MY FIRST REAL FEELING OF HOPE... KINDA

While at the Pro Bowl, Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers admitted to NBC's Tiki Barber he wants out of Carolina, saying, "I just feel it's time to move on." He also went on to admit he wants to play in the 3-4 next season. Could this be the moment Ted Thompson has been putting off making any big free agent splashes for? Peppers has averaged over 10 sacks per season in his career, and Aaron Kampman led the Packers with 9.5 in 2008. It's hard to predict how smoothly Kampman's transition to OLB will be in Dom Capers new scheme, but bringing in a threat like Peppers could only help Aaron by taking a little bit of pressure away from him. While excited at the possibility of Peppers being in green and gold next season, I have seen Ted Thompson's lack of spending free agent dollars over his first few offseasons in Green Bay, so I try to remain realistic. Other teams in the mix according to Rotoworld.com are the Browns, Broncos, Dolphins, and 49ers.

PRO BOWL

I don't remember the last time I actually watched a Pro Bowl. Not that I really watch the NBA or MLB All-Star games either. There was a period of time where the All-Star games were so important to a sport. Usually, that was because it was the only time that fans got to see certain players (TV, the internet, and the increase in number of franchises in each sport has dramatically changed that). They're just not interesting anymore. They used to be competitive games where the players really fought to show who was the best. Now they've become just another situation for front office people to worry about the players they have invested millions of dollars in getting injured. So, I'm not ashamed to admit I didn't watch the Pro Bowl yesterday. Instead, I spent six hours in a car.

Al Harris and Nick Collins were the only representatives of the Packers in the game, and they each did well. The Journal Sentinel's Greg A. Bedard did an interview with Nick about his first pro bowl experience. Collins recorded one tackle while on defense, and two as a special-teamer (maybe we should send him on coverage and he should do that for us next year since our Special Teams finished 26th in the league in 2008). Harris had three tackles and knocked away a pass intended for Denver's Brandon Marshall in the end zone that saved a touchdown (pictured above). And don't forget Charles Woodson was elected, but decided against playing. It's interesting to see three players from a below average defense get recognized for such good individual seasons, yet their unit as a whole struggled so much. Congratulations to these three for having the types of seasons they did, and maybe some day All-Star games can get their swagger back.