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Think being a great NFL player can get passed down through the generations? With the emergence of Clay Matthews as defensive (and hair) god for the Green Bay Packers, questions now abound on whether the team will pick up his younger brother, Casey, from the draft.

The Matthews boys come from a long line of great players. his dad, Clay Jr., played almost two full decades for the Browns and Falcons. His uncle, Bruce, played for the Oilers, and his grandfather, Clay Sr., played with the 49ers.

All of them did well, so they weren’t a flash in the pan, although I don’t know if they all had the magnificent hair that Clay does. I do know that Casey has the hair, so maybe there will be opportunities for joint hair commercials. Wouldn’t that be special?

Clay was drafted in the Packers first round in 2009, and this year the team could pick up Casey, who has been kicking butt with the University of Oregon. The two brothers are much different players, however. Casey is lighter by 20 pounds and wouldn’t serve in the pass-rusher spot like his brother. Not that the team needs another one. They could let go of a couple veterans in the inside linebacker area, and if they do that Casey might be a pick to make.

Casey says he wouldn’t mind playing in Green Bay, but that he doesn’t “know how people might perceive it. You’re playing in the shadow of your brother. That’s what it would start out as. I would like to prove them wrong.”

Agreed. The kid would be compared continually to Clay throughout the first couple years at least. While that could still happen if he goes to another team, it would be much less so. Besides that, Green Bay is finally getting over comparisons of players in the quarterback position (who shall remain nameless) and they don’t need to start that up again with a new set of players and positions. While Casey would no doubt be a good player to pick up, I think Green Bay should pass on him.

Now that the Green Bay Packers have won the Super Bowl and brought home the Lombardi Trophy home (the actual shiny one), I can’t help wondering if they can repeat. Yes, folks, it is never too early to speculate about next year.

It’s difficult for a team to go back to the Super Bowl year after year. That’s a good thing because it keeps things interesting for teams and fans alike. But teams have done it, and since the Green Bay Packers are a strong, young team, I can’t help wondering if they can return.

Here are some reasons why they will make it back.

Deep Talent

The Packers were saddled with injuries this year, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Extra playing time for second string players helped secure a Super Bowl win after veterans Charles Woodson and Donald Driver got injured, and will help them next year as well. While you never want your key players on the sidelines, at least the Packers still have guys that can take up the slack.

More on the Packers return after the jump >>

The clock had barely counted down to zero before the usual talking heads were pontificating about… Brett Favre.  Now, I’m a fan of Brett Favre.  However, I tend to take a  practical approach about what is sports-important at any given moment.  I don’t believe it is unreasonable, in the aftermath of an excellent Super Bowl XLV, to want to hear a synopsis of the game, how it was played, the positives and negatives experienced by both teams, and accolades showered upon those deserving of them.  Super Bowl MVP, Aaron Rodgers, tops that list.  Yet, in the 48-hours since the end of the Super Bowl, I’m left with the impression that it’s more important for the alleged experts to talk about Brett Favre.

I’m left wondering if it will ever be possible for Aaron Rodgers, Super Bowl XLV MVP, to ever escape the gargantuan shadow of Brett Favre.  Interestingly, the shadow is not cast by Brett Favre himself, instead it is cast by the sportscasters and reporters who seem unable or unwilling to focus on the hear-and-now.  They choose to sully an amazing post-season run by the Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay Packers by continuing to focus on someone who had an abysmal season and wasn’t even part of the NFL playoffs.

Read more on the lack of respect for Aaron Rodgers after the jump >>

We’re big fans of Super Bowl commercials here at IF, and after watching the above, my jaw’s on the floor. Game over, man. Game over. The fight’s over before it even started. Hand Volkswagen the championship belt because they’ve turned in what will be the best commercial of Super Bowl XLV. That’s it. That’s the list. In fact, this might be one of the best of all time.

Hell, that kind of hyperbole worked for Cigar Guy and the Dwyane Wade/LeBron James picture, and it’s going to work here.

For those companies who plan on advertising in future Super Bowls, the gauntlet’s been dropped. Loudly.

Who's Going to Disney World?

Today we feature Super Bowl predictions from the Intentional Foul team of experts and predictions on how many time Brett Favre will show up. Enjoy!

Cherie Burbach

5 Reasons the Packers Will Win Super Bowl 45

Aaron Rodgers
I’ll admit that when Rodgers first took over as quarterback for the Packers, I thought all the talk about him being “elite” and at the “top of league” was way too early. Now, three years later, he’s becoming the quarterback fans hoped he would be. This year he silenced critics with his three playoff wins (all on the road), which is incidentally the number Brett Favre had in his entire career. Also, in Favre’s last ten years with the Packers he only won three playoff games total, and Rodgers did that this year alone.

Predictions from all of our experts (and almost experts) after the jump >>

The Super Bowl is coming, ya’ll! And while we anticipate the showdown between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, we’re also reflecting back on past games. Which ones were the best? Which left the best memory in the mind of fans?

Here is my list. Feel free to argue or agree.

Super Bowl XXIII
49ers vs Bengals
I used to call Joe Montana “Cool Hand Luke” because the guy was never rattled on the field. Reggie White in your face? Doesn’t matter. Down by a gazillion points? No problem.

Montana would come in and without so much as breaking a sweat lead a team to victory. In this game, his coolness would put the 49ers ahead of the Bengals late in the game to not only win, but become the first NFC team to win it all three times.

More of the best Super Bowl games after the jump >>

My esteemed writing colleague, Cherie Burbach, wrote about the Jay Cutler debacle as created by the media, judgmental football viewers, and others in her article, Who Gets to Judge Jay Cutler? In keeping with the “Jay Quitler” theme, the story lays out all of the NFL twitterheads’ comments and the prevailing opinions of others regarding what people believe Jay Cutler should have done.  I come at this entire situation from the other side.  My contention is that what people who would comment about what Jay Cutler should have done – is:  “can it”.

The reality is simple, none of us, NFL players included, could possibly have known the extent of Jay Cutler’s injury and its impact on his ability to effectively play out the rest of the NFC Championship game.  In this day-and-age of instant feedback – we can’t stop people from shooting their collective mouths off about such experiences.  It’s especially humorous coming from those of us who have never played a meaningful down of high performance football in our lives.  Frankly, it’s alarming that it would come from fellow union members in the NFLPA.

Another reality is this:  Short of a Chicago Bears comeback win with Jay Cutler at the helm, there was no good ending for this for him.

1 – He leaves the game or is pulled from the game by staff.  We all know how that turned out already.  It involves uninformed and unnecessary criticism of Jay Cutler before the facts are ever revealed.

2 – He stays in and plays poorly.  He gets criticized, as he sometimes deserves, for his erratic play and he has “choked” in a big post-season game.

3 – He stays in and plays poorly and it’s later revealed that he has a severe knee injury, now known to be a grade 2 sprain of his medial collateral ligament with a partial tear.  He and/or the training staff are vilified for allowing him to remain in the game and sink the team’s chances to win the NFC Championship Game.

Hurray for Jay Cutler.  He loses anyone you slice it if he doesn’t win this game, regardless of the circumstances.  Why?  Because we allegedly know better – what, with all of our knowledge and NFL experience.  In the words of Chicago Bears General Manager, Jerry Angelo, “I think it’s crap.”

Why we should leave Cutler alone after the jump >>

With the Division Championship games this weekend, it means that the Super Bowl is right around the corner. It also gives us a chance to envision what the possible team combinations could be. Who is your ideal matchup?

My choice would be the Packers and Jets. Now, I love the Packers and really dislike (hate is such a strong word) the Jets. But I think it would be interesting to see the contrast between these two teams. The only thing they really have in common are that they are the #6 seeds, which in and of itself would be an interesting thing for the Super Bowl.

More on Super Bowl matchups after the jump >>