#287 Packers Unscripted: The wait is over

say that we can say it. Yeah, absolutely, Mike. And you know I spoke very passionately and fervently last week about his credentials. Rightly so, though, rightly so. I'm glad we're having this conversation though, and I think you summed it up best an insider in box last week, it was like, if Jerry Kramer wasn't going to get in, just how cruel this would be to do to him, and to to and put that carrot out in front of him one last time and then not get it.

But lo and behold the voting committee that obviously how this process goes. A senior finalists happened first in the day. It's an upper down vote. It's it's separate from the modern day finalists, and you have to get so. I mean, it's a it's a pretty it's a pretty high threshold. It's not just past fail. And I thought that was interesting too. I think Kramer talked about this a little

bit afterwards. You know, when you're eighty two years old and it's spent fifty years since you've played in the league, he mentioned, I mean, there's half half the people maybe more didn't see him place. I might not even know

who he is. Um So, in some ways, I think though the ground swell of support that he's received over the years, it just seemed like it all reached a crescendo this week, and and for him to finally get that call, seeing him walk across that stage for the first time after such a long, tireless battle, I think, um, as you said to this is they righted the wrong and uh, for him, this is the culmination of an entire career of not only football, but you know something

that has meant so much to him personally. Yeah, well, I like what you said last week when we were talking about it, that this really This wasn't a vote for Jerry Kramer. This was a referendum on the Hall of Fame. And I thought, I thought you put that very well, and I agree with you, because this was an injustice as far as the Hall of Fame is concerned. That needed to be corrected, and fortunately it's been corrected.

Even more fortunately, Jerry Kramer is still with us in order to enjoy that, because he is the thirteenth I believe, including Vince Lombardi, he's the thirteenth Lombardi packer to go into the Hall of Fame. Many of them are no longer with us, but he is able to enjoy this. And uh, and boy, the party that that the Kramers are gonna throw in Canton, Ohio in August, it's gonna

be something. I think it's funny. Kramer mentioned again. He mentioned it to me on the phone when I talked to him last summer when it came out that the Senior Committee was putting him forth as a finalist again, and he reiterated it on Saturday night in Minneapolis. He's never been to Canton. He's always driven by that. He didn't want it, he didn't want to stop by until he's invited, and he says, well, now I'm invited, and uh, I think it's going to be a pretty a pretty

special summer ceremony at the Hall of Fame. Well and Mike, and if you check out our content packers dot com, Mike Spofford absolutely killed it this weekend coverage wise, but including that coverage was talking with Aaron Rodgers in Sterling Sharp and I thought both of them they had different comments, but I thought, really it came back together, which is why is Jerry Kramer not in the Hall of Fame right? And and now he finally has that. I saw as

a Monday morning, he's getting fitted for his his gold jacket. Um. His daughter Alicia has been has really you know, banying the drum and kept that momentum going. And I know how difficult it was every August when the senior finalists would come out and Kramer wouldn't be a them. But to finally have the opportunity he even said it in his post, his post interview with everyone, you know, to be able to share that with her, be able to share that with his family, how much that means to him.

And I saw his son Daniel, who I'm friends with on Facebook. Uh, he just posted this little photo. I thought it was such a cool thing. It was Kramer putting his helmet on his son back in the sixties when he was still playing, and all it's said on the top was my daddy's a Hall of Famer. I just just it's such an emotional thing to to see him finally get this recognition. And and the other thing too, is you said, I think this is one more feather

in the cap for the Lombardi era. I know a lot of people say, well, there's thirteen of the men already, but it was one of the most formidable teams dynasties in NFL history, five championships in seven years. Nobody's matched that. It just doesn't happen. So I mean, I don't want to see and be like, well, put in Gail Gillingham now and putting Bob Scronsky and putting all these other people.

Whatever happens happens. But I just I've never understood the argument that you have to have a limit if you have Super Bowl, if you have you know, hall of famers on a team, whatever era it is, I think he can't deny them. Unfortunately for Jerry Kramer. He's in now. Yeah, it's it's it's for the best players in the game, and Jerry Kramer was one of the best players in the game in his era. That's really what it came

back to. And as I said last week, there were sixteen guys fifteen sixteen guys or whatever it was, who were voted to that fiftieth Anniversary NFL team, the top guys at individual positions. Jerry Kramer was one of them, and it just it just didn't make any sense that that he wasn't in the Hall of Fame. It's, uh, it's gonna be a fun time in uh in Canton, Ohio this summer for him, and uh, you know, really

quite a Hall of Fame class. We can talk about it more, probably in some future episodes, but but you know Ray Lewis, Brian or Lacker, Randy Moss, Brian Dawkins, you know, Robert Brazil, Bobby Bethred as a general manager going in contributor category. It's a pretty special class that

he's going in the Hall with. Yeah, and Brazil former teammate of Ted Thompson for a number with the Oilers, with the Houston Oilers, and getting back to one other point you made, I think that makes us even more The cherry on top is the fact that Kramer was able to enjoy this with not only that class, but but really be able to go through this after you know, so many years of being denied and you know, you do look at you know, Henry Jordan unfortunately passed in

the seventies from a heart attack, but he you know, posthumously gets inducted as a senior finalist, you know, even recently, Ken Stabler. I mean the fact that Kramer was able to be a part of this whole celebration of football. I I just I looked at that class when they went up on the stadium and went up on the stage together on Saturday night at the NFL Honors, I'm like, wow, that is that's really special. And then ray Lewis inviting everybody up on the stage. It was it was really

cool to watch, very very fun. Yeah, and Terrell Owens in the class too. I know he wasn't there on Saturday night, but wanted to make sure to mention. Didn't want to leave him out. But we've got to get

to a break back with more on Packers unscripted. Right after this Welcome back to Packers unscripted, Mike Spofford in this chair, Wes Hodkowits in that one, and Wes, you mentioned the uh uh interviews on the Red Carpet that that we were able to secure their tyler and I representing Packers dot com, and uh, a really fun little conversation. You don't get much time to talk to people on the red carpet. You kind of pull them over, get a few questions in, you know, let him get on

with their with their evening. But a fun conversation with Aaron Rodgers. Um, certainly. Uh, I kind of threw it out there. Hey, you know you you you won the m v P the last time you came back from a broken colarmony, says well, I plan on doing it again, just exactly, but classic air and classic air, I mean, and I know that he expressed him disappointment last week about losing his position coach Alex van Pell and hey, he's allowed to be disappointed. It's okay, we're all human.

But he sounded pretty fired up to me on Saturday night about his own prospects, about this team's prospects. He's excited to have Joe Philbin back his offensive coordinator. You know that he was the the o C during that record setting year of eleven when Aaron Rodgers won his first m v P set the single season NFL record for passer rating. Aaron Rodgers is pretty excited about this upcoming year. Yeah, there were three things I took away

from that interview, and it's phenomenal. If you haven't checked it out yet, checked that out on packers dot com along with spot story. The first thing, first and foremost, him mentioning the off season and the fact that not only does he plan to be ready for April, everyone I think has kind of been knowing about that, but the fact that the college one is not affecting his

off season program. If you know anything about Aaron Rodgers in his history, that is such a fundamental part of him and wanting to play deep into his thirties, into his forties is his offseason preparation. The fact that this will not really you know, sidetrack that at all. I think that's key. Uh. The second thing he pointed out that I thought was interesting was Joe Philbin and the fact that he did mention in two thousand eleven, the last time he was here at the Packers having the

season that they did. Personally, I'd said this from the beginning. I think that Joe Philbin is the Robin to Mike McCarthy's batman. I just think together they they know each other's strengths. Philbin knows what he needs to do to best serve McCarthy as the play caller. I think that is so important when you're going through a game planning because this is a very unique offensive coordinator position in Green Bay since you aren't calling plays like maybe a

Pat Schirmer was in Minnesota. And then and then lastly, Uh, the confidence. Uh. I've always said this. I think Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams are the two most confident players I've covered in the NFL. And it's not a false bravado. It's just internal confidence that they believe that no matter what happens, they will overcome. And Rogers saying that with a straight face, he wasn't just trying to put on a face for nothing. He is fully confident that he's

gonna be the MVP. Wouldn't guarantee it, you know, but I mean he feels like he's gonna have that kind of season. And as he said, to you afterwards, his little his little speech to Packer fans, his little his line saying, don't get used to not play it being in playoff games in January, this is an aberration. And I think there was a triple negative and there too, and that that line, which you know sometimes can be really hard to line up to and you're you know,

speaking um so quickly. But it was a great interview, really interesting stuff. Yeah, he was. He was very gracious with his time. We certainly appreciate him stopping by. And uh, it was for me, it was the first time being involved in a red carpet type of situation as a reporter. You almost feel like you're you know, more like a

reporter for entertainment the Packers dot Com. But it's but it's really something, you know, I was trying to, you know, snap some pictures here and there when you know, I saw Jim Kelly, you know, walking by, and and you know, tons of Hall of Fame players and obviously lots of current stars, you know, J. J. Watt, T J. Watt, you know, all these guys who who were there to either potentially receive awards or present awards that they were

nominated for. Awards all this kind of stuff. It really it really is a who's who evening of of the NFL. And then you know you have TV stars walking by occasionally because like the cast members from This Is Us, you know, the show that air right after the Super Bowl. And so i did a couple of double takes because I'm thinking, oh, that guy looks familiar, but you know he's not a football players, like, oh yeah, he's on

that TV show. So you're trying to piece it all together as as it's all as it's all happening really quickly, but but a fun night. We got some good interviews that talked to Charles Woodson as well, who's and and Sterling Sharp both former Packers obviously both very gracious with

their time and uhum a couple of guys. They had some interesting thoughts on the changes going on in Green Bay and uh and speaking about the defense, I thought Woodson had an interesting, interesting point, you know, when he looks at the defense as a whole, he said, well, first off, you've gotta stay healthy. From his position as an analyst with the ESPN, he continues, every time he says he's watching the Packers, it's like there's guys hurt.

You know, the regular players aren't out there. But he also said, and this is classic dB talk, it comes down to the past rush. And he was joking like, hey, when I was a player, we're always saying, hey, we gotta get to the quarterback. You gotta help us out here in the back end. And he was a blitz or something. You know, he is sometimes the guy going after the quarterback. But uh um, but really that the

past rushes where it's going to start. I think for Mike Patton as the new defensive coordinator here in Green Bay, and and uh I think Charles Woodson, among many others, very interested to see just what this defense looks like. I do find it interesting that Woodson was talking about

you have to stay healthy. This is a guy who basically didn't practice during I think the year that he was NFL Defensive Player of the Year because you know the injuries he was playing through and basically just suited up on Sundays and suited up on Sunday and he was the best defensive player in the league. So go figure. So maybe there's a little bit of middle ground there, but I think, you know, he brings up a great point and you have to have the pass rush in

in coverage, working concert with each other. I think that was the biggest thing. When you look at the defense last year. Communication wasn't there, and it just didn't seem like they were able to get those two phases on the same page at the same time. They both excelled at different times, but it was tough to get him there at the same time. This is the biggest question, Mike, and it's gonna be a big question going into training camp seeing what that defense looks like with those new pieces.

I think there is some really good building blocks now seeing where Brian Goodkins takes it from there, it's gonna be probably one of the most telling points because in two thousand and eight didn't have a great year. Two thousand nine, Woodson became Defensive Player of the Year. Don Capers turned it around. Now pett will try to do the same. Yeah, the Packers turned it around very quickly. Back then, we'll see if they can do it again.

Back with more and Packers Unscripted right after this, Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here, West, Hodkuwit's over there and West. Super Bowl fifty two was played over the weekends, we might as well get to it. And um, the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the top defenses in the league and a Bill Belichick defense with two weeks to prepare for the Philadelphia offense, and you end up with the most total yards not only in a Super Bowl or in a playoff game, but in any game in

NFL history. It's just the way we figured this game was gonna go. Right. Yeah, you know, Jim Schwartz and that defense that they had, how stifling it was all your ste total yards allowed. Hey, it was great, man, it was a great game. There's no question about it. I don't want to turn this into every single year is the best Super Bowl that's ever played with you know, not counting the Broncos Seattle game for a few years ago. But this was great from the very beginning till the

very end. The drama, uh and just neither offense really giving an inch. And I think you have to tip your cap to Nick Foles an unbelievable job, you know, basically resurrecting his entire career. Was kind of forgotten about. Ends up in Kansas City last year and was backing up Alex Smith and give it to Howie Roseman. He realized that they wanted an experienced guy behind Carson Wentz, their second year quarterback, and falls ends up fitting the bill.

And what what a remarkable job late in that game, even though they did give up six yards Brandon Graham getting the forest fumble. I don't know how the heck Derek Barnett was able to corral that football basically one hopped off his foot and was able to recover it. That could have been that could have been a major scrum. If he doesn't grab, that would have been like a rugby thing which just been bouncing away and he ends up catching it on the first bounce. That's why you

practice fumble drills. But from I was glued to my television from beginning to end too. It was something to watch. Yeah, I think where I give the Eagles the most credit, not only for obviously the one they really made one play on defense the entire second half, because the first three times the Patriots had the ball in the second half they marched right down the field and scored three touchdowns. They made the one big defensive play when they had to have it with a couple of minutes to go.

But overall, where I give the Eagles the most credit is that they had blown the lead and fallen behind and they still were able to pull it together enough to put together another drive, get the lead back, and send that defense back out on the field to stop Tom Brady and win the Super Bowl. I the way the momentum and everything was going, because the Eagles had basically been ahead, you know, throughout the game, and then Tom Brady and the Patriots complete that come back and

take the lead in the fourth quarter. A lot of times you can't get the momentum back after something like that, and the Eagles did it and that's why they won. Yeah. Two things that stood out to me the most in this Doug Peterson's play calling. Obviously, the former Packers quarterback nine years ago was a high school football coach. Uh just completely gutsy, put incredible faith in his backup quarterback

and the guys around him to come through. And Also, I mean it's not really been a big storyline, but a tip of the captain Jake Elliott, he misses that extra point early on. I don't care. I could be the most talented, I could have the best leg I could be the most accurate kicker in NFL history. You put me in the situation he was in with I believe that yard I'm missing that nine times out of nine.

But he comes up clutch. And that was such a big thing too, because if he doesn't make that kick, well, then Tom Brady gets the ball back at what the the yard lines something like that. Yeah, it would have been pretty good field and would have had a great chance to come down. I still don't know exactly what

the Patriots were doing on that kickoff return. I mean, they're trying to make something happen, But I think at that point, you have Tom terrific as your quarterback, even though you don't have time outs, you need to go all the way down the field. I still think you'd

put the ball in his hands. Um, they wasted some time there, but yeah, regardless of it came down to the very end um and again it was just it was a type of football game that I think when you look back, it's going to be remembered as one of the most entertaining start to finish. Yeah, well, let's let's talk a little bit more about this one after the breakback with More and Packers unscripted. Right after this, Welcome back to Packers unscripted Mike Spofford alongside West, Hodkowitz

and West, continuing our discussion of the Super Bowl. I wanted to point out I think an area another area where I give the Eagles a heck of a lot of credit is uh the fact that they were still able to keep things going on offense after the Patriots made that adjustment to take Alshon Jeffrey away, because the way the first half was going, Jeffrey was making some

big time plays. That touchdown catch was phenomenal, and I thought if he had come down with that deep ball that ended up being the deflected interception for New England, if he had come down with that, I thought we were looking at the Super Bowl m v P right there. Alshon Jeffrey was going to get it. The Patriots made the adjustment they put Stephon Gilmour on Alshon Jeffrey really kind of took him out of the game. But yet the Eagles still moving the ball, scoring points, putting drives

together and stuff. I you know, you mentioned Doug Peterson, the game plan, the play calling and everything. Obviously, the performance of Nick Foles just really really impressive to do that. I know this wasn't Bill Belichick's best defense by a long shot in New England. But for a Bill Belichick defense to have two weeks to prepare for an offense and really not have any answers for four quarters, that surprised me. Yeah, it did. And I thought both offensive

game plans were incredibly creative. Obviously we saw some trickeration a little bit with some quarterbacks. Um. The biggest thing that stood out to me when you mentioned the adjustments that that the Eagles had to make Nelson Aghilar who if you remember from last year when the Packers played the Eagles, that was the week leading up to that game that he had gotten benched and there were some questions that whether or not the Eagles might just even

release him at that point. It's really been working on Fir his two first two seasons. He ends up stepping up, leads them and receiving in this game with nine receptions. Uh, and really what has been a breakthrough year for him. But also zach Ertz him catching that pass I believe on the fourth thin one was it uh? When they were a midfield he was able to snag that one comes back. I don't know why we had to waste twelve minutes about whether or not that was a touchdown catch.

It was a touchdown catch cross word. That was pretty obvious in my opinion, common sense wise. But he made some phenomenal plays at critical times for them as well. And then give el Sean Jeffrey credit man. He had some great catches throughout that ballgame. Howie Roseman, again, you tipped your cap to him. They knew they needed a marquee receiver to go with Carson Wentz. They went and got him. It worked out. Now they've extended him. Uh.

Just it really was a team effort. Corey Clement had a big game as well for them, undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin. So great touchdown catch by him as well. Absolutely so when you pair all that stuff together offensively, I don't think this was a team that it's like, Okay, that's the superstar. They were all across the board and they made it happen, and they they won their first

Super Bowl championship because of it. Yeah, and I tip my cap to Zach Ertz, especially because it's long forgotten now. But back on the opening drive of the game, the Eagles are at the two yard line. He gets called for the false start that cost them four points. They end up kicking a field goal there. They were going to just pound it in on the ground from the two yard line. They had second and goal of the

two that cost him four points. You knew right then when that happened, when they had to settle for that field goal early on, you know that's going to you know, come back into play. And Arts was the guy who was called for the fall, for the false start. He ends up making the big plays down the stretch that get him the victory. He really did. And I think you look at this offense and the way it's structure,

they need to be multiple. They need to do different things, and they need to count on different players at different times. It's not like Kelvin Johnson where it's just Year zoned in on that guy that has to be who this offense runs through. It can be different guys stepping up at different times. I think that's the number one thing I learned about Doug Peterson this year getting a chance to watch his team a little bit more. How willing

he is to put that confidence in his players. I think a lot of coaches would have a hard time doing what he did, making the calls that he did, but after he said, even you know, we're here to win the super Bowl. And they were either gonna win the super Bowl or they were gonna lose the super Bowl, but they chose that they were gonna do what they need to do to win it. Congratulations to the Eagles, they get their first super Bowl title and first NFL

title since nineteen sixty. But with that, it's a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to fill allow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter. He's at west Hod I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time. H