Cheesehead TV Has the NFL Draft Covered!

From our live chat to broadcasts providing analysis after every single Packers selection, Cheesehead TV has your Packers draft needs covered from round one to Mr. Irrelevant.

Just as in previous years, Cheesehead TV will have the NFL Draft covered from the beginning of round one to the end of round seven.

In much the same way we cover Packers games, the Cheesehead TV homepage will be taken over with our CoveritLive chat, allowing fans from around the world discuss and react to the Draft as it occurs in real time.

Cheesehead TV's own Andrew Garda will also be on the ground at Radio City Music Hall in New York City to provide updates on site, both through social media and his original reports.

The lynchpin of our coverage, however, will be the special broadcasts of Railbird Central shortly following every pick the Packers make in all seven rounds.

Joining me on the phone will be our Pro Football Draft Preview staff with Garda providing analysis of the quarterbacks and wide receivers, Jayme Joers on the running backs, Max Ginsberg on the tight ends and fullbacks, Al Bracco on the offensive tackles and outside linebackers,  Paul Guillemette on the interior offensive linemen and defensive line and Zach Kruse on the inside linebackers and cornerbacks.

Once each day is complete, we'll turn the homepage back over where you'll be able to read our latest news, columns and Q&A features with the Packers' newest players.

Please make Cheesehead TV your one-stop shop during the NFL Draft. I guarantee you'll have a hard time finding another website that devotes as much coverage to the Packers' draft.

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Comments (4)

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Franklin Hillside's picture

April 25, 2013 at 09:04 am

CheeseheadTV really ties the draft together, man.

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Walty's picture

April 25, 2013 at 04:27 pm

You're out of your element, Franklin.

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Pack66's picture

April 25, 2013 at 09:17 am

My favorite Packer..(I always though that this guy got the bad breaks and could have been GREAT)

Ex-Packer QB Now Living In Extreme Pain

Wednesday, April 3, 2013 12:25 am

Written by: ThePostGame Staff

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Don Majkowski's story should be a cautionary tale for football players present and future.

The former Green Bay Packers quarterback, who finished second in MVP voting in 1989 and eventually gave way to a youngster named Brett Favre, is now 49 and living in a world of pain.

Paul Imig of FoxSportsWisconsin.com caught up with the player once known as the "Majik Man." Now living in Atlanta, Majkowski is hobbled by 11 surgeries on his left ankle, post-concussion syndrome and degenerative disk disease in his neck and back.

Majkowski sold a real estate investment company a few years ago because working was too painful. He had to stop coaching his son's youth football team, and he can't even play golf anymore.

"I haven't worked, I haven't coached, I haven't done anything," Majkowski told FOXSportsWisconsin.com. "It's very difficult to even sit for five minutes. It's been a nightmare."

Majkowski spent six years with the Packers, throwing for 56 touchdowns and nearly 11,000 yards. His 1989 season, in which he tossed 27 touchdowns, threw for 4,318 yards and led the Packers to a 10-6 record, is one of the best single seasons by a quarterback in franchise history.

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But during a game three years later, Majkowski tore a ligament in his ankle, and a 22-year-old Favre came on to replace him. The rest is history, at least as far as Favre is concerned.

Majkowski's career was mostly downhill from that moment. He started eight games in four years after that, but lingering ankle and shoulder injuries limited his effectiveness.

Now Majkowski's life is full of doctor's appointments. But that's not his only struggle. He also had to fight with the NFL to receive workers compensation, a process which he calls "grueling."

"It's absolutely ridiculous what former players have to go through to get workers comp paid for to win your case," Majkowski told FoxSportsWisconsin.com. "I talked to so many guys going through the same thing. Owners are trying to get rid of workers comp totally for former players because it costs too much. They don't want to pay for any future health care."

Majkowski spent some time a few years ago coaching his son's youth football team, but it became too painful for him to stand on the sidelines. He said that after his experience on the gridiron, he's pushing his son toward baseball.

And even though he's struggled through countless surgeries and court proceedings alike for the past few years, Majkowski is hopeful that his condition is improving.

"It's getting there," he said. "It takes time. I was miserable, but hopefully I'm on the road to getting much better. I haven't been out much in recent years, so I have a lot of catching up to do."

At 49, Majkowski has already lived 'nightmare'

PAUL IMIG |

Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013

Allen Dean Steele/Allsport
Majkowski led the Packers to a 10-6 record in 1989, the team's most victories since 1972. To say he was beloved by the team's fans is an understatement.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images Sport
By the time Majkowski's career ended at age 32 with the Lions in 1996, he was far removed from the player he was during his early days with the Packers. He was never the same after tearing his rotator cuff in 1990.

Cary Edmondson-USA Today Sports

PACKERS ANNUAL CHECKUP: Read FOX Sports Wisconsin Packers writer Paul Imig's in-depth analysis of each player on Green Bay's roster.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Majkowski loved to play golf in the years after he retired from football, but he no longer can physically play the game.

Courtesy: Majiknetwork.net
Majkowski looks his age on the outside but feels much older. GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The last two years of Don Majkowski's life have been what every current and former NFL player fears. The once-great quarterback who seemed poised to turn around the Green Bay Packers in the early 1990s is now experiencing nearly every possible downfall the game of football can present to those who played it.

Only 49 years old, Majkowski has been in significant pain and agony. The player who used to attack defenses with reckless abandon struggles simply to leave his house these days.

"I haven't worked, I haven't coached, I haven't done anything," Majkowski told FOXSportsWisconsin.com. "It's very difficult to even sit for five minutes. It's been a nightmare."

The list of Majkowski's physical problems is lengthy and includes everything from degenerative disk disease in his neck and back to post-concussion syndrome. But his issues started with his left ankle. He's had 11 surgeries on it, including back-to-back fusions after the first attempt didn't work.

"It's just locked in place now," Majkowski said. "I can't move my foot at all."

Majkowski's ankle problems began on a memorable day in Packers history. On Sept. 20, 1992, he tore a ligament in his ankle, opening the door for 22-year-old backup Brett Favre to make his Lambeau Field debut. Favre led the Packers to a comeback win that day and started his next 297 NFL games. Majkowski – a rare combination of talent and swagger dubbed the Majik Man while finishing second in NFL MVP voting to Joe Montana in 1989 -- never took another snap in Green Bay and signed on as a backup with the Indianapolis Colts the next season.

Three years later in 1996, by then with the Detroit Lions, Majkowski damaged his ankle further. He underwent surgery by Dr. James Andrews in June of that year and was told it would be a three-month recovery process. Sitting out for three months would have meant not playing in the preseason, which could have cost the then 32-year-old a backup job with the Lions.

"My ankle was 60 percent, and they needed me to start a preseason game in Detroit," Majkowski said. "They asked if I could be dependable. I went out there and played and it numbed up. I tore it up, and it's affected me the rest of my life. That's what messed it up real bad.

"That was the start of the nightmare with my ankle. My ankle was so bad. It was awful. It got so swollen every day after practice. I could've easily played three more seasons without that."

Majkowski knew he couldn't be a starting-caliber quarterback by that point in his career. Those days had passed several years earlier. Though he started eight games in 1991 and three games in 1992 with the Packers, Majkowski knew he was never going to make it to the Pro Bowl for a second time. The torn rotator cuff he suffered midway through the 1990 season destroyed his chances of maintaining an elite level of play.

"That 1990 shoulder injury killed my career," Majkowski said of the damage caused to his throwing arm. "I played six more years, but it was through incredible pain in that shoulder. My shoulder never came back to its normal shape like it was before then. I always had to keep it to myself. I had to keep everything to myself because I wanted to continue to play."

Unfortunately for Majkowski, the long-lasting damage to his ankle and shoulder is the least of his worries these days. Doctors discovered a couple years ago that Majkowski has degenerative disk disease in his back. Three months ago, he had fusion surgery in hopes of easing the discomfort.

"I had no more disks in my two lower vertebrae, and it was so painful," he said. "It'll be close to eight months before it's fully healed. It's kind of a condition, though, because once you have two lower disks fused, it puts a lot of pressure on the disks above it. It compounds.

"I have gotten quite a bit of relief since (the surgery), so that's a positive. Hopefully, I'll be able to move around better soon."

Majkowski also has degenerative disk disease in his neck, but he's hopeful he can hold off on surgery on that for a few years.

"All those blindside hits I took, it was brutal," Majkowski said.

Those blindside hits also have Majkowski suffering from post-traumatic concussion syndrome.

"They didn't have the concussion protocol then that they do now," he said. "If you get dinged up now, you come out and go through the whole procedure to be cleared to play.

"When I played, you get hit and you see a flash of red light like someone is taking a picture of you with an old camera. You get dizzy for several minutes, and that happened to me several times. But you had to just shake it off and go back out there. Some guys just kept it to themselves so they didn't come out of the game.

"I can't go on rollercoasters because my head hurts too bad. It just proves that it must have been really bad. I felt like I had the worst concussion in the world after getting off of one of those loopy rollercoasters years ago."

Given all of his medical issues, Majkowski sought help from the NFL's workers compensation program. For 21 months, he battled with the league over his case, having to fly out to California -- the only state in which former players can receive workers compensation -- every time new information had to be presented or tested.

At one point, Majkowski was put through three days of exams, ranging from neurological tests to scans of every part of his body. Majkowski, along with his attorneys, had to be able to prove that his medical procedures should be covered by the NFL's workers compensation program.

"I won my case," Majkowski said. "I got a little lump sum, but more importantly, I get all of my medical expenses paid for. I know I'll need more ankle surgeries and back surgeries, so I needed it.

"It was a grueling process."

Majkowski, who lives in Atlanta, explained that he, like every player who files a claim, needed to have a local orthopedic physician represent him. Any time Majkowski needed any doctor appointment whatsoever, there was a two-month wait while the request was submitted to the insurance company.

"It's absolutely ridiculous what former players have to go through to get workers comp paid for to win your case," Majkowski said. "I talked to so many guys going through the same thing. Owners are trying to get rid of workers comp totally for former players because it costs too much. They don't want to pay for any future health care."

Other prerequisites for approval on his surgeries were undergoing three months of physical therapy and steroid injections. Neither treatment worked for Majkowski.

"It was a tough couple years," Majkowski said. "Thank God it's over. I'm ready to hopefully resume some form of a normal life."

That normal life, though, won't include many things that others his age can do.

"I can't even come close to playing golf," Majkowski said. "I used to love it."

Majkowski sold his real estate investment company a couple years ago because working was far too difficult given his multiple ailments.

"I'm completely retired," he said. "I'm done. Fortunately, I've been smart with the money I made."

He also can no longer coach his eighth-grade son Bo's football team.

"I coached the year before, but I was in so much pain," Majkowski said. "I had to wear a back brace just to stand out there. I really enjoyed working with those kids."

Bo Majkowski is the team's quarterback and is on track to be a four-year starter in high school and possibly be highly recruited by college programs.

"He's following right in my footsteps," said Majkowski, who played college football at the University of Virginia. "I'm not one of those dads to push him to be like me. I want him to do what he wants, but he loves football."

However, Majkowski is worried that his son's love of football could lead to the types of medical conditions that have affected his own life.

"He's also a really good baseball player, and I'm trying to push him to play baseball, to be honest with you," Majkowski said. "It'll be tough as a parent watching my son play if he does end up being a QB because it's the most vulnerable position. You can't protect yourself.

"I'm going to support him no matter what he chooses, but you should see how many of these kids in seventh grade get concussions. They were so bad. I had one kid who needed it completely black in a room. He couldn't watch TV, couldn't go on a laptop. These kids are getting so big and fast and it's getting so much more physical."

As Majkowski waits to find out which sport his son chooses, Packers fans continue to remember the Majik Man for the player he was. Majkowski estimates that he receives four pieces of fan mail every day. Sometimes it's a request for his autograph on a football card or just a nice letter. Other times it's a DVD gift with compiled highlights from his career.

"What was cool is I got to know the person who bought my old house in Green Bay," Majkowski said. "They wondered if there was any way I could sign some stuff for them. They've now got some autographed items hanging up in my old bar area in that house.

"The fans are still so great to me. They're the best fans around."

Majkowski isn't just thinking about the past. He has hope for his future, too. He'll never be physically active like he used to be, but there are some reasons for optimism.

"I'm a little better now after the surgery, but it's got a ways to go," Majkowski said. "It's getting there. It takes time. I was miserable, but hopefully I'm on the road to getting much better. I haven't been out much in recent years, so I have a lot of catching up to do."

Despite all the physical problems that have drastically affected his life, Majkowski wouldn't do a single thing differently.

"I don't regret it," Majkowski said. "That's the sickening part of it. Of course I'd do it all again. It was my childhood dream and I worked extremely hard to achieve that and be in the NFL. It was a privilege and a dream that only a small percentage of guys ever get to do."

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Irish_Cheesehead's picture

April 25, 2013 at 11:03 am

Awesome! Let's get it on! NFL Draft '13!!

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