Mike Tanier over at Football Outsiders recently asked me for some football memories for his Thanksgiving article:

In the early 1980s, Brandon Benson of the Packers Web site Acme Packing Company loved Thanksgiving as much as any football-obsessed preteen carnivore. But as a Packers fan, he has few good football memories about the holiday. "I became a football fan at age 10, in 1980, back when the Packers' annual trip to the Silverdome involved a good beating by the Lions," he told me. "So if the Packers did play on Thanksgiving, they went to Detroit and it was usually an ugly loss. I doubt Eddie Murray ever missed a field goal against the Packers."

Back then, the Lions were pretty good, but the Packers were mired in the epic drought that lasted from Bart Starr to Brett Favre. Benson said the tables didn't really turn until a 1993 Wild Card game. "Since then, I've been usually expecting a win against Detroit, such as the win last in Detroit last Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving games involving the Packers have become a much more welcomed experience."

This year, I'm only going to be allowed to watch football on Thanksgiving if the toddlers are taking a nap. Otherwise, it's all Wall E and Curious George on the TV in my household. But I'm not sure I want to watch either of these games. Watching Detroit play under any circumstances is an endurance test. I'm not a fan of the Cowboys, obviously, so that game doesn't hold a lot of interest either. Especially since Seattle should be easy pickings. What do you think?

When I read that former Packer CB Bob Jeter had died, I admit I wasn't familiar with him. He played on the great Lombardi teams of the 1960s. He was a star player in 1966 and 1967 when the Packers won the first two Super Bowls. He had a great career as a cornerback for the Packers, but as you can see from his career stats, his career got off to a slow start. He was a college running back from Iowa, went to the CFL for two years, and then came back to play for the Packers. "Speed made Jeter a decent receiver and a tremendous cornerback."

From John Maxymuk's book, Packers by the Numbers:

"Vince Lombardi made the same mistake with Jeter that he did earlier with another Big Ten halfback who he didn't think fit the Packers' running style-Herb Adderley. He tried to make wide receivers out of both of them...Bob Jeter, though, spent two seasons as a reserve receiver before finally being shifted to cornerback...In the next two years he would team with Adderley to shut down the top receivers of many teams...Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith would say of Jeter that, "In the past, left cornerback Herb Adderley was so good that the opponents picked on Jeter. But now they can't. Jeter has more speed than Adderley and is better at moving up on the end run."

I feel the need to hear the Packers' fight song.

Go! You Packers! Go!

Bonus song since we have to play them next Sunday - We're The Minnesota Vikings by The Happy Schnapps Combo.

                                   Anybody else notice a resemblance? 

I made note of it about two weeks ago.  Brandon made note of it after the Colts game.  A whole mess of people made note of it in the game thread.  What is "it"?  "It" is the emergence of Nick Collins as a top NFL safety.

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On of my fellow SB Nation bloggers, BigBlueShoe over at Stampede Blue, had the chance to interview former Packer Tony Mandarich. I hadn't realized there was a five year gap between his Packers and Colts days. I guess I was just enjoying the young Brett Favre era to think too much about him.

I had to look back to try and remember why they finally gave up on him and per the NY Times they said he sat out the 1992 season on the Packers I.R. "with a thyroid condition and post-concussion syndrome."

''I was sick of football,'' Mandarich said of his feelings at the time he was released. ''I ended up resenting everything that pro football represented. I was tired of all of it, the media, football and practice. I just had enough. I put too much pressure on myself and I talked way too much when I came out, probably to get more money.''

Since Shoe is a Colts guy, not much was said about Green Bay, but he's aware he screwed up while with the Packers:

"Well , at 11 months sober I decided... well, I mean, I decided much earlier than that, but at 11 months sober I was ready to try to break back into the NFL by trying to get some workouts. And the Philadelphia Eagles said, listen, we have a scout flying through Cleveland on his way back to Philly. And if you want to drive to Cleveland and work out for him, we will take a look. I was just grateful for that after all the nonsense I had created in Green Bay. I was happy that someone would even at least take a look at me."