is important this offseason and New England may have given the Packers a few examples."Heading into Super Bowl LIII Dexter Williams Green Bay Packers Jersey , there was plenty of speculation that the big game could be the last for New England Patriots tight end and future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski.After earning another ring, the beaten-up 29-year old still could very much decide to call it a career. In a recent ESPN article, opposing defensive coaches said several remarks about Gronkowski’s aging body and athletic traits.And perhaps most importantly.In many ways, those quotes could also be applied toward Jimmy Graham and his first season in Green Bay. It seems hard to envision Graham re-discovering his Pro Bowl self in 2019, but he, like Gronk, remains a player with a big body that can get into space and cause mismatches. Unfortunately, the Packers failed to use these strengths throughout the 2018 season. Once a feared runner in the seams and a red zone nightmare, Graham instead was confined many times to crossing routes over the middle and short sideline out routes. His large frame was rarely used to win 50-50 balls in the end zone and, really, was rarely targeted at all with just eight red zone targets. Eight!And while watching Gronkowski in the Super Bowl on Sunday did not provide insight into how to fix that specific error, it did shed light on how to use the 32-year old veteran’s size in other creative patterns. Here are two of those examples coming in a critical fourth quarter.The tight end wheel routeWith under 10 minutes to play, New England needed a play to jumpstart a stunted offense and begin a go-ahead drive. The Patriots did just that on first down by involving Gronkowski. Although he is a far better run blocker than Graham and can deceive defenses by lining up in a two-point stance, Gronk was able to hold up Samson Ebukam just enough before shedding away from Ebukam and getting downfield. The wheel route isolated Gronk in space down the right sideline, allowing Tom Brady to place a perfectly-thrown ball in his tight end’s hands with just one step on the defender. Gronkowski may not be the fastest target and Ebukam may have jammed him, but the Patriots’ largest weapon came up with a monumental play. If Green Bay ever attempted a wheel route with Graham last season, it was not often. However, it could be one of those plays the Packers draw up for third-and-short and other crucial situations. While Graham is not an in-line blocking threat, the Packers could at least use him in that position as a decoy earlier in games to set up the wheel route later on. With his size and ability to run past most linebackers if he gains separation, Graham would be a good fit for the route if Aaron Rodgers can put the ball where he wants it.The seam from the slotThe seam is a concept many thought the Packers would deploy heavily the moment Graham signed on. And though Green Bay used it occasionally Dexter Williams Jersey 2019 , Rodgers and Graham rarely connected.After feeding Gronkowski with the wheel route just a few plays earlier, Brady and the Patriots used a two-tight end set for a stretch of several plays to march down the field. With Gronk in the slot, New England ran and passed the ball with ease. And when the Los Angeles defense was at its breaking point, Brady sought out Gronk for a decisive punch. With Julian Edelman providing a distraction by motioning out to the right, Gronkowski took off running down the seam at the snap. Brady didn’t hesitate to throw to his tight end in single coverage, dropping the ball 29 yards downfield into his hands before the safety could arrive. Again, Gronkowski still had just enough speed to beat his solo defender and used his height and length to catch the ball and get his team into the red zone.If Gronkowski still has enough to win one-on-one battles down the seam, Graham is at least equally as capable and was effective in that role in New Orleans. Having more of a vertical presence from Graham in 2019 to pair with the second-year receivers would be a dimension Green Bay just did not have enough of last offseason. Seattle also struggled to game plan according to Graham’s strengths, but perhaps Matt LaFleur can help in this regard. Graham does not have the same type of quickness in his route-running that he used to. But neither the wheel route nor the seam require elite athleticism to be successful.New England’s fourth quarter playcalling not only benefited from a slot weapon like Edelman, it took advantage of Gronkowski’s remaining dominant skills. Green Bay has something to learn in both areas as the offseason truly begins. Bart Starr was an ordinary quarterback until teaming with Vince Lombardi on the powerhouse Green Bay Packers teams that ruled the 1960s and ushered in the NFL as America’s most popular sport.The quarterback’s graceful throws helped turn a run-heavy league into a passing spectacle, yet it’s a run for which he’s most famous: the sneak that won the famed “Ice Bowl” in 1967.Starr died Sunday at age 85 in Birmingham, Alabama, the Packers said. He had been in failing health since suffering two strokes and a heart attack in 2014.Packers CoverageBucks’ Wes Matthews loves Wisconsin, is a Vikings fanPreview: Packers look to slow Vikings’ revitalized run gameTop Tweets: Yelich thanks fans for support after season-ending injuryAmos sparks rebuilt Packers defense in debutPackers to be tested again by familiar foe in Zimmer, VikingsPackers’ new-look defense carries offense in season openerPackers Snap Counts: New coach LaFleur gets TEs involvedUpon Further Review: Packers at BearsPHOTOS: Packers at BearsDefense leads the way as Packers top Bears in openerStarr is the third of Lombardi’s dozen Hall of Famers to die in the past eight months. Fullback Jim Taylor died in October and offensive tackle Forrest Gregg died last month.“A champion on and off the field, Bart epitomized class and was beloved by generations of Packers fans,” Packers President Mark Murphy said in a statement. “A clutch player who led his team to five NFL titles, Bart could still fill Lambeau Field with electricity decades later during his many visits.”The Packers selected Starr out of the University of Alabama with the 200th pick in the 1956 draft. He led Green Bay to six division titles, five NFL championships and wins in the first two Super Bowls.“Bart Starr was one of the most genuine, sincere people I knew Dexter Williams Jersey Mens ,” NFL Commissioner Roger Godell said in a statement. “He personified the values of our league as a football player, a family man, and a tireless philanthropist who cared deeply about helping at-risk kids. Above all, he was a wonderful human being who will be remembered for his kindness and compassion.”Until Brett Favre came along, Starr was known as the best Packer ever. The team retired his No. 15 jersey in 1973, making him just the third player to receive that honor. Four years later, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.After losing the 1960 NFL title game in his first playoff appearance, the Packers never lost another playoff game under Starr, going 9-0, including wins over the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders in the first two Super Bowls.Starr’s college career wasn’t very noteworthy and it wasn’t until Lombardi’s arrival in Green Bay in 1959 that Starr, living by his motto “desire and dedication are everything,” began to blossom.Lombardi liked Starr’s mechanics, his arm strength and especially his decision-making abilities. Under Lombardi’s nurturing, Starr became one of the league’s top quarterbacks.“If you work harder than somebody else, chances are you’ll beat him though he has more talent than you,” Starr once said. He credited Lombardi for showing him “that by working hard and using my mind, I could overcome my weakness to the point where I could be one of the best.”The gentlemanly quarterback’s status as a Packers icon was tested by his struggles as the team’s head coach. In nine seasons from 1975-83, he won just 41 percent of his games, going 53-77-3 Youth Dexter Williams Jersey , including 1-1 in the playoffs, part of three decades of futility that followed the glory years.After football, Starr, became a successful businessman in Birmingham, not far from his hometown of Montgomery, where he was born on Jan. 9, 1934.Starr was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro. He won NFL titles in 1961, ’62, ’65, ’67 and ’68. He was the 1966 NFL MVP and was named to the 1960s All-Decade team. He also was named MVP of the first two Super Bowls.“Bart was a true gentleman, a great player and a great pioneer for the NFL,” fellow Hall of Famer John Elway tweeted. “He set a tremendous example for all QBs to emulate.”10<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:Things to watch at Packers 2019 OTAsMatt Ludtke | APWhen Starr retired following the 1971 season, his career completion rate of 57.4 percent was tops in the run-heavy NFL, and his passer rating of 80.5 was second-best ever, behind only Otto Graham.But the play he was most famous for was a run.In the NFL championship on Dec. 31, 1967, Starr knifed into the end zone behind guard Jerry Kramer and center Ken Bowman with 16 seconds left to lift the Packers over the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in what became known as the “Ice Bowl.”The Packers had spent $80,000 for a heating coil system that was to have kept the field soft and warm, and forecasters said not to worry because the approaching cold front wouldn’t arrive until after the game.“It was 20 degrees the day before,” the late Tom Landry once recalled. “It was great. Vince and I were together that night and we talked about how good the conditions were and what a great game it would be.”They were half-right. When the grounds crew rolled up the tarpaulin White Dexter Williams Jersey , a layer of condensation had formed underneath and, with 40 mph wind, the field promptly froze like an ice rink. Packers running back Chuck Mercein would later compare the ground to “jagged concrete.”With a temperature of minus-14 and a wind chill of minus-49, it was the coldest NFL game ever recorded. The wind chill had dipped another 20 degrees by the time the Packers got the ball at their 32 trailing 17-14 with five minutes left.With one last chance for an aging dynasty to win a fifth NFL title in seven seasons, Starr took the field as linebacker Ray Nitschke hollered, “Don’t let me down!”Starr wouldn’t, completing all five of his passes and directing one of the most memorable drives in NFL history.“We all have a capacity to focus and to concentrate to a unique degree when we’re called upon to do it,” Starr said on the 30th anniversary of that game. “That’s exactly what I did that day. And I think the same was true of the Cowboys. Let’s face it, they obviously were not accustomed to something like that and yet they were the team which had surged and come back in the second half and were in a position to win it.”With 1:11 remaining, tackle Bob Skoronski opened a hole and Mercein charged through the middle for 8 yards to the Dallas 3.Halfback Donny Anderson slipped twice on handoffs, so Starr called timeout, went to the sideline and suggested a sneak because of the poor traction.“Then run it and let’s get the hell out of here,” Lombardi barked.The play worked perfectly, a flawless finish to that coldest of games so frozen in time.“I’ve never been in a huddle where there was greater composure and where there was a higher level of intensity and concentration,” Mercein once told The Associated Press.Mercein is the one in the famous photograph of the play diving into the end zone behind Starr with his hands held high, as though he’s signaling “Touchdown!”“But what I’m actually doing is I’m showing the officials that I’m not assisting or aiding Bart into the end zone,” Mercein said.That would have been a penalty and it would have negated history’s most famous quarterback sneak.11<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:Packers 2019 undrafted free agent capsulesMercein and the rest of his teammates thought he was going to get the handoff on the play. Nobody knew but Starr and Lombardi that it was to be a quarterback sneak. So, Mercein dug in, thinking he was getting the ball, and he got a great takeoff on the frozen field.“As a matter of fact too good because after a couple of steps I realized I wasn’t going to get the ball. But I couldn’t really pull up because it was so icy Muhammad Wilkerson Jersey ,” Mercein said. “So that’s why I dive over the play and I have my arms upraised, which appears to everyone in that famous picture that I’m signaling touchdown.”Two weeks later in sunny Miami, the Packers defeated the AFL champion Raiders 33-14 in Lombardi’s final game as head coach of the Packers.Starr replaced Dan Devine as Packers head coach in 1975 and would be replaced himself by former teammate Forrest Gregg in 1984 after failing to lead the franchise to the kind of success he did as a player.In 1965, Starr and his wife, Cherry, helped co-found Rawhide Boys Ranch in New London, Wisconsin, a facility designed to help at-risk and troubled boys throughout the state.The couple dealt with tragedy in 1988 when their son Brett died at 24 due to complications from cocaine addiction. They also had another son, Bart Jr.“While he may always be best known for his success as the Packers quarterback for 16 years, his true legacy will always be the respectful manner in which he treated every person he met, his humble demeanor and his generous spirit,” Starr’s family said in a statement.“His love for all of humanity is well known, and his affection toward the residents of Alabama and of Wisconsin filled him with gratitude. He had hoped to make one last trip to Green Bay to watch the Packers this fall, but he shall forever be there in spirit.”Starr has an NFL award named after him, given annually to a player of outstanding character.