By Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter Published Aug 31, 2016 at 7:03 PM

After the sadness of learning that Green Bay had cut punter Tim Masthay, I really needed some good Packers news to cheer me up, especially with the regular season only a week away and the inevitable beating up of the Bears not scheduled until mid-October.

Well, Aaron Rodgers provided that good news, and in a way that only he can: by wearing a full cowboy outfit and showing off his outstanding mustache for the team's annual "Welcome Back Luncheon" at Lambeau Field on Wednesday. His attire included big boots, big belt, big hat, an embroidered blue shirt and a classic bolo tie. No word on the reaction of Chargers quarterback and acclaimed bolo tie-wearer Phillip Rivers. Having just returned from Montana this week, I briefly thought I was still in an Old West ghost-town tourist trap.

It's become a yearly tradition for Rodgers to show up in an absurd costume to the event, which is hosted by the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. Last season, he sported a U.S. Navy Blue Angels suit, with helmet and mask, and before that he's rocked an American Bro look and other Western variations. 

But, contrary to Shakespeare's opinion, clothes don't make the man. Mustaches do (legendary mustachioed writer Mark Twain – "Clothes make the man; naked people have little or no influence on society" – was half-right). And Rodgers' looked tremendous.

The Cowboy getup suggests Rodgers wants to be a gunslinger, but the 'stache says, "I'm in control." Either way, he's probably throwing 50 touchdowns this season. Let's just hope the latter, groomed and trimmed, keeps him from tossing a Favreian 29 picks. 

Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter

Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.

After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.

Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.