Jeremy from Sacramento, CA
What's the minimum Mike McCarthy needs to do for serious Hall of Fame consideration when he retires?
One more Super Bowl win will do it.
Scott from Waukesha, WI
Are the 1976 Bucs and the 2008 Lions a fair comparison?
The '08 Lions would win by four touchdowns.
Mike from Mount Prospect, IL
Who is the best coach never to win a championship? Best player?
I'll say Marty Schottenheimer and Dan Marino.
Cindy from Los Angeles, CA
Vic, do you have any favorite football documentaries you can recommend?
It's a 1996 production called "Football America." There are several interesting stories within the full video. One story in particular features the Gallaudet University football team and its big drum. Gallaudet is a school for the deaf, and the vibration from the drum is its snap count. It's an unforgettable story.
Will from Cloverland, WI
I love the Pitt team Dorsett played on, but I bet that 2001 Miami Hurricanes team takes the 2001 Carolina Panthers to the shed. They had more future Pro-Bowlers on the bench than the whole Panthers roster produced in their careers. The best player on the Panthers team was a rookie named Steve Smith. Miami had Sean Taylor, Ed Reed, Andre Johnson, Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow Jr., Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Clinton Portis, Vince Wilfork, Bryant McKinnie, D.J. Williams, Jonathan Vilma.
That's pretty strong, but I still think the Panthers would've won. Let's not forget that two years later the Panthers nearly won the Super Bowl.
Nathan from Denver, CO
Why did some of the franchises from the old NFL move to the AFC after the merger?
The league had to balance the number of teams in each conference, so it offered $3 million to teams in what would become the NFC to move to the AFC. The Colts, Steelers and Browns took the money and moved. Carroll Rosenbloom was a money guy all the way; he wasn't going to turn that down. The Steelers and Browns were connected at the hip, so as long as they moved together, it was a no-brainer.
Mark from St. Pete Beach, FL
Vic, I've been watching the site the last few days and seeing the stories and posts about dynasties, players, schemes and execution. I remember stories about Lombardi having only 12 plays to the left and 12 to the right but practicing them over and over until they were perfect and then running them once more. He thus had superior players performing superior execution and it didn't matter if the opponent knew what was coming or not. Could that limited playbook and superior execution work in today's game?
If your execution is perfect, you can run any play over and over and win with it, but today's game is more about scheme and matchups than the Lombardi-era game was, and it's because the game has grown in scope. I don't think you could win today with Lombardi's playbook. If Lombardi was coaching today, his playbook would be a lot thicker and his schemes would be much more sophisticated. Be that as it may, the one constant is execution.
Chris from Minneapolis, MN
From the perspective of players, not plays, wouldn't it stand to reason that if you get the players at a level where they can beat the Seahawks in Week 2, they would also be in position to win Week 1 at Chicago?
I get your point. Do you get my point? My point is we're perseverating on the Seahawks, and it's not healthy.
Chadd from Antigo, WI
If Brown had correctly picked Walsh, how differently would we be viewing Joe Montana and his career?
Maybe the Packers would've drafted Montana a round later. What if John Clayton hadn't written that story about the Steelers practicing in shoulder pads in minicamp? The Steelers wouldn't have lost a third-round draft pick and maybe they would've drafted Montana. Montana following Terry Bradshaw? That's why I love the draft because the draft is where the decisions teams make are felt the most. The draft is where fate is born.
Candido from Los Mochis, Sinaloa
Vic, if you had the chance to interview Lombardi today, what would you ask him?
What play would you have called?
Jeff from Elm Grove, WI
Trade a loss in Chicago last season for a win in Seattle and the Packers are the one seed. Seattle is a contender and Chicago is not. I say the Seattle game is more important.
So what do you think my inbox would look like the day after a loss to the Bears? Do you think a lot of fans would be saying no problem, Vic, we'll beat the Seahawks and get the one seed? Write it down: On July 2, I am going on record as saying the single-most important game the Packers will play this season is the next game, and it's in Chicago. That's a healthy attitude.
John from Peoria, IL
Vic, when was the play clock instituted? What was the game like before it was around?
I can't remember when it was instituted; maybe someone can look it up. What I know is once upon a time all we could do was wait for the ball to be snapped before an official stopped the play due to delay of game. We had instincts back then. We knew when it was getting close to delay of game. I can remember hearing the crowd get nervous as the quarterback changed the play. Sometimes the suspense of not knowing is better than knowing. Do we know too much?
Rick from Stockholm, Sweden
Vic, what offensive and defensive player are you most excited to see play in the preseason games?
The two rookie corners (Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins) on defense and Ty Montgomery on offense and as a kick returner.
Nick from Dacula, GA
If you could attend one game at Lambeau as a fan this year, what would it be? Now keep in mind, I live in Georgia and don't want to be in the cold of November, December, etc.
Despite the cold, it would have to be the Thanksgiving game. It's going to be more than a game, it's going to be an event. Brett Favre's return to Lambeau Field is going to put this game into the history book as one of the seminal moments in Packers history.
