Within the very narrow constraints of the NFL's Caste System, the Packers have changed demographically rather dramatically in recent years. In 2005, the last year Mike Sherman was coaching the team, Green Bay had 4 white starters and just 12 whites on the roster. The Pack begins 2008 with 10 white starters and 22 white players overall, seven more than last season.
The big story in football of course has been QB Brett Favre's retirement, unretirement and then bittersweet departure for New York. In his place steps Aaron Rodgers, the former first round draft pick who's had three seasons to watch and learn and who looks capable of continuing the Packers' rebuilding process which quickly blossomed last year under Mike McCarthy.
Rodgers is backed up by two rookies, Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn. It will be a big surprise if Brohm isn't a big star in the league at some point. Flynn was the quarterback of LSU's national championship team in 2007.
Green Bay still uses the fullback heavily, but only as a blocker and occasional receiver. John Kuhn and Korey Hall handle those duties, though both can also run; Kuhn was a record setting back for Division II Shippensburg.
For the second straight season the Packers start an all-white offensive line. The group, which boasts a rookie this year, really came together as the '07 season went on and provided Favre with superb protection in the playoffs.
Wisconsin grad Mark Tauscher starts at RT, rookie Josh Sitton at RG, Scott Wells in his fifth season out of Tennessee is the center, Jason Spitz is the LG, and Chad Clifton, another Tennessee Vol, is the starter at LT.
Backups are Daryn Colledge, Allen Barbre, Tony Moll, and Breno Giacomini.
All three of the tight ends are black, but the Packers stunned the football world in April by taking the only two white wide receivers to be picked in the 2008 NFL Draft, Jordy Nelson and Brett Swain.
Swain went in the final round and is currently on Green Bay's practice squad. Nelson was selected early in the second round after a dominating senior season at Kansas State during which he made 122 receptions for 1,606 yards and 11 TDs. Nelson is 6-3 and has what the Caste media likes to call "deceptive speed," whatever that is. The truth is that there have been dozens of white receivers with Nelson's size and talent who never had the opportunity to play at a I-A program much less get a fair shot in the NFL, so it's nice to see the rare white receiver fall through the cracks. But wide receiver is a position that whites would dominate in the NFL, much like they are beginning to take over tight end, if recruited after high school like blacks are and then allowed to develop in college and the pros.
On defense, LE Aaron Kampman finally made it to the Pro Bowl as a starter following the 2007 season. Now in his seventh season, Kampman was forced to go through the NFL's ridiculous racial apprenticeship program, "learning" as a backup for two seasons, and then, after becoming a starter and being one of the best tacklers in the league at his position, still was routinely maligned as the "overachieving" weak link on the defense. It wasn't until Kampman became a top sack artist to go along with his tremendous pursuit and tackling abilities that he was finally recognized as the big-time star he is.
A. J. Hawk is the weakside linebacker. The '06 first round pick from Ohio State has had two solid seasons in the NFL and is going to continue to get better.
Strongside LB Brady Poppinga is one of those quietly consistent and productive players who comes under excessive scrutiny for not being "flashy" enough, e.g., not black enough. But while he'll never be enshrined in Canton, Poppinga does his job very efficiently.
Brandon Chillar, who is mixed white and Indian (from India), is a backup outside linebacker.
NUMBER OF WHITE STARTERS: 10
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF WHITE PLAYERS ON 53 MAN ROSTER: 22
GRADE: C
The big story in football of course has been QB Brett Favre's retirement, unretirement and then bittersweet departure for New York. In his place steps Aaron Rodgers, the former first round draft pick who's had three seasons to watch and learn and who looks capable of continuing the Packers' rebuilding process which quickly blossomed last year under Mike McCarthy.
Rodgers is backed up by two rookies, Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn. It will be a big surprise if Brohm isn't a big star in the league at some point. Flynn was the quarterback of LSU's national championship team in 2007.
Green Bay still uses the fullback heavily, but only as a blocker and occasional receiver. John Kuhn and Korey Hall handle those duties, though both can also run; Kuhn was a record setting back for Division II Shippensburg.
For the second straight season the Packers start an all-white offensive line. The group, which boasts a rookie this year, really came together as the '07 season went on and provided Favre with superb protection in the playoffs.
Wisconsin grad Mark Tauscher starts at RT, rookie Josh Sitton at RG, Scott Wells in his fifth season out of Tennessee is the center, Jason Spitz is the LG, and Chad Clifton, another Tennessee Vol, is the starter at LT.
Backups are Daryn Colledge, Allen Barbre, Tony Moll, and Breno Giacomini.
All three of the tight ends are black, but the Packers stunned the football world in April by taking the only two white wide receivers to be picked in the 2008 NFL Draft, Jordy Nelson and Brett Swain.
Swain went in the final round and is currently on Green Bay's practice squad. Nelson was selected early in the second round after a dominating senior season at Kansas State during which he made 122 receptions for 1,606 yards and 11 TDs. Nelson is 6-3 and has what the Caste media likes to call "deceptive speed," whatever that is. The truth is that there have been dozens of white receivers with Nelson's size and talent who never had the opportunity to play at a I-A program much less get a fair shot in the NFL, so it's nice to see the rare white receiver fall through the cracks. But wide receiver is a position that whites would dominate in the NFL, much like they are beginning to take over tight end, if recruited after high school like blacks are and then allowed to develop in college and the pros.
On defense, LE Aaron Kampman finally made it to the Pro Bowl as a starter following the 2007 season. Now in his seventh season, Kampman was forced to go through the NFL's ridiculous racial apprenticeship program, "learning" as a backup for two seasons, and then, after becoming a starter and being one of the best tacklers in the league at his position, still was routinely maligned as the "overachieving" weak link on the defense. It wasn't until Kampman became a top sack artist to go along with his tremendous pursuit and tackling abilities that he was finally recognized as the big-time star he is.
A. J. Hawk is the weakside linebacker. The '06 first round pick from Ohio State has had two solid seasons in the NFL and is going to continue to get better.
Strongside LB Brady Poppinga is one of those quietly consistent and productive players who comes under excessive scrutiny for not being "flashy" enough, e.g., not black enough. But while he'll never be enshrined in Canton, Poppinga does his job very efficiently.
Brandon Chillar, who is mixed white and Indian (from India), is a backup outside linebacker.
NUMBER OF WHITE STARTERS: 10
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF WHITE PLAYERS ON 53 MAN ROSTER: 22
GRADE: C
