LL2
08-25-2007, 10:19 AM
Personally like the potential he has and hope he can give the Packers a threat in the return game. Getting the ball to the 35 - 40 yard line a few times a game is going to make a HUGE difference to the offense this year.
Published - Monday, August 20, 2007
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Blackmon takes cues from Green Bay’s Super Bowl XXXI win
By Jason Wilde | Lee Newspapers
.
GREEN BAY — Will Blackmon was 12 years old at the time, and like lots of football-loving kids on that Super Bowl XXXI Sunday, he watched excitedly as Desmond Howard crossed the goal line — doing the robot, no less — on his victory-sealing 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
And as soon as the game ended, Blackmon was out in his family’s Rhode Island backyard, doing his own instant replay. (No word on whether he busted out the automatronic touchdown dance himself.)
“It’s funny, because I actually watched that Super Bowl,” Blackmon, now a second-year cornerback and return man for the same Green Bay Packers, recalled. “I remember going out in the yard and pretending to be Desmond Howard, running that return back. And now I’m back there now.”
Before that 1996 season, Howard did little in training camp to impress and appeared destined to be cut. Then, he returned a punt for a touchdown in the exhibition finale against Pittsburgh. By year’s end, he was Super Bowl MVP and almost as vital part a of the Packers’ first championship in 29 years as star quarterback Brett Favre.
“(Almost) every day, I watch ‘America’s Game’ on NFL Network,” Blackmon said of the NFL Films-produced 40-part series on the Super Bowls. “I downloaded the Packers’ (game) when they won in ’96, and (when) they (interviewed ) Brett, Brett said that if they
didn’t have Desmond, they don’t think they would’ve made it that far.”
There’s no telling whether Blackmon will have the same kind of impact on the 2007 Packers, but based on his performance through two preseason games he clearly has the chops to be a difference-maker in the return game.
In Saturday night’s 48-13 preseason win over Seattle, Blackmon returned a kickoff 83 yards to set up one touchdown, then later made a nifty 16-yard punt return to set up another TD.
In the preseason opener at Pittsburgh Aug. 11, Blackmon had a 45-yard punt return called back because of a penalty and also broke four tackles on a punt return that lost 4 yards but was impressive.
“I thought Will did an amazing job,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “He’s exciting. He had three returns, the two in Pittsburgh and the one tonight, that could make you believe that.”
After struggling on special teams each of the past two seasons — the Packers ranked last in the 32-team league both years in the Dallas Morning News’ annual rankings — McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson made special-teams improvement an offseason emphasis.
Special teams coordinator Mike Stock said he’s not necessarily looking for touchdowns on returns — he’ll take them, of course — but simply improved field position.
“The farther up the field you go, the higher percentage for scoring points there is. That’s an NFL fact,” Stock said. “If you can get to the 35 or 40 (on a kickoff return), you’ve got a doggone good opportunity to score. That’s what that’s all about.
“If we score, wonderful. That’s a big-time bonus, a big-time plus, a big-time emotional rallying point for the football team. Those big plays on special teams ignite the sideline, ignite the stadium.”
Asked if Blackmon had won the return jobs, Stock replied, “I’m not ready to say that yet. He helped himself. He helped our football team. We’ve got two more (preseason) games to play. But ’27’ has done a nice job the last two weeks. He showed us enough last week, and he did more to keep the positive motion and climb (going).”
For Blackmon, who played in four games last season because of a broken foot suffered in minicamp and a broken rib sustained against Minnesota Nov. 12, returning has been the one constant in his career. Shuffled between corner and wide receiver at Boston College, he was a three-time all-conference pick as a returner, finishing 222 yards shy of the NCAA’s Division I career kickoff return yardage record.
“I’ve always returned kicks, my whole entire life. That’s the first thing I did as soon as I walked on campus (at Boston College) — they took off my redshirt just to return kicks,” Blackmon said.
“Coming into training camp, I didn’t really have an actual position on the depth chart. It was, ’He can return kicks, he can play corner.’ So I’m competing at cornerback, competing at nickel(back), competing on kick returns. I’m just competing, competing, competing. Hopefully, I’ll be that guy opening day.”
Jason Wilde is a sportswriter for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison
Published - Monday, August 20, 2007
POST COMMENT | READ COMMENTS (1 comment(s))
Blackmon takes cues from Green Bay’s Super Bowl XXXI win
By Jason Wilde | Lee Newspapers
.
GREEN BAY — Will Blackmon was 12 years old at the time, and like lots of football-loving kids on that Super Bowl XXXI Sunday, he watched excitedly as Desmond Howard crossed the goal line — doing the robot, no less — on his victory-sealing 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
And as soon as the game ended, Blackmon was out in his family’s Rhode Island backyard, doing his own instant replay. (No word on whether he busted out the automatronic touchdown dance himself.)
“It’s funny, because I actually watched that Super Bowl,” Blackmon, now a second-year cornerback and return man for the same Green Bay Packers, recalled. “I remember going out in the yard and pretending to be Desmond Howard, running that return back. And now I’m back there now.”
Before that 1996 season, Howard did little in training camp to impress and appeared destined to be cut. Then, he returned a punt for a touchdown in the exhibition finale against Pittsburgh. By year’s end, he was Super Bowl MVP and almost as vital part a of the Packers’ first championship in 29 years as star quarterback Brett Favre.
“(Almost) every day, I watch ‘America’s Game’ on NFL Network,” Blackmon said of the NFL Films-produced 40-part series on the Super Bowls. “I downloaded the Packers’ (game) when they won in ’96, and (when) they (interviewed ) Brett, Brett said that if they
didn’t have Desmond, they don’t think they would’ve made it that far.”
There’s no telling whether Blackmon will have the same kind of impact on the 2007 Packers, but based on his performance through two preseason games he clearly has the chops to be a difference-maker in the return game.
In Saturday night’s 48-13 preseason win over Seattle, Blackmon returned a kickoff 83 yards to set up one touchdown, then later made a nifty 16-yard punt return to set up another TD.
In the preseason opener at Pittsburgh Aug. 11, Blackmon had a 45-yard punt return called back because of a penalty and also broke four tackles on a punt return that lost 4 yards but was impressive.
“I thought Will did an amazing job,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “He’s exciting. He had three returns, the two in Pittsburgh and the one tonight, that could make you believe that.”
After struggling on special teams each of the past two seasons — the Packers ranked last in the 32-team league both years in the Dallas Morning News’ annual rankings — McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson made special-teams improvement an offseason emphasis.
Special teams coordinator Mike Stock said he’s not necessarily looking for touchdowns on returns — he’ll take them, of course — but simply improved field position.
“The farther up the field you go, the higher percentage for scoring points there is. That’s an NFL fact,” Stock said. “If you can get to the 35 or 40 (on a kickoff return), you’ve got a doggone good opportunity to score. That’s what that’s all about.
“If we score, wonderful. That’s a big-time bonus, a big-time plus, a big-time emotional rallying point for the football team. Those big plays on special teams ignite the sideline, ignite the stadium.”
Asked if Blackmon had won the return jobs, Stock replied, “I’m not ready to say that yet. He helped himself. He helped our football team. We’ve got two more (preseason) games to play. But ’27’ has done a nice job the last two weeks. He showed us enough last week, and he did more to keep the positive motion and climb (going).”
For Blackmon, who played in four games last season because of a broken foot suffered in minicamp and a broken rib sustained against Minnesota Nov. 12, returning has been the one constant in his career. Shuffled between corner and wide receiver at Boston College, he was a three-time all-conference pick as a returner, finishing 222 yards shy of the NCAA’s Division I career kickoff return yardage record.
“I’ve always returned kicks, my whole entire life. That’s the first thing I did as soon as I walked on campus (at Boston College) — they took off my redshirt just to return kicks,” Blackmon said.
“Coming into training camp, I didn’t really have an actual position on the depth chart. It was, ’He can return kicks, he can play corner.’ So I’m competing at cornerback, competing at nickel(back), competing on kick returns. I’m just competing, competing, competing. Hopefully, I’ll be that guy opening day.”
Jason Wilde is a sportswriter for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison