Are you kidding me? Atari Bigby holds out for a new contract even though he isn’t physically able to play? Is a first grade education all you need to be a NFL player agent? It can’t be much more than that because whoever told Bigby to stay away from Green Bay this offseason is dumber than a box of rocks.

I mean, come on, Bigby “holds out” all offseason only to report with an ankle injury leaving him on the PUP list. What an idiot! Injured cornerback Al Harris moves to Green Bay the last two months and under the care of the Packers’ medical and strength conditioning team might make the most amazing comeback from injury in NFL history.

I think Bigby might be the all-time dumbest player in NFL history. The first dumb-dumb to come to mind in comparison from a Packers’ standpoint would be punter Paul McJulian. One good play and they think they are superstars. I am willing to bet that Bigby is such an afterthought in the Packers’ 2010 plans that they could care less whether he passes his physical or not. Justin Harrell has a much better chance of making the team than Bigby does.

So long Atari, if you need representation in the future, let me know. I can negotiate the league minimum like nobody can!

If you were at today’s shareholders meeting you can’t possibly not be fired up for the upcoming season. With the Packers being a good team with the potential to be great, the atmosphere at Lambeau today was as electric as any shareholders meeting I’ve been to with the possible exception of the first post-Favre gathering. Packers’ fans are expecting a Super Bowl run and I believe they are going to get it.

On the way to the hallowed grounds I heard Rookie and Bill making fun of me because I took a day off work to go the meeting. Rookie said he wouldn’t waste his vacation time on something so stupid, he would rather go to the beach. The beach? In Green Bay? Alright. The fact is, if you didn’t grow up being a Packers’ fan then you can’t understand us. So there is no way the Bear fan and Bronco fan that Bill and Rookie are can understand the uniqueness of being part of the Packers family. I don’t care how long you lived in Green Bay or covered the team. So go ahead and make fun of us, we don’t need you on our side. There will always be more Packers’ fans than any other NFL team if not any other sports team.

The most memorable thing today was meeting a guy who drove 900 miles straight from Virginia to be at the meeting, even though he wasn’t even an owner. He came up to me while I was waiting for NFL commissioner  Rodger Goodell to appear in the atrium for his NFL Network show and it was one of the most amazing conversations I have ever had, and it ended with a blockbuster. This guy, which for the life of me I can’t remember his name, knew more about the Packers than I do (insert cocky remark here). But really, this guy was aweseome!

We talked about almost every positon on the Packers and who was going to do what. We talked about his amazing story of being a Packers’ fan from far away and the first time he made a trip to Lambeau. As a lifelong resident of Green Bay and an owner and season ticket holder, his story made me feel so much more privileged . I am one of the luckiest men on the planet to be raised in Green Bay and be part of this franchise. To have the season tickets I have and the 12 NFL Championships to brag about, no team can hold a candle to the Packers.

Today was a great day. The crowd was huge, the atmosphere was electric, the Packers are ready to bring the Lombardi Trophy back home again. You could not walk out of that stadium today and not think big things ahead for this franchise. I know I will alway remember my conversation with my bud from Virginia. He said it over and over, unless you are one of us, you will never understand. The Cowboys can be America’s team, big whoop. The Packers are the world’s team and always will be.

I had a great day today. This was the official beginning of the Packers next Super Bowl win. It feels like 1996 all over if you ask me. Great QB, star defensive player, all the pieces are in place. The big push starts Saturday.

Finally, I said my story with the guy from Virginia would end with a bang, well, if you watched the NFL Farn Forum on NFL Network tonight my guy was on TV. How he got in those seats behind Goodell is beyond me. Look for a guy with a red sleeveless shirt and black hat with gold Packers’ logo. I almost died when I saw him down there when I watched it tonight. This guy is the most dedicated fan I have ever met, and he never even lived in Wisconsin.

The Packers are special and the NFL and all other sports leagues needs a team like Green Bay to succeed. Without the Packers’ success all other small market teams would question their existence. But if you can do what the Packers have done in a town like Green Bay, you should be able to succeed in any town. The Packers are the model of success that all sports teams are following. Little old Green Bay, land of cheese and milk and NFL superiority. Not too shabby.

Having a unique talent is not always easy, as Green Bay native Tony Shalhoub’s Monk character would say, “it’s a blessing, and a curse.” After some recent comments by Packers’ tight end Jermichael Finley, I’m wondering if the Packers might have one of those Randy Moss, TO type of players – huge talent but always on the edge of being a distraction. I guess it is too early to judge Finley yet but his comments regarding his missing curfew the night before the Packers’ playoff game last year were interesting.

“It was like the FBI when I got on that floor.” Finley said. He also said he got off scot-free because “probably I was too big a part of the game plan.”  I will say the man appears comfortable in his own skin. Wouldn’t have hurt him to say he screwed up and offer to pay a “fine” to a local charity. I have to say I agree with Mike McCarthy for not keeping him out of the game for any period of time, that just hurts his teammates, and McCarthy’s, chances to win the game. I would hope he did indeed at least fine him. Geez, I’d hate to see McCarthy become as bad as Chilly when it comes to coddling players.

Finley at least knows all eyes are upon him as he enters this year after “showing the world” what he can do. He talks about “seizing the moment” in 2010. If he does the Packers will have an offense second to none in the NFL. They are already a top five offense at the worst. Add Finley’s prediction of 100 catches and 1300 yards and the Packers won’t be stopped. This offense brings back memories of the James Lofton, John Jefferson and Paul Coffman offense of the mid-80s. They were never stopped but the defense was so bad many times 40 points or more weren’t enough to win. It was amazing. At least we know that won’t be the case this year with the Packers’ defense coming off a season in which it was ranked second in the NFL.

Yeah, I know they gave up 51 points their last time out, but having that burn in their craw for seven months ought to be a motivating factor not to let that happen again. Even if the Packers drop a little on defense as long as Finley and Aaron Rodgers are doing their thing from the jump off, the Packers will be playing in late January, hopefully in Lambeau Field. My biggest fear about Finley I guess is not his attitude so much as his durability. For whatever reason he doesn’t strike me as the toughest tight end I’ve ever seen, but I suppose the explosive types usually aren’t the bulldogs that guys like The Toolbox – Ed West or Mark Chmura were in the 90s for the Packers. Chewy took a beating some times but always got up, I want to see that from Finley once.

In the end though, I want to know what possibly could have been more important in Glendale, Arizona than being with your teammates preparing for the biggest game of the season? And if it ever happens in Green Bay, give me a call. I’ll drive.

As we inch closer to training camp the Green Bay Packers are becoming one of the most talked about teams in the NFL. You can’t tune into any sports channel that is talking NFL without one of the commentators bringing up the Packers as a tough team to beat this year. Expectations will be super high when camp opens and I for one am going to really enjoy hearing the hype escalate further as training camp and preseason progress. Opening day in Philly is going to be huge.

The Packers have one of the best teams in the NFL because of the work of general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy. Thompson has put together one the most talented teams in the league and first-time head coach McCarthy has proven to be the right man for the right job. McCarthy has the respect of his players and a proven offensive system that has seen him turn around Brett Favre’s career and then develop Aaron Rodgers into arguable the best quarterback in the NFL without a ring. Kind of like the best player never to win a major.

This just might be Rodgers year. Since the debacle in Tampa Bay last year Rodgers has become the true leader of this team with a lot of help from cornerback Charles Woodson. Much like the old Reggie White-Brett Favre days the Packers have leaders on both sides of the ball. Woodson recently called Rodgers the best QB in the NFL. The way Rodgers came back from a poor start in Arizona last January was epic. If not for a soft pass defense in that game the Packers might have been playing in the Super Bowl. Believe you me the Packers will not be that soft this year against the pass. One thing about McCarthy, with the exception of special teams, when he says he’s going to fix something, he fixes it.

The Packers have enough talent and enough competition at every position that they should be even better than 11-5 this year. It will probably take 13-3 to win the NFC North, which I think will be the best division in football in 2010. The Packers are the up-and-comers with the youth and desire to win it all. The Vikings with or without Favre can be penciled in for 10 or more wins. The Bears are my sleeper team in the division and they scare the living daylights out of me. I’ve always been a fan of Mike Martz and the Packers struggled stopping John Kitna and Detroit when Martz coached there. If the Bears’ defense rebounds with Brian Urlacher back and Jay Cutler buys into Martz’ offense, the Bears are going to be a beast.

I hate to admit it but I love the Lions’ head coach Jim Schwartz. He has a plan much like McCarthy did when he came to Green Bay and Schwartz will stick to it even if it takes a few years. The Lions have greatly improved their talent level since he became coach and the Vikings might have given the Lions the greatest gift of all when they traded with them in the draft allowing Detroit to draft Javid Best. Only the Vikings could be that stupid. I don’t see the Packers losing to the Lions this year, but that 19-game home winning streak over the Lions might not go much past 20.

Two weeks from Friday we get underway. I’ll be at the Packers’ shareholders meeting the day before. The Packers’ financial statement usually comes out that day but tomorrow the Packers will deliver the news ahead of time and it figures to be bad. The Packers might need a Super Bowl run to keep the franchise alive and kicking. I think it is coming. The Saints won’t repeat, the Vikings never win anything, no team in the NFC West is any good anymore, which leaves only the Dallas Cowboys standing in the Packers way. Seems like old times.