Packers host Bears to kick off season

Cheesehead

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Mar 19, 2019
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NBC will broadcast the game to a national audience. Play-byplay man Al Michaels joins analyst Cris Collinsworth in the booth with Michele Tafoya reporting from the sidelines.


THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT


MATT LaFLEUR
…In his first season as the Packers’ 15th head coach.


MATT NAGY…Is in his second year as the Bears’ 16th head coach.


Packers S Adrian Amos was drafted by Chicago in 2015 and spent the previous four seasons with the Bears…Packers head coach Matt LaFleur worked with Bears offensive line coach Harry Hiestand in 2014 season Notre Dame… Packers assistant offensive line coach Luke Butkus is from Bloom Township, Illinois, and attended the University of Illinois. Butkus, who was signed as a rookie free agent by the Bears in 2002, is the nephew of Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus. Butkus was the offensive line coach at his alma mater (2012, 2016-18) and served as the Bears’ assistant offensive line coach (2007-09)…Bears defensive assistant Chris Jackson appeared in two games for the Packers at wide receiver from 2002-2003…Packers CB Will Redmond was coached by Chicago’s secondary coach Deshea Townsend at Mississippi State…Bears DB Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft by Green Bay and played for the Packers for five seasons...Green Bay players with connections to Illinois include: WR Geronimo Allison (Illinois), T Bryan Bulaga (Woodstock), LB James Crawford (Illinois), WR Jake Kumerow (Bartlett, Illinois), DL Dean Lowry (Rockford, Northwestern), DL Tyler Lancaster (Plainfield, Northwestern), TE Robert Tonyan (McHenry) and Danny Vitale (Wheaton, Northwestern). Lowry, Lancaster, Vitale and Packers S Ibraheim Campbell all played at Northwestern…Packers president/CEO Mark Murphy was the athletic director at Northwestern from 2003-07...Packers personnel executive Lee Gissendaner played wide receiver at Northwestern (1990-93)... Packers assistant chief of staff Joe McKillip served as a football operations graduate assistant (2011) and then as the assistant director of football operations and on-campus recruiting coordinator (2012) at Northern Illinois... Chicago assistant offensive line coach Donovan Raiola played for the Wisconsin Badgers from 2002-05...Bears director of player engagement Lamar Campbell also played collegiately at Wisconsin (1994-97)...Chicago general manager Ryan Pace was the director of pro scouting for New Orleans when the club drafted Packers TE Jimmy Graham in the third round of the 2010 draft...During Pace’s tenure working for the Saints from 2001-14, Packers executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball served on the New Orleans staff...Graham teamed with Bears QB Chase Daniel (2010-12) and DL Akiem Hicks (2012-14) in New Orleans. Graham also played alongside Chicago OL Bradley Sowell (2016), LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (2016) and RB Mike Davis (2017) while in Seattle...Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, assistant defensive backs coach Ryan Downard and Chicago special teams coordinator Chris Tabor coached together for the Browns from 2014-15...Tabor and Packers special teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga worked together in Cleveland for seven seasons (2011-17)…Green Bay TE Marcedes Lewis played with Chicago DB Prince Amukamara and WR Allen Robinson in Jacksonville...Packers secondary coach Jason Simmons was teammates with Chicago quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone on the Houston Texans from 2003-05...Packers outside linebackers coach Mike Smith and Bears head coach Matt Nagy were on the Kansas City coaching staff together for two seasons (2016-17)...Packers K Mason Crosby played at Colorado in 2006 while Bears offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich served in the same role...Green Bay WR Equanimeous St. Brown played at Notre Dame while Chicago offensive line coach Hiestand and Raiola were on the coaching staff...Bears wide receivers coach Matt Furrey played for Washington when both LaFleur and Packers inside linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti were on the staff (2010)...Bears WR Taylor Gabriel signed as an undrafted free agent with Cleveland in 2014 when Pettine was the head coach...Gabriel and Bears DT Nick Williams played for the Falcons when LaFleur was quarterbacks coach…Bears DB Buster Skrine was also coached by Pettine on the Browns in 2014…Pettine also worked with Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano in Baltimore (2008)...Bears OL Cornelius Lucas was on the Los Angeles Rams’ roster while LaFleur was the offensive coordinator… Former college teammates include: Packers CB Tony Brown, P JK Scott and Bears DB Eddie Jackson (Alabama); Packers CB Josh Jackson and Bears OL James Daniels (Iowa); Packers S Darnell Savage and Bears LB Josh Woods (Maryland); Amos and Bears WR Allen Robinson III (Penn State); Packers LB Kyler Fackrell and Bears LS Patrick Scales (Utah State).
 
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