By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
The Green Bay Packers' playbook may include a defensive play from an 11-year-old Stevens Point boy.
Kevin Cramer, 500 Bukolt Ave., sent new head coach Mike Sherman a play he created on the video game "John Madden 2000" on Sony Playstation. Sherman responded with a letter, thanking Cramer.
"I made this play for football and it worked. I was playing Playstation and I made it up," Cramer said.
The defensive play calls for two linebackers, the strongside and weakside, to blitz the quarterback. The four defensive linemen are to rush to the outside. The middle linebacker plays zone coverage while the two cornerbacks and two safeties play tight man-to-man coverage.
Cramer said he wrote the rushing play down in Xs and Os and sent it to Sherman. In his response, Sherman said he is very excited to be the new coach of the Packers and hopes that Cramer will be "cheering for us."
He said he hopes the Packers do well this season, but "it depends on if (quarterback Brett) Favre's thumb is better." Cramer has been a Packers fan "ever since I liked football," he said. His favorite player is running back Dorsey Levens.