It's time to examine who should represent the only non-profit professional franchise in the world on the offensive side of the ball, as well as special-teams positions.
As with the last edition (defense), there will be the standard starters and one backup. I also put a premium on number of games played with the franchise and how they fared in their era, versus how impressive their entire careers were or their raw abilities, such as speed, agility, size and strength. Modern day players might be bigger and stronger and faster, but that will not be held against players of the past.
However, I also am mostly restricting my picks to players in the television era, so that I can personally analyze the player by seeing them in person or watching them on tape. The only exception to this rule is the above-pictured Don Hutson.
QB: Brett Favre is the obvious first choice here, no matter what you think of his prima donna approach to the team in this offseason. He is first in almost every historical category at his position in league history and could be counted on to play every game so one never has to use a backup.
Moreover, his TD:INT ratio is far superior to anyone else with double-digit TDs in team history, despite the perception that he throws so many picks, and despite not having the talent to work with of the other player on the list.
QB: Bart Starr was a consummate champion and one of the greatest managers of the game. He won five championships in seven years, a feat that will likely never be repeated, and was a Super Bowl MVP.
RB: Paul Hornung may have had problems off the field (drinking, womanizing, and gambling that cost him a year of his career), but Lombardi put up with it because the Golden Boy played his best in the biggest games. He was also a quintuple threat, capable of receiving, passing, blocking, and even kicking, as well as running, for scores.
RB: Ahman Green is reluctantly on this list for me, because I found his fumbling completely correctable since it usually happened because he refused to carry the ball in his right arm. (I had often asked for a chance to coach, because I would have broken that left arm and told him "now if you wanna play, you'll use your right!") He also was only with the team five years, and the last was unremarkable.
However, he was the best at his position in all the phases. As a receiver, he and Faulk were in a class by themselves. He was as good as anyone blocking in pass protection. And he ran for speed (among the five fastest) and power, making the Packers literally unstoppable on third or 4th-and-1 for almost two full seasons.
FB: Jim Taylor was a beast, preferring to run over someone than around them. He actually ran for more yards than Hornung in their time together with the team, and could block and catch as well.
FB: William Henderson was a devastating blocker who ranked among the top fullbacks in the league in catching the ball, even being capable of the acrobatic catch. The only reason he did not run for many yards was the offense simply did not make the fullback part of the rushing, but he did well when called upon.
8 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Heather King 10 months ago
A lot of good historical and recent info here.
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BabyTate 10 months ago
Not bad my friend, not bad at all.
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L.J. Burgess 10 months ago
I read this back when you published but was distracted by the 'controversy' du jour and never really gave it proper respect.
I'm back, props to you and yours.
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Kyle Latimer 10 months ago
Kick Returner- Desmond Howard hands down. Without him there would be no super bowl ring for Brett Favre.
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MJ Kasprzak 10 months ago
Wasn't his official position--he was a WR. That's why I didn't include kick returners. And we still win that game with any decent returner--he had one score and set up another, but the blocking probably changes that to setting up one and getting great field position on another with any above-average guy. That's still more than enough to win, since off the top of my head I think we won by 11. It woulda been close, but we would still have cbeen the clearly better team.
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Kyle Latimer 10 months ago
Well i think he was MVP for a reason..
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MJ Kasprzak 10 months ago
He was, and he arguably had the best return season ever to that point. But I just think the Packers win without him, and for that reason I'm not sure I would have given him the MVP. And if I included returners, I should include fourth receivers who are on the field more, and therefore dime backs, maybe pass rush specialists...the article was already two long ones, so I decided to leave off returners since a player is not listed as a returner in the team program. (I even thought about leaving off kickers, but they are their own positions and have more impact than returners.)
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MJ Kasprzak 10 months ago
But, hey, thanks for commenting, and rest assured, if I was going to round out the roster to current size, I would put a returner on it.
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