10 Packer Apologies

I'm a sucker for Top-10 lists. In response of Tony Manderich recently apologizing for his unforgettable performance in Green Bay, Mike Vandermause of the GB Press-Gazette gives 10 more examples where apologies are long overdue.

Any you would like to add?

-- Defensive end Joe Johnson hoodwinked GM Mike Sherman into signing him to a six-year, $33 million free-agent contract in 2002, then promptly went in the tank and played just 11 games.

-- Cletidus Hunt took the money and sat on his can. The Packers signed Hunt to a six-year, $25.3 million contract in 2003. In return, Hunt stumbled through two underachieving seasons.

-- Sherman inexplicably wasted two draft choices by trading up to select mediocre punter B.J. Sander in the third round in 2004. Sherman compounded the error by keeping Sander on the 53-man roster in 2005 even though he didn’t play.

-- Forrest Gregg fled town in 1987 after a disastrous four-year coaching rein, never told his assistants he was leaving and to this day hasn’t spoken to some of them.

-- When he was alive, Dan Devine should have said he was sorry for his ridiculous trade of five high draft choices for washed up quarterback John Hadl in 1974, the worst transaction in NFL history. At the very least, the executive committee that hired Devine and nearly let him ruin the franchise should have gotten down on its knees and begged forgiveness from fans.

-- Ken Stills and the late Charles Martin were thugs on the field, and their embarrassing late hits in losses against the Chicago Bears in the mid-1980s were shameful. It’s bad enough playing on a terrible team, but there’s nothing worse than losing disgracefully.

-- Cornerback Mossy Cade came to Green Bay in exchange for a first-round draft choice in 1985. He left in shackles and shame after being convicted of sexual assault.

-- On most counts, former GM Ron Wolf deserves praise, but his worst decision was hiring Ray Rhodes over Andy Reid as head coach in 1999, a move that may have cost the Packers one or more Super Bowl appearances.

-- The “fourth-and-26” playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in January 2004 will go down in infamy as a game the Packers bungled badly, and those responsible know who they are.

-- Speaking of painful postseason defeats, referee Gerry Austin and his crew failed to see a Jerry Rice fumble late in a January 1999 Packers-49ers game, which cost the Packers the game and chance to make a deep playoff run.