " a world-class athlete retired Tuesday, ending an era of dramatic performances on a frozen surface."

Here's a hint: It isn't Packers quarterback Brett Favre.


No, it's figure skater Katarina Witt, who, like Favre, was a world champion and appeared in a film. (She was in "Ronin.")

Witt, 42, called it a career in in Hanover, Germany, after one last performance as Carmen. She handled it a little differently than Favre.

"Not as many tears fell as I maybe feared." she told The Associated Press.


(Also worth noting: Favre's old nemesis, former Buccaneers and Raiders defensive tackle Warren Sapp, also retired Tuesday.)

(Also worth noting, too: Sean Landeta, who punted for the Packers in 1998, retired Thursday -- the day Favre officially announced his retirement. The cool thing about Landeta is that he was the last remaining USFL player. He retired on the 25th anniversary of his USFL debut, which also was the USFL's first game.)

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

We should have seen the clue

It was right there in front of us. A week ago, a day before the news broke that Packers quarterback Brett Favre was retiring, we came across this Quad City Times story:

Favre had just taken delivery on a $9,000 golf cart -- customized with camouflage -- for use on his 450-acre estate near Hattiesburg, Miss.

It was delivered to him by Scott Harris, who runs Harris Golf Cars in Peosta, Iowa, and is the cousin of John Schneider, who works in the Packers' front office as a personnel analyst to GM Ted Thompson.

Harris and his pal Bob Leytem, who owns the Dog House Lounge in Dubuque, Iowa, made the delivery, then got more than they bargained for. Favre invited them in, chatted them up and gave them a tour.

"You would have thought you were at Augusta National," Harris told the newspaper. "There were no weeds anywhere, there were all these new trees . . . it was just unbelievable. Even the three big machine sheds he has are immaculate. You could eat off the floor. There are a lot of golf course superintendents around the country who would love to have the equipment Brett has."

Favre plans to use his new camo cart for a year, then get a new one and auction the old one to benefit the Brett Favre Fourward Foundation.

(The story is no longer on the Quad City paper's Web site. The link above is to Favre's Web site, which has a copy of the story.)

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com

Extra, extra! You love that Favre extra!

Brett Favre fans can’t get enough of the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s extra section on the retirement of the iconic Green Bay Packers quarterback.

The 12-page section has been selling briskly at the Press-Gazette, the Packers Pro Shop and at more than 400 newsstands throughout Northeastern Wisconsin since late Tuesday afternoon.

The Press-Gazette published 50,000 copies of the extra early Tuesday afternoon, barely five hours after Favre’s decision became known. It also fielded hundreds of phone and e-mail requests for the section.

It isn’t just Green Bay, either. The Wausau Daily Herald, which like the Press-Gazette is part of the Gannett Wisconsin Media group, today printed 10,000 more copies of the extra for sale in central Wisconsin.

It’s no surprise that dozens of copies started popping up almost immediately on eBay, the Internet auction site.

The extra, which sells for $1 at newsstands, is going for up to $25 plus shipping on eBay.

The Press-Gazette also published a second 12-page commemorative section on Favre on Wednesday, and had two special sections in Sunday's Press-Gazette.

To buy our special sections at our online store, click on this link.

-- Jeff Ash, jash@greenbaypressgazette.com