Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I and Mike Spofford, sitting next to the one and
Speaker 1: only Wes Hodkowits, were coming to you here from our
Speaker 1: studios at lambeau Field and West. Will begin the show
Speaker 1: today with a little bit of news regarding the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: Because the Packers initially had two Pro Bowl selections, quarterback
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers and left tackled David box tr most surprised
Speaker 1: that Rogers has decided not to participate. He's sort of
Speaker 1: done that for the last several selections. He's bypassed and
Speaker 1: let someone else go in his place. But along those
Speaker 1: same lines, the Packers have now had three alternates who
Speaker 1: have been chosen for the Pro Bowl to replace some
Speaker 1: other players, and that would be wide receiver Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: defensive lineman Nny Clark, and outside linebacker za Darius Smith.
Speaker 1: And uh, certainly a neat moment for Clark and Smith
Speaker 1: because this is the first Pro Bowl for either player. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and incredibly well deserving for both of them. One Zadarius
Speaker 1: Smith had one of the finest seasons of any player
Speaker 1: in the National Football League this year. The way he
Speaker 1: was utilized, the number of positions that he played in
Speaker 1: just his overall effectiveness at all these different spots. Kenny
Speaker 1: Clark kind of reminds me of a player that a
Speaker 1: lot of times with these defensive line and offensive line positions,
Speaker 1: unless you're Aaron don you know, Donald, it takes you
Speaker 1: a little bit of time to build up your name
Speaker 1: to get a Pro Bowl nomination, to get it, to
Speaker 1: get an addition and alternate, and then finally actually making
Speaker 1: the team. This is a big step for him. I
Speaker 1: thought the way that he came on the second half
Speaker 1: of the season, particularly in the month of December, he
Speaker 1: deserves that recognition in that nod. But let's talk about
Speaker 1: Davante Adams for a section, because the first thing that
Speaker 1: jumped out to me when I saw that he got
Speaker 1: it one it's very rare that any player is able
Speaker 1: to make three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances, but for Davante,
Speaker 1: it's the first time in twenty six years that it's
Speaker 1: happened as a Packers receiver, with Sterling Sharpe in the
Speaker 1: last to accomplish that feat. For Sharp, it was his
Speaker 1: last three seasons nine before he ended up prematurely retiring.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so I mean, just a tremendous honor for
Speaker 1: Davante And and the thing that stood out to me,
Speaker 1: you know, I pulled up his stats, and he had
Speaker 1: a remarkable postseason mike a hundred catches, one thousand two yards,
Speaker 1: seven touchdowns if you count his four teen games with
Speaker 1: the postseason. I think what we're seeing here. You know,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers has had some phenomenal receivers. I'm not going
Speaker 1: to get in a thing here where we start ranking them, sure,
Speaker 1: but Davante Adams has a real opportunity here to become
Speaker 1: something special in this franchise history and in this league.
Speaker 1: I think he's in the shorthand right now five six
Speaker 1: guys that I think are the pre eminent receivers in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. And he does it with everything.
Speaker 1: His athleticism, his skill, his footwork, his tenacity. He is
Speaker 1: a complete football player. So to see him despite the
Speaker 1: turf toe that wiped him out for October, to see
Speaker 1: him get this accolade very well deserved. Well. When you
Speaker 1: look at Adam's stats, you subtract the four games he
Speaker 1: missed in the regular season, he played two postseason games.
Speaker 1: If you look at that as his season fourteen games,
Speaker 1: which is still not quite a full season, but fourteen
Speaker 1: games that he played he had was that a hundred
Speaker 1: catches catches, I mean, that's that's pretty impressive on the
Speaker 1: face of it. And when you talk about the postseason
Speaker 1: two this is interesting because Adams went over a hundred
Speaker 1: yards and both of the Packers playoff games this year.
Speaker 1: He now has four one yard receiving games in the
Speaker 1: playoffs in just eight career postseason games. The four one
Speaker 1: yard games, that's already the most of any Packers player
Speaker 1: in postseason history to top a hundred yards four times.
Speaker 1: And when you think about all of these receivers through
Speaker 1: the far Van Rogers era and Oneal Freeman, Robert Brooks,
Speaker 1: Javon Walker, Sterling Sharp, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cop, Greg Jennings,
Speaker 1: James Jones, I mean, all of these guys in just
Speaker 1: eight postseason games, Davante Adams already has more yard games
Speaker 1: in the playoffs than any of those guys. That's that's
Speaker 1: really something. And and um, as you said, the three
Speaker 1: straight Pro Bowls certainly deserving of it. And uh, you
Speaker 1: just you wonder if not for those missed four games
Speaker 1: in the middle of the season, maybe what his regular
Speaker 1: season stats would have been. He ended up just the
Speaker 1: three yard shy of a thousand yards season again for
Speaker 1: the second time in in his career. But he's getting
Speaker 1: the recognition he deserves, and certainly the way teams are
Speaker 1: defending him, the way teams are game planning for him. Um,
Speaker 1: he's uh, he's not going unnoticed out there in the NFL. No.
Speaker 1: And and just that he's doing this against the top cornerbacks,
Speaker 1: and he's doing it against double coverage and everything else
Speaker 1: that coordinators are throwing at him. The thing I wanted
Speaker 1: see this offseason. Uh. And I hope people don't take
Speaker 1: this the wrong way. I'm sure some will. Is. Man,
Speaker 1: it'd be great if the Packers draft a young receiver here.
Speaker 1: I don't care what round it is, but man, you're
Speaker 1: able to get as many young guys as you can
Speaker 1: into that room right now with Davante Adams to see
Speaker 1: how that guy works. I was talking with Alan Lazard
Speaker 1: about this during clean out. I mean just the the
Speaker 1: improvements that he feels he's made just by being in
Speaker 1: Adam's presence, being able to ask him questions, Uh, seeing
Speaker 1: the way that he approaches the game mentally. Uh, this
Speaker 1: I think Davanta Adams is a sum of all the parts. One,
Speaker 1: he's a phenomenally talented player and he has a great
Speaker 1: head on his shoulders. But being able to share that
Speaker 1: that room with Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, and having
Speaker 1: the relationship that he did with James Jones, all of
Speaker 1: that has manifested into what I feel is like the
Speaker 1: ultimate Packers receiver at this point. And the man, the
Speaker 1: more young guys that you can get in there with them,
Speaker 1: that'd be really that'd be really special. That I was
Speaker 1: going to say, you have to start, you have to
Speaker 1: continue the pipeline here, right. That goes back to say
Speaker 1: Donald Driver, who is Donald Driver and Greg Jennings were
Speaker 1: really the two receivers who sort of made the transition
Speaker 1: from far Over to Rogers. You know, they played and
Speaker 1: James Jones as well, although Jones was only here for
Speaker 1: um for far as last season before Rogers took over
Speaker 1: as a starter. But you had those guys, and you know,
Speaker 1: they were the ones who brought along, you know, the
Speaker 1: Jordy Nelson's and the Randall Cobbs and then and then
Speaker 1: Nelson and Cobb at different times rose into those leadership
Speaker 1: roles now it's Davante Adams. You have to keep that
Speaker 1: pipeline going, right, I mean it's about it's about that
Speaker 1: leader setting the example for the other guys. And um, yeah,
Speaker 1: you'd certainly you'd certainly like to see the who who's
Speaker 1: the next Davante Adams. You know, who's the next Randall Cobb?
Speaker 1: Who's the next Jordy Nelson? That that Aaron Rodgers is
Speaker 1: going to be throwing too here at the at the
Speaker 1: tail end of his career, and we'll just have to
Speaker 1: wait and see. Yeah, it's it's just you go back
Speaker 1: to two thousand fourteen, right when they drafted Davantae, they
Speaker 1: didn't really need a receiver quote unno, well they need
Speaker 1: Jordy Nelson when they drafted him in two thousand and
Speaker 1: eight either with all the with all the u the
Speaker 1: weapons that they had. But look how that draft book
Speaker 1: turned out. When you have a house like that and
Speaker 1: you're able to bring that kind of talent in there,
Speaker 1: it's just neat to see that all messed together. Honestly,
Speaker 1: when the press release got announced on Tuesday morning and
Speaker 1: they sent it out that it was DeVante Clark in Zadarius,
Speaker 1: I know there are certain things within contracts and how
Speaker 1: it's different from making the Pro Bowl as an alternate
Speaker 1: as as far as first back, right, yeah, all those
Speaker 1: incentives and things like that, but just being able to
Speaker 1: get that on their resumes. To say that Kenny Clark
Speaker 1: is a Pro Bowl defensive tackles, Zadarius Smith is a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl linebacker. I think it would have been an
Speaker 1: ultimate travesty if we would have gotten through this whole
Speaker 1: gamut here Mike and Zadarius Smith. He just had a
Speaker 1: normal season, no huge accolades. I mean that it's good
Speaker 1: to at least being able to the silver line and
Speaker 1: the consolation whatever description you want to throw on it,
Speaker 1: that that guy gets to be able to have that
Speaker 1: type of recognition and now he doesn't get to wear
Speaker 1: the snubbed shirt anymore. Sort of just a little edit
Speaker 1: editing job on the on the Okay, all right, well
Speaker 1: we'll go We'll go with that. Well, the other thing
Speaker 1: we definitely need to talk about today is Monday. Yesterday
Speaker 1: was locker clean out day, which is always It happens
Speaker 1: every year, right, I mean, the season ends, at some point,
Speaker 1: the players are cleaning out their lockers, saying their goodbyes.
Speaker 1: It's our last chance to interview some players for some
Speaker 1: stories and whatnot before they all disperse and head into
Speaker 1: their offseason vacations. And it was there was an interesting
Speaker 1: I don't know if interesting is the right word. There was.
Speaker 1: There was a whole mixture in terms of the vibe
Speaker 1: in the room because a lot of guys were talking
Speaker 1: about just the camaraderie of that locker room and how
Speaker 1: close it was and everything like that. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, they're processing the fact that you know, the
Speaker 1: season's over and they came so close to a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl and don't always know who's going to be back there.
Speaker 1: There is inevitable change year to year in the NFL
Speaker 1: in terms of the roster, in terms of the makeup
Speaker 1: of the locker room, So all of those things were
Speaker 1: kind of swirling around, uh during these interviews, and it's
Speaker 1: it's kind of a difficult day in a way for
Speaker 1: the players to to process, but it's interesting to to
Speaker 1: get their insights in it when you know they themselves
Speaker 1: are are are kind of going through it when everything
Speaker 1: ends so abruptly as it always does in the postseason. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was it was, you know, when I was walked
Speaker 1: in there, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, these locker rooms, they can go a lot
Speaker 1: of different ways. The the overall theme that I took
Speaker 1: from it, I don't know if you'd agree with me
Speaker 1: or not, was uplifted. It just seemed like guys were
Speaker 1: pretty upbeat for the most part, compared to what I
Speaker 1: felt to be a pretty emotional and not downtrodden but
Speaker 1: just exhausted locker room the night before. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: just talking to Mercedes Lewis a little bit and first
Speaker 1: and foremost, he said he fully intends to play next
Speaker 1: year would be his fifteenth NFL season if he does.
Speaker 1: But this is a guy that a year ago, and
Speaker 1: I wrote about the some Packers dot Com is that
Speaker 1: he stepped back and he took two months basically to
Speaker 1: decide whether or not he still wanted to do this.
Speaker 1: He needed that after what was a really turbulent year
Speaker 1: in which he only played seventeen percent of the offensive snaps.
Speaker 1: He didn't know if this is what he wanted to
Speaker 1: do anymore, and with everything that happened this season for
Speaker 1: him individually and most specifically as a team. Within twenty
Speaker 1: four hours of that game ending against San Francisco. He's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm back. I want to be back. And regardless, he
Speaker 1: says he sees a lot of bright, you know, bright
Speaker 1: future here for this team in this locker room, in
Speaker 1: the direction they're headed. But there was a statement that
Speaker 1: I thought stood out to me more than any other
Speaker 1: in this locker room, and it actually came from Jared
Speaker 1: vel Deer, and it was over to our friend Bill
Speaker 1: Huber with s I and he said, this is one
Speaker 1: of the most fun years he's ever had. Jared veld
Speaker 1: years been here for about a month and he's played
Speaker 1: ten NFL seasons. Yeah, for him to come into this
Speaker 1: locker room and feel that energy and to have that
Speaker 1: as his lasting impression. Guy who didn't know if he
Speaker 1: wanted to play this game anymore when he retired in
Speaker 1: may to say something like that, and he probably and
Speaker 1: I'd have to double check on his background, but he
Speaker 1: might not have known a soul in that locker room
Speaker 1: before he arrived. Billy Turner was Turner, and Turner was
Speaker 1: the only I mean, he didn't know anybody else. There
Speaker 1: was almost there was no familiarity there at all, but
Speaker 1: go ahead. He caught Turner for one I think one season,
Speaker 1: two seasons and no. One season in Denver, and then
Speaker 1: he played half a season with Tremont in Arizona. That
Speaker 1: was But you're right, this guy didn't know these offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: I think he had a little bit of a background
Speaker 1: with Brian Bulaga because they came out in the draft
Speaker 1: the same year, and you you kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: notice other players at your positions. But here he is
Speaker 1: getting welcome in that locker room and then being able
Speaker 1: to have the success that he did. I mean jumping
Speaker 1: in twenty minutes for the Seattle game, starting at right
Speaker 1: tackle in a pivotal playoff game, finishing that game against Detroit,
Speaker 1: when when Balaga left with the knee injury or with
Speaker 1: the concussion, excuse me, It's just this was a special team.
Speaker 1: It was a special year, and no matter what piece
Speaker 1: they brought into it, it just fit perfectly. So on
Speaker 1: one side, that's the thing that hurts, because you had
Speaker 1: a locker room that probably was as tight as it's
Speaker 1: gonna be. Yeah, I that seem almost utopian the way
Speaker 1: it ended up working out. But on the other side
Speaker 1: of it, it's a young core, there's motivated players, and
Speaker 1: you're going into the second year now is with the
Speaker 1: head coach in place, there's optimism and appreciation I think
Speaker 1: for what happened in Yeah, there definitely is and uh
Speaker 1: and as tough as it is to to see the
Speaker 1: season end, and you know, these guys that they're realist
Speaker 1: to West, they know they are absolutely no guarantees that
Speaker 1: they'll ever get that close again. You don't know if
Speaker 1: you're going to get that shot again. Obviously, as you said,
Speaker 1: there's there's optimism that the Packers can get back there.
Speaker 1: But just because you think so, just because you have
Speaker 1: the talent to do it, um, even if you put
Speaker 1: together the regular season to do it, the playoffs are
Speaker 1: the playoffs, and you just don't know if you'll ever
Speaker 1: get back to that point. But you mentioned Marcedes Lewis.
Speaker 1: He's one of thirteen, I believe is the number of
Speaker 1: pending unrestricted free agents that the Packers will be making
Speaker 1: contract decisions on over the next couple of months, with
Speaker 1: free agency officially starting in I believe it's the second
Speaker 1: week of March um. But just to rattle off a
Speaker 1: few of the bigger names on that pending pending free
Speaker 1: agency list as far as the unrestricted guys, Marcedes Lewis
Speaker 1: Brian Balaga, Blake Martinez, Tremont Williams, Kyler Fackrel, who else
Speaker 1: Mason Crosby, Yes, absolutely, and then you got your Ibraheim Campbell's,
Speaker 1: your Tyler Urban's. Yeah, some of those guys who haven't
Speaker 1: been here as long, but they are also a vested
Speaker 1: veterans and and at the to their contracts and they
Speaker 1: will be unrestricted as well. So thirteen of them all together,
Speaker 1: and you know how this works West, There's absolutely no
Speaker 1: way there is enough money under the salary cap. As
Speaker 1: much as the packers would love to keep this whole
Speaker 1: group together and say, hey, let's make another run at it,
Speaker 1: that's not realistic. That's not how this is going to work.
Speaker 1: We don't know who's going to be back and who
Speaker 1: won't be out of those thirteen players. If we did,
Speaker 1: we wouldn't be doing this show, right, Yeah, If if
Speaker 1: we did, we'd be spending our time doing some other things.
Speaker 1: But um, the locker room cohesion, the chemistry, the camaraderie.
Speaker 1: I think that's an interesting thing because that it'll be
Speaker 1: it'll be a challenge next year, um for you know,
Speaker 1: to repeat that, and I I I just hope for
Speaker 1: the player's sake that as much as everything this year
Speaker 1: with that, locker rooms seem to just seem to just
Speaker 1: happen organically and naturally based on the personalities of the
Speaker 1: guys who were leaders at certain position groups, whether you're
Speaker 1: talking the Smiths or whether you're talking the Bolaghas and
Speaker 1: bok Trs, you know, on the offensive line and Davante
Speaker 1: Adams at wide receiver. All of that you can't you
Speaker 1: can't force it, you know. So whatever the personnel changes
Speaker 1: are and whatever new faces come into the locker room,
Speaker 1: and certain guys who maybe leave and and play, you know,
Speaker 1: played big roles, but maybe they won't be back, you
Speaker 1: just have to kind of let it happen again and
Speaker 1: and and see where it goes. And I don't think
Speaker 1: they're going to be able to repeat what they had
Speaker 1: in terms of the locker room cohesion moving forward in
Speaker 1: But that's not to say that you can't still have
Speaker 1: a locker room that works and and get what you need,
Speaker 1: get what you need out of that in terms of
Speaker 1: of the closeness of the team. And that's always the
Speaker 1: special thing about professional football, and honestly, to be fair
Speaker 1: to other sports, many other professional sports and college sports
Speaker 1: as well, is that you can you can you can draft,
Speaker 1: you can sign, you can recruit, you can do all
Speaker 1: these things. You can go on these intangibles, you can
Speaker 1: ask all the questions, but until those players are in
Speaker 1: the locker room, you don't always know what you're gonna get.
Speaker 1: And it goes both ways. It can be positive and
Speaker 1: it can be negative. But I think the thing and
Speaker 1: one of the reasons why Aaron Rodgers, when he was
Speaker 1: at the podium on Sunday said, you know he's encouraged
Speaker 1: by this group because of the leadership, is every piece.
Speaker 1: Is every single piece going to be back? No, is
Speaker 1: this fifty three man roster that eggs of the field
Speaker 1: at Levi Stadium could be the same one that comes
Speaker 1: out on the field beginning of two thousand. But if
Speaker 1: you have that core in place, you know there's a
Speaker 1: reason to believe that it can be similar. And you know,
Speaker 1: let's be honest too, And I'm really excited to talk
Speaker 1: to Brian Goodakuts. At some point, I guess it will
Speaker 1: probably end up in the NFL scouting combine what this
Speaker 1: group of scouts saw in these free agents. They added
Speaker 1: not just the four big ones that we always talked about,
Speaker 1: but you know, Jared Valder and reading the stories about
Speaker 1: how you know, teams were all reluctant to to potentially,
Speaker 1: you know, claim him. You know, they wanted to work
Speaker 1: them out, they wanted to talk to him. Packers just
Speaker 1: claimed him and they accepted the contract that came with that.
Speaker 1: And then you look at, you know, a guy like
Speaker 1: Tyler Irvin that gets brought in and you know, some
Speaker 1: of the conversations I was hearing about how the scouts
Speaker 1: they knew and Rogers said it too, that the scouts
Speaker 1: knew that they liked him and they were following him.
Speaker 1: And then he just comes free in December and they
Speaker 1: bring him in and you know that could potentially be
Speaker 1: the kickoff and punt returner next year for Green Bay.
Speaker 1: We have to wait and see. Yeah, timing is everything right,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's because I'm sure there were you know,
Speaker 1: it wasn't the first time Tyler Irvin had been released,
Speaker 1: but at other times earlier in his career. When he
Speaker 1: is released and if the packers have their eye on him,
Speaker 1: it's all what is your roster situation at the time,
Speaker 1: what are your needs? Do you have an opening or
Speaker 1: you know, are you are you thinking that you know,
Speaker 1: so and so is headed to injured reserves, so then
Speaker 1: you have a roster spot available. All of those things
Speaker 1: factor into it, and sometimes sometimes it's just the timing
Speaker 1: is right, you know. For the Packers, the roster spot
Speaker 1: was there, or at least they were planning on creating one,
Speaker 1: and they clearly had a need to try to upgrade
Speaker 1: the special teams with the return and he comes, he
Speaker 1: comes in and you know, takes the bull by the horns,
Speaker 1: so to speak, and makes an impression right away when
Speaker 1: he steps in there. And then all of a sudden, so, yeah,
Speaker 1: now here we are talking about it like, well, if
Speaker 1: they bring back Tyler Irvin, you know, then do we
Speaker 1: go into training camp next summer already knowing who the
Speaker 1: punt returner kick returner is going to be. Maybe that
Speaker 1: maybe that ends up being the case, but we'll see. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And the thing I love about it too, is that
Speaker 1: it's not like Tyler Irvan was just doing all the
Speaker 1: same stuff in Jacksonville. Tyler Urban was averaging like a
Speaker 1: buck and a half on punt returns during those six
Speaker 1: weeks in Jacksonville. Just the job that the scouts due
Speaker 1: to find guys character athleticism, all those different measurables is
Speaker 1: just remarkable. But you know this is this is why
Speaker 1: they have to make big decisions though this offseason. Getting
Speaker 1: back to your original question, because well, don't you resign
Speaker 1: because beyond that you have Kenny Clark coming up on
Speaker 1: the end of his rookie deal. Aaron Jones is eligible
Speaker 1: for an extension this offseason. If you want to go
Speaker 1: that route, David baktr is going to be coming down
Speaker 1: the pipeline here in that. That's the that's the difficult
Speaker 1: job that a general manager has away who stays, who goes?
Speaker 1: How do you allocate those funds. It's just like if
Speaker 1: you're in your house and you're trying to figure out
Speaker 1: what you're gonna do with your monthly paychecks. You know,
Speaker 1: you obviously have to pay your mortgage, in your car payment,
Speaker 1: in Netflix and all that fun stuff, But how many
Speaker 1: bells and whistles do you get to add into this?
Speaker 1: That's what makes the lead great. And that's why I said,
Speaker 1: and I mentioned on yesterday show, I wrote it an inbox,
Speaker 1: very pragmatic offseason is needed for Green Bay to decide
Speaker 1: we have an excellent opportunity, how do we maximize it. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: it's how how do you how do you go about
Speaker 1: building another roster that's going to give you the best shot.
Speaker 1: And what's interesting here with the Packers when you're talking
Speaker 1: about some of these pending free agents Mason Crosby, Marcedes Lewis,
Speaker 1: Brian Bulaga, these aren't These aren't the guys who you know,
Speaker 1: like a Kenny Clark who's just getting to his second contract.
Speaker 1: These are guys who they've already gotten their second and
Speaker 1: a lot of times even third contracts, and and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, they're obviously at the tail end of their careers,
Speaker 1: but they aid really really big roles on a really
Speaker 1: really good team. So those those can be tough decisions.
Speaker 1: And from their perspective, you know, they're like, well, this
Speaker 1: might be the last contract I ever signed. So they're
Speaker 1: trying to maximize on it for themselves, and the Packers
Speaker 1: are trying to decide, Okay, what is the value of
Speaker 1: these players going forward. The business part of it is tough,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's difficult there, it's not easy to
Speaker 1: find the right answers to all this. But as I
Speaker 1: like to say, that's why Brian Goudakuts gets paid the
Speaker 1: big bucks. Right, That's that's that's that's a job. That's
Speaker 1: that's the gig. So we're on Packers on scripted. We'll
Speaker 1: be writing Insider in box later. I'll go home at
Speaker 1: five o'clock and not have to watch any film. That's
Speaker 1: why we're in the positions that we're in. Yeah, exactly, Yeah, sure.
Speaker 1: Well we've got a long off season obviously to talk
Speaker 1: about a lot of these issues, and we will find
Speaker 1: out later this week. At some point we're going to
Speaker 1: hear from Matt Lafleur Hill host a season ending com
Speaker 1: and I will close off this this edition of Unscripted.
Speaker 1: I just want to go back to one thing because
Speaker 1: I had a chance to talk with Blake Martinez a
Speaker 1: little bit, getting back to these free instants and everybody
Speaker 1: else it is and one of the things that really
Speaker 1: it's incredible for me to watch now and I'm sure
Speaker 1: you feel like this to seeing a young West hot
Speaker 1: quits now in year four here with you at Packers
Speaker 1: dot Com. This league goes by so quickly, and and
Speaker 1: when I was talking with Martinez, he kind of scanned
Speaker 1: the locker room a little bit and he was talking
Speaker 1: about how when he got in the door. Well, first
Speaker 1: and foremost, you know, he was the kid laying out
Speaker 1: in front of his locker. He always has had his film,
Speaker 1: you know, as iPad out. He was, you know, pelting
Speaker 1: rogers with questions, doing everything could be to learn. And
Speaker 1: he said he remembers, you know, there's a conversation he
Speaker 1: had with with Clay Matthews. And you know, Matthews is
Speaker 1: making big money, he's a big contract and he said
Speaker 1: it to him, you know, somebody that's gonna be you,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be you, that's gonna be you know, going
Speaker 1: into unrestricted free agency and being able to do that.
Speaker 1: It's just insane how quickly those four years ago on
Speaker 1: rookie contracts. Well, I had just a brief moment to
Speaker 1: to say something to Mason Crosby yesterday as he was
Speaker 1: packing up. And I'll tell you, he was packing up
Speaker 1: his shoes. I mean, I know he's a kicker, but
Speaker 1: my goodness is that man, I have a lot of
Speaker 1: shoes in his locker. Holy cow. But anyway, I just
Speaker 1: had I had a brief moment to talk to him,
Speaker 1: and and uh, when you just when you I stopped
Speaker 1: and reflect on it, and I remember when Mason Crosby
Speaker 1: walked into the locker room as a sixth round draft
Speaker 1: pick out of Colorado and he was fighting for the
Speaker 1: kicking job with Dave Rayner, who had been the Packers
Speaker 1: kicker in two thousand and six, and it was, you know,
Speaker 1: this training camp battle and the whole thing it to think,
Speaker 1: I mean, that was so long ago, and yet it
Speaker 1: just doesn't seem like it was that long ago. I mean,
Speaker 1: Mason Crosby is still here, and I mean we can
Speaker 1: we could spend show after show talking about a lot
Speaker 1: of these guys and and uh and all of our
Speaker 1: interactions with them, but Mason Crosby is still the same
Speaker 1: guy he was in two thousand seven. And I say
Speaker 1: that in absolutely the most complimentary fashion. He's he he's
Speaker 1: a pros pro and and you know, he's another one
Speaker 1: of those guys that whether it's sharing his own personal stories,
Speaker 1: are facing the tough questions after a tough game. He's
Speaker 1: a guy that's always he's a guy that's always there,
Speaker 1: and he's he's been he's been great to work with
Speaker 1: and I certainly hope he's back. Just my personal my
Speaker 1: personal home. That's why I covered the NFL and any
Speaker 1: any major Sports League. It's so unique because I would
Speaker 1: argue with colleges, you don't always give a chance to
Speaker 1: really know guys because they're there for a little bit,
Speaker 1: then they're gone. And but with with pro teams, you
Speaker 1: get to know guys for eight, ten, twelve years sometimes
Speaker 1: and that's only a fraction of their lives. It's only
Speaker 1: a fraction of our lives, but it's enough to get
Speaker 1: to know the person. And sometimes you end up seeing
Speaker 1: these people more than you do your own families, you know,
Speaker 1: around the office and things like that. But then they're
Speaker 1: onto the next chapter and it's NFL I think is
Speaker 1: a really good, you know, microcosm of life. I just
Speaker 1: I think it's it's a perfect representation of what happens,
Speaker 1: how you build, how you learn, but so understanding how
Speaker 1: brief everything is. It was, it was cool. It's always
Speaker 1: those there's always a lot of self reflection in those
Speaker 1: final locker rooms because there is that idea, as you
Speaker 1: were pointing out earlier, that not everybody's going to be
Speaker 1: back and things will be different, and uh, I think
Speaker 1: that also makes you kind of appreciate those moments a
Speaker 1: little more. Yeah. Absolutely, Well with that, we'll call it
Speaker 1: a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure
Speaker 1: to follow all of our coverage of the team on
Speaker 1: packers dot com. You can subscribe to us, like us
Speaker 1: on iTunes and other podcast services, and check out the
Speaker 1: Packers YouTube channel for all kinds of great video content
Speaker 1: for West I'm Mike. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See
Speaker 1: you next time.