No Jolly Green Giant for Green Bay


Jolly Green Bay Packers
John Jolly of the Green Bay Packers has been suspended without pay by the NFL for the whole of the 2010/11 season, for substance abuse.

This was yet another violation of the leagues substance abuse policy. Jolly was first arrested in 2008 for the possession of 200 grams of codeine and after changes in the testing remit he was charged again at the end of 2009.

Jolly now faces the prospect of doing serious time - up to twenty years in prison. Green Bay will miss him because he has been a regular starter during the course of the last two seasons.

Packers manager, Ted Thompson, had this to say. "Johnny is a good player that loves everything about the game of football.... his focus and priorities now lie elsewhere - our thoughts are with him..."

Mike Neal will fill in for the absent Jolly during the coming season but will have some big shoes to fill, Jolly was an important cog in the Packers defense and he was fairly instrumental in a league leading stat of rushing yards allowed of just 83.3.

The Packers are serious about putting together a playoff run and their coach Mike McCarthy is hoping that the team will not be too disrupted by Jolly's absence.

The Packers are still hopeful of challenging the Vikings in the NFC North this season.

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