Media Day Videos and Snippets

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“My dad told me a story once,” said Art Jr. “When Prohibition was ending and the Steelers went up to play a game there, they took a train and when they got into the station, there was a bar across the street. Some Steeler fans went over there and these two guys came back running and screaming, ‘They’ve got real beer over there.’ The fans didn’t go to the game. They went to all the bars. My dad said, ‘Prohibition never came to Green Bay.’”

That was essentially true and lore has it that one of the notorious violators of the law was Packers legend Johnny Blood, who might still rank as the team’s most rebellious and eccentric player ever. continue

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When the Green Bay Packers defensive coaching staff noticed Chicago Bears backup quarterback Todd Collins getting loose on the opposite sideline in the third quarter of the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field, they huddled briefly to discuss whether to change the game plan.

"But one of the other assistants commented, 'If Cutler can play he will play because he's a tough kid so keep your guys focused on the rush lanes,' " Packers defensive line coach Mike Trgovac said Tuesday during Super Bowl XLV Media Day at Cowboys Stadium. "I'm just going to tell you from my perspective, playing against Cutler when I was at Carolina (with the Panthers staff) and he was at Denver, he's a tough kid. ... I thought that stuff (criticizing Cutler) was crazy." continue

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Crabtree, a tight end for the Green Bay Packers and a native of Fairfield County, will share his thoughts from Dallas as he and his teammates prepare for Super Bowl XLV.

Whether it's dealing with the crush of questions on media day or practicing for one of the biggest games in franchise history, Crabtree will provide an insider's look each day with dispatches from the Super Bowl.

We arrived at our hotel at 4:30 p.m., where we were greeted yet again by chants of "Go Pack Go!" from hundreds of fans. When I got up to my room, I finally had a moment to let it all sink in. It's so much more than I imagined as a kid and it's only day one. continue

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“The more I played the more I knew I could succeed and it got to the point where I just put it in my mind that I was going to be a starter and have a long career in the NFL,” Jenkins said.

Now, the 6-foot-2, 305-pound tackle is in the pinnacle of his sport and seeking his first Super Bowl ring.

“The Super Bowl is always the ultimate goal and it is funny to see these young guys get to this point and not understand how hard it is to get here and how you may never get a chance to get back,” Jenkins said.

“You see guys like Charles Woodson and Donald Driver and how hard they have fought to get back to the Super Bowl because they know just how tough it is to this game.” continue

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After another post along the same theme, Barnett’s account fell silent. Judging from the tone of them, he was in his bedroom with the door closed, The Cure blaring in his headphones, scribbling pictures of Rodgers with an “X” through his face into his journal when a parent finally knocked on his door and demanded he come to the phone and talk to his old friend Aaron.

There’s nothing quite as melodramatic as the Internet farewell, a staple of message board denizens out to prove their favorite Web sites have lost their edge ...continue

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But Flynn, 25, has the mindset of a starter.

"You've got to be a starter in your mind," his father said. "You are watching every play, making the read, seeing what Aaron is doing, what the defense is doing in a particular formation."

The whole family is going to the game next Sunday. They want Rodgers to do well, but if Matt has to step in, they are confident he will come through once again.

"Aaron is a great guy; and Matt and Aaron are really good friends," his father said. "Aaron has helped him immensely, but this is Aaron's team. Matt will play if he needs to. You want your kid to play, but you want the other kid to have success. He's got them there and we want him to have a good game.

"Matt will have his time." continue

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Philip and several other teammates from Cal are not at all surprised by the strength or accuracy of Rodgers' arm in the NFL. They saw it in college. But the way he eludes sacks, using his mobility to prolong plays, strikes them as a revelation.

"Somehow, he looks faster than he used to be," former Cal wide receiver Chase Lyman said. "We always used to make fun of him for not being very fast, but now he looks like he can really move. I don't know what they're feeding him up there in Green Bay."

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"I became a Packers fan when Aaron jumped on the ship - it's cool living vicariously through him," Giesel said.

It wasn't so cool when Rodgers sat on the bench his first three seasons in the NFL, watching Brett Favre play. Lyman remembered Rodgers' toughness at Cal, the way he diligently mastered the playbook and unwaveringly took command of the huddle.

So Lyman knew it was torturous for Rodgers, modest but still supremely confident, to spend so long as Favre's understudy.

"I'm sure it was killing him inside, because he's such a competitor," Lyman said. "Sitting on the sideline is the last thing he wanted to do, but Aaron is such a stand-up guy, so classy, he'd never let that on. Every time we talked about it, he'd say, 'Hey, my time will come, no problem.'

"And he'd say it with a wink." continue

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At age 2, his father said, Rodgers would sit on the couch and watch an entire N.F.L. game without fidgeting, his eyes riveted to the screen.

By age 5, he could identify the formations used by his favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers, and throw a football through a tire hanging from a tree. Larry Ruby, a family friend, said, “That’s when I began thinking his mind was really amazing and his physical attributes were phenomenal.”

Liane Christensen, whose sons, Wes and Will, grew up playing with the Rodgers boys, knew Rodgers had a gift the first time he stood in front of the Christensens’ three-story house and threw a football over the roof and into the backyard pool.

“I never worried about him breaking a window,” she said, “because he was always so darn accurate.” continue