Jeffery from Monticello, WI

Hello Wes, Hope you enjoyed your time off. The weather was nice here, was it nice where you were? I personally got to do some fishing for the first time this year. Nothing too awesome; just a lot of sunfish to keep me busy.

That sounds pretty awesome to me, Jeffery. Vegas was incredible and I was barely down on the strip at all. Instead, I spent a lot of time on the outskirts of town with friends. I swam, took a meditation class and even ventured into the desert to hike Lee Canyon, which has water near the top. The temperatures drop like 30 degrees once you get to that elevation. Beautiful. I love out there, man. If God blesses me with a long enough life, I could see myself retiring in Nevada or Arizona someday.

Scott from Lincoln City, OR

Hey Wes, welcome back. You missed some extended discussion of 1980s arcade games. Mike left me out to dry when Eric from Holiday, FL, challenged my Asteroids Deluxe world record. Eric’s A.I. search mistakenly detailed the record for the original (much easier) Asteroids arcade game. I set the current Asteroids Deluxe record of 3,458,850 on January 28-29, 2024, after I had just finished watching a very blah NFC Championship game (that the Packers should have been in) and decided to do something fun.

Sounds like I missed a laugh riot.

Jesse from Colorado Springs, CO

Hey II, I’ve been reading every day for a few months now, but I’m confused about this “Outsider Inbox?” What is it?

It’s the one week every year when I ask readers the questions and we post your responses. This year’s seventh (or eighth?) installment begins Monday. Again, please check out the end of Mike’s Tuesday column for the 12 questions if you missed them.

How do we submit answers to the Outsider Inbox? Is it the same way as with the Insider, or do we have to send those somewhere else?

The same way you asked this question, Sam. It’s sort of like the old Dane Cook joke about Burger King, “Where do you go? You follow the one road you’re on to me…”

John from Temple City, CA

Good morning II, Kenny Clark has been a monster for the Pack since drafted in the first round, I believe out of UCLA. He had an injury last year but played through it. He is still only 29 years old with a ton of experience. My question is do you think he has done enough to merit Hall of Fame consideration?

Clark is absolutely a Packers Hall of Famer. He’s played in Green Bay for a decade now, made three Pro Bowl appearances and has recorded more sacks than any other Packers interior defensive lineman since 1982. He’s also a former team captain and two-time Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. Last year was a season of adversity, but Clark still has plenty of good football ahead of him. I feel like he’s in for a big bounce-back year. KC is still ’bout that life.

What are your top five favorite away game destinations and why?

1) New York. Meh stadium/location but one of my favorite restaurants in the country, “Via Della Pace,” in the East Village. Shout out to my guy, Giovanni Bartocci. 2) Dallas. The Cowboys get a bad rap. Yes, the team and city represent the white-collar side of the NFL, but their heart is in the right place. Those fans love the game and their team. Dallas also has great hotels, an amazing stadium, and probably the best press-box food in the league. 3) Seattle, where I ate my first oysters, sushi and salmon jerky. Talk about a trifecta. I love Pike Place Market, too. 4) Las Vegas. I just went on vacation there…need I say more? 5) Carolina. Darin Gantt lives there and that’s good enough for me.

Gordon from Newport Beach, CA

Since a “pancake block” isn’t an official NFL statistic, it got me thinking: what constitutes a successful block or partially successful block and who judges, or keeps track of it?

PFF and all these other outfits take their best shots at it, but only the Packers’ coaching staff knows everything that’s going on. They grade players on a plus-minus scale and coach players off those metrics. Offensive line is such an “in the eye of the beholder” position, perhaps more than any other in professional sports. You can’t latch on to a few convenient stats to summarize a player. You have to see it to know it on the offensive line.