Here is today's Green Bay Update from Jeff Ash. If you have any questions
or comments about the update, contact Jeff (mailto:jeffash@netnet.net).
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Greetings from Green Bay, where spring has arrived with cool, sunny
weather, allowing the rollerblading and yardwork seasons to begin.
-- The Packers' preseason schedule is set.
Saturday, Aug. 14 -- Jets vs. Packers at Lambeau Field, 7 p.m., CBS
national telecast (Milwaukee ticket holders)
Monday, Aug. 23 -- Broncos vs. Packers at Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, 7
p.m., ABC national telecast
Saturday, Aug. 28 -- Packers at Saints, 7 p.m., statewide TV network
Thursday, Sept. 2 -- Dolphins vs. Packers at Lambeau Field, 7 p.m.,
statewide TV network (Green Bay ticket holders)
-- Look for the regular-season schedule any day now.
-- Not much new to report on the new stadium. The early consensus seems to
be to build the new stadium in the Lambeau Field parking lot, much as the
Milwaukee Brewers are building their new ballpark in the County Stadium
parking lot. Local governments are forming study committees.
Early capacity estimates for the new stadium are 66,000 to 70,000 open-air
seats and 8,000 to 10,000 club seats, with about 200 luxury boxes seating
almost 3,000. That's up from 56,000 open-air seats and 1,920 club seats.
The number and capacity of luxury boxes is about the same. Packers
president Bob Harlan prefers the smaller capacity.
The Packers say a new stadium will cost at least $500 million. They will
put up part of the money, but it's not known how much public money will be
needed. The latest funding suggestion floated by the Packers is a 1-10th of
a cent increase in the state sales tax, which could raise an estimated
$68.6 million in a year. The problem, of course, is the considerable
political ill will left by the Brewers' fight for a new stadium, in which
the Legislature levied such a tax in a 5-county area in southeastern
Wisconsin.
Even so, Harlan hopes Miller Park, the Brewers' new stadium, will help sell
Packers fans on the idea for a new stadium when it opens in 2000. A quote
from Harlan: "I just think when fans go to Miller Park and go to a game
and see the amenities and the comfort, they're going to say, 'Boy, this
does make sense.' Maybe it will kind of make people think that a new
Lambeau Field will be a great thing for us." Miller Park will have a
retractable roof, and Harlan isn't ruling that out for the Packers' new
stadium. Another quote from him: "Maybe in 10 years every stadium in this
part of the country will have a retractable roof. If it works (in
Milwaukee) and people like it and you can put real grass in it, it might
make a lot of sense. Then you could have other events in the stadium and
make more use of it."
For now, though, the Packers will consider selling more advertising signs
inside Lambeau Field and perhaps expanding the Packer Pro Shop to Appleton
or Milwaukee to increase merchandise sales.
-- New coach Ray Rhodes' 1st minicamp is next weekend, March 30-April 2.
It'll be inside the Don Hutson Center and closed to the public. The
Packers' other minicamps likely will be around the last weekend of April,
about a week after the NFL draft, and in early June.
Several players injured last year will sit out the 1st minicamp. Among
them: WRs Robert Brooks and Bill Schroeder, T John Michels, C Frank Winters
and S Scott McGarrahan. LB Antonio London, DT Jermaine Smith and FS Darren
Sharper may see limited action. WR Antonio Freeman, who has no contract,
may be there for meetings and to watch practice. Winters is expected to be
ready for the last minicamp.
-- No surprise that minicamp will be closed. Rhodes continues to work hard,
but is still avoiding reporters. He even skipped the coaches' media
breakfast at the NFL meetings in Phoenix last week, the only one of the 29
coaches present to do so. The media breakfast isn't mandatory, but coaches
are expected to attend if they're at the league meetings. The Packers see
no problem in Rhodes' low profile.
-- LG Marco Rivera has signed a 3-year deal. No financial details known yet.
-- LB Bernardo Harris signed a 3-year, $7 million deal. The breakdown:
$375,000 salary and $2 million signing bonus this year; $1.125 million
salary and $700,000 roster bonus in 2000; and $2.05 million salary and
$750,000 roster bonus in 2001. The roster bonuses give the Packers the
option of cutting Harris in March of those years if they don't want to keep
him at that rate. To create room under the salary cap for the deal, the
Packers cut backup S Pat Terrell.
-- WR Pat Palmer, who was signed to the practice squad in December,
re-signed with the Packers. He's 6-2, 181, a 2nd-year player out of
Northwestern Louisiana. He wears No. 17.
-- The Packers also signed LB Toran James, who played 3 games for the
Seahawks last year before being cut in October. He's 25, 6-3, 247, a
3rd-year player out of North Carolina A&T. He was a 7th-round pick of the
Chargers in 1997 and played for them that season. He wears No. 56 for the
Packers.
-- QB Matt Hasselbeck's deal is for 1 year, $250,000, with a $33,000 roster
bonus.
-- CB Tyrone Williams turned down the Packers' last long-term offer and
will play this season for the 1-year, $934,000 tender offer, then test the
free-agent market. It's the same strategy used last season by Freeman.
Williams was seeking a 4-year, $15 million deal. He and the Packers were at
least $1 million per year apart.
-- It's looking more and more as if FB William Henderson will be back with
the Packers, and at close to their price of $1 million to $1.5 million a
year. There was virtually no free-agent market for FBs.
-- As expected, the Packers lost 3 more free agents. RB Travis Jervey went
to the 49ers (4 years, $5 million). CB Rod Mullen went to the Panthers (3
years, $2.275 million). LB Lamont Hollinquest went to the Chiefs (2 years,
$1.6 million). The 49ers see Jervey as a 3rd-down back, a backup to
Garrison Hearst, a special teams player and perhaps a kick returner. The
Chiefs see Hollinquest as a backup and special teams player, no change from
Green Bay, but Hollinquest lives in Kansas City and it is his wife's
hometown.
-- Family ties also helped lure P Sean Landeta to the Eagles. His wife is
from Philadelphia, and new Eagles coach Andy Reid called him several times
to lobby him. The money was about the same, and Landeta turned down a
$100,000 to $150,000 signing bonus from the Packers.
-- RB Darick Holmes continues to shop himself to AFC teams. He turned down
the Patriots' incentive-packed offer, and has visited the Chiefs, Colts and
Chargers.
-- No word on which veteran punter the Packers will bring to camp. The 2
best available are the Bears' Mike Horan and the Eagles' Tommy Hutton.
-- Wolf says the Packers have no interest in re-signing LB Wayne Simmons,
who has been cut by the Bills. They also won't re-sign WR Russell Copeland.
-- Part of the reason the Packers signed veteran G Raleigh McKenzie is they
aren't sure Joe Andruzzi's pass blocking is good enough to merit a starting
job. He's seen as a potential starter in 2000, though.
-- Looks as if Sharper will stay at FS unless the Packers hit the jackpot
in the draft. If they could find a veteran FS, they'd move Sharper back to
CB.
-- GM Ron Wolf is disappointed with the placement of the 4 compensatory
draft picks for having lost free agents after the 1997 season. The Packers
picked up a 3rd-rounder (96th overall), 2 4th-rounders (133rd and 135th)
and a 6th-rounder (205th). They thought they'd get up to 3 3rd-rounders for
having lost CB Doug Evans, DE Gabe Wilkins, SS Eugene Robinson, LG Aaron
Taylor, RB Edgar Bennett and P Craig Hentrich. The NFL won't say how it
determines the placement of the picks, but it takes into account salary,
playing time, performance of the players lost and the free agents signed
that year, which for the Packers were Terrell, RB Raymont Harris and T Matt
Willig. The Packers and Cardinals got the maximum 4 compensatory picks,
with the Packers' 3rd-rounder the highest of the 27 picks awarded.
It seems Evans' and Wilkins' poor seasons hurt the Packers, and Hentrich
rated no compensation, which irritated Wolf. A quote from him: "I look at
it like this: If you're going to take away Pro Bowl players -- and Hentrich
was a Pro Bowl player; Evans was paid an exorbitant sum of money, as was
Wilkins -- how are we supposed to replace those with 4s? The object is to
replace them with 3s."
-- Here's the complete list of the Packers' 12 picks in the April 17-18
draft, barring trades. They can't trade the compensatory picks.
1st (25th overall)
2nd (from Seahawks for coach Mike Holmgren); original 2nd pick spent on G
Mike Wahle in 1998 supplemental draft
3rd (96th) (Compensatory pick)
3rd
4th (133rd) (Compensatory pick); original 4th pick traded to Bills for RB
Darick Holmes
4th (135th) (Compensatory pick)
5th
6th (205th) (Compensatory pick)
6th
6th (from Raiders for last year's draft-day trade)
7th (from Rams for QB Steve Bono)
7th (from Bears for RB Glyn Milburn); original 7th pick traded to Lions for
Milburn
-- Again, if you're looking for draft previews, check out the preview area
of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's web site. They've already done a few
stories and were at the recent combine in Indianapolis. The Press-Gazette's
draft previews will come closer to the April 17-18 draft. You also may want
to check out draft preview publications on the newsstand. The Sporting News
Draft Guide is good, and reasonably priced at $7. Pro Football Weekly's
annual draft preview issue should be out soon, or may already be out.
Either one will provide brief profile of the top players available in the
draft, though you won't find much on the players likely to be picked on the
2nd day of the draft.
-- The Packers are giving SportGrass one last chance. They're going to tear
up the entire playing surface at Lambeau Field and resod it as soon as the
weather turns warm. It's the 2nd such overhaul since the hybrid surface was
installed in 1997. SportGrass is natural grass planted atop a synthetic
inner layer into which the grass roots are supposed to knit, all atop a
sand base for good drainage. It has done well in wet weather, but not in
the cold. The grass hasn't grown back as well in Green Bay as in milder
climates, and that led to a sandy, slippery surface late in the season.
Last year, the players called it "The Beach." The Packers also say the
grass was set too high on the synthetic layer, exposing the roots and crown
and allowing it to be torn out easily. The McLean, Va.-based SportGrass
company is doing the job for free, bringing in sod from out of state,
though the Packers say they'll go back to conventional grass in 2000 if the
new surface isn't better.
-- The Packers were among the 28 teams voting to bring back instant replay
for this season. The Jets, Bengals and Cardinals voted no.
-- QB Brett Favre and his wife, Deanna, are expecting their 2nd child this
summer. No word on whether it'll be a boy or girl. They opted for in-vitro
fertilization after Deanna was found to have an ovarian cyst last year.
They also have a daughter, Brittany, 10.
-- Mel Knoke, 91, the Appleton fan made famous in the NFL's "Feel the
Power" commercials and the 1st fan elected to the Packer Hall of Fame, died
March 5 on the eve of the induction ceremonies. Knoke had been
hospitalized, and the Hall knew his heart condition was worsening, so they
had a special induction ceremony for him in a hospital conference room the
night before he died.
That's it.
Now, a little viewer mail
-- Bill in Cottage Grove, Minn., asks about "1265," a monthly program
produced by the Packers and aired throughout Wisconsin: "(Are) the shows
ever put on satellite for distribution to the affiliated stations, or are
they taped, dubbed, then shipped without being on satellite?" I suspect the
latter, but if you know any satellite feed information for the show, drop
me a line.
-- Andy is a distant stockholder hoping that the Packers will do a better
job of informing their owners about the new stadium plans and will include
them in the planning. Andy says he likely won't be able to attend the
stockholders' meeting in July to express his concerns, but hopes others
will do so.
-- Dan in Chattanooga, Tenn., passes word that their group of 25 to 40
Packers backers has outgrown Paddy's Pub on Hixson Pike. They've moved to
Neighbor's Restaurant at 724 Ashland Terrace (423-875-4301), where 9 TVs
are tuned to the Packers for every game during the season. If you're in the
area and want to know more, Dan's at peterson@CSTCC.CC.TN.US
As always, your comments and questions are welcome at jeffash@netnet.net
This week's sources: Green Bay Press-Gazette
(http://www.greenbaypressgazette.packersnews.com), Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel (http://www.jsonline.com/packer/news/) and Packers
(http://www.packers.com) web pages.
No soundtrack this week. Enjoying Tom Snyder's farewell week instead.
-- Recent adventures with Evan: As the weather has gotten nicer, he wants
to spend more time outside. We've twice gone to the park in the last week,
with Evan specifying a different park each time. We've also been out for a
couple of spins on his bike, though he'd rather explore the drive-up tubes
and ATM machine when we ride in the parking lot of a nearby bank on
Sundays. When it gets a little bit warmer, and we'll set up the soccer net
in the back yard and go get some inline skates for him so he can get around
just like Dad. Evan's at that quirky age -- just turned 4 -- that he
sometimes wants to remain a toddler and sometimes wants to be a big boy, as
it suits him. At the playground, he's not quite comfortable with
conventional swings, so he still usually insists on the toddler swings even
though he's almost outgrown them. But he also is taking himself to the
bathroom pretty regularly (though rarely to poop, to Mom's exasperation)
and is putting on his own socks and shoes (though Dad has to tie the
laces).
As usual, if you wish to show your appreciation for these Packers updates,
volunteer or make a donation to the charity of your choice.
Thanks, Jeff
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