Peter King on Kampman, Robinson

[BananaMan]

Defensive Player of the Week

Aaron Kampman, DE, Green Bay. Sometimes great days get lost when teams get beat up on defense. But this one shouldn't. Kampman terrorized Drew Brees of the Saints, sacking him three times, and he added two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. I could have given this award to the Buffalo defense, or to Trent Cole of the Eagles (before he had the stupid kicking penalty late in the Eagles' disastrous loss), or to Ed Reed of the Ravens, or to the Chargers for stifling the Titans, or to about six guys on the Bears. But Kampman was a monster in defeat.

...

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

Why is there such an uproar about the Packers signing Koren Robinson? If you're going to be morally outraged, well, OK, I guess I can buy that. But there's such a small risk, and I'm sure the Packers said to him: One strike and you're out.

Yes, he's a shady character. Yes, you can't count on him for the long run. And yes, he may end up in jail or on NFL suspension after an October court proceeding determines if he's in violation of a prior probation.

But the Packers gave him no signing bonus, just a two-year contract for the veteran minimum each year for a player of his experience -- $585,000. That means, simply, that Robinson has a week-to-week contract, and the Packers will pay him $34,411.78 every week he's on their roster. Once they cut him, they owe him nothing.

For a guy who was going to be Minnesota's No. 1 receiver, that's a very cheap price for someone who might be able to help. This ain't Boys Town.

I agree completely with his take on Robinson. Also nice to see some credit go to Kampman.

[red]

thats spot on about k-rob

no risk, with a chance of a lot of reward

[green_bowl_packer]

It's not every day you can fill your 53rd spot on the roster with a Pro-Bowl player making the NFL minimum.

[Rastak]

It's not every day you can fill your 53rd spot on the roster with a Pro-Bowl player making the NFL minimum.


Agreed, as long as you don't mind the paper saying "Packer goes to Prison" in a few weeks. Since your team is publicly owned it's not as big a deal. Who do they have to answer to? I think most other teams would be worried about the terrible publicicity.....

[green_bowl_packer]

I don't mind, he did that as a Viking.

[Fosco33]

It's not every day you can fill your 53rd spot on the roster with a Pro-Bowl player making the NFL minimum.


Agreed, as long as you don't mind the paper saying "Packer goes to Prison" in a few weeks. Since your team is publicly owned it's not as big a deal. Who do they have to answer to? I think most other teams would be worried about the terrible publicicity.....

He hasn't done anything in WI that we know of....

[Rastak]

I don't mind, he did that as a Viking.

No, he didn't. He never was in jail as a Viking. As for his jail time, that'll be for his Seahawk time if his probation is revoked. Of course, it's possible he'll get more time and then you could argue it's Viking time....however long that may be.

[green_bowl_packer]

Correct he didn't and maybe he will do time. I'm going under the assumption that his legal team will postpone anytime he has to until after the season or at least attempt to, that all depends on the judge and if he does go to the clink you've only paid the minimum and still have his rights for two years (if they still want him).

The gist of my original comment was regardless of his circumstances, anyway you slice it he was a steal, his talent to dollar ratio couldnt' be passed up given our circumstances. Given that he's now a Packer and I'm a Packer fan I'm rooting for him to pull his head out of his ass, and get it back on track. The truth is that no one would care about this as much if we were winning, or at least they'd be a little more forgiving.

[MJZiggy]

People would care even less if Robinson were a plumber.

[green_bowl_packer]

People would care even less if Robinson were a plumber.

But he's not and they do

[HarveyWallbangers]

What a difference he made on returns this week. To me, he doesn't look like he's in football shape. Morency looked better on his return. I'm afraid that by the time Robinson will be ready to help the team, he'll be heading to prison.

[RashanGary]

We'll see how it plays out. There is no risk on the Packers part. I guess we would look like a bad organization if he did something wrong but the Packers don't really have a history like the queens. I don't think anyone would really care.

[BallHawk]

What a difference he made on returns this week. To me, he doesn't look like he's in football shape. Morency looked better on his return. I'm afraid that by the time Robinson will be ready to help the team, he'll be heading to prison.

I agree, Harv. Robinson looked sluggish and slow. And when you get a shot after being arrested for DWI, you don't come out of the pile and pick a fight with the opposing team. Now maybe the Saints player were giving him shit about his arrest, but if that's so, you just gotta walk away.

In regards to Morency, he has speed. He didn't get a long return, but he has a nice burst. I'd like to give him some more carries at RB, once he gets more acquainted with the playbook.

[run pMc]

Funny, he had this to say on Aug 20:

4. I think the Vikings had as bad a preseason week as you could have, losing two of their 10 most important players. Rookie Chad Greenway went down on a kicking-team play last Monday and is out for the year with a knee injury; he was going to be vital to a defense desperate for a playmaking linebacker. And Koren Robinson will almost certainly be suspended for the year after his DWI and high-speed car chase with the cops near the Vikings' training camp in Mankato, Minn. But I reserve my harshest comment for the Vikings. Whoever decided to pay Robinson any significant guaranteed money (in this case $1 million) and make him the team's No. 1 receiver -- owner Zygi Wilf, GM Rob Brzezinski, coach Brad Childress -- ought to have his head examined in the first place.

Next to the word unreliability in my Webster's is a mug shot of Robinson, who broke Mike Holmgren's all-time record for player mischief-making. Robinson is the type of player you invite to training camp and give a contract with a very low base salary, a tiny bonus (if you give him one at all) and a huge backside to the contract. If he won't take that, fine; let him infect some other team. Wilf has a lot to learn as an owner. The first thing is this: When you say over and over that you're going to run a tight ship and have a team the community can be proud of, mean it. If you import turds like Robinson -- and that is a bit harsh, really, because I've met the guy a couple of times and he seems like a decent fellow, but obviously one plagued by an addiction problem and a truth-telling problem -- and hand him a check for $1 million, you do not mean what you say about not employing the troublemakers. A leopard might change his spots, but it's ridiculous, with so little exposure to the guy, to reward said leopard so handsomely before he proves to you for a long time that he has.

URL: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/peter_king/08/20/mmqb/4.html

[vince]

Funny, he had this to say on Aug 20:

4. I think the Vikings had as bad a preseason week as you could have, losing two of their 10 most important players. Rookie Chad Greenway went down on a kicking-team play last Monday and is out for the year with a knee injury; he was going to be vital to a defense desperate for a playmaking linebacker. And Koren Robinson will almost certainly be suspended for the year after his DWI and high-speed car chase with the cops near the Vikings' training camp in Mankato, Minn. But I reserve my harshest comment for the Vikings. Whoever decided to pay Robinson any significant guaranteed money (in this case $1 million) and make him the team's No. 1 receiver -- owner Zygi Wilf, GM Rob Brzezinski, coach Brad Childress -- ought to have his head examined in the first place.

Next to the word unreliability in my Webster's is a mug shot of Robinson, who broke Mike Holmgren's all-time record for player mischief-making. Robinson is the type of player you invite to training camp and give a contract with a very low base salary, a tiny bonus (if you give him one at all) and a huge backside to the contract. If he won't take that, fine; let him infect some other team. Wilf has a lot to learn as an owner. The first thing is this: When you say over and over that you're going to run a tight ship and have a team the community can be proud of, mean it. If you import turds like Robinson -- and that is a bit harsh, really, because I've met the guy a couple of times and he seems like a decent fellow, but obviously one plagued by an addiction problem and a truth-telling problem -- and hand him a check for $1 million, you do not mean what you say about not employing the troublemakers. A leopard might change his spots, but it's ridiculous, with so little exposure to the guy, to reward said leopard so handsomely before he proves to you for a long time that he has.

URL: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/peter_king/08/20/mmqb/4.html
not inconsistent with what he said recently... Don't give a guy like this a big signing bonus...

[run pMc]

True...I think giving him a signing bonus would have been silly.
I thought it was interesting how King went from calling the guy a turd in cyberprint to acting surprised when others expressed disdain.
I got the impression that section of the Aug20 column was written knee-jerk.