I know all about back tightness

"Ask Vic" will publish on Mondays and Thursdays through the offseason.

Douglas from Binghamton, NY
If you could draft one quarterback to play for a coach/organization/team at any point in time, who would it be?
I'm surprised you needed to ask. Tom Brady/Bill Belichick/Patriots is the perfect marriage of quarterback, coach and team the game has ever known.

Nate from Plymouth, MN
Have you ever experienced back tightness?
At first, your question made me laugh, but then it made me think. I've undergone two low back surgeries and one neck fusion, so I know all about back tightness. I can't remember the last time I didn't have a day without back tightness.

David from Seattle, WA
McCarthy fully lost the team in ‘17. There had been a build up, but in ‘17 McCarthy banged on the podium and said Hundley was his man and he had been working with Hundley for three years! Is Hundley even in the league? The Packers were 4-2 at the time, won a road game in Dallas and could have easily competed for the division. You say football teams and the NFL are about wins. Also, you say a player's stats (especially QB and head coach) are defined by wins. I’m confused. If a team truly believes in winning, wouldn’t at least one team have gone against the grain and signed Kaepernick vs. the second string crap they’ve put out on the field in the last few years? Obviously, Hundley wasn’t the answer in ‘17, but would Kaepernick have been worse? I know my point is too solid about the (baloney) politics of the NFL and your column, so it probably will never be published, but I'll keep trying.
OK.

John from Sioux Falls, SD
The more I watch QB play this preseason, the more I think your idea to have a couple of cheap runners/passers man the position, instead of spending time and money trying to develop the rare pocket passer unicorn has real merit. The abundance of good read-option athletes colleges are churning out would seem to provide an endless supply of inexpensive guys who could allow a team to have a deep roster, win and still keep the cap healthy. Plus, if you’re No. 1 goes down, the drop off is less (dramatic) and your season isn’t immediately over. Seems like this is what Baltimore is doing now. Agree?
The Ravens are the trial balloon. They got Lamar Jackson affordably at the bottom of round one and now they've added Trace McSorley, a sixth-round pick, which leads me to believe they're making a commitment to that type of quarterback, which is to say guys who play their best football outside the pocket. Here's the big question: What will the Ravens do should Jackson become a star and he needs a new contract? If you give him the big money, the way he plays becomes especially problematic. That's the fly in the ointment of my idea. You have to be willing to move on to the next run-around guy or the concept fails.

Damian from Superior, WI
You touched on whether the Lombardi Trophy would be so named if Vince hadn't died, but what would have happened if they had lost either or both Super Bowls?
Super Bowl II? No problem. If he had lost Super Bowl I, however, I think there's a chance the trophy might've gone nameless until Pete Rozelle retired. What's wrong with calling it the Super Bowl Trophy? Major League Baseball refers to the World Series trophy as the Commissioner's Trophy. Certainly, baseball has enough dead guys to put one of their names on the trophy.

Jeff from Brooklyn, WI
It says you will answer questions Mondays and Thursdays though the offseason. What's the plan once the season starts?
I'll go back to three times a week (M-W-F), and I think I'll make the Wednesday column an expanded power-rankings-only edition; I'll answer no questions, but I'll expand the column to include opinions I have on current issues.

Tom from Bismarck, ND
Vic, I think we need your perspective on this issue. It seems the Packers get an inordinate amount of pressure to draft and/or keep fan favorites on their roster. Perhaps it's a Midwest thing, perhaps a small town thing, God forbid it being a racial thing. It seems every year we find a small town lad to latch onto for no athletic or performance reason. Like no other franchise, we feel a need to draft/keep Packers types at positions that require anything but Packers types. We are now in the midst of a full decade of being the smallest, least athletic and, most importantly, the softest team in the NFL. What's sad is the few super talented players we have, especially on defense, make it possible for some of our Packers types to make plays we all swoon over. Is this the case in most NFL cities or is this another Packers thing?
Packers fans are accepting and welcoming of any player from any place, as long as he's winsome, and winsome is not an especially good trait for a football player, especially on defense. "Winsome" Joe Greene? I think Reggie White is the closest thing to a winsome star defensive player the game has ever known. He was a perfect fit for the Packers. Spirit of place is an interesting concept.

Dan from Sebastopol, CA
How would teams evaluate rookies and undrafted free agents in game situations with only two preseason games? It seems every team has an unknown player who makes great improvement during the course of four preseason games to make a team.
Yeah, I remember Vic So'oto. Prior to last week's Week Two games, Bruce Arians said he could already cut to 60. I think teams could've cut to 60 after OTAs.

Kyle from New Jersey
Vic, I need someone to speak rationally and give me perspective after that second Packers preseason game. Was hoping that would be you.
Don't attach meaning to something that's meaningless.

Justin from Janesville, WI
How would fans react if No. 8 beat No. 1 in the opening round of the playoffs?
What's the big deal? The Packers lost at home in December to a two-win Arizona team quarterbacked by a rookie the Cardinals have already replaced. The Steelers lost in Oakland to a two-win Raiders team one week before the Steelers beat the Patriots. The Jaguars finished 5-11 one year after taking a lead into the fourth quarter of the AFC title game. Unpredictability is the NFL. Up becomes down and then down becomes up. What if No. 6 beats No. 1? Is that any less of an upset?

Jared from Rigby, ID
Vic, have you covered any offensive linemen you feel could have been very successful blocking in the '60's?
If Carlton Haselrig had played for Vince Lombardi, and if Haselrig could've disciplined his lifestyle, he'd be in the Hall of Fame.

Ian from Texas
Your reply to the question on the Packers defense was interesting: Perhaps they needed to trade up. In order to avoid the inevitable hit on roster quality from winning seasons and drafting low, do you feel the best option is to accept and take your medicine, trade up to try and get playmakers, or play in free agency more.
If you trade up, you lose depth. If you stay put, you lack playmakers. A mix of trade up and move back is the best way to go, but it's difficult to find trade partners who'll allow you to move accordingly. The Patriots have done a good job of moving up and back; it's worked for them. Of course, they have Tom Brady.

Christopher from Plover, WI
Should Colin Kaepernick have a job?
Two years ago, I would've said yes. Now, I think he's been out of the game so long I can't blame teams for not signing him.

Mike from Whitefish, MT
Vic, you've never made a secret of your love for the Steelers and your reverence for Coach Noll. I respect that. However, is there anything he ever did with which you disagreed or disliked?
I can remember three: 1) His decision the week of the 1976 AFC title game to hide the fact Franco and Rocky wouldn't play against the Raiders. He was trying to hide it from the Raiders but, in the process, he surprised even his own team. I think he should've ruled Franco and Rocky out at the start of the week and have given his team time to digest the news and react accordingly. 2) His fourth-and-four play call in Super Bowl X remains the worst play call I've ever seen, but his strategy worked. 3) He refused to take a safety with seconds left on the clock in a game against Kansas City, opting to punt out of his own end zone. Everyone expected the punter to just step out of the back of the end zone. I remember writing, "Even the drunk in the upper deck knew the Steelers should take the safety." Chuck said he just couldn't force himself to score points for the other team. "Being stubborn is a virtue when you're right; it's only a character flaw when you're wrong," Chuck once said. For him, stubbornness was a virtue.

Dave from Savage, MN
I don't watch them nowadays, but when I think of pregame shows, I always think of Jack Whitaker introducing the day's games on CBS, pushing buttons on a monitor to bring up clips of games and interviews. He is an all-timer for me. Do you have any stories?
I don't have any stories, but I had come to regard Whitaker, Jim Murray and Dan Jenkins as the leaders of what I consider to be the romance era of sports journalism. I suspect the reason I've never fully warmed to the Masters golf tournament is due to its mistreatment of Whitaker.