Randall from Zarczyce Duze, Poland
Vic, please tell us more about NFL press box culture. Has it changed since you started covering games? Is there a social aspect, such as catching up with old friends, or is that for another time and place?
The press box culture has changed dramatically. When I started covering the NFL, we were using typewriters and there was a Western Union man in the back of the press box. He would take your copy, re-type it and send it to your newspaper. There were no women in the press box back then. What hasn't changed is the press box continues to be a place for no cheering, and it's a place where friends from across the country reunite.
Terry from New Auburn, WI
Vic, you asked if Peppers had run a different route would that have helped him catch it. Yes! Wideouts catch with their hands. The natural instinct when it's thrown between your numbers is to catch it with your body. Peppers had it bounce off his pads. He would have caught a ball away from his body, with his hands.
I see. Well, then I guess it's plays, not players.
Joe from Dallas, TX
Vic, to be fair and balanced, let's revisit McCarthy's bold big-letters statement from the offseason. If you give him credit for improving the run game, then critique him for the defense's chronic problems.
The defense's problems this year have not been chronic. In fact, as it prepared for the game in New Orleans, the defense was on a hot streak. Now, one poor performance has changed all of that. This has been another week of whining and crying about the defense. Boohoo, we lost a game and I want everyone fired so I can feel better.
Max from Sydney, Australia
Vic, from a kickoff, are receiving teams allowed to make fair catches that would normally not make it far enough to be considered a touchback?
A kickoff may be fair caught.
Jay from Darien, CT
Vic, as someone who's incredibly interested and loves the game of football, my dream is to one day work with football in my life, whether it be assistant, coach, manager, whatever it may be. How do all the people who get to have football in their lives as a job get started?
Most of them played the game and that's where they got their start. They played for a coach and then later coached for that coach. Something similar is often true of all of the departments within a football franchise. You trust those you know, and football is the meeting place.
Brad from Parker, CO
If you were forced to cover either Game 7 of the World Series, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final or the World Cup final, which would you choose and why?
It would be Game 7 of the World Series. I don't know enough about hockey or soccer to be able to write a story of much worth.
Will from Mt. Laurel, NJ
Am I wrong for loving the Steelers' alternate uniforms?
I love them. I love colorful uniforms and those uniforms might be the most wild and colorful uniforms I've ever seen. They're also legitimate throwbacks; isn't that the idea? I also love the Broncos' throwback-uniform socks. I think socks with bright stripes look cool when a guy is in the clear and sprinting for the end zone.
Zaquan from Chicago, IL
What is your opinion on the Packers-Bears rivalry?
It has great tradition and geography. Those, in my opinion, are the rivalry's strongest points. The regular-season finale last season is, by far, the best of the games I've covered. I think you have to cover this rivalry for a lot of years and have witnessed enough classic games to get a real feel for it. I haven't covered enough games.
Dan from Huntington Beach, CA
Vic, according to Phil Simms, the Saints offense has hit look out. Let's hope you and the Packers don't have to return to the Superdome in the playoffs.
It all happened in five days. A team that was having dirt thrown on it, is now the toast of the league and in first place in the NFC South. It will now be written that the Saints are peaking for the playoffs. They will be proclaimed a postseason favorite, yet, just two weeks ago it was being written that Drew Brees had lost arm strength and there were calls for the coach's head. Why do we do this? Why do we overreact to the outcome of every game? Do we enjoy this? Is it a game we like to play?
Jamal from New York, NY
I think you should respect the opinion of the fans more and don't act like you know everything.
OK.
Buck from Decorah, IA
Vic, Jonathan Franklin's "Fast Five" segments are getting better and better, as are Mike Spofford's specials. Vic, we all love and appreciate your reporting and hard work, but something tells me packers.com will be alright when you leave. What do you think?
It sounds like it might be time to go.
Doug from Ames, IA
I watched "30 for 30".Was "The Boz" ahead of his time?
He got it before most got it.
Chuck from Lincoln, CA
Vic, why don't the Packers tackle with their arms? They seem to use a block tackle more than anyone.
I don't know that to be true, but I certainly understand why some players use a block tackle instead of wrapping their arms: It's because they don't want to have to pick their ribs out of their ear holes. Sometimes I think you really do have to have played the game to fully understand it.
Mark from Round Rock, TX
For a team that depends on draft and develop, how do the Packers ever overcome the fact they do too well most years to get a high draft pick? It's unlikely they will draft high enough to get a stud like a Kuechly, Von Miller, etc., as long as Rodgers is QB.
Teams that draft low year after year tend to have one thing in common: An elite quarterback. He's both the problem and the solution.
Brian from Fond du Lac, WI
Vic, I recently read on Dom Capers that he is known to work long hours, many times sleeping on the couch at the office, getting four to five hours of sleep a night. If this is true, it is very telling. Not long ago an article was published that pointed to the evolutionary benefits of sleep. You see, when we sleep, the channels of the brain which allow spinal fluid to flow through it, flushing it of the byproducts of brain activity, expand to 10 times what they are when we are awake. This buildup of byproduct is why we need to sleep in the first place and why we feel groggy as we go without sleep. I can only imagine what 20, 30 or 40 years of not getting appropriate sleep will do to the effectiveness of one's brain. Imagine all that plaque buildup and what it does to one's synapses. Sleep, for the health of your brain, else you start lining cornerbacks 15 yards back from the line of scrimmage.
I think you need some sleep.
Bob from Kennesaw, GA
Vic, love the column, but got to admit, I think Brad from Chippewa Falls, WI, had a great question and received a non-answer. Is arm-wrapping not considered good technique anymore at the NFL level? It's the way I remember being taught, and you don't seem to see that much of it anymore at the NFL, especially in the open field.
I answered the question, but you didn't get it because you don't understand the theory of human confrontation.
