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Yes, the start of training camps is two months away, but it’s never too early to consider the coming season. A look at the best-case and worst-case scenarios for the Detroit Lions in 2012.

Dream scenario (12-4): The team moves past its string of silly/immature problems, tightening up not only its off-field behavior but also its discipline on the field during games. Mikel Leshoure and Jahvid Best give the Lions a power/speed dimension in the backfield they lacked for most of last season. Rookie receiver Ryan Broyles' knee heals quickly enough to provide a legitimate fourth option among receivers and further spread out opposing defenses. Defensive tackle Nick Fairley realizes his playmaking potential and teams up with Ndamukong Suh to provide consistent and dominant interior play. Fairley, Suh, Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch protect an undermanned secondary, and the Lions make big defensive plays against opponents that feel pressure to keep up with Detroit's offense.

Nightmare scenario (7-9): Best and Leshoure don't provide the balance the Lions hope for, either because of injuries or skill deterioration. Broyles takes longer than expected to return, Titus Young has a sophomore slump, and opponents flock to receiver Calvin Johnson. Left tackle Jeff Backus can't hold up for another season. Despite the formidable defensive line, the Lions can't cover for their secondary and give up too many big plays.

We're Black and Blue All Over:

The vast majority of you pleaded for the continuation of BBAO in responding to last week's suggestion request, so I will of course oblige. The Friday heading into Memorial Day weekend, however, is going to be a bit thin. News is as news does. Or something like that.

On with it ...

• Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette covered a public discussion on the early 1990s revival of the Green Bay Packers by Bob Harlan and Ron Wolf. Prior to that point, national media members were suggesting that the team be moved to Milwaukee.
• The Minneapolis City Council is expected to ratify the Minnesota Vikings' stadium bill formally on Friday, notes Eric Roper of the Star Tribune.
• Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press: "If Cliff Avril and the Detroit Lions don’t work out a long-term deal this summer, and Avril hits the unrestricted free-agent market next spring, the biggest in-house beneficiary could be Willie Young."
• Several Lions players, including Young, will compete in a fishing tournament against pro Kevin VanDam on June 12. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News has more.
• Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune: "Bears linebacker J.T. Thomas likely will be cleared of a misdemeanor drug possession charge before the regular season begins, provided he completes the terms of a deferred sentence."
• Here is some audio of former NFL tight end Jermaine Wiggins speaking to ESPN 1000 about the Bears' offense under offensive coordinator Mike Tice and how he would handle the Matt Forte contract situation.

Green Bay Packers fans have loved ESPN's Skip Bayless for years, especially for his analysis of quarterback Aaron Rodgers' play. So I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear who Skip has picked to win the NFC North in 2012. It's near the end of this video and here's your only hint: ROAR!

We're Black and Blue All Over:

It was almost an afterthought amid discussion of quarterback Jay Cutler's new weapons, the weight loss of receiver Johnny Knox and the configuration of the offensive line. But we might as well acknowledge it: Newcomer Michael Bush was the Chicago Bears' first-team tailback during Wednesday's organized team activity as starter Matt Forte stays away from the facility in a contract dispute.

Forte has yet to sign his $7.7 million franchise tag while pushing for a long-term extension. If there is an end in sight to those negotiations, it hasn't been reported publicly. While no one thinks Forte will elect to miss regular-season games, it isn't clear if he'll report for any part of the Bears' offseason program or training camp.

Bush, via Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com: "Nobody has ever brought up Forte's name or wished he was here or anything to make me feel uncomfortable. But me being me, [I think] Forte needs to come on out so we can get it going. But I know he's got to take care of himself and his family as well."

To be continued.

Now for our morning spin around the division:

• The Bears signed free-agent defensive tackle Nate Collins to a one-year deal, according to Michael C. Wright of ESPNChicago.com.
• Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune on Knox: "This doesn't look like a man who will be taking the field in the foreseeable future to participate in a collision sport played against hulking behemoths and athletic freaks."
• David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune raises an interesting question: Should the Bears sign Cutler to a contract extension ahead of Forte?
• Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson and some of his teammates tried their hand at bocce ball Wednesday, according to Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press.
• Lions place-kicker Jason Hanson isn't sure how long he plans to play, writes Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.
• Lions coach Jim Schwartz isn't ready to address the status of receiver Titus Young, according to Anwar S. Richardson of Mlive.com.
• Here's a Q&A with Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson by Rob Reischel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• It's clear the Packers want to beef up their defensive front, writes Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
• The Packers have apparently put their playbooks on iPads, according to Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com.
• Bob Sansevere of the St. Paul Pioneer Press speaks with new Minnesota Vikings place-kicker Blair Walsh.
• Opponents of the Vikings' stadium bill are still working to defeat it, according to Eric Roper of the Star Tribune.

A committee of ESPN experts -- including Trent Dilfer, Mel Kiper, Gary Horton, Matt Williamson -- assembled this offseason to create a unique version of our traditional Power Rankings.

Naturally, NFC North teams are featured prominently in what amounts to a three-year projection of Power Rankings for the 2015 season . The Green Bay Packers received the top spot as the team best equipped to compete three years from now, while the Detroit Lions were not far behind at No. 6.

The file requires an Insider subscription to read in full, but I can pass along where our four teams ranked and also a glimpse at the methodology used. Here is how the committee evaluated each team and the degree of impact each category had:

• Roster (32.5 percent of total score): Players under 30 emphasized
• Coaching (20 percent): Capability and stability of current staff
• Quarterback (17.5 percent): Where quarterback play would be in three years
• Draft (15 percent): Based on team's 2012 class and how many picks available in next three years.
• Front office (15 percent): Ability to manage roster and market's attraction to free agents.

Now on to the NFC North rankings with comments from me:

1. Green Bay Packers
Seifert comment: The presence of a 28-year-old MVP quarterback and one of the NFL's top general manager-coach combinations puts the Packers on an ideal long-term path.

6. Detroit Lions
Seifert comment: Quarterback Matthew Stafford had a 5,000-yard season before his 24th birthday. That's a nice start. General manager Martin Mayhew has elevated the team's talent level every season of his tenure and most of the Lions' key players -- Stafford, receiver Calvin Johnson, tight end Brandon Pettigrew, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, safety Louis Delmas and linebacker Stephen Tulloch -- are under 30.

17. Chicago Bears
Seifert comment: Jay Cutler is a legitimate franchise quarterback, but the best players on the Bears' defense are all over 30. That list includes defensive end Julius Peppers, linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, and cornerback Charles Tillman.

31. Minnesota Vikings
Seifert comment: Questions about quarterback Christian Ponder's long-term prospects made it difficult for the committee to project future success. There are also concerns about a lack of young impact players on defense. Defensive end Jared Allen is 30 and linebacker Chad Greenway is 29.

We're Black and Blue All Over:

Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher confirmed Tuesday night that he isn't likely to participate in organized team activities (OTAs) -- and probably not veteran minicamp, either -- as he rehabilitates a sprained knee suffered in a Week 17 game against the Minnesota Vikings. Urlacher told reporters that he expects to be ready to start training camp, a completely reasonable schedule that nevertheless highlights one of the few holes on the team's roster.

Namely: Who would play for Urlacher if he was injured during the regular season?

According to ESPNChicago.com's Jeff Dickerson, second-year linebacker Dom DeCicco -- an undrafted free agent in 2011 -- will take the majority of snaps during the offseason. If nothing else, the Bears should know at the end of the spring whether DeCicco is capable of filling in for Urlacher in a regular-season environment, or whether they would need to look elsewhere. Finding a long-term replacement for Urlacher, 33, remains one of the most important challenges facing this franchise.

Continuing around the NFC North:

• Urlacher, via Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune: "It's getting better. I'm on schedule, so I feel good. At this stage, I know the defense pretty well. I'm not worried about being out there and not knowing what I'm doing.''
• Bears receiver Brandon Marshall on his reunion with quarterback Jay Cutler and quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, via Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times: "That just doesn't happen in sports. You don’t have a Pro Bowl receiver and a Pro Bowl quarterback and one of the most talented minds in football in Jeremy Bates back together. It just doesn't."
• Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com thinks the Detroit Lions can contend for the Super Bowl -- "[b]ut only if this team can harness what is an amazing lack of self-control. The Lions remain one of the least disciplined teams in football."
• Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News: "Dumb stuff happens in football, as in life. But the Lions have too much at stake now to be dealing with it, way too much to gain and way too much to lose. The spate of player incidents -- mostly minor -- is not a sign of a rambunctious team losing its way. But it's a pointed reminder that young talent is unpredictable, and a warning that the Lions' rough edges still need work."
• Lions cornerback Chris Houston isn't ready to be anyone's mentor, writes the News' Chris McCosky.
• Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covered the MACC Fund charity event in Milwaukee headlined by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
• Packers coach Mike McCarthy on his 2012 team, via Mike Vandermause of the Green Bay Press-Gazette: "This is clearly the most experienced football team in conjunction with the most talent that I've had a chance to coach."
• Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal: "The Green Bay Packers’ all-defense, all-the-time draft has already achieved one of its goals. The six rookie defenders have supplied a jolt of energy for a defense -- and a team -- that might have grown a little complacent after following up its victory in Super Bowl XLV with a 15-1 regular season in 2011."
• Packers linebacker Clay Matthews on moving to the right side, with rookie Nick Perry taking over on the left side, via Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com: "The misnomer about the position is that we're stuck to one side. On paper, it's going to say 'left outside linebacker' or 'right outside linebacker.' Really, those positions are interchangeable, so the faster we can get [Perry] up to speed, the faster we can have some fun moving him around, flying around and making some plays together."
• Packers defensive end Anthony Hargrove didn't have much to add about his role in the New Orleans Saints' bounty story after Tuesday's OTA, according to Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• The Packers' defensive additions in the draft were "expected" and "necessary," according to linebacker Desmond Bishop via Rob Demovsky of the Press-Gazette.
• Dave Campbell of the Associated Press looks ahead at the Minnesota Vikings' three-week stay for training camp.
• The Vikings have signed a total of seven of their draft picks, according to Jeremy Fowler of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Those of you who have been stressing the Minnesota Vikings' slow-moving rookie contract negotiations can rest easier. The team announced Tuesday the signing of six draft picks, including fourth-round receivers Jarius Wright and Greg Childs, and have four to go with a mere two months remaining before training camp.

Here's an division-wide update:

Chicago Bears: Draft class signed.

Detroit Lions: First-round offensive lineman Riley Reiff is only unsigned rookie.

Green Bay Packers: Draft class signed.

Minnesota Vikings: First-round offensive lineman Matt Kalil and safety Harrison Smith, third-round cornerback Josh Robinson and fourth-round tight end Rhett Ellison are unsigned.

We reached the height of Suh-mania in early February, when a Forbes magazine poll revealed Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was one of America's most disliked athletes. Two of the three men ranked ahead of him -- Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress -- are felons. The third, well, was Tiger Woods.

During a quiet moment at the NFL scouting combine, a few reporters were speaking with Lions coach Jim Schwartz. How did it come to this? Schwartz laughed, shook his head and suggested that Suh had spawned the "first armchair defensive linemen" in the history of NFL observation.

"We've all heard of armchair quarterbacks," Schwartz said, "and everybody has a thought on game strategy and what a coach should do. Everyone sees if a quarterback is having success or not. But Ndamukong is probably the first [lineman] that has that kind of scrutiny, that has Forbes magazine looking at him. … The fact that they're talking about a guy like Ndamukong Suh shows you how different he is and the scrutiny that he does get."

Three months later, an amazing thing has happened. The Suh-as-a-monster theme has been eclipsed by the New Orleans Saints' bounty story, among other offseason discussions about the NFL's violent nature. Ndamukong Suh stomped a player? Well, Gregg Williams ordered his players to take aim at opponents' heads and knees. Checkmate!

Even in a team context, Suh suddenly seems the least of the Lions' problems after an offseason in which three members of their 2011 draft class have been cited for marijuana incidents and a fourth -- receiver Titus Young -- sucker punched teammate Louis Delmas during a confrontation last week.

From this vantage point, it appears Suh has been handed an extraordinary opportunity if he cares about it. (And based on his carefully orchestrated offseason, which included an in-depth personality profile with ESPN's Hannah Storm and an upcoming appearance on a reality dating show, I'm guessing he does.) Public crusaders have abandoned their camp outside Suh's locker to chase new offenders, leaving Suh to redirect discussion back to where he and the Lions want it: to his on-field performance.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Suh said 2012 is "a very important year" in terms of restoring and/or enhancing his reputation as one of the NFL's most formidable defensive tackles.

"Every year I want to outdo the previous year," he said. "My rookie year was good. Last year was indifferent. This year we have an opportunity to have an outstanding year."

By "indifferent," I assume Suh meant he doesn't have a strong opinion about a 2011 season that saw his sacks drop from 10 to four and his tackles from 66 to 36. He was a Pro Bowl alternate after being voted a starter, as well as a first-team All-Pro, as a rookie in 2010.

To me, the question is if Suh's performance really dropped by the same percentage as his tackles and sacks. Was he half the player in 2011 he was in 2010? And will he need to be twice the player in 2012 to match his original promise?

The answer, based both on the Lions' assessment and that of independent observers, is no. Suh did not make the same kind of statistical impact and didn't have an elite season in 2011. But it's only fair to point out the flaws in relying purely on sacks and tackles to evaluate a defensive lineman.

Earlier this winter, Schwartz went back and watched every play of Suh's season. Afterward, he said, "I had more appreciation for what he did."

Schwartz added: "There are a lot of guys that are judged on a lot of different things. Defensive players, the only thing you get judged on are tackles, sacks and interceptions. There's not a whole lot that goes into it. Offensive linemen, it's tough to quantify those positions. …

"There's a couple plays in there, had a great pass rush, quarterback threw the ball before he wanted to. He's free to the quarterback, the quarterback gets rid of the ball, throws an interception. No stat at all for a defensive lineman. No sack, anything that people in the media or fans can look at, but obviously that’s an impact play."

Indeed, Pro Football Focus credited Suh with more quarterback pressures -- 27 -- than any NFL defensive tackle last season.

To be clear, I'm not rationalizing what was a less impactful second season for Suh. I just think it's fair to note he wasn't rendered completely ineffective and point out he doesn't have to make a huge jump to return to elite status. It might be difficult to judge him based purely on sack totals, as the charts suggest, but mostly I think we should all take advantage of a moment in time when Suh's football exploits are the only points of relevance in our discussions about him. Armchair away!

The Detroit Lions had no comment Monday on the absence of receiver Titus Young from their first organized team activity of the offseason. Nor would they confirm reports that Young was banned from their practice facility after sucker-punching safety Louis Delmas during an incident last week.

Tuesday, Tim Twentyman of the team's official web site reported that Young's absence "was not the result of any punitive action by the team," citing multiple league sources. Further, Young has "not been ordered to stay away from the facility by the team and is not on any team-mandated suspension," Twentyman wrote.

In NFL parlance, the word "suspension" is meaningful and implies a formal process that could involve the NFL Players Association. It's not surprising to hear the Lions haven't formally pursued that avenue in dealing with Young.

But are we truly to believe the Lions took no action after one of their team leaders got punched at the team facility, especially after a 2011 season that raised questions about the team's maturity and discipline? Young's absence might not have been the result of a formal suspension, but for the Lions' sake, I hope they are doing something in response to this incident.

Regardless, if Young were truly welcome at the facility, then why didn't he participate in Monday's OTA after taking part in earlier portions of the offseason program? Twentyman wrote that Young "will have to provide" the answer to that question "when he eventually joins his teammates."

Does that mean Young chose to stay away on his own? OTAs, like most of the offseason program, is voluntary, but there were only a handful of absences Monday.

In the end, this is all a discussion of semantics and legalese. The bottom line is that Young punched Delmas last week, and something kept him away from the facility Monday. Did the Lions encourage it? Request it? Suggest it? Agree with Young's decision? I have a hard time believing they were not involved in the decision in some way shape or form. The alternative is that they've done nothing to deal with this incident. Which do you think is more likely?

There will be no suckerpunches in this week's NFC North chat. You can turn away for a moment and feel confident in your personal safety. Please join me over at 2 p.m. ET for our weekly sparring session.

We're Black and Blue All Over:

The Detroit Lions had a busy news day Monday. We noted both the charity of quarterback Matthew Stafford and the poor behavior of receiver Titus Young, but that left out plenty of other tidbits.

Running backs Jahvid Best (concussion) and Mikel Leshoure (Achilles) were both on the field, participating in a limited portion of the Lions' opening organized team activity (OTA) of the offseason. So was rookie receiver Ryan Broyles, who is six months removed from major knee surgery.

Middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch, meanwhile, didn't practice because of knee tendinitis and might not be back on the field until training camp. That's a bit of a disconcerting turn of events for a player so critical to the Lions' 2011 improvement, but keep in mind that Tulloch hasn't missed a game in his six-year career.

Continuing around the NFC North:

• Broyles didn't participate in all of the drills Monday but got a personal side session with Stafford and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, according to Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press.
• Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley showed off a new physique at Monday's OTA, according to John Niyo of the Detroit News.
• The 2012 season will be "very important" for Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, according to Justin Rogers of Mlive.com.
• Former Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe is headed to the CFL, according to Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com.
• At some point, writes Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bears will have to decide whether to give running back Matt Forte a "shut-up-and-play" deal.
• We discussed the possibility of the Bears acquiring tight end Kellen Winslow, but he ultimately was traded to the Seattle Seahawks, notes the Associated Press.
• Kendra Meinert of the Green Bay Press-Gazette has a review of Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver's turn Monday night on "Dancing with the Stars."
• The Packers termed it "simply speculation" that team president/CEO Mark Murphy has interest in the Stanford athletic director job, according to Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
• Murphy once had interest in the job, writes Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com, but not now.
• The Minnesota Vikings will soon have discussions with Minnesota State, Mankato, to create a long-term contract on training camp, according to Judd Zulgad of 1500ESPN.com.
• Martiga Lohn of the Associated Press examines the state funding mechanism for the Vikings' new stadium.
• Final passage of the bill by the Minneapolis City Council this week appears inevitable, writes Eric Roper of the Star Tribune.

Spend just a few minutes on Mary Ann Bell's blog and you'll feel awful silly, as I did, about getting fired up about one Detroit Lions player sucker-punching another.

Bell is the mother of Faith Falzone, the girl whose family Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford gave a surprise $15,000 gift over the weekend at a fundraiser for Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Bell's blog, "My Faith's Journey," describes her heart-wrenching feelings as Faith undergoes medical treatment that included surgery on Monday.

I wanted to bring you some excerpts of her entry on Stafford's gift Saturday evening, especially because it appears not only to have impacted Faith, but also her brother Will. It'll remind you how to decide what's important and what isn't.

[I]n my eyes, stars are made from the inside out, and rest assured Lions fans your quarterback is as much of a star inside as he is on the outside.

At the beginning of the evening a very beautiful young woman sat down at our table, she introduced herself as Kelly. Faith was immediately in love. After the athletes in attendance were introduced Matt Stafford came and sat next to her at the table. Immediately, Will's entire disposition changed. Suddenly, there was life in my son's eyes, and a smile, a really excited happy smile that I had not seen for months.

Right away Matt could tell that my son was a fan, he stuck his hand out and introduced himself. The next hour or so Will asked all kinds of questions, who do you like to throw the ball to the most, did you ever play other sports, at one point they were talking about candy. Matt's girlfriend had Faith just as engaged, they talked about nails, and dresses, she was delightful. Beautiful inside and out.

Part of the Gala included a live auction where there were big ticket items raffled to the highest bidder. I noticed my son pointing out a package that included a trip to Chicago with tickets to a Monday Night football Game to see the Lions and the Bears, a package donated by Mike Tirico. Dhani Jones was the auctioneer and asked Stafford to beef the package up by adding some tickets to the game. He agreed and the bidding began. Will was excited to see who won the package and watched intently to see who was going to see his Lions play in Chicago, suddenly, the Lions own quarterback began bidding on the package, Dhani teased about being able to watch and play at the same time, saying I know you were good last year, but man that is talent. I assumed he was driving the price of the package up, all the money goes to Mott, I thought it was incredibly cool of him. As the bidding continued he wasn't backing off … he was in it, he wanted to win that package, and had I known why, I’m certain, I would have been in tears. Somewhere in the $15k range Matt Stafford was the owner of the MNF package, the crowd laughed, but moments later, that same crowd would be giving the Mott newcomer a standing ovation. As he won the package he turned to Will and said, there you go buddy, you go to Chicago, and take your family. The look on my son's face, I will never forget. His chin began to quiver, he was about to cry. He quickly jumped up and gave Matt a hug, and thanked him over and over again. …

Quarterbacks are probably the most influential player among all team sports in the success or failure of the team. I think they have to see it all … Detroit Fans, your Quarterback, he sees it. He was able to give Will a night he will never forget. He was able to heal some of the hurt, and give Will something to look forward to …

You can follow Bell on Twitter at @maizeyblue, where she is providing updates on Faith's surgery Monday.

It's not unusual for NFL teammates to fight behind closed doors, be it in a locker room or on the practice field or even on the sideline during games. Typically, such incidents are written off as heat-of-the-moment outbursts and go minimally punished, if at all.

So the news that the Detroit Lions banned receiver Titus Young from their facility Monday should resonate loudly with both Young and anyone interested in his future with the franchise.

As Anwar S. Richardson of Mlive.com reports, the Lions did not allow Young to participate in Monday's organized team activity because he fought last week with safety Louis Delmas during a workout. Details of the episode are sketchy, but obviously the Lions did not classify it as a boys-will-be-boys incident -- especially not when it involved a player whose immaturity was obvious as a rookie last season.

Young was benched during a Week 13 game against the New Orleans Saints after he committed a costly personal foul. You might remember veteran center Dominic Raiola getting in Young's face afterward, repeatedly yelling for him to "Grow up!" -- with a few expletives mixed in. It was in many ways the symbol of a young(er) team that struggled to respond to the pressures of a playoff race.

It sounds like the Lions are still trying to get that message across. According to Richardson, Young instigated the fight by landing a punch when Delmas wasn't looking. Sucker-punching a team leader isn't generally suggestive of a maturing second-year player, and it's not surprising that the Lions essentially kicked Young out of the building as a result.

We'll never know if the team would have reacted the same way during the season. Everything going on is voluntary, and no one is keeping score. Even with the selection of receiver Ryan Broyles in the second round of last month's draft, the Lions are counting heavily on Young to be part of their three- and four-receiver sets. He has a unique skill set that isn't matched on their roster.

It's one thing to give a 22-year-old rookie some leeway while he adjusts to NFL life. Young doesn't turn 23 until August, but he's no longer a rookie, and it's fair to expect him to act like a professional. Sucker-punching Louis Delmas? If the report is accurate, that's a punk move.

Delmas is known to be volatile as well, but his appearance in Monday's OTA indicates the Lions don't hold him responsible for the incident.

Broyles practiced Monday for the first time since having knee surgery six months ago, and he'll be ready to contribute at some point in the 2012 season. I don't think the Lions are interested in moving on without Young, but everyone runs out of chances sometime. The Lions aren't interested in a repeat of the discipline and growing pains they endured in 2011. It's time for Titus Young to "Grow the [expletive] up."

Fans of NFC North teams might be aware of the Griese-Hutchinson-Woodson fundraising weekend, which includes a gala and a golf outing to benefit the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. The headliners include former Minnesota Vikings guard Steve Hutchinson and Green Bay Packers cornerback Charles Woodson, both of whom played at Michigan along with former NFL quarterback Brian Griese.

Based on local reports, it sounds as if another NFC North player made a really nice charitable gesture during the Saturday auction. Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford bid $15,000 for a gift that included six tickets to the Lions' Oct. 22 game against the Chicago Bears on ESPN's "Monday Night Football," according to Angelique S. Chengelis of the Detroit News.

Stafford had already donated the tickets to the event and, along with his girlfriend Kelly Hall, had been sitting with a girl named Faith Falzone, who is scheduled to have surgery this week. Stafford plans to give the tickets to Falzone and her family.

In a text message to the News, Stafford said: "They have been through so much in the past couple years, and to see how much they all supported each other and faith through their tough times was really inspiring. I wanted to give them something they could really be excited about and something I know they deserved."

Hutchinson was particularly moved by Stafford's commitment to being involved in the Michigan community. Stafford is from Texas and played at Georgia.

"Let's be honest," said Hutchinson, who is now with the Tennessee Titans. "The state of Michigan hasn't gone through the greatest times with the economy and the jobs around here. To have a guy that's from Georgia get drafted by the Lions and be a very integral part of that team turning their franchise around and then to be able to come to a U-M event that he has no affiliation with and donate $15,000 and buy his own tickets that he donated and then give them to a family whose daughter is going to have surgery in the next couple days here ... you couldn't write a better fictional story if you had to."

This is not to single out Stafford as the only charitable player in our division. As we've noted before, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson donated $1 million to the University of Oklahoma last month. Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has pledged more than $2 million to the University of Nebraska. And Woodson hasgiven $2 million to the Michigan children's hospital that benefited from this weekend's efforts.

But impact comes in all shapes, sizes and denominations. Stafford's gift will no doubt leave an intense impression on one family, giving it something to look forward to and cherish for some time.

We're Black and Blue All Over:

Good Monday morning to everyone. It doesn't get a whole lot bigger than the first week of organized team activities, or OTAs as we call them in the business, and that's exactly the point we've reached in the NFL offseason.

The Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers have scheduled their first OTAs of the spring for Monday, and the Chicago Bears will have one Tuesday. The Minnesota Vikings will open OTAs a week from Tuesday. Over on our NFL Nation blog, we have a comprehensive schedule of all 32 team's OTA schedules.

For newcomers, OTAs are on-field practices without pads or (presumably) contact. Some are open to the media, so expect to see some coverage in the coming days of how your favorite players are performing in jerseys and shorts.

Before we move on to our morning roundup, I want to thank everyone for their feedback to Friday's post on our blog operations. If you missed the post and/or want to share further thoughts about what you like and don't like, by all means hit up the mailbag.

OK, now, continuing around the NFC North:

• Here's a smart analysis of the Bears' negotiations with tailback Matt Forte from Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune. Pompei suggests a fair deal could include about $20 million in guaranteed money.
• In this ESPNChicago.com video, ESPN's Cris Carter says that the ability to "catch the ball and separate" is what makes Bears receiver Brandon Marshall so good.
• Bears linebacker Lance Briggs isn't concerned about Marshall's off-field behavior, writes Vaughn McClure of the Tribune.
• The running back position is one of the storylines for the Lions' first OTA, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
• Running back Kevin Smith thinks the Lions will have a better running game in 2012, notes Anwar S. Richardson of Mlive.com.
• Carlos Monarrez of the Free Press takes a look at some of the young cornerbacks the Lions added this offseason.
• Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at the three young Packers receivers who will vie for roster spots this summer: Diondre Borel, Shaky Smithson and Tori Gurley.
• Keeping receiver Donald Driver on the roster goes "against everything the Packers regime believes in," writes Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal.
• Mike Vandermause of the Green Bay Press-Gazette: "[I] t can be argued [Packers coach Mike] McCarthy is underpaid compared to some of his coaching brethren residing in the exclusive $7 million club."
• The Vikings signed former Bears offensive lineman Levi Horn, notes Judd Zulgad of 1500ESPN.com.
• Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "The Vikings were 3-13 last season. Zygi and Mark Wilf and the entire Wilf family had a lot to do with that because for more than a year no one was in charge at Winter Park. In fact, the coach and personnel director often were at odds. It wasn't until after the season that [Rick] Spielman was given control after a leaguewide search netted, well, Spielman."