This, That And The Other

This:

We now live in a Trump World of "Alternative Facts" and the NFL and Packers are caught in the middle of a good example.

On January 24, 2017 it was announced on Packers.com that Executive Vice President/General Manager & Director of Football Operations For Life Ted Thompson (I'm praying for the end of time) has signed 8 players to reserve/futures contract (all of which were on the practice squad at the end of the season).

However, on NFL.com (the official website of the NFL) on January 23, 2017 (it's funny or tragic how the NFL announcing something about the Packers before the Packers do) that the Packers had signed 8 players to reserve/futures contracts, but not the same eight players.

The official NFL.com transaction of Jan. 23 listed Reggie Gilbert, Antwan Goodley, Derrick Matthews, Lucas Patrick, Brian Price, Dez Stewart, Jermaine Whitehead and Jacob Flores being signed.

The official Packers.com transaction of Jan. 24 listed Reggie Gilbert, Antwan Goodley, Derrick Matthews, Lucas Patrick, Brian Price, Beau Sandland, Jermaine Whitehead and Jacob Flores being signed.

As you can see Dez Stewart is not on the list submitted by the Packers as being signed (he was released from the practice squad on December 2, 2016 when Joe Callahan was re-signed).

In order for a transaction to be listed on NFL.com I would assume (I know doing so usually makes an ass out of u and me, not that I need any help in that endeavor) the Packers had to submit the transaction to the NFL and Dez Stewart was initially on the list and was later replaced by Beau Sandland or was he?

I did some research and found that Dez Stewart was signed by the Steelers to a reserve/futures contract on January 24.

On January 25, 2017 NFL.com listed the Packers had signed Beau Sandland to a reserve/futures contract. Checking the Steelers section of the NFL.com transaction page Dez Stewart is not listed while he is on the Packers page. A day later former Packer Jesse Schmitt signed a reserve/futures contract with the Saints, but he is also listed on the Packers page seemingly signing a reserve/futures contract, but not on the Saints page.

Because of those two signings (Stewart and Schmitt) and many others in the past I will have to say the NFL.com transaction page is a purveyor of "Alternative Facts". They put a picture of a team's helmet next to each individual transaction and in all cases they put a picture of the team the player was last affiliated with and not the new team he signed with. That makes a reasonable intelligent person to think he signed with the helmet team. But that is not the case making that person having to check other sources to find out exactly what is meant by the transaction. Talk about "1984" or its sequel "Trump World".

So I think that NFL.com is actually using "Alternative Facts" instead of Packers.com. I bet you didn't think that was where this little missive was going.

That:

On SB Nation in a story by Evan "Tex" Western (boy, is that a cowboy name or what) on January 19, 2017 at 11:46 a.m. referenced a tweet (didn't I say we lived in a Trump World) by Tom Pelissaro of USA Today on January 19 at 11:22 a.m. that "Packers executive Eliot Wolf has pulled out of the 49ers GM search". Pelissero then tweeted (or should we say trumpeted since Trump seems to now own tweeting using it to set national policy) that "Wolf received a new deal from the Packers".

Tex Western (don't you just love that name) had these comments, "As for why Wolf is no longer in the running in the Bay Area? One report suggests that Wolf “didn’t feel it was the right time,” but it probably has much more to do with this: Perhaps Wolf leveraged the prospect of leaving for a GM job into a more lucrative deal; perhaps that deal even comes with some level of assurance regarding his role moving forward, particularly in the event that current Packers GM Ted Thompson retires. However, any speculation about the contents of Wolf’s new deal is just that - speculation. The only sure thing now is that Thompson’s top lieutenant is coming back to Green Bay for at least one more season.

I have not seen any official announcement concerning Wolf signing a contract with Green Bay coming from the Packers. I would think they would make some sort of an official announcement or is a tweet by an outside source enough. I guess if it's good enough for Trump it's good enough for the Packers.

The Other:

A report on February 2, 2017 by Zach Links (now that is a name that sounds dubious to me) of Pro Football Rumors had this report, " Packers execs Eliot Wolf and Brian Gutekunst were both considered for GM jobs this offseason and it stands to reason that they will continue to be in the mix for those gigs going forward. Despite the fact that they are in high demand, neither man has been told that they will succeed GM Ted Thompson (link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com).  “I don’t think you can make promises,” team president Mark Murphy said with regards to the two young scouts and cap guru Russ Ball. “Especially [because] the league changes so much year to year.” Murphy says that he has an idea of how long Thompson, 64, will stay on the job, but he declined to disclose that timetable publicly. It’s also not immediately clear whether Thompson’s contract runs out after the 2018 season or following the 2019 draft.

Very Interesting, but stupid. CEO Mark Murphy saying, "I don't think you can make promises," is a big, fat trumpism". It was CEO Mark Murphy who said on April 6, 2013 in a interview with Peter Jackel of the Journal News and I quote, “I want Ted to continue as general manager for as long as he wants.”

Well, if that's not a promise it's the next best thing and for almost four years it's a promise kept.