First of all, Donald Driver's family might be the best looking family of all time. My goodness. Nobody working in radio from that crew.
Anyway, pretty cool story that broke the other day about the Badgers offering Donald Driver's son, Cristian, a scholarship. I guess he's a sophomore in high school this season, but is a 4-star recruit as a defensive back. If that ranking holds throughout his high school career, he'll have his pick of where he wants to go when he commits at some point next year. But if he wants to go to a place where he'll be a fan favorite no matter what, Wisconsin is his landing spot. Grab an interception and then give us a little Donald shimmer and first down sign, the crowd at Camp Randall will go bananas!
Related: We were having a conversation on the air ('we'=me talking in circles to myself) this past summer about the top 5 wide receivers in Packer history. I think Jordy officially retiring was what sparked the discussion that probably only I cared about. Here was my top 5 when I put them together in real time that day without any prior thought:
5. Jordy Nelson. He's got the ring, he's got just about all of the single season records for his performance in 2014, his chemistry with Aaron Rodgers was electric. Had he been healthy for 2-3 more seasons in his prime, he probably gets closer to #2.
4. Antonio Freeman. Ultimately became the best/healthiest wide receiver during the Favre era. From '96-'99 he put up big numbers. Wasn't ever the fastest or tallest guy on the field, but just seemed to always be in the right place at the right time. Key part of the '96 Super Bowl run, caught a touchdown on the first drive of Super Bowl XXXII against Denver that had 13-year-old-me convinced we were going to win by a thousand.
3. Donald Driver. Most catches in franchise history, most yardage in franchise history, and the fact that he was a 7th round draft pick might make him the greatest value of all time. Also a part of the Super Bowl XLV team where he was a key cog in a receiving core LITTERED with talent (Jennings/Nelson/Driver/Jones/Finley).
2. Sterling Sharpe. Easily the most talented wide receiver in franchise history. His career was cut short with his neck issues, otherwise he would not only be #1 on this list, but probably one of the all time greats in NFL history. He will always be a hypothetical, but if he plays out his prime, healthy, with Brett Favre, I think we win at least 4-5 more Super Bowls (rough estimate).
1. Don Hutson. Obvious pick. One of the all time greats that essentially reinvented the game at a time when no one was throwing (or catching) the ball.
Maybe my one big omission would be James Lofton. I think I'd have him just on the outside of my top 5 for a few reasons; 1) The Packers of the Dickey/Lofton era never won anything of significance. Not that it was their fault, but we'll always remember the players who were involved on championship teams more clearly. And 2), I wasn't alive for the first part of his career in Green Bay, and for the part of his career in Green Bay that I was alive for, I was more interested in picking my nose than anything else. I actually remember Lofton as a Buffalo Bill, not a Packer. But if you want to call me a moron for not having him on the Top 5, I will ask you to kindly direct your complaints/insults to my email which I will promptly delete sight unseen. Thank you for your time.
PS: The Packers being -8 this weekend has me PETRIFIED. I think we're going to win, but it's going to be a dogfight. The Broncos are desperate for a win, and Vic Fangio knows how to disrupt Aaron Rodgers from his years as the Bears defensive coordinator. This reeks of a 3 point game. So stay away from the spread even though I probably won't be able to.