Friday, March 02, 2007

Strange bedfellows.

One of the hot rumors around the NFL circuit these days has Oakland Raiders WR Randy Moss being traded to the Green Bay Packers. The former Vikings star was a frequent tormenter of the Pack in his seven seasons with Minnesota.

From my standpoint, the most intriguing aspect will be the reaction of Packer backers if this trade comes to fruition. For many seasons we heard this sanctimonious bunch say how a player like Moss wasn’t fit to wear the heralded “green and gold”. After all, the Green Bay organization only signs players of good character. Even iconic QB Brett Favre took a shot at Moss after Randy’s idiotic declaration of “I play when I want to play.” Favre said something along the lines of how a player with that attitude would never be allowed to play with the Packers. Of course, Brett was proven a fraud a year later when the Pack turned around and signed the slothful and disruptive Terry Glenn in 2002.

I’ve said it before in this space and I’ll say it again: The Packer fans will stoop to touch the hem of a player’s garment if he ever dons the Green Bay uniform. But the minute a player leaves Green Bay to play elsewhere, it must be because he’s no good anymore. I’m convinced that if Favre ever left the Packers to voluntarily play with another team, you’d hear things like “Oh, he was just a pill-popping alcoholic” or “He threw too many interceptions anyhow”.

After Moss' mock mooning of the Packer fans during a January 2005 playoff game, the reaction was almost to the point where he should be burned at the stake. But if Randy is traded to the Pack, you can rest assured that incident will be considered a distant memory.

2 comments:

W.B. Picklesworth said...

Most fans for most teams will try to look on the bright side when a new and contraversial player joins the team. I'm a Packers fan and would welcome Moss with a good deal of trepidation, hoping that he would provide some offensive pop while keeping his nose clean. I'm not sure how capable he is of doing either, but I'd be willing to give it a shot.

Brad Carlson said...

Ben, thanks for your insights. The point of reference I use for GB fans are my Wisconsin relatives, so I guess I'm guilty of making a generalization. Thankfully, you don't sound as though you are in the "delusional Packer fan" category.