WEBVTT - #584 Packers Unscripted: Post-script thoughts 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:14.520 Hi, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.800 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:21.119 by my trusted colleague Weston hod Kuwitz. Were coming to 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:25.360 you from socially distant locations at lambeau Field and West 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:28.280 At the beginning of this week, we heard from both 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.320 head coach Matt Lafleur and general manager Brian Guda Counts. 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:35.280 They held their season ending news conferences, so we will 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:37.920 will hit on some of the big topics from there, 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:42.320 and the biggest one, quite frankly, is the lack of 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:47.000 equivocation if I said that correctly, with how both the 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:50.159 head coach and general manager feel about Aaron Rodgers as 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:53.360 the starting quarterback of this team. They made a commitment 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:58.440 to him verbally publicly on Monday, not just for one 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:03.520 but for multiple years to come, and uh, they really 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:07.120 mince no words in that direction. Equivocation is a perfect 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:09.680 word to use their Mike one, It's an excellent word. 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.720 But too, You're exactly right. I mean, the Packers really 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.200 made no bones about it. Aaron Rodgers is their quarterback 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:18.120 for two thousand, twenty one and into the future. That 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:20.560 is their expectation that is their plan. That is the 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:24.280 way they are operating into this offseason. And it is 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.680 interesting and you find yourself kind of almost laughing a 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:29.560 little bit that we're talking about a guy that in 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:32.560 a few days time will become a three time NFL 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.080 m v P, A guy that had one of the 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:41.080 most statistically successful seasons in NFL history, with his one 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.480 point five pass rating being second only to himself in 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:48.080 two thousand and eleven, forty eight touchdown passes, a franchise record, 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.920 a seventy point seven completion percentage a franchise and personal 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:56.000 best for him, Mike, there's no bones about it. When 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:58.680 Aaron Rodgers has a season like this. The Green Bay Packers, 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.640 when asked the question what's next, what is the future hold, 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:04.080 Obviously the future is gonna be Aaron Rodgers. And you 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:06.440 want to know one of the reasons why, I think 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:08.919 you can say that so confidently, look at the Tampa 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:11.760 Bay Buccaneers this week. Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren't even a 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.639 playoff team last year. They add a forty two forty 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:17.360 three year old Tom Brady this season. Now they're in 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.760 the Super Bowl. The quarterback position has advanced, it's evolved 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:22.600 and I think you've seen with the way that Rogers 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.360 has taken care of himself and the fact that he 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:28.480 has been able to adapt his play style to being 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:30.680 thirty seven years old, understanding what he can do and 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.000 what he can't do from when he was twenty seven, 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.240 Aaron Rodgers is still at the peak of his powers, 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:37.360 and for the foreseeable future, he will be the quarterback 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:40.600 here in Green Bay. Yeah, so, everyone of course is asking, well, then, 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:43.400 what was all the big hullabaloo and everything, And let's 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.280 let's just we'll go back a little bit to the 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:50.480 postgame news conference after the loss to Tampa Bay. I mean, one, 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.960 it was extremely emotional time. Everything is very raw. At 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:58.280 that point. Aaron Rodgers head confessed, I believe on the 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.240 radio show, the Pat mcafe's show, that he does that 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.880 he had really just gotten done shedding some tears with 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:10.200 teammates over over a really really disappointing, incredibly disappointing loss. 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:12.560 I think a lot of what he said after the 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:14.840 game when he said there are a lot of uncertain futures, 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:18.480 myself included, I really think he just he wasn't going 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.680 to put himself above any of his teammates. That he 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.960 knows there's uncertainty about Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams and 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.600 these guys who are in the final years of their contracts, 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:31.440 Corey Lindsley, you know, players like that, and he wasn't 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:33.919 just gonna say, well, yeah, there's all sorts of uncertainty 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:35.880 about them, but I know exactly what's going on with 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.560 me right after, you know, this loss to the Tampa 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.440 Bay Buccaneers. I really think that's all that he was saying. 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.120 And of course, you know those words because he is 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:47.720 he is always very calculated. He doesn't just say things 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:51.840 on a whim. But I do think in this particular case, 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.840 the context of coming, you know, just coming off of 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:58.600 that loss and everything that was wrapped up in it, 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.160 and and the fact that the fact that Rogers Rogers 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:05.360 was just not going to make any declarative statements in 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:07.480 uh in a business as he likes to say, that 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.560 has no absolutes. I think that's why this ended up 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:12.960 taking off the way in which it did. And then 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:16.400 we didn't hear from Matt Luthleur Brian Goudakunst right away 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:19.640 because they're they're dealing with some changes in the coaching 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:21.720 staff and whatnot, which we're going to talk about here 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:23.960 later in the show. So it was sort of the 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.359 this week of speculation and everything all swirling around. You know, 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.560 what's Rogers thinking or what's going to happen with Aaron Rodgers. 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:35.560 This franchise, this organization has no no hesitation, there's no 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:39.719 question in their minds that this team and this franchise 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:42.560 is moving forward for multiple years here with Aaron Rodgers 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:45.800 at quarterback, and they're expecting to continue to contend and 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.400 get back in the same position that they were with 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:50.240 the hope that they're going to finish the deal one 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.360 of these times and get back to the Super Bowl. Yeah, 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:54.120 when you're this close, when you've gone back to back 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:56.640 NFC Championship games and you have the reigning m v 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.440 P soon to be reigning MVP as your quarterback, that 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:01.640 is obvious. Say the path that you want to snowbild 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.080 Snowmobile down almost got it out the way I wanted 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:07.000 it to. Uh, there were there were three things that 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:08.920 came to a head last week, Mike that I think 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:12.720 created this perfect storm. One, it was the NFC Championship Game. 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:16.599 Certainly a lot of eyeballs on it. However, many millions 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:19.440 of people watched it, forty seven million, whatever the number was. 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:22.600 But afterwards there's no super Bowl right away, there's a 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:24.680 bye week. I think it was a slow week. I 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:26.640 don't mean to like throw media under the bus. Understand, 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:28.120 everybody's got a job to do. You and I have 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.440 a job to do. But the fact of the matter was, 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.720 I think it gave more people time to sort of 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:36.440 just let it marinade and probably sat a little too long. 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.800 And that's the narrative. You've got too. You and I 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.719 have said this. I know I've written this an insider inbox. 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:47.160 When people talking absolutes, I am the number one advocate 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:51.320 against absolutes because the problem is, in our society, everybody 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:54.560 wants to guarantee if I get hired somewhere, I want 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:56.320 to have a guarantee that I'm going to be there 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:58.159 for the next twenty years. That would be a great 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.080 It doesn't work like that though. Always people want a 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.640 declarative statement that, Okay, if we signed player X, that 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.000 means we're winning the Super Bowl next year. There's no guarantees. 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.640 And the problem is is we as a society, I think, 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.560 as human beings, always want to gravitate we want to 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:17.440 grip absolutes, and Aaron Rodgers is not going to offer 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:20.279 you those. He doesn't paint himself into a box with 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.359 his words because he knows how quickly things can change. 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.920 He's seen it here in Green Bay in recent years, 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.680 and over the last thirteen years as a starting quarterback. 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.800 The situation changes in the National Football League. The last 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:37.159 time I checked, Curly Lambo still isn't playing the game today. 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:41.240 It evolves. There's new players, there's new coaches and and 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:42.880 Aaron Rodgers has been a part of one of the 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:46.520 greatest runs in NFL history here, but he understands there's 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:48.720 gonna be an end game for him too. What he 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.840 does know is what's staring him directly in the face, 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:54.159 and it's the same process he goes through every year, 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.400 talking with management, being able to step away from the 0:06:57.400 --> 0:06:59.279 game a little bit, clearing his head. You gotta also 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.320 remember my third point to all this was, these guys 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:06.760 just got done playing football in a practical, practically a 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:11.920 vacuum for six months. We tested for the first time 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:17.520 in COVID on July. Mike, today's February second. It's been 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:19.680 a long time. There's a lot of emotions that go 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:21.360 into the season and then there was a lot of 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:25.320 disappointment to after that game. So I think Aaron Rodgers 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:26.840 really laid it all there. I'm glad he did the 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:28.840 appearance with McAfee. I know he kind of seemed like 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:30.360 he was kind of having fun with him there, that 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.040 he wasn't kind of playing it off like he wasn't 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.480 gonna do it. But at the end of the day, 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.240 he expected to be back for next season, so no 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:39.640 reason why he wouldn't be back, And Brian Goodakinsten Matt 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:42.120 Lafleur put their words behind that. Yeah, I think it's 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.800 interesting when you when you the discussion that you bring 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:49.640 up here with regard to the absolutes and guarantees and whatnot. 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:54.080 What we're facing here is that everybody wanted to say 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:58.080 last April, when the Packers drafted Jordan's Love in the 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.600 first round and traded up to selected him, everybody wanted 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.320 to say, well, that's a guarantee that Jordan's Love is 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:07.960 the next quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. I'm not saying, 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:09.880 and I think you and I talked about this at 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.920 the time, there isn't necessarily a guarantee of that either. 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.520 Jordan's Love may never become the starting quarterback of the 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.560 Green Bay Packers, and that may not be his fault whatsoever. 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.880 Go back to what Aaron Rodgers said when he first 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:27.160 after the draft to face the media and was processing 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:30.840 what he called the reality that he doesn't necessarily control 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.480 whether or not he finishes his career in Green Bay 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.800 and he was just being realistic about that. But what 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:39.319 did he also say? That I can try to make 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:41.680 it really really hard for them to get rid of me, 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:45.400 you know, And he reiterated on the McAfee show that 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.760 his leverage is how he plays. The control that Aaron 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:52.960 Rodgers has over the situation is if he continues to 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.640 play at an m v P level, why would the 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.880 Packers move on? They are not going to necessarily move on. 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.800 He is going to do which he did this year 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:04.040 and I think he's going to do moving forward. He's 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:07.520 going to make this decision about the future, about a 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.679 potential future for Jordan's Love in Green Bay as difficult 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.040 as possible on the decision makers with the Packers, because 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.120 if he keeps playing like this, you would be foolish 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.680 to move on from him. And if Jordan's Love never 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:24.560 becomes the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. From 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:28.000 the front office's point of view, I think that's okay 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.720 because that's gonna mean that Aaron Rodgers did everything that 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.439 they were hoping that he would do. And then Jordan 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.520 loves Future is the one that also has no guarantees 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.560 and absolute and I am I making sense there you are, Mike, 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:42.680 because the thing is is, Jordan's Love wasn't on a 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:45.240 one year contract. He's not going to become an unrestricted 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.960 free agent this Obviously, this guy is tied to the Packers. 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:51.800 He is contractually has an agreement with the Packers through 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:55.120 two thousand and twenty four that could be extended into 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:58.280 two thousand twenty five with the fifth year option. That's 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:02.280 how this game works, or only three He's here for 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:05.360 a while, is my point. And Brian good Con said 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:07.719 something very interested. It was the first time I think 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.400 he's talked about this, was that if you look at 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.079 the lineage of what they did with Ron Wolf and 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:16.000 then it went into the Aaron Rodgers area, with the 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:19.040 exception of maybe a few years there with Doug Peterson, 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.160 although that's when they were sort of testing the waters 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.120 with Achille Smith. Then with Tim Couch, but for the 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:28.520 most part throughout Rogers, throughout Forest tenure, they had an 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:33.920 NFL starting caliber quarterback on the roster in addition to five. 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:36.640 They did it with Mark Brunell. They did it with 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:40.040 Matthew Hasselbeck. They did it uh with with being able 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.839 to to you know, develop Aaron Brooks the way they did, 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.120 and then he ended up back with Mike McCarthy in 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:47.679 New Orleans. And they were so stocked at the position 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.839 they let a guy named Kurt Warner walk and go 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:54.160 into m v PS for somebody else. Just no, it's true. 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.400 And then when two thousand five came around, when I'm younger, 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.400 when I'm a little west hod it it is like 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:03.120 a long time between two thousand and two thousand five, 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.000 but it was only the span of five years. They 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.800 go and draft Aaron Rodgers and then he ends up 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.160 being the next guy. The success sort of far with 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.440 Aaron Rodgers the way that the way that Goodkins laid 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:17.000 this out, They're gonna keep looking for young quarterbacks because 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:18.960 they don't want to be caught with their pants down here. 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:21.640 And I wrote about this inn inbox. Mike, I don't 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:23.160 even know if you've got a chance to read this yet. 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:27.520 But people need to stop looking at the Jordan's Love 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:30.240 pick like the Packers just set a first round draft 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:33.960 pick on fire. He's an investment. He might end up 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:37.640 being an All Pro quarterback here, he might not. Either way, 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:40.840 he's not going to diminish his value. There is still 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:43.600 going to be a return that they could get, whether 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:46.120 it's on the field or if it's for future draft capital. 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.319 And as Brian Gooding has talked about, if it if 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:51.040 the time comes and they want to go find somebody 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.160 else and maybe take another guy, he put that precondition 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:56.920 out there already because you need to have somebody else ready. 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:58.440 And this will be the last point I make on this. 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:01.480 Some people talk about the Indianapolis thing being the right 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.319 way to do it. Peyton Manning was the guy two 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.840 thousand eleven, the neck injury happens, they go to and 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.480 fourteen and then they get Andrew Luck. A lot of 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:12.560 people lost their jobs, Mike in that one year gap 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.320 between Manning to Luck. Yeah, the Colts were able to 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:18.800 find another franchise quarterback who unfortunately his career was shortened 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:22.360 by injuries. But the GM was out, the head coach 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.800 was out. That was an implosion of an organization. I 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:27.800 think if we're really being honest with ourselves, we would 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.600 agree that the Colts still haven't found their footing over 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.679 the last nine years. Yeah. Absolutely, And I think as 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:36.520 we move forward here, if Rogers continues to play at 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.680 this level with the mastery of Matt Lafleur's offense that 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.680 he showed in the second season and in winning what 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:45.599 I believe he's going to obviously win the m v P. 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.800 When it's announced at the end of this week that 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.839 we're gonna start to probably hear more comparisons to the 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.400 Jimmy Garoppolo situation with New England Patriots. And I like 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:58.120 what you said about about the investment there, not only 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.600 because yeah, there'll be a lot of uns certainty about 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.040 Jordan's love's future. As I brought up before, there aren't 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:06.319 gonna be any guarantees with his future one way or another. 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:08.320 But there was a year in there where the New 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:11.600 England Patriots won a Super Bowl but Jimmy Garoppolo had 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:15.600 to start four games because Tom Brady was suspended, and 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.480 he chalked up some wins for the New England Patriots 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:20.400 that set them on the path to what became a 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:22.920 Super Bowl championship. Now, I don't expect Aaron Rodgers to 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:26.920 get suspended anytime soon, but there is a chance obviously 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:29.000 that he could get injured and miss some games. And 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:33.800 maybe that's you know, Brian goodakun stand this Packers franchise. 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:38.240 They want to be ready for whatever whatever possibilities, whatever 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:43.160 eventualities come about, and they don't want a season to 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:46.400 be completely derailed because Aaron Rodgers might have to miss 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:50.480 two or three or five games. And that's that's where 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:53.880 the that's where the investment right now appears to be 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.360 in Jordan's love and they want to continue to develop 0:13:56.440 --> 0:14:00.720 him and they want the quarterback position to be to 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:04.240 be stocked like it was in the Brett Farber Now, 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.400 Brett Farve never missed a start, right, I mean he 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:10.600 started every game. Um, we've seen Aaron Rodgers missed some 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:13.320 time with injuries, and the Packers don't want to get 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:17.920 don't want to get caught where a limited term injury 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.560 completely throws a season off the rails because they don't 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.120 have a quarterback who can go out and win football games. 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.120 That's kind of where they're sitting right now. If you 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.040 are a Packers fan who watched two thousand thirteen play 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.320 out and think it's not a good plan to have 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:34.720 a quarterback and waiting that that's the one, that's the 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:36.680 one litmus test that you need to go back and 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.200 think of. It didn't work out with b. J. Coleman 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.400 and Graham Harrold, so they signed Seneca Wallace at the 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:44.840 start of the season after Seneca had not played in 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:47.760 two thousand twelve. He ends up getting hurt. They do 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.360 bring in Scott Tolzine, but he was signed at the 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:52.720 last minute off of coming out of his time in 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:55.560 San Diego, I believe, or maybe with the Fort Afferent 0:14:55.560 --> 0:15:00.680 Point San Francisco. They had to basically prey a that 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.920 the Buffalo Bills cut Matt Flynn and he came on 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.520 the market for him with a background of their offense 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:08.760 to be able to keep the ship afloat enough so 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:10.720 Rogers could come back for one of the most storied 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.960 moments in his time as a starting quarterback, Instill. The 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.680 Packers win eight seven and one and ended up also 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:20.120 getting dispatched from the playoffs. You gotta have a plan, 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:22.920 and and this was the plan. You can agree with 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:25.320 the first round pick. You cannot agree with them using 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:27.720 a first round pick, but the Packers needed to find 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:30.480 answers at that position. And I think, if we're really 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:32.760 being honest with ourselves, Mike, for the first time and 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:36.680 maybe the last fifteen sixteen years, the Packers have the 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.800 best succession policy in place. If somebody think would happen 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.400 with Tim Boyle on this roster still who also could 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.920 be a future asset and then having Jordan's love. Yeah, absolutely, 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.600 uh quickly here West Serious x M NFL radio channel 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:51.800 eighty eight is the only radio outlet dedicated to the 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.560 National Football League seven days a week, three sixty five 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:57.720 days a year. All Right, what we said we would 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.640 move on to the issues with the code staff, so 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:04.920 we will do that. The Matt Lafleur has decided that 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.400 there will be both a new defensive coordinator and a 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:11.480 new special teams coordinator for for the Packers. Mike Petton 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:15.000 is not being brought back to coordinate the defense, and 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:19.640 Seawan Meninga also not brought back, and the decision on 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:23.000 special teams has already been made. Maurice Drayton, who was 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.200 the assistant coach and actually interviewed for the coordinator position 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:31.080 two years ago, and Matt Lafleur was first hired, uh 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:34.800 la Fleur putting all of his confidence into Mo Drayton 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.960 to get the Packers Special Teams back on track. Yeah, 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:39.840 if we're talking about Rodgers and you know, kind of 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.440 an emphatic answer that la Fleur and and good Aunts 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:46.400 gave towards his future. I don't think la Fleur could 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:48.760 have really built up Murray Straiton any better than he 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.480 did at his news conference on Monday. I mean, he 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.640 really put him over as an excellent communicator, a guy 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.440 with really high energy. Something I've heard around the building too. 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.040 I've only interviewed Murray Straton once with was actually when 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.199 he got hired from Indianapolis and eighteen. But he's a 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:06.680 guy no around the building has commanded a lot of respect. 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:10.000 People really enjoy them. And certainly there is an enthusiasm 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:12.600 and energy that that Matt Lafleur is expecting him to 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:14.800 bring to the Special Teams unit. And I don't want 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:16.879 to put words in Matt Lafleur's mouth. I don't want to, 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:19.480 you know, say that you know, mistakes remain anything, but 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.560 it did kind of sound like when he talked about 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:23.720 interviewing Drayton a few years ago, he wished he would 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:26.480 have known what he knows now about the guy. You 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.440 can just tell that that there's just something there that 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:32.960 not necessarily that he didn't take that seriously last time 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:35.800 he interviewed him, but there's just more information that told 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:37.480 him not only is this guy the right fit for 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:39.719 our special teams unit, but if we don't jump on it, 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:44.280 he's probably gonna be organizing coordinating a special teams unit 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:46.760 in the NFL somewhere else. He has a great resume. 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.400 I think you look at his past history, it's fascinating. 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.959 I mean, he's coached everywhere around the world, let alone 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.480 just the National Football League. But his big end was 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:00.280 his time in Indianapolis. He interned there, he had it up, 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:04.080 catching on as their assistant, had two really strong years. 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:05.920 You can look at all the statistics that they had, 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:08.160 and then he came over as the assistant to Ron 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.399 Zook in two thousand and eighteen. So I know fans 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:13.119 sometimes they have to fight this thing well they're just 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:15.560 promoting from within. But I really do believe like this 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.639 is a positive new step for for Green Bay trying 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:21.080 to get things set up right. And and also, let's 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:23.159 be honest, Mike. With Drayton being able to be here 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:24.800 the last couple of seasons, I think he has a 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:27.399 really hands on thought. We haven't had a chance to 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:29.159 talk to him yet, but I have to imagine he 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:31.720 really has some for him to be able to impress 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:34.320 the floor to get the job. You'd have to imagine 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:36.120 that he has a note pad of of things they 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.720 need to do to get Special Teams back on track. Yeah, 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.159 I mean, and I under I understand the skepticism and 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:43.640 the questions from fans saying, hey, you know, the Special 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.480 Teams had a lot of issues this past year. You 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.320 decided to move on, But yet you're just promoting somebody 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.720 who was an assistant coach and was and was part 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.439 of those struggles. The way I look the way I 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:58.199 look at it is this Matt, Matt Lafleur is well 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:00.840 aware of that. He's well aware that of of the 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.160 outside perception and the fact that this could this could 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:08.640 look like a risky decision that you're just promoting somebody 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.919 from within who was a part of the struggles. I 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:15.640 think because he's making that decision, you have to look 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:19.120 at it as that is an indication of how much 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.879 confidence he has in Drayton that he can fix some 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:25.640 things and that he can get things going back in 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:29.280 the right direction, because the the easier thing to do, 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:32.080 from a public perception standpoint would be to just get 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:35.480 rid of everybody who is associated with the struggles and 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.720 completely start over. And the fact that Matt Lafleur is 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:41.720 not doing that and he understands the public perception and 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:44.480 the potential risk that goes along with that, I think 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:48.119 that just speaks to to how how much you know 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.439 the elevated level of confidence that he has in Drayton 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:54.520 and that he wants to He wants to let this 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:58.120 this experienced coach who hasn't been in a big position 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.800 of authority before, to to spread his wings and to 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:04.959 put his stamp on something. And that's the opportunity that 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:07.680 he's giving him. Now. It's a results based business, right, 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:10.920 I mean, Maury Straiton is going to have to get 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:13.840 a lot of things that went wrong last season squared 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:16.320 around on the on the Packers special teams. He's gonna 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:18.920 be judged by those results. But but I do think 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:23.120 Matt Lafleur's confidence in him speaks, uh speaks volumes because 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:27.440 of the perception of what this decision is and sometimes 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:30.560