WEBVTT - #585 Packers Unscripted: Big weekend ahead 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:14.880 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:18.400 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.720 by my partner in crime, West Hodkowits were coming to 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:26.880 you from socially distant locations at lambeau Field West. As 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.920 we head into Super Bowl weekend, we are going to 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:33.080 find out on Saturday night. I'm assuming we are going 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:36.440 to find out on Saturday night that Packers quarterback Aaron 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:41.159 Rodgers will be a three time NFL Most Valuable Player 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:45.800 Award winner two thousand eleven, two thousand fourteen, and certainly 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:48.840 all all signs are pointing to him winning it again 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:51.840 in I'm just gonna throw an open ended question out 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:56.520 your way with regard to Rogers Place, specifically, when you 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.840 look back at the season, what will you remember most? 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.360 What stands out to you about it? Him playing on 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.679 time again is the number one thing. There were so 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.280 many years where between, and I think there was a 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:10.680 couple of different things in play. One he's talked it 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:13.360 a lot about is the the you know, him breaking 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.199 his leg and in eighteen and you know, the knee 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:18.160 injuries and everything else that he was dealing with. He 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.880 just he was still Aaron Rodgers. But it was kind 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:23.600 of like the wounded you know, Wolf, a little bit 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:26.480 like he just wasn't able to be what he always 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:28.720 has been because of some of the limitations that were 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:30.920 holding him back. But then I think there were also 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:32.720 certain things that he had to work his way out 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.440 of and he had to regain a comfort level, uh, 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.080 in the offense and being able to make this transition 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:41.040 from Matt Lafleur's scheme, from Mike McCarthy scheme to Matt 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:43.520 Lafleur's scheme and in the trend, the switch and the 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:47.160 maturation process you saw from nineteen to twenty. Uh, this 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:49.280 is the best player in the National Football League. And 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.240 for him to not only get the forty eight touchdown 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:55.720 passes and have a one passer rating point five, the 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:58.960 second best of his career. But Mike, that seventy point 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.720 seven completion percentage for a guy that was for so 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.680 long kind of aligned for throwing the ball away to 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.280 too much and you know, extending the plays when you know, 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:11.400 not being quick triggered. He played on time, as he 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:14.840 said in his appearance with Pat McAfee, he regained you know, 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.480 the confidence in his knee and his hitch, you know, 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.000 being able to to sink into it better. And and 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:23.320 as he mentioned, because you think about the game of 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:25.080 football and it's just, oh, just go back and throw 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:29.200 the ball. But every single movement that's part of his dropback, 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.120 it all lines up with where the receivers are in 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:35.639 their routs, the timing of the play, and that's why 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:37.359 he felt like the timing was better, and that's why 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.239 he felt the accuracy was better. For Aaron Rodgers to 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.120 go seventy points seven completion percentage when you asked me 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:44.919 about two thousand and twenty, that will be the first 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.480 thing that always comes to mind. Yeah, it's pretty remarkable 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.520 that a quarterback in his thirteenth year as a starter 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:54.720 would set both personal bests and franchise records in the 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:59.160 categories of touchdown passes and completion percentage t s. And 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.760 the seventy point at seven. As you mentioned, I think 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:03.840 what stands out to me the most. It goes along 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:05.840 with what you said about playing on time. But the 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:08.160 way I would phrase it, or the way I'll remember 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:12.799 it is his command of the game. And I say 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:16.120 that not because Aaron Rodgers hasn't played like this before. 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.400 And you know, the command that he showed at the 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.880 line of scrimmage with making the checks and just looking 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:24.079 like he was always in control of what was going 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.440 on out there. We've seen that before. He's one m 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.600 v p S before the run the table in we 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.440 saw Aaron Rodgers playing like that with that sort of 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:34.920 command at the line of scrimmage. But what stood out 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:37.800 to me about it this year is that he achieved 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.920 that level of command in just his second year in 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.080 a brand new offense. We didn't see it in nine 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:47.640 when he and all the other players on offense we're 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.400 learning Matt Lafleur system and we're trying to get accustomed 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:53.800 to it, and Rogers command of the offense and of 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:56.280 everything that was going on in the field went to 0:03:56.320 --> 0:04:00.520 another level in just his second year in the offense, 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.880 and and the um the progress, the maturation of everything. 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:09.640 His mastery of this offense just in a second season, 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.360 I think speaks volumes of the kind of player he is, 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:15.880 both both mentally and then obviously physically. With the things 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.800 that that you talked about, the way he the way 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:22.160 he got his game physically back to where we had 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:24.480 seen it in the past. He reminds me almost like 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.359 of a professor right where you know, there's certain you know, 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:29.719 men and women out there, they're gonna be incredibly intelligent, 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:31.520 they're gonna have high i q s. They're gonna be 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:33.880 able to research and see things and you know, go 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:37.279 through their doctor program. But the more knowledge that you 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.440 gain over the years, the stronger that makes you. From 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:43.640 whether it's a critical thinking aspect or an argumentation or 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.360 just being able to present facts to a classroom. That's 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.799 where I saw Rogers this year. He's seen it all, 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:52.479 he's done it all. And because of that knowledge base 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:55.640 that he has, everything that he's looked at on the field, 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:58.279 he's seen it for the most part in some shape 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.440 or form before and being able to get his physical 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.400 aspect of that back, you know, being able to be confident, 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.279 to stand tall in the pocket. And and also Mike 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:09.719 give credit to this, to the scheme. How many times 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:11.680 this year did he go out of his way to 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:14.720 mention you know what Nathaniel Hackett, Matt Lafleur and Luke 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.839 Getsie what these coaches had come up with. Uh, it 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.520 was innovative, it was creative, and he wasn't you know, 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.720 he was obviously embracing what what that change was the 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.680 last two seasons. And when somebody asked me this, you know, 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:28.400 in year three, now, what do you expect in Matt 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:30.719 lafleur scheme? You know, I expect him to take it 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:34.159 to another level because there's still things they can work on. Certainly, 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:35.960 we've got to figure out what this backfield looks like. 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:37.800 I'm sure there's gonna be a couple of new offensive 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:39.880 weapons that will be added this offseason three that the 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:42.719 draft of free agency, but seeing where they take this 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:45.800 now when okay, now you've established Robert Tonyan, you have 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.000 Davante Adams, considered one of the best in the game, 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.839 and this multitude of you know that the illusion of 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.159 complexity that we always talk about. I think you're gonna 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:57.159 see la fleur and hack it go back into the 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.600 you know, the lab this offseason and find some more 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:01.840 stuff to to bring this offense back and and and 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:04.039 make them even more potent. And and obviously, as we 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.240 heard earlier this week, Aaron Rodgers is a massive part 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.520 of that plan. Yeah, no question about it. And the 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:13.719 historical significance of this being a third m v P 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:16.360 for Rogers again assuming that he is named that m 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.680 v P on Saturday Night, which is what we all expect. 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.679 The significance of this is is pretty astounding because only 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:26.799 five other players in the history of the Associated Press 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.520 NFL Most Valuable Player Award, which dates back to seven, 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.760 only five other players have ever won it three times, 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:36.479 and that list is Peyton Manning, who tops the list 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.719 with five m vps. But then the other three time 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.800 winners are Tom Brady, Brett Farve, Johnny Unitis and Jim 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:46.440 Brown and Aaron Rodgers adding his name to that list. 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:49.599 He mentioned it um during the season when the question 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:51.120 was posed to him, what would it mean to you 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.240 to to join a list of players like that? And 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:57.040 of course he said it would be incredibly special. Um. 0:06:57.200 --> 0:06:59.440 He would always trade the m v p s for 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:02.520 another Super Bowl, of course, but um, but he's well 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:06.000 aware of the of the legacy that that he's establishing. 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:09.039 And when you think about, as we've been talking about 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.600 what he did in his second year in the Flour's 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:14.560 offense and maybe where this is headed in year three, 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:18.080 year four for him in La Fleur's offense, three m vps, 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:21.160 he he might not be done now. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:24.240 lots of other really good quarterbacks. Tom Brady's not done 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.960 playing yet either. But um, but to say, you know, you, 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.440 you can't even say that this is by any means 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:32.880 the last hurrah for Aaron Rodgers being in an m 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.440 v P race based on how he played in Yeah, 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:38.680 and when you look at Brady now to Mike, I mean, 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.000 you know, certainly he has to stay healthy. You gotta 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:43.400 avoid disaster in the pocket and and those things that 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:45.720 can change, you know, in an instant. But for him 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:47.720 to be able to play at this level at forty three, 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.000 I have to imagine Aaron Rodgers looks at that and 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:53.120 is inspired to to what he could potentially do. Was talking. 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:55.280 I was talking with James Jones a couple of weeks 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.120 ago for a story I was trying to write on 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.800 Davante Adams that we will right at some point. Uh. 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.320 Also is asking him about Aaron Rodgers and his candidacy 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:04.000 for this, and he said there's two things that really 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.120 stood out to him and why he thinks he can 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.120 play into his forties. And it's one he has natural 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:11.560 arm talent. Uh, not the kind of stuff that you're 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:13.240 just gonna go walk into a weight room and just 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:15.400 you know, build up your arm strength or just make 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:19.040 yourself into something that you maybe naturally aren't. Uh. He 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.680 throws the ball hard and far, and he doesn't have 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:24.440 to do like put a lot into it to be 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:27.240 able to accomplish that. It's just god given ability that 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:30.240 he's been able to cultivate over the years with his mechanics. 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:33.080 And for that reason, James thinks he's gonna be able 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:34.960 to play well into his forties. And then when you 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:37.280 look at the fact that he has taken care of 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:39.640 himself the way that he has, I don't know if 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.320 he's on the TV twelve type diet that that Tom 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.040 Brady's on that I don't think I could survive more 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.280 than six hours if it was up to me. But 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:51.680 he obviously years ago whether it was his, you know, 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.600 looking into the gluten and lactose in those type of things. 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.920 Rogers made a commitment in his early thirties. Now he's 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:02.120 sitting at thirty seven these early thirties, that he wanted 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:04.480 to play into his forties. He wanted to be able 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:06.320 to How many times we heard about the back nine 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.520 analogy that he used, and it wasn't just the weight room, 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.360 it wasn't just squatting. It was his diet, and Rogers 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:16.199 is an incredibly disciplined human being and for that reason, Yeah, 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:19.400 he's at thirty seven. We're gonna see what the future holds. 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:23.080 I personally am really embracing this whole beautiful mystery thing 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:24.960 that he brought up a couple of weeks ago. We 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:27.520 can't predict what is going to happen. You don't know 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.319 when the last time is ultimately that you're gonna step 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.079 on a field. So yeah, just let it play out 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:36.280 and see where it takes us. But certainly at thirty seven, 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:39.840 Brady at forty three really showing no signs of slowing down. 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:41.240 It looks like he wants to even maybe take it 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:43.360 past forty five now or whatever he was saying in 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:45.760 the media this past week. Yeah, I think we gotta 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.840 stop trying to put timelines on everybody. Yeah. Absolutely. Well. 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:50.920 One other m v P note to put this in 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:54.040 perspective for Packers fans. With Rogers winning his third m 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:58.200 v P since the advent of the Associated Press Award 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:02.199 in nine seven, this will now be the ninth m 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.680 v P that the Green Bay Packers of one Paul Hornick, 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.160 Jim Taylor, bart Starr each one one m v P 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.160 in the Lombardi era in the sixties five one three 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:15.000 Rogers won three. That is nine. And if you look 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.760 at West, you look at the Packers current NFC North 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:24.040 rivals Minnesota, Chicago, and Detroit, those three franchises have won 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.760 a combined five m v p s in the time 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.560 that the Packers have won nine. So Green Bay has 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.080 almost doubled up on its competitors. For those who are 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:36.760 wondering the five m vps, Adrian Peterson, fran Tarkenton, Alan 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:41.880 Page for the Minnesota Vikings, Bear, Barry Sanders, who taught 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.520 who out, shared one with Brett far Brett Farst. Third 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:46.920 one was shared with Sanders and then Walter Payton of 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.400 the Chicago Bears in nineteen seventy seven. Yeah, Alan Page 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.160 on me, I would have gotten seventy one. As you 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:56.199 can tell, I was doing some research for what we're 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.559 going to be posting over the over the weekend here 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:01.040 on the website. But Alan Page one of the few 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:05.200 defensive players to win the NFL's Most Valuable Player award 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:07.920 in nineteen seventy one. The last defensive player to win 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:12.479 it actually Nighties six Lawrence Taylor. It's been all quarterbacks 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:15.360 and running backs since nine eight six to U to 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.880 win the award. Wide receivers never won it. I thought 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.680 that was interesting, Yeah, that never that is true. Um 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:24.439 Don Hucker having back before the Associated Press, as I say, 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:26.600 I referenced the nineteen fifty seven the birth of the 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:31.040 Associated Press Award. There was a league MVP back in 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.720 the forties and Don Hudson for the Packers won that 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.760 a couple of times, but it's not recognized in the 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.559 same way that the Associated Press won as far as 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:42.120 the the history books dating back to fifty seven when 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:45.280 Jim Brown won the first two in in fifty seven 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.760 and fifty eight. So sirius x M NFL radio Channel 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:51.840 eighty eight West is the only radio outlet dedicated to 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:54.800 the National Football League seven days a week, three hundred 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:58.679 sixty five days a year. The other news that will 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.800 be coming out this weekend prior to the Super Bowl 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:04.599 will be the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:09.920 one and again another assumption. Another expectation that we have 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.360 for this weekend is that former Packers defensive back Charles 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.560 Woodson will become a first ballot Hall of Famer. This 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:20.079 is his first year of eligibility. I can't imagine that 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:24.040 he's not going to get in um and uh, here's 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:26.400 here's a couple of things, a couple of statistics to 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.760 throw your way with regard to this West. Charles Woodson 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.320 played eighteen seasons in the National Football League as a 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:36.360 defensive back, which is remarkable. He played only seven of 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.800 those eighteen in green Bay. He played the other eleven 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:42.079 in Oakland. On both the front and the back end 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:46.439 of his stint in green Bay. But you could really 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.600 make the argument that the seven years in Green Bay 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:53.160 is what took Charles Woodson from you know, the Pro 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:57.040 Bowl caliber player to a Hall of Famer. When you 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:58.840 look at what he did, and I'll throw a couple 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:00.920 of numbers your way. Woods And finished his career with 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:05.520 sixty five interceptions. Thirty eight of those sixty five came 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:09.319 in seven years in Green Bay. And he scored fourteen 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:14.240 defensive touchdowns in his career, ten of those fourteen as 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.960 a member of the Packers. Those ten defensive touchdowns nine 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:22.559 interception returns. Both of those are green Bay Packers defensive 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:27.360 franchise records. So what he did, what he did in 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:30.280 seven years in Green Bay, it it's it's in the 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:33.440 history books. It's not going anywhere west and uh this 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.760 will be uh yet. I mean, the Packers have had 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:38.160 a pretty good run. I believe he'll be the sixth 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.839 Hall of Famer that the Packers lay claimed to over 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.920 the last you know, about eight years, at eight or 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:48.800 nine years um and uh um, Yeah, Charles Woodson certainly 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:51.880 deserving of that gold jacket. It's funny because everybody always 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:55.360 people like to put the MLB like metric on all 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:57.640 this stuff. Like and even my father, God bless him, 0:13:58.040 --> 0:13:59.960 said to me when I when I stopped over at 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:03.520 their house a couple of nights ago, mentioned, uh, you know, hey, 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:05.080 is he gonna go in as a as a packer 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:07.680 or a raider? This is how you know how great 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:11.880 Charles Woodson is. It isn't about claiming Charles Woodson. It's 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:15.320 the fact that he had incredible careers in both places. 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:22.000 As you says, I think you could actually you could 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.200 take his seven years in Green Bay, maybe tack on 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:26.280 an extra two or something on either side of that 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:28.240 was a Hall of Fame career in itself, what he 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:31.800 did in Green Bay and for him to then make 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:35.400 the transition to safety his last season the National Football League, 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.480 I think he was second team All Pro at safety. 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:40.920 Um he went in uh, you know when you go 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:43.360 him back to think about the all the juice behind 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.119 him when he came into the league, the Heisman everything. 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:49.960 I mean, he had these incredible expectations and that's not 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.360 always easy to live up to for any player, let 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.840 alone a defensive back, because there are certain things that 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.600 have to happen in order for you to make plays. 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.400 And and what I loved about Charles woodson story is 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.600 you talk about Ted Thompson and in the building of 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.120 a football team and a championship Super Bowl forty five 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.600 team in in two thousand, you know, six to two 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:16.280 thousand and ten. In that window, Woodson was the reluctant 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:19.400 hero in that he was the guy that necessarily didn't 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.560 want to come to Green Bay at first, maybe even 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:23.960 waited a little extra longer on the free agent market 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.360 to see if something else would come along. It didn't, 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:29.480 and he had to work through some rough spots early 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.320 in his career. You've heard some of the stories about 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:36.640 practices and things like that, but man, when he it's 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:40.000 like it's almost like the like the the teenager analogy, right, 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:42.920 Like they get kind of rambunctious, and then they settle in, 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:47.120 they learned from their mistakes, and they become a galvanizing force. Uh. 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.760 He became that on this football team. And when you 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:54.000 think back to that Super Bowl championship, him being able 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.320 to win Defensive Player of the Year in two thousand nine, 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.320 what a remarkable run he was on in p Bowl. 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:04.680 Just were magnetized to him, to his energy, to his leadership. 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:07.280 I will never forget I was not on the I 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.520 was all I only covered him seven games, really when 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.040 the seven games before he got injured in two thousand twelve. 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:14.440 But the thing that always will stand out to me 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:20.320 is that Charles Woodson being able to go into a 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.560 locker room after those games. He only talked usually once 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.280 a week, and he'd always have a custom made suit 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:28.760 for every single home game, probably road game too. I 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:33.000 didn't cover those. He would be at his locker, everything 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:35.120 would be cleared out basically a lot of times by 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:37.200 the time he finally turned around to address the media, 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:39.680 and he just sit there and he would talk, and 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:42.560 he would talk whatever the topic of discussion was. He'd 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.960 be there until basically media was done with him, and 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:49.200 then he'd go about his way and in all these 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:51.680 years I've covered the National Football League, doesn't matter if 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:53.840 I'm in the Packers locker room an opposing team locker room. 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.360 I to this day, I've never seen anyone like Charles Woodson. 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.880 He just he was a brand into himself. He was 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:06.480 there was just a weird type of kinetic energy that 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.000 you just just felt every time you were in his 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.600 his presence and and now obviously getting the highest honorable Yeah, 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.119 that's that's what it was for me. And I covered 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.520 his entire career in Green Bay. His arrival in Green 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:20.320 Bay was actually the same year, two thousand six that 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:23.080 I got hired for this job at Packers dot Com. 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.200 So I covered his entire time in Green Bay, and uh, 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:29.080 and he just, Yeah, the best way I can put 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:31.520 it is he he had a presence about him that 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.680 was just that was just different. That was, as you say, magnetizing. 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.120 And we hear that with a lot of players around 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.040 the league, not just a guy like Aaron Rodgers, who 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:42.440 certainly has a presence too. We heard about that and 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:45.359 felt it with Julius Peppers and Marcedes Lewis, who's been 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:47.200 in the locker room now for the last couple of years, 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:49.960 but even Charles Woodson. There there was there was a 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:53.119 presence of a presence about him that was just different 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:57.240 from anybody any other NFL player that that I've been around. 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:01.120 And here's here's another thing again, statistic to put things 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:05.800 in perspective. Your good friend west Leroy Butler, who let 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:07.720 the cat out of the bag apparently a week or 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:10.720 two ago on Twitter that as a as a finalist 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:12.840 for the Hall of Fame, he did not get selected 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:17.480 this year, um and will certainly be UM rooting for 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:20.280 him in the coming years to to finally get over 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:22.480 this hump, so to speak, because you and I both 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:24.800 believe Lroy Butler deserves to be in Cannon as a 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:27.159 Hall of Famer. Leroy Butler played twelve years with the 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:31.760 Green Bay Packers and intercepted thirty eight passes. Charles Woodson 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.760 played seven years with the Green Bay Packers and intercepted 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:37.720 thirty eight passes. They are tied for fourth. These are 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:41.200 regular season statistics. They are tied for fourth on the 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:45.280 Packers all time list for interceptions and uh and Woodson 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:48.520 played five fewer seasons in Green Bay than Butler did. 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:52.200 I mean what what Charles Woodson did, It wasn't you 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:54.639 can't even say it was just like a rebirth of 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:56.679 his career. It's like what you said, it was almost 0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:58.760 his time in green Bay was almost a Hall of 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:02.560 Fame career in and of itself. And um, I I 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:06.840 don't know what the summer holds as far as how 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.480 the induction is going to take place. I've been to 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:12.359 Canton for the inductions of Brett Farven Jerry Kramer. I 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:15.840 would love to go there for Charles Woodson Woodson's as 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:17.680 well and reconnect with him and get to talk with 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:20.240 him and provide some stuff on packers dot Com. I 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:23.359 don't know what next summer holds. We'll just have to 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:25.760 We'll just have to wait and see. But uh um, 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.320 but whenever that time comes to get to chat with him, 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:30.399 I will definitely look forward to it. One other thing, 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:32.360 I'm glad you brought that up about. You know how 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:35.240 he sort of reinvented himself in Green Bay. It's something 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:37.600 that has become more prevalent now in the NFL. You 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:40.760 see these defensive backs, these boundary cornerbacks, making switches the 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:43.920 safety or the nickel. That's what was beautiful about Charles 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:46.760 Woodson is that he was an exceptional shutdown cornerback for 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:48.399 so much of his career, but then he ends up 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:51.040 going into the slot. He ends up making finally the 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:52.800 transition to the back end. I remember that was a 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:55.280 huge Remember how big that story was in two thousand twelve, 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.360 and I was like, hey, is Charles Woodson gonna play safety? 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:01.920 And he just made plays no matter where he was 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:05.240 and he adapted his style. I still do this day. 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:09.119 I know Rex Ryan did not like the fact that 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:11.960 that Woodson got Defensive Player of the Year over Durrell 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:15.920 Reevas in two thousand nine, But man, that season that 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:20.119