Green Bay Packers

Photo courtesy of sportspickle.com You may have heard … or maybe you didn’t … but if you didn’t … you should have heard that Brian Urlacher retired … as a member of the Green Bay Packers. What is that you say? Did I read that right? Yes, you did. And if you believe it, you might just want to read more from the Sports Pickle. Their post yesterday that outlines in great detail Urlacher signing a one-day contract with the Packers so he could “go out a winner” – is a winner. You will smile, you will laugh – heck, you might laugh out loud – and rightfully so. Of course, none of it is true, but does raise an interesting question about the frustrations a great player who didn’t always play on a good team might face at the end of their career. Would they even consider switching allegiances – well, no – but maybe they should. Being a Bears fans has been hard enough for those folks south of the Wisconsin border (and for those poor souls who follow the team and live north of the border). This piece only rubs salt into the wounds. They’ve already got to live with the fact that Urlacher’s teams, no matter how great of a career he had – were just kinda crappy. I could certainly understand just how easily Urlacher could come over from the dark side. And for one fleeting moment, that happens with this piece. What’s even better is how this piece concludes and brings Jay Cutler into the equation. Reading from beginning to end is well worth the two minutes. Click on over and like it.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is a leader in his field – not only of his team, but of the entire NFL. His actions of the past two days has made that very clear. Yesterday Rodgers appeared on the “Jim Rome Show” and made it known in no uncertain terms that he wanted Brett Favre accepted back into the Green Bay Packers family for good. He showed once again, like any good man would, that he holds no ill will toward Favre. That is despite having the longtime Packers quarterback attempt to get his job back after he retired for the first time. When the Packers stood behind Rodgers and told Favre that they were moving on, Rodgers took the high road. He was blunt at the time, but understood that he, too, had to make it clear he was the guy who would lead the Packers from that day on out. We all know how it turned out. Favre was traded to the Jets, played a season, retired, and unretired once more to join the Vikings in 2009. His revenge against the team that sent him packing was severe – he beat the Packers twice that year and nearly led the Vikings to the Super Bowl. The tables turned in 2010 when Favre was talked into playing one more year with the Vikings. His demise was significant as the Packers beat the Vikings twice en route to a Super Bowl win. Through it all, Rodgers tended to business and didn’t show animosity toward his former teammate. Packers President Mark Murphy came out again Tuesday saying the Packers want Brett Favre back in the “family.”Raymond T. Rivard photograph Taking the high road once again, Rodgers took us another step toward peace and acceptance with Favre. Packers President Mark Murphy told fans on the Packers Tailgate Tour that he wanted Favre back and Rodgers followed that up yesterday by saying this: “It’s been too long. I think our country and the state of Wisconsin, these people are people of second, third and fourth chances, and I think it’s time to let the healing process begin for those who are still upset about what went down. “I was totally OK with being out front of that, and I’m very secure of the things I’ve been able to accomplish with the team and individually here in Green Bay, and excited about the chance to see him again and get his number retired here before he goes into Canton,” Rodgers said. If that doesn’t give us a clear picture of how he feels, nothing will. But that’s not all. Rodgers again showed us that when he talks, people listen – and for good reason. Longtime Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher retired yesterday after 13 years of blowing up running backs and destroying offensive schemes. Though his success against the Green Bay Packers wasn’t the greatest, he had some of his best games against he and his team’s arch-rival. Rodgers saw many of those games, and understood what the guy meant to the game. Here’s what he had to say about Urlacher: Brian Urlacher was a Packer killer for 13 seasons. We’re happy he had such a great career and yes, we will miss him – especially all those wins the Packers had over him and his Chicago Bears teams.Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports photograph “I want to congratulate Brian on a tremendous career. We have had our share of battles amid what is in my opinion the league’s greatest rivalry, but I’ll always have the utmost respect for his professionalism and the way he played the game. He was a complete player on the field and a really good guy off of it. And while I won’t miss him making plays against us, I will miss the interaction with him during games and the challenges he presented to us in our preparation that forced us to raise our level of play. You think about the lineage of players who have played that position for that team: Butkus, Singletary, Urlacher. It’s an incredible list and is truly beyond any comparison. Brian was the ultimate competitor, leader, and a no-doubt Hall of Famer,

Nick Perry's rookie season wasn't a total injury washout, but the Green Bay Packers still can't say he's successfully made the transition from a college defensive end to a 3-4 outside linebacker in the NFL.

Free program open to high school football players; presented by the National Guard

I liked what I heard -- er, read -- from Detroit Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew this week. As Tim Twentyman of the Lions' website writes, Pettigrew has pledged to rectify the series of negative plays he made last season. "I can't put what I did [last year] on anyone else," he said. "I take it upon myself to fix the drops or missed blocks, the plays that weren't made, the fumbles. That's on me and I take it upon myself. It's my problem to fix." Pettigrew fumbled four times in 2012, losing two of them, and dropped eight passes, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

With the draft finished and all of free agency’s biggest and best names off the market, each team’s roster is, more or less, set. Until, of course, training camp. When training camp and the pre season rolls around there are always a series of cuts to every roster; most expected, others not so much. Predicting the obvious cuts won’t be much fun, what with them being obvious and all, and often requires absurd amounts of research as they aren’t generally what I’d consider “household” names. For a look at some of the less likely - yet, still all too possible - names that could be hitting free agency in August, division by division, take a gander down yonder. NFC North Chicago Bears, WR/KR Devin Hester: Hester’s never having developed into the receiver they had hoped he would is only part of the reason he is likely to be cut. Yes, his 242 yard season is a little disappointing, but not nearly as much as the fact that he didn’t return a single punt or kick for a touchdown. His average yardage on returns is also in steep decline. At this point the Bears aren’t getting a lot out of Hester, who counts for nearly $3M against this season’s cap. Detroit Lions, WR Mike Thomas: Not sure how he landed his 4 year $10.2M, but it’s long overdue to be terminated. Even after joining the Lions following a mid-season trade, he failed to take advantage of his multiple opportunities to shine with all the injuries to their other receivers. Green Bay Packers, LB Desmond Bishop: Bishop may envision himself as a defensive MVP, but he might have to prove his worth on another squad. Brad Jones could more than likely start in Bishop’s spot, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut Bishop to expedite that process. Minnesota Vikings, WR Jerome Simpson: Simpson hasn’t exactly worked out as the Vikings had hoped for. Given every opportunity to assert himself as a starting receiver last season, especially with the injury to Percy Harvin, he did anything but. Now the Vikings have more depth at receiver with the additions of Greg Jennings and Cordarrelle Patterson, which makes him even more expendable. you can follow J.D. Burke: @JDBurkeOV

Hear from Green Bay Packers wide receivers Charles Johnson, James Jones, Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, linebacker Clay Matthews, safety Morgan Burnett, and cornerback Tramon Williams as they discuss the departures of former teammates and providing leadership to rookies.

Packers offense being challenged to be more consistent

Oh. My. GOD. If I see one more story or hear one more radio interview about the much-suggested but still-unplanned reunion between the Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre, why, I'm going to pack up my blogger uniform, head down to my ranch, start cutting the grass and not come back until the rest of ESPN.com's blog network team flies down in a private plane and begs me to resume as a favor to them. (Starting right after this blog post, of course.

Brett Favre spent most of his career as the most beloved man in Green Bay, but the last time he was there, he was getting booed off the field after his Vikings had lost to an Aaron Rodgers-led Packers team. There was plenty of bad blood then, but Rodgers says now is the time for…