The Robinson Backstory

From Tom Silverstein, here.

General manager Ted Thompson said the way the draft fell was the main reason the Packers wound up with two receivers, but the club clearly had its eye on going young because it signed three rookie free agent receivers shortly after the draft. The Packers had 13 receivers on the roster before Robinson’s release.

On the Monday after the draft, Robinson’s agent, Alvin Keels said, the Packers told him that Robinson would be on the bubble if he came to training camp and they asked him if he would like them to release his client. Keels asked them for permission to shop Robinson around the league for a trade, which he did, but ultimately a deal couldn’t be reached.

“There are a couple of teams who are interested,” Keels said. “They just weren’t interested in trading for Koren, at least at the terms the Packers were seeking. The Packers wanted a draft pick and a couple teams were offering a player that the Packers didn’t feel fit what they wanted.”

Thompson said he felt Robinson could definitely be an asset with another team and he was fairly sure he would get a chance with another team. He said part of the reason to make the move now was so Robinson could situated with a new team quickly.

“I think a lot of Koren,” Thompson said. “I’m very proud to be able to see him turn things around. He’s a true professional. He helped us in the locker room. He helped the young guys learn to be pros.”

Keels said Robinson was not bitter over his release and credited Thompson and personnel analyst John Schneider with saving his career. Both men had a relationship with Robinson from their days in Seattle and were willing to take a chance on him despite his troubles with alcohol.

Good (and fast) reporting on his release.  I’m really pulling for the guy.

Is Koren Robinson Gone? (Updated: Yes)

Profootballtalk.com is reporting, via “league sources,” that Koren Robinson is going to be cut, maybe as soon as today. I hope they’re wrong, but it makes a certain amount of sense.

Robinson isn’t getting younger and the Packers are. With Jordy Nelson the top pick in this draft, James Jones in the third round last year, and Greg Jennings in the 2nd the year before — the Packers have invested heavily in young receivers. Robinson has helped on special teams, but aside from the one spectacular play (when he caught the ball on the ground and lunged for the first down before being touched by a defender), he has not contributed much as a receiver. I don’t think the Packers were counting on him to play to the level of his draft position — 9th overall in 2001, the pick right before the Packers took Jamal Reynolds (ouch) — but probably expected more than he’s given.

I expected him to be better and I still think under the right circumstances he can be a solid NFL receiver. And I hope he can stay sober.

UPDATE: The answer to the question posed in the headline is yes. It’s official. See Greg Bedard here and the Packers release here.

UPDATE II: Just as I was going to post some more thoughts about Robinson’s release, we got a comment from — I’m writing the entire name under protest — joshywoshybigfatposhy. As it happens JWBFP captures exactly what I’m thinking right now. Even if the move makes some sense from Ted Thompson’s perspective, it’s a bit unsettling. Something about it just doesn’t sit right with me. Anyway, I’ll let JWBFP do the talking:

I’m curious why Koren, at least at this point. I would think there are players with less value than him now, and given his circumstance, he’s never really had much consistent time to prove his worth to the Packers. I think any player would tell you that anything less than a full season w/training camp isn’t enough. He has decent size for our system as well.

I also have a sense that he’s staying on track with his treatment and at least portrayed a good attitude about things. Maybe I’m being naive, but I would think he could, at the very least, help with the other young receivers until it’s obvious he’s last in line talent-wise — as someone to show tell them where bad judgment gets you, and someone to show them how hard it is to gain back the trust of the league/players/coaches.

One of a few possibilities would make this role obsolete, and they may all be true for all I know: 1. He’s really not doing well/doesn’t work hard enough/isn’t a good leader; 2. The Packers don’t feel their receivers are at-risk enough to need an example like Robinson around; 3. They feel as if their “log-jam-competition” method is getting out of hand, and no longer applies at receiver.

More on Brohm

Lori Nickel has a brief get-to-know-you chat with Brian Brohm, here.

Brohm on Brett Favre’s retirement:  “It would be cool, just growing up, huge fan, to be able to hang out with a Hall of Fame quarterback would have been pretty awesome.  But you know if he doesn’t retire, then maybe I don’t get drafted (by the Packers). So it’s kind of a double-edged sword there.”

Yesterday I heard Tim Hasselback on Sirius NFL Radio make an impassioned argument that the Packers should not have drafted Brohm, period.  I think Hasselback is very smart — one of the smartest football commentators out there — but his argument was preposterous.  More later.

Packers Sign Condrew Allen

More here.

His parents, like Jermichael Finley’s, must have fought about his first name.

“Conner.”

“Andrew.”

“No, Conner.”

“I said Andrew, dammit!”

“How about Andner?”

“That’s stupid.  Why not Condrew?”

“Perfect.  I love you.”

“Next time you feed, and I’ll water!”

Another Tryout Signing…

Per Greg Bedard it’s Kyle Ward, a cornerback from Louisiana-Lafayette.  Bedard writes:

Former Louisiana-Lafayette cornerback Kyle Ward is the second person to agree to a free-agent contract with the Packer since the rookie camp, according to the school.After transferring from Alcorn State where he ran track, Ward (6-1, 197) made only 15 tackles as a senior with the Rajun Cajuns because of injuries.

A website called Draftdaddy.com had this to say: “Kyle Ward is a very fast cornerback. He has some upside potential and we like him a lot.”  Here is Ward’s bio at the UL-L website.

Scout.com is reporting that the Packers have signed a third tryout player, also a defensive back.

The Audacity of Pabst: Barack Obama, PBR Lover?

This passage comes to us from the “pool report” on Barack Obama’s trip to Raleigh, North Carolina, yesterday. A pool report is sort of a cheat sheet for reporters, a summary of events written by a reporter who was present for those who were not. This one was written by Michael Powell, a fantastic writer with the New York Times.

As Obama was campaigning, he stopped in a bar called The Raleigh Times, in a building that used to be occupied by a newspaper of the same name. Powell writes:

Obama found himself momentarily beerless. As the primary season
has semi-bizarrely centered of late on his eating and drinking (he
stands accused of doing too little of either), he moved quickly.
“Where’s my beer?” he asked, loud enough for the reporters to hear.
What’s your pleasure, Mr. Candidate? He eyed an array of mighty
fine micro brews on tap, from the loverly amber Maharaja IPA to the
“naturally cloudy” Blanche Bruxelles. He zeroed in on the mass market.
“PBR [Pabst Blue Ribbon for the uninitiated],” he said.
An Illinois man recently asked to be buried in a casket in the
shape of a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon, but I digress. Obama held up the
pint, said “Cheers!”, and quickly took a sip, then another, then
another. Having established he was a sport albeit not an inebriated one,
he set to working the crowd.

I don’t know whether to be impressed that the Democratic nominee for president chose Pabst over all of those fancy beers or to be depressed that he apparently didn’t finish his beer. (That’s the kind of thing that could lose an election in Wisconsin.)

But I do think it’s funny that Michael Powell, knowing his readers are from the national media, felt the need to translate “PBR” for them.

Who says the Washington press corps is out of touch?

Still a Chance for Beaver?

WKOW reports that while Beaver was not offered a contract Monday, the Packers told him that he is still under consideration for the final roster spot.

We spoke with Justin late Monday afternoon and he says that the Packers informed him that they were signing 3 of the 19 players who were in camp on a tryout and that Beaver wasn’t one of those 3 players.

However, the Packers do still have one open roster spot and Beaver says that the Packers told him that he is still in the running for that spot.

Beaver’s agent Scott Smith had this to say, “The Packers are still assessing their roster size and position needs. They haven’t currently offered Justin a contract, but they were very impressed with his workout and he is certainly on their short list going forward. We will continue to assess Justin’s options with other teams while we wait for something to hopefully materialize with the Packers.”

Justin Beaver Won’t Be a Packer

Greg Bedard has the news.

The Packers have informed the representatives of former Wisconsin-Whitewater running back Justin Beaver that they will not be signing him to a contract.The Packers will sign three players. Former Arkansas defensive tackle Fred Bledsoe was told he would be one of those people, according to his agent.

That’s too bad.  His story was a good one and he seemed like a down-to-earth guy.  I hope he gets a shot with another team.

Justin Beaver Gets His Shot

Rob Demovsky thinks Justin Beaver, the UW Whitewater standout who tried out with the Packers this weekend, has an important fan.

It sounds like Mike McCarthy is going to make a push to keep Justin Beaver, the diminutive running back from the University of Wis.-Whitewater.

The Green Bay Packers coach on Sunday said no decisions have been made on the 19 players the team had in this weekend for tryouts, but it likely will sign four of them to the 80-man offseason roster.

The 5-foot-7 Beaver, who won the Division III equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, got plenty of work during the weekend rookie orientation camp and opened some eyes.

“I’ll tell you what, he’s been very impressive,” McCarthy said. “He’s done a very nice job. He plays with a lot of energy. He’s very quick (and) explosive. Does he have a shot? That’s something we’ll discuss when we get upstairs, but I would love for him to have an opportunity, because he’s been very impressive.”

Also, see here for a flashback to the article from the JS Online right after Beaver’s impressive pro-day workout. Sounds like the kid could be a keeper.

UPDATE: In this item from last night, in which Greg Bedard notes that the Packers will sign DT Fred Bledsoe to a contract, Bedard writes that Beaver “wasn’t in the Packers’ plans as of Saturday night” and allows that “that may have changed.

Bears Fan Comes to His Senses, Temporarily

Jim Schuman, a lifelong fan of the Chicago Bears, switched sides in the Bear-Packer rivalry. At least for one day. Schuman ran the Boston Marathon wearing green-and-gold from head-to-toe. When he was done, declared: “I looked like the biggest tool.”

A bit rich coming from a Bears fan, I know.

Actually, Schuman wore Packer gear to raise an additional $2000 (on top of $7000 from other sources) for Homes for Our Troops — a fantastic charity that provides living assistance for wounded veterans. Schuman had been a freshman in college in 1985, the last time the lowly Bears won the Super Bowl, and in news that won’t surprise Packer fans, talked about the victory incessantly. So when he asked his former roommates, both from Wisconsin, to support his fundraising, they agreed to do so, conditionally: He must wear Packer gear.

“You must also pledge that in no way will you display said Packer merchandise in a demeaning or derogatory way,” wrote Jim Wallerius, one of the former roommates, in an e-mail before the marathon.

Wallerius — whose family has had Packers season tickets since 1965, whose middle name is Vincent for legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi, and whose mom went into labor with him at Lambeau Field and stayed until the end of the game — said he thought about just donating the money to his friend’s charitable cause.

“Then, the devil appeared on the other shoulder and said . . . ‘He’s still a Bears fan,’ ” Wallerius said.

During the marathon, Schuman was cheered by Packer fans.

“I would smile at them,” he said. “It was one of those compromising smiles, like you know you’re doing something that’s wrong.”

He was also heckled by Bears fans.

“When people would yell, ‘Go Bears,’ I was actually happy,” he said.

“Hopefully they’ll understand and forgive me at some point in time.”

I’m sure they will. And because it was for such a great cause, we’ll forgive you for your lifelong devotion to mediocrity. The whole story is here.