GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP)—Lockout or not, the Green Bay Packers will receive
their Super Bowl rings in a June 16 ceremony at Lambeau Field.

Although contact between players and team officials generally is prohibited
during the league’s ongoing work stoppage, the team says the NFL granted a
special exemption allowing it to hold the ceremony.

In a statement posted on the Packers’ website, president and CEO Mark Murphy
says the team is excited to “celebrate all the hard work that went into the
championship.”

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Lockout or not, the Green Bay Packers will receive their Super Bowl rings in a June 16 ceremony at Lambeau Field.

Although contact between players and team officials generally is prohibited during the league’s ongoing work stoppage, the team says the NFL granted a special exemption allowing it to hold the ceremony.

In a statement posted on the Packers’ website, president and CEO Mark Murphy says the team is excited to “celebrate all the hard work that went into the championship.”

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Jolly was arrested Friday morning and has been charged with possession of over 400 grams of a controlled substance. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

After the hearing, prosecutor Todd Keagle said Jolly’s arrest voided a probation agreement the defensive lineman had with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to settle a 2008 drug charge. It was the earlier charge that led to his suspension by the NFL without pay for all of last season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Police say after pulling over Jolly’s vehicle during a traffic stop, officers found a bottle containing 600 grams of codeine under the passenger’s seat and another bottle containing an unidentified substance in the driver’s side door.

“At this point, he’s maintaining his innocence,” said Carl Moore, Jolly’s attorney.

Moore said he will make another attempt to have Jolly released on bond, which prosecutors are against.

At the time of his arrest, Jolly had an agreement with the Harris District Attorney’s Office in which he had been given pretrial diversion, a form of probation. Under that agreement, the 2008 drug charge against him would have been dismissed by August if he didn’t break the law. Part of the sentence was 160 hours of community service, which included 10 speaking engagements where he was supposed to talk to children and others about the dangers of drug use.

“His pretrial diversion is being voided because Mr. Jolly did not adhere to the terms of his contract, in our opinion,” Keagle said.

The end of the agreement means Jolly will now be facing two charges in court: the new one and the 2008 charge of possessing at least 200 grams of codeine, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years, Keagle said.

Moore said Jolly had been training as part of his efforts to get reinstated in the NFL. He did not know how this most recent arrest would affect that.

The 6-3, 325-pound Jolly, who lives in a Houston suburb, started all 16 games for Green Bay in 2008 and ’09.

Noteworthy

* NFL owners will pay $177 million today to complete their contributions to the player benefits program for the 2010 season. That payment will bring the total amount funded by the 32 teams for 2010 to $245 million. It is a payment the league has made by the end of March each year under its collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association.

Ownership contributions fund player benefits that include the pension plan, group medical insurance, the disability plan, and the “88″ program for retired players with dementia or related conditions. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith recently said the league contributes “zero” to former player pensions. But the league said yesterday that in the past 10 years the owners have contributed more than $2.7 billion toward various NFL benefit plans for current and retired players.

* Police in a Dallas suburb say Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib has turned himself in on a warrant accusing him of firing a gun at his sister’s boyfriend. Garland police said Talib was released after posting a $25,000 bond.

Police say they believe Talib and his mother, Okolo Talib, shot at the man March 21. The man was not injured. Authorities had issued arrest warrants for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for Talib and his mother.

His mother, who faced a felon in possession of a firearm charge, turned herself in Tuesday and bonded out.

* Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller has been invited to the NFL draft even though he’s a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the league. A person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press that Miller is among 20 college players invited to the April 28-30 draft.

HOUSTON (AP) – Troubled Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly is scheduled to be in court after his most recent arrest on a drug charge in Houston.

Jolly is set to appear Wednesday morning to hear the two counts of possession of a controlled substance. He has been in the Harris County Jail since his arrest early Friday.

A police spokesman said officers found a bottle containing 600 grams of codeine and another containing an unidentified substance under the front seats of Jolly’s car.

Jolly was suspended by the NFL without pay for all of last season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. The ban stemmed from a separate drug arrest in 2008, when he was charged with possession of at least 200 grams of codeine.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

HOUSTON (AP) – Troubled Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly is scheduled to be in court after his most recent arrest on a drug charge in Houston.

Jolly is set to appear Wednesday morning to hear the two counts of possession of a controlled substance. He has been in the Harris County Jail since his arrest early Friday.

A police spokesman said officers found a bottle containing 600 grams of codeine and another containing an unidentified substance under the front seats of Jolly’s car.

Jolly was suspended by the NFL without pay for all of last season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. The ban stemmed from a separate drug arrest in 2008, when he was charged with possession of at least 200 grams of codeine.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Published: Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 10:00 AM     Updated: Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 12:42 PM

Many football analysts claim it’s not possible for a team that focuses heavily on the pass to win a Super Bowl title.

Well the Green Bay Packers might just have shut all of those naysayers up for good when they knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the NFL title.

Led by Aaron Rodgers, the Packers relied almost completely on their passing attack to carry them to the championship.

In the Super Bowl itself, Green Bay threw the ball 39 times compared to just 13 rushing attempts. Two of team’s rushes were actually kneel downs by Rodgers to finish off the game so the number of hand-offs in the victory was 11.

And the passing reliance wasn’t just on display in the Super Bowl for the Packers. On the season, Green Bay passed for 4,124 yards, almost three times the amount of yardage it ran for. The Packers finished the season ranked 24th in the league in rushing.

It’s just another example of how the NFL is now a passing league. Of course, running the ball is still crucial in certain circumstances, especially short-yardage situations. But in order to have a championship-caliber team, you need an excellent quarterback.

Just look at the Super Bowl champions over the past decade.

Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning headline the list of championship quarterbacks. Only on rare occasions can tremendous defenses lift average signal callers like Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer to titles.

So to Andy Reid and his Philadelphia Eagles, keep on throwing the ball because one of these years it might just get you a championship. Well, that is if Michael Vick is truly an elite quarterback in this league, and I’m not sure that question has been answered yet.

The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XLV on Sunday and might keep winning titles for a little while, maybe for a long while.

Maybe two in a row by next February, if there is labor peace and a season.

Maybe three-for-three by Super Bowl XLVII. Maybe four out of five.

Yes, I think the Packers are more solidly set up for a dynastic display than any team since the New England Patriots of the early-2000s.

And I think the Packers might be able to extend their success longer than New England’s run of three championships in four seasons.

First, let’s get to their interesting 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday.

The Packers surely weren’t dominant – they bolted to a 21-3 lead, then almost let Pittsburgh come all the way back–but Green Bay was good enough.

The Packers made errors, but they forced a tough Steelers team into many more of their own.

Green Bay lost cornerback Charles Woodson and receiver Donald Driver to injury during the game, but held it together at the end.

Green Bay could have succumbed to a Pittsburgh team that has its own claim to a mini-dynasty, and Green Bay prevailed.

Those are all signs. Those things tell us that Green Bay is not likely to be a one-Supe wonder. They are indicators that the Packers probably won’t peak for another year or two.

The Packers won this game because they were more talented than Pittsburgh, because they had the deeper roster, because the time was right, and because of one

gigantic factor:

Green Bay has quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who threw three touchdown passes, zero interceptions, won the MVP and burnished his case as the league’s most important, and possibly best, player.

Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger was the QB who came into this game with two previous Super Bowl victories. But he ended up throwing two interceptions and was far fromcool and precise at the desperate end.

Rodgers was better Sunday. He will be better than Roethlisberger – again, one of the NFL’s biggest winners – for the rest of their careers. Oh, and Rodgers is 27 and just completed only his third full season in the NFL, after sitting for three seasons behind Brett Favre. So the Packers are set at QB for the long-term. Check.

The Packers have a defense packed with young talent, as evidenced by linebacker Clay Matthews Jr.’s pivotal hit on Rashard Mendendall in the fourth quarter that forced a fumble. Double-check.

The Packers have a tough, imaginative young coach, Mike McCarthy, who seems well-built for the long haul. Triple-check.

And the Packers have a management team, keyed by general manager Ted Thompson, that has proven it can find gems in the draft and via free agency. Check.

In fact, Green Bay won the title this season with some emergency fill-ins in big roles, after injuries blew out their running game and parts of their receiving corps.

And they won this Super Bowl on a day when their talented receivers all started dropping passes.

What will this team be like when Thompson finds two or three powerful running backs? And adds a few more offensive linemen and receivers?

This Packers team could be at least as good as the Packers of the late-1990s, when Brett Favre, Reggie White and Mike Holmgren led them to one title and to the brink of another.

But I think Green Bay can do better this time – White was at the end of his career and Holmgren was wearying of his time in Green Bay.

The current Packers are already the best team in the league. And like the 2001 Patriots, they won the title at the beginning of an upswing, not at the very peak of their powers.

New Orleans won it all as a peaking team last season. Then fell back a bit this season.

Same thing happened with the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII and the Indianapolis Colts the year before that.

The Packers are set up for a run. In fact, I think the only other team as well positioned for continued success is Pittsburgh – young QB, young coach, a lot of key young talent.

I wouldn’t be shocked at all if these two teams meet again in a Super Bowl or two over the next few Roman Numerals.

Still, Green Bay just beat Pittsburgh, head to head, with the superior QB and the chance to get so much better.

If Green Bay doesn’t win three titles in the next five or six seasons, I think it will have under-achieved. That’s a high bar, but the Packers are worthy to aim for it.

The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XLV on Sunday and might keep winning titles for a little while, maybe for a long while.

Maybe two in a row by next February, if there is labor peace and a season.

Maybe three for three by Super Bowl XLVII. Maybe four out of five.

Yes, I think the Packers are more solidly set up for a dynastic display than any team since the New England Patriots of the early 2000s.

And I think the Packers might be able to extend their success longer than New England’s run of three championships in four seasons.

First, let’s get to their interesting 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday.

The Packers surely weren’t dominant — they bolted to a 21-3 lead, then almost let Pittsburgh come all the way back — but Green Bay was good enough.

The Packers made errors, but they forced a tough Steelers team into many more of their own.

Green Bay lost cornerback Charles Woodson and receiver Donald Driver to injury during the game but held it together at the end.

Green Bay could have succumbed to a Pittsburgh team that has its own claim to a mini-dynasty, and Green Bay prevailed.

Those are all signs. Those things tell us that Green Bay is not likely to be a one-Supe wonder. They are indicators that the Packers probably won’t peak for another year or two.

The Packers won this game because they were more talented than Pittsburgh, because they had the deeper

roster, because the time was right, and because of one gigantic factor:

Green Bay has quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who threw three touchdown passes, zero interceptions, won the MVP and burnished his case as the league’s most important, and possibly best, player.

Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger was the QB who came into this game with two previous Super Bowl victories. But he ended up throwing two interceptions and was far from cool and precise at the desperate end.

Rodgers was better Sunday. He will be better than Roethlisberger — again, one of the NFL’s biggest winners — for the rest of their careers.

Oh, and Rodgers is 27 and just completed only his third full season in the NFL, after sitting for three seasons behind Brett Favre.

So the Packers are set at QB for the long term. Check.

The Packers have a defense packed with young talent, as evidenced by linebacker Clay Matthews Jr.’s pivotal hit on Rashard Mendenhall in the fourth quarter that forced a fumble. Double-check.

The Packers have a tough, imaginative young coach, Mike McCarthy, who seems well-built for the long haul. Triple-check.

And the Packers have a management team, keyed by general manager Ted Thompson, that has proved it can find gems in the draft and via free agency. Check.

In fact, Green Bay won the title this season with some emergency fill-ins in big roles, after injuries blew out their running game and parts of their receiving corps.

And they won this Super Bowl on a day when their talented receivers all started dropping passes.

What will this team be like when Thompson finds two or three powerful running backs? And adds a few more offensive linemen and receivers?

This Packers team could be at least as good as the Packers of the late-1990s, when Favre, Reggie White and Mike Holmgren led them to one title and to the brink of another.

But I think Green Bay can do better this time — White was at the end of his career, and Holmgren was growing weary of his time in Green Bay.

The current Packers are already the best team in the league. And like the 2001 Patriots, they won the title at the beginning of an upswing, not at the very peak of their powers.

New Orleans won it all as a peaking team last season. Then fell back a bit this season.

Same thing happened with the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII and the Indianapolis Colts the year before that.

The Packers are set up for a run. In fact, I think the only other team as well positioned for continued success is Pittsburgh — young QB, young coach, a lot of key young talent.

I wouldn’t be shocked at all if these two teams meet again in a Super Bowl or two over the next few Roman numerals.

Still, Green Bay just beat Pittsburgh, head to head, with the superior QB and the chance to get so much better.

If Green Bay doesn’t win three titles in the next five or six seasons, I think it will have underachieved. That’s a high bar, but the Packers are worthy to aim for it.

Read Tim Kawakami’s Talking Points blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami. Contact him at tkawakami@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5442.

by ERIC KEPHAS, PDT Sports Writer Portsmouth Daily Times

Much has been made of how much history the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will bring to the field when they meet tonight for Super Bowl XLV.

Although the Steelers have won the Super Bowl six times — more than any other team in the league — it’s difficult for anyone to match the mystique that surrounds Green Bay.

The Packers are one of professional football’s oldest and most storied franchises. That much is evidenced by the fact that, if they are successful tonight, they will hoist a trophy named after their legendary coach, Vince Lombardi.

They are also one of the last tangible links to the NFL’s early days; days when leather helmets were in vogue, “small town teams” were common and there was a serious rivalry heating up between representatives of the league’s two smallest cities: The Packers of Green Bay, Wisconsin and the Spartans of Portsmouth, Ohio.

Quitting their way to the top

The most memorable moment of the Packers-Spartans rivalry was the 1932 “iron man game,” but the significance of that game can actually be traced back to December of 1931.

At the end of the ’31 season, the Packers claimed ownership of the National Professional Football League championship. The idea of the Packers winning a championship is nothing new, but the way they won it was certainly unique.

They won it by canceling their final game against the Spartans.

At the time, the Packers were a league-leading 12-2 while Portsmouth was right on their tails at 11-3. The final game should have decided the championship, but there was a problem. The game was only “tentatively scheduled,” and the league’s rules said that a tentative game could be cancelled by either team involved.

That meant the Packers had a choice to make — either play the 11-3 Spartans in a clash of the league’s best, or just cancel the game and take the championship home anyway.

The Packers opted to dodge the showdown with the Spartans. Understandably, the decision was not popular among the Spartans’ faithful.

The Ironton Evening Tribune summed up the decision with a headline that read: “‘Champs’ Run Away From Deciding Game.”

As for the Spartans themselves, they simply refused to acknowledge that the Packers were champions at all. Instead, in the 1931 Spartan Yearbook they declared themselves to be co-champions with Green Bay.

When the Spartans and the Packers finally played in 1932, Portsmouth made sure they left no doubt as to who was the better team. In a game in which they refused to make any substitutions, the Spartans defeated the defending champions 19-0. That game, widely known as the “iron man game,” is depicted as part of the murals on the Portsmouth flood wall.

The win over Green Bay is just one example of the tremendous success the Spartans enjoyed. In fact, their home record while in Portsmouth was a league-leading 19-2-4. Financially, however, the team struggled.

Late in 1931, Spartans owner Harry M. Snyder announced that monetary woes may cause Portsmouth to lose the team. During the ’31 season, the team had lost money on 12 of the 14 games it played and ended up facing a deficit of $16,949.

Two years after defeating the champion Packers in the “iron man game,” professional football left Portsmouth forever.

The Spartans became the Detroit Lions. One year later, the Lions — with a line-up dominated by former Spartans — won the NFL Championship outright.

Remember the Spartans

While the Packers continued to build their legacy in the years that followed, the Spartans lived on in memory only.

On October 5, 2003, Spartan Municipal Stadium in Portsmouth was designated as an Ohio historical site. Meanwhile, the Portsmouth Historical Society strived to keep the memory of the Spartans alive through their website, www.PortsmouthSpartans.org.

Over the years, the Historical Society has been active in efforts to prevent Spartan Stadium from being torn down and campaigned to get former Spartan star and 1933 league scoring-leader Glenn Presnell inducted into the Pro-Football Hall of Fame.

However, Billy McClurg — a founding member of the Historical Society and the PortsmouthSpartans.org webmaster — said that the group has been quiet since Presnell’s death in 2004.

That’s something he would like to see change.

“We would like to revive the Society,” McClurg said. “It would be nice if we could restart this organization as sort of a watchdog to make sure (the stadium isn’t torn down).”

In addition to the Historical Society’s website, McClurg has also began a “Portsmouth Spartans Historical Society” Facebook page. The page includes photographs from the Spartans’ time in Portsmouth and provides residents a forum with which to keep the team’s memory alive.

Although, as Spartan fans will point out, it’s more than the team’s history McClurg is hoping to preserve. It’s really the early history of the NFL itself.

ERIC KEPHAS can be reached at (740) 353-3101 ext. 234 or by e-mail at ekephas@heartlandpublications.com