Is Ted Thompson Going After Vick?

The Green Bay Packers started training camp over the weekend. Presumably, practice kicked off Saturday with the three quarterbacks head coach Mike McCarthy will take into the season opener against the Chicago Bears Sept. 13.

Aaron Rodgers, Brian Brohm, and Matt Flynn were McCarthy's choices a year ago, and there are no indications that anything will change at the position. The Packers didn't sign any free agents, didn't draft any quarterbacks, and don't appear to be on the verge of any trades.

Of course, this didn't stop the media from asking Packers general manager Ted Thompson about a quarterback Tuesday.

(Is there any way you guys will sign Michael Vick?)

(sigh) Uh, what is the answer that we give to questions like this? We're always looking to improve our team and we look at all options at all times. I wouldn't care to speculate in terms of the odds or anything like that.

(So you have looked at it to some degree)

We look at everything. Well, not everything. We don't look at stuff from across the ocean or something.

(Have you had any discussions about whether it would be worth pursuing him?)

We have had discussions about a large number of things and we're always talking personnel, different scenarios and things like that.

(This is an unusual guy, not a normal situation)

Yeah but the routine we go through is the same. It doesn't mean anymore that we're more likely or less likely to do it. It's a routine that we go through. It's automatic.

There's nothing wrong with checking up on stories and being watchful of news. It's perfectly legitimate for the media to be asking Thompson about Vick. He's a free agent at a position where it appears the Packers lack quality depth. However, Packers ace reporter Greg Bedard may have fallen a bit too hard for the sensationalistic value of Thompson's non-answer on his Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog.

Expect the chatter about this to only intensify solely because of Thompson's response. If you have no interest in signing a convicted felon that spent 18 months in federal prison for running a dogfighting ring, then just say so.

Bedard is a great reporter, and Packers fans are lucky to have him around. His opinion is valued because of the time he's put in as an NFL writer. He understands the game, and he certainly gets how the fans would receive such a move.

However, the thought of the Packers signing Vick is totally hypothetical and partially unrealistic.

First off, Vick would be accepting a job on a team where he has exactly a zero percent chance of earning the starting quarterback job by virtue of his own play. To get the nod over Aaron Rodgers, Vick would need the incumbent to fall flat on his face, or get seriously injured. While injuries happen in this sport, Vick is not likely to accept just being someone's backup and praying for an injury.

It's highly doubtful that Thompson would give Vick a significant contract. For starters, Rodgers just got an extension last year, and is very well paid. Also, Vick's past dictates that he accept a low or non-existent signing bonus, but that doesn't mean he will have to do that. Naturally, Thompson understands this, and isn't going to play stupid games with the shareholders' money.

Lastly, the Packers would be taking a huge public relations risk, right at a time where the team is just starting to show signs of full recovery from the Brett Favre fiasco. While it's arguable that this risk is worth taking, the Packers have to be very careful with a guy like Vick, who is as polarizing as any figure in the NFL right now.

For Vick to have any value to the Packers, they would have to design a special package of plays to use him in. Rodgers isn't going to sit, barring injury or completely unforeseen ineffectiveness, so Vick will have to be used in other ways. While McCarthy could certainly see some success with a Wildcat-type formation (Rodgers is a good-enough athlete to put on the field with Vick to cross up defenses), there has been no indication the Packers are interested in moving that way.

In the end, this appears to be much ado about nothing. The media was totally right to ask about Vick, but anyone who has been around Thompson for, say, five minutes should have known what his answer would be. Thompson believes personnel matters are to be kept under wraps until decisions are made, and he will never just randomly let the media in on his thinking.

Overreacting to his lack of insight on the matter is just silly.

Sid Hartman: Full of (Something)

Sid Hartman has been a sportswriter longer than most of my readers have been alive. He's seen some great things in Minnesota, and he's been there to write about them.

Well into his 80s, Sid still writes a regular column of sports notes for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He's built an untouchable list of contacts over the years, allowing him access to the thoughts of sports' biggest names.

Sometimes, he uses that access to help out his friends, but no one really cares, because it's Sid.

He has other flaws, including his failure to take hockey seriously a lot of the time, and there are times that he comes across as quite dated in his commentary about Minnesota sports issues, especially on the radio show he does Sunday mornings on WCCO-AM.

His latest newspaper column highlights the situation involving Minnesota Timberwolves first-round pick Ricky Rubio. You may be aware that Rubio is from Spain, is a pro player in Spain, and is currently trying to get out of his contract with his current team there. There has been chatter he doesn't want to play for Minnesota, even though he has never said that.

Anyway, one of Hartman's buddies is NBA agent Bill Duffy, who represents many clients, including fellow first-round pick Brandon Jennings, a point guard who played pro ball in Italy a year ago before moving back to the States for a shot at the NBA.

Duffy, who is the agent for another high pick at Rubio's position, shockingly told Hartman that he thinks Rubio is overrated. Since Duffy and Hartman are buddies, Sid decided to use this as the framework for his column.

"To be honest with you, the other kid, Brandon Jennings, who played in Italy, ranked higher," said Duffy, referring to his client, a point guard who was picked 10th by Milwaukee. "I had three other first-round point guards, but I didn't have [Rubio] ranked that high. I think he is pretty good, but I think he might be a little hyped up. "He is a flashy guy and he is young, but I think it is a lot of hype. I mean, he will be a good player, but they are trying to compare him with my guy Steve Nash or John Stockton -- I don't see that."

At least Duffy admits to being Nash's agent, and Hartman discloses that Jennings is a Duffy client, too.

But honesty shouldn't hide us from the fact that this article is full of holes.

I have no idea which first-round point guard will have the most NBA success. It could be Rubio, Jennings, Jonny Flynn, or Ty Lawson for all I know.

What I do know is that if I wanted to get an honest opinion on which guy would be the best, the last person I'd ask is an agent who represents some (but not all) of those prospects. He might not want to admit it, but the opinion he gives will usually be quite biased and unreliable.

After all these years as a sportswriter, it's hard to believe that someone like Sid Hartman would make this mistake.

Or maybe it isn't.

Birk Serious, Funny in MMQB Fill-In

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, Matt Birk did go to Harvard.

Birk, an All-Pro center who spent many years with the Vikings before signing this spring with Baltimore, had an interesting job to undertake over the weekend.

Sports Illustrated ace football writer Peter King is on his annual pre-training camp vacation. It's usually the only time of year that his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column isn't updated on SI's website.

In his stead this month, guest writers have been lined up to file MMQB columns. This week's choice is Birk, who had much to say. He was able to get some strong feelings out there regarding the need for current NFL players to do more for retired players who have fallen on hard times. This very serious -- and very noble -- topic couldn't ask for a better spokesman in Birk.

An alarming number of former players live in physical and mental pain because of injuries suffered while playing -- some with symptoms that didn't manifest until long after their NFL careers were over. These men have had to exhaust their savings in order to receive medical care for their ailments, achieving a quality of life most of us would not deem bearable. A good number are in such physical anguish it prevents them from securing any type of employment. They can't get health insurance because their conditions are conveniently categorized as "pre-existing." The odds of getting disability through the NFL are about as likely as hitting the lotto. Factor in the fact that a lot of these men have wives and young kids, and their stories are heartbreaking. I have seen these guys with my own eyes and heard their stories with my own ears. You might not read about this very often, but this problem is real.

This bothers me because everyone associated with the NFL is making money. Under the current system, about two percent of the revenues being paid to players go toward retired players. So why can't we give a bigger piece of the pie to the players of yesteryear? Well, the owners pay a negotiated percentage of revenues to the players. They feel like they already give up enough. The NFLPA wants the money to go to current players because football salaries already lag behind their baseball and basketball counterparts, for which the NFLPA catches heat. So, if this problem is going to be remedied it's going to have to come from the current players.

We need to make the former players a priority. In the NFL, where contracts are not guaranteed and everyone is one play away from a career-ending injury, I don't fault players for being focused on the present. But it's our responsibility to leave this game better than we found it. Players today should hope future generations will do the same for us. Every former player who suffers the effects of football-related injuries should have the basics -- food, shelter, clothing and medical care. This is the least we can do.

As expected, Birk pretty much nailed it here. The current players should feel an obligation to do much more than they have, and it would be nice to see some younger guys take on Birk's cause. He won't play forever, but it will always mean more if current players were carrying the baton on this issue.

Birk wasn't all serious in the piece. He took time out to lob a couple of funnies, one of them in the direction of Brett Favre's impending signing with Birk's former team.

I think Favre will play for the Vikings this year. This will start a civil war between Minnesota and Wisconsin. A truce will be reached in this epic border battle after it is discovered at a tailgate party that Johnsonville Brats (Wisconsin) and Grain Belt Beer (Minnesota) are perfect complements for each other.

He also was able to poke some fun at himself.

I think the Fourth of July always signifies the beginning of the end of my summer. A couple weeks until the beginning of training camp and, maybe like you, I am way behind on my summer projects. I need to get going on those because once the season starts, I am not much use around the house. Just ask my wife. She might tell you I am not much good in the offseason, either.

Birk set a high standard for the guest writers who are set to follow over the rest of the month. Hopefully, the guys who are left are able to have some fun with the job.

In the end, though, MMQB just isn't the same without King. He has a mile-long list of contacts, understands the game, and isn't afraid to lay out controversial opinions. Still one of the best in the business.