Mike Neal And Cj2k

[PackMan13x]

If Johnson keeps up his current pace, will he change his name to CJ1/2K??

 

[FrankRizzo]

It's good he has enough pride to be bugged by people writing him off. It isn't good that he thinks so lowly of the fans. His "job" as he calls it, IS to entertain fans. Today's NFL players seem to increasingly care less about the fans and more about their own bottom line. I guess it's a microcosm of society!

I've been ******* Mike Neal, admittedly, and I will continue to be so until he A) plays almost one full season, B) puts together back-to-back seasons without missing more games than playing, and C) plays at a very high level, close to or better than his predecessor, Cullen Jenkins, who I felt was a Pro Bowler and who I thought we should have kept, as Mike Vandermause said on the record.

That being said, I totally disagree with your premise that his "job" is to entertain fans.
That's not his job and shouldn't enter his head.
That stuff is for guys like OchoCinco, or Cedric the Entertainer.
Cam Newton talked like that before the draft too..... that's why he was so happy he put up great individual numbers the first 2 weeks. He lost both games not coming thru in the 4th quarters, but he entertained and was satisfied because his stats were phenomenal.

Mike Neal's "job" is to beat blockers, tackler runners, and pressure & sack QBs.
The fanfare is a byproduct of his job, in my opinion.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Yes it is a business. It is a business built on consumers. The fans are the consumers. Without the consumers it can be no billion dollar business. Understanding a holdout for more money in an entertainment industry in which there is a certain degree of risk is acceptable. Understanding a premature holdout is unacceptable. In Neal's case; his exact words were; "If I was in this to please the fans, I wouldn't play. I could care less what anybody's saying or how they feel about me. My thing is just to come in here and do my job."

Now, I understand finding your value in something greater than people's opinion. However, when you are in a consumer industry, you are there for the consumer or you *may* not be in business long (government bailouts excepted). He should be in this business to please the consumer. Has the phrase "the customer is always right" now become passe'? Therefore it should concern him what the fans think. They are his bread and butter. If they don't buy the tickets and the merchandise, etc. then he doesn't get paid for playing his game.

I'm disappointed that players and owners today seem to care less about the fans and more about the "business". I long for the days when players actually had vocations in the community outside of "the game". I fear we are producing Prima Donna millionaires who lose touch with those who really pay their bills.

While I agree with much of your disenchantment with "today's rich & spoiled athletes", I still disagree with your premise that Mike Neal's "job is to entertain fans". That should not enter his mind ON THE FIELD where his JOB IS PERFORMED.

Should he treat his fans well? Of course.
Should he care about them? Of course. He did. He's a very charitable person.
He was great on Twitter. He personally addressed me on numerous occasions.
Favre was a ***** who for his last 4 or 5 years as a Packer did LESS than any other Packer for his fans.
He skipped almost everything unless there was big publicity with it.

But fans can be jerks too.
And with Twitter, fans can quickly -and often without thinking twice- get nasty messages directly to players like never before.
Plus one can be a Bears fan and pretend to be a Packer fan and speak crap to a Packer.

Society as a whole is not as wholesome and well-mannered as it was in the "black & white era", so that all works two-ways.

That being said, Mike is kinda the victim of a couple of things that aren't his fault.
#1- Packer fans were already sick of Justin Harrell's softness, so now here he comes, same position..... seemingly same story.
#2- Most Packer fans wanted Cullen to stay, but the TT and MM put a lot on Neal's shoulders for their reason in letting Cullen leave. Sure the Packers are 3-0 and Eagles 1-2, but Cullen has done his part, and Mike has once again broken like a piece of china, for whatever reasons.

But we all hope that he comes back healthy and stays healthy. That's the common thread here!

 

[Croak]

As for Cullen Jenkins, there hasn't really been a drop off in production for that position on the Packers defense. Jenkins has 7 tackles, 4 sacks. Wynn has 9 tackles, 3 sacks. It looks pretty comparable to me.