Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Focus on what you don't know NFL players.


I like NFL football.A decade ago I wrote a year-long series for The Reader (www.thereader.com) on Omaha's Black Sports Legends.cheap jersey This story on former Husker great and then-still active Green Bay Packers star running back Ahman Green, who starred at OmahaNorth and Omaha Central, was not officially part of the series but since it ran in close proximity to it most readers probably assumed it was.



In any event, Green certainly qualifies as a legend. The now retired football star is arguably the most accomplished offensive skill player from Nebraska to play at the sport's highest level.cheap nfl jerseys Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers may have been a more gifted athlete but his pro dominance occurred in the Canadian Football League, not the NFL, where his playing time was cut to almost nothing due to serious injuries. Green enjoyed a near Hall of Fame-worthy NFL career.

He probably needed another healthy year or two, to go over 10,000 yards rushing, in order to secure a spot and he fell somewhat short. But in his prime he was right there with the best backs in the league. You can read several of my Omaha Black Sports Legends articles, which appeared under the heading Out to Win: The Roots of Greatness, on this blog, including profiles of Bob Gibson, Bob Boozer, Gale Sayers, Roger Sayers, Don Benning, Ron Boone, Marlin Briscoe, Johnny Rodgers , and maybe the greatest of them all and someone you've likely never heard of before - Marion Hudson.

As a Green Bay Packers fans, these you know?


I've been paying attention to them.While many  people are aware that the Green Bay Packers are the only team in the NFL that is owned--not by a billionaire family or a big corporation--by the season ticket holders, by the people of Wisconsin, few are aware that Green Bay also employs a full time seamstress, Marge Switzer.

Marge Switzer

I have been very like them.Also contrary to popular belief, teams and players are not issued new game jerseys every week.  Green Bay players, for example, are outfitted with two green jerseys and two white jerseys at the beginning of each season.  A part of Marge's job each week is to repair any tear in a jersey larger than the small, breathable holes "built in" to typical jersey material.